Slavins 5/29 Report

[mchottie]

Met up with SeaSalt about 645AM Monday morning in Tysons Corner to pickup a BooneDox Landing Gear, and then headed south around I-495 DC Beltway.

Driving along I remembered talking with Ron Ault about Slavins Launch awhile back. The girlfriend agreed, so we decided to edit the GPS accordingly and make the trip south. Got unloaded and geared up out on the water about 815, in between several bass boats. This is a very popular launch point.





About 930, the GF wanted to head back in to re-supply, and I asked for one more cast. Drawn right upon the lillypad edge, I had a good hookup from topwater, and landed my target species, 25.5" SH.



We had a good chat with several people fishing from the shore, and some just out to enjoy the sunny memorial day beautiful weather. Several wanted to see the SH in person before we re-launched.

We switched to raw shrimp, and she landed a 16" and 23" blue cat with much excitement.









Memorial Day was FANTASTIC weather, we headed in around 2:30pm and met up with Shane YakHooker19. He filled an entire 52qt cooler with blue cats for distribution amongst friends & family. Pleasure meeting up with you, lets link up some time in the future.










"Wild Bill" Francis



young tandem couple taking in the sights w/ DSLR camera



landscape



selfie



lilly pads landscape



good form



nice z7 nitro

[Big Mike]

Well done, especially on a busy weekend.

[Yak67]

Great Report and Great Photos'. Everyone's waiting to hear how you cooked up that SH????

Yak67

2017 Hobie PA-12 Camo
2016 Hobie Outback LE#217

[Seasalt]

It was nice meeting you. Pictures look like it was a nice day out. Did you take home the snakehead?

[mchottie]

It was nice meeting you. Pictures look like it was a nice day out. Did you take home the snakehead?

Great Report and Great Photos'. Everyone's waiting to hear how you cooked up that SH????

Yak67

2017 Hobie PA-12 Camo
2016 Hobie Outback LE#217

Pulled the fillets off last night, about 3/4" - 1" thick at the widest point of meat, surprising how little bones. The fillets are massive, i'd say 18" long. I'm researching recipe's today, will report back with taste test results. I've had SH nuggets (panko + italian seasoning) from a friend and they were delicious, so i'm sure it will turn out good.

[J.A. Veil]

Nice going on the snakehead. They are very tasty fish.

[Mark]

Michael,

Excellent catch and photos.

Glad to see you're keeping the wet side down!

[ronaultmtd]

Glad you had some luck on a very busy holiday weekend- Snakeheads are a tasty treat on the table.

[CaptCHawk]

The interesting thing to me is seeing you with a Hobie while the GF paddles. Tried that with my wife, and after towing her up and down Mattawoman on a hot summer day I ended up with 2 Hobies. Great creek for sightseeing as well as fishing, glad you had some success.

[Seasalt]

Question - how does the propel drive work with all those vegetation?

I'm thinking about quick trip to Occoquan river for snakehead fishing...

[mchottie]

Question - how does the propel drive work with all those vegetation?

I'm thinking about quick trip to Occoquan river for snakehead fishing...

I've been looking at the Micro Pole Anchor system (expensive!) stake out pole, but I fish more salt water than brackish water, and I cant justify that expense just yet. With the mirage drive down, i just drift into the weed beds, and the drive fins held me in place. The h-bar is a freshwater fishermans dream, stand and cast is fantastic.

ironically amonsgt the pads were HUGE splashes (i was thinking BIG SH) but looking closer, there were HUGE Gar, must have been spawning? I sent a message to Abel 'D3NALI' on here because he recently targetted them, but alas he was using Bow and Arrow and did not have any recommendations for preferred tackle.

I pulled the drive out and put the plug cassette in, and was able to basically stand up paddle like a SUP, and it was far easier than I expected. I lost a 'Perch' colored whopper plopper which are green/yellow color variation, and had to stand/paddle for reconnissaince / recovery, which took awhile due to the lilly pads also green with yellow blooms.

The interesting thing to me is seeing you with a Hobie while the GF paddles. Tried that with my wife, and after towing her up and down Mattawoman on a hot summer day I ended up with 2 Hobies. Great creek for sightseeing as well as fishing, glad you had some success.

I'm trying to get her into an Outback or PA12, but she is leaning towards the Revo 11 or 13. Soon, Very Soon I will need to upgrade to a trailer.

She gets pretty pissed off when I pedal far faster than she can paddle, and I rub it in by doing circles around her.

All in good fun - I'm very lucky to have a +1 who lets me enjoy the water, in addition to always wanting to tag along. Netting the SH was a challenge, i'm glad she was able to assist.

[mchottie]

Everyone's waiting to hear how you cooked up that SH????

Yak67

2017 Hobie PA-12 Camo
2016 Hobie Outback LE#217

Cooked up the larger fillet last night. There is ZERO fish smell from the raw meat. Cut into 3 large pieces, first piece was literally only Olive Oil in the pan with raw fillet. Second two pieces were olive oil with seasalt & fresh cracked pepper. All turned out DELICIOUS.

If you've never had it, my girlfriend described it as the taste/texture/consistency of salmon except white in color, and literally 'the taste of chicken' believe it or not.

The second fillet (a bit smaller) is in the fridge submerged in Buttermilk, and will receive breadcrumb / italian seasoning pan fry this evening.

[Slobber Bob]

Nice outing. I always like the reports with lots of pictures best

[DanMarino]

I love that place. Great report!

[Paul Naj]

ironically amonsgt the pads were HUGE splashes (i was thinking BIG SH) but looking closer, there were HUGE Gar, must have been spawning? I sent a message to Abel 'D3NALI' on here because he recently targetted them, but alas he was using Bow and Arrow and did not have any recommendations for preferred tackle.

I pulled the drive out and put the plug cassette in, and was able to basically stand up paddle like a SUP, and it was far easier than I expected. I lost a 'Perch' colored whopper plopper which are green/yellow color variation, and had to stand/paddle for reconnissaince / recovery, which took awhile due to the lilly pads also green with yellow blooms.

Correct on the gar. They are up on the flats in the creek spawning right now. I saw a lot of them last week including a couple of 4 footers. Apparently they're not afraid of the kayak as I was able to get a close look at several. There are also carp spawning in there now too. In general the carp are in the weeds right near the shoreline. They make a huge racket and there were some monsters in there last week. All of the gar I saw were more in the middle of the flats.

I paddle a Native Watercraft Ultimate 12. It is excellent in getting way back into the flats even on a moderately high tide. If I want to do the whole stretch between the kayak launch and Slavins, however, I'm shot at the end of the day. I think a Hobie would be an awesome way to get up and down the main channel and then paddle through the spatterdock with the drive up.

I have a bit of an obsession with that fishery. It's good fishing and, even with the traffic, the place is just so feral. If I didn't have a meeting this afternoon I'd be on my way down there right now.