Mattawoman Creek afternoon trip

[ronaultmtd]

I hope to get out Thursday afternoon on the Mattawoman Creek- another snakehead hunt- anyone want to meet up Thursday about 2 pm and fish to 7 or so?

I made me a hardwood club so I could administer the correct head beating to Mr. Snakehead before boating one- forgot that last trip.

[tufnik]

Can't you just slice his gills and throat?

Got to work this week, so am looking at Sat, Sun or Mon for a yak trip. Still working my schedule. Going for flounder at PLO looks good too.

[ronaultmtd]

Cutting the gills makes a heck of a bloody mess- whacking the head a few sharp blows usually quiets them down quickly- and you have to keep them in a bag so they can't get back into the ecosystem-

With the July 4th holiday on us, I am staying close to home- Mattawoman Creek is 13 miles - Cobb Island is 25 miles and PLO is 40 miles.

[ronaultmtd]

I am definitely going Thursday- if you want to go let's meet at Mattingly launch at 12:30 pm and fish until dead low tide at 7 pm-

[BadAssBass]

Can I get a raincheck on Mattawoman?

I was fishing a couple of days last week and will be out of town next week. I've been meaning to check out Mattawoman but never get past Piscataway.

How is the water compared to Piscataway? Read somewhere that there was lots of fallen trees, logs, etc that weren't conducive for kayaking but sounded like good bass territory.

Think it is the next creek down from Piscataway on Indian Head Hiway?

[tufnik]

I think you may have read my last report there. I went last week Friday when you were out of town. Anyway, I went south of the launch about two to three hundred yards. East side of river, lots of paddies. Check it out. Good luck!

[ronaultmtd]

Thanks Tuff- I am going early this morning (around 9 am) as no one has said they will come along- fish until about 2 and come home- I want to jury rig my GoPro Hero until YakAttack sells me their new Mighty Mount camera mount- been talking to Luther abut that- and see what kind of video I can make of a kayak trip snakehead hunt- seen several snakehead vids from Florida but none from up here-

I am not wasting any time looking around today- I am paddling as fast as I can right up to the place I hooked up with the snakes last trip- I plan to fish right there until I land one of the damn things regardless of how many I lose. It is a nasty place to try to fish but it has the snakes-

[ronaultmtd]

Got to the launch early today- launched at 10 am- the out going tide was running strong- and it was windy- lots of loose grass on the water- I hit the tide exactly wrong- with all the lilly pads and grass beds- I think fishing a rising and high tide is the way to go- once the tide drops, fish are buried in grass so thick it looks solid- I still managed a few nice bass...and several strikes by snakes, but I keep hitting them too quick to get a hook in them on the frogs- the wind made casting tough as the yak was pushed in the grass beds or off into the channel before you could get through a complete cast- it was hard to setup for a series of cast unless you pushed the nose of the yak into grass to anchor it- I fished the channel with diving lures for bass- that worked, but it wasn't really what I was targeting- big plastic craws worked well, too-

[tufnik]

So, rising tide is better huh? I may go tomorrow afternoon if I can get out of work early.

As least you got some snake hits. Last time I got nothing. I have a new frog called scum frog. Hope it works better on the water. I may south of the launch point.

Thanks for report.

[ronaultmtd]

Mann's Baby minus 1 in fire tiger- Tuff That was the best lure for me today- good luck tomorrow- I think I got some footage on my GoPro Hero today, but I got to figure out how to use it better-

[BadAssBass]

What is closest launch from D.C.? Anyone for a.m. fishing Friday?

I'm loaded up and ready to go to Mattawoman tomorrow. Will be in water by 6am, and fish until around 10am - catch a couple of hours of the front and backend of high tide.

I was told there was a launch before smallwood state park - basically said go to end of Indian Head hiway and turn left. Anybody have directions or suggestions?

Thanks

[ictalurus]

There's a guy on the DNR reports page that has slayed a bunch of snakeheads with the minus 1. I might have to pick up one of those, too...

[tufnik]

Badassbass, you have the right time for the tide. I'll be on the water about 3 pm and catch the rising tide until high tide at 8 pm.

Drive 210 to the end of the road just before the military gate. About 100 yds before the gate, turn left on Mattingly and go to the end. The pier area has a kayak roller launch.

[BadAssBass]

Thanks - Maybe see you at 3:00. . .

. . . if the bite is on. Got any tips for fishing that area?

[tufnik]

With those misses, maybe we should consider a different frog. I looked at a number of lures, and Ken Daubert's frog looks like it'll have high hook up rates. What do you think?

http://www.floridakayakfishing.com/bassfrog.htm