Mattawoman Creek 10-11-19

[Jman]

Like many others here, I was eager to fish after this extended period of high winds recently. I launched at Mattawoman creek for the first time on Friday, because it looked like it would be sheltered from the winds and I wanted to try something new. The creek was sheltered, even further downstream and the tide was extremely high as others have reported elsewhere. The waterline was still elevated significantly at low tide. My goal was to catch blue cats, but I planned on bringing a rod with a few lures for snakehead fishing just in case. I couldn't find any fresh bait fish, but I stopped at a local supermarket and picked up about a pound of fresh chicken breast to use. I scouted out a few areas of interest and settled on two different pockets that looked interesting. The first went from about 8' of water down to 18' and I caught a channel catfish, as well as a blue catfish there. I moved on to a larger pocket that looked especially promising because it dropped from about 6' to over 27'. I remained here for the rest of the day and caught more blue cats than I've ever caught (not saying much!). The largest was about 33" and the average was probably around 25".

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[Str8 Yakkin]

Nice haul. Were you anchored down or drifting


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[Jman]

Nice haul. Were you anchored down or drifting

Thanks! I was staying in place by pedaling.

[DanMarino]

Nice going! I’ve never caught one that large. Looks fun!

[ronaultmtd]

I always anchor...always...and live bait is not necessary for catfish...although big mud minnows get killed by catfish...if I know I am going catfishing I usually grab my wire minnow trap and head to my Sister’s place on Cobb Island to let it soak with a few pieces of alewife up next to the grass in about 2 feet of water...it is amazing how many mud minnows can get inside the wire trap...and mud minnows work for Snakeheads, too...Bass...just about everything eats them...a live bait bucket with a few dozen is a guarantee- same with small bluegills and A big gob of night crawlers will work...interestingly I was at Benedict a few weeks ago catfishing the Pax and had a big blue crab hold on to my alewife cut bait...I chopped it into quarters and put a piece of crab on, dropped the bait to the bottom and had a screaming run...Biggest channel cat I have ever caught...that finned me in the web of my right hand...bled like crazy...put on second piece- same story...almost instant hookup..4 pieces of crab caught four catfish in fifteen minutes...

[mike o]

Nice Jman must have been a good day. Like Ron said I used to catch a lot of Channels on peelers.

[clm]

Ron,

Were you lurking around the bridge, or do you have a honey hole hidden elsewhere?

[mchottie]

Ron,

Were you lurking around the bridge, or do you have a honey hole hidden elsewhere?

I havent finished my whole cup of coffee.. was going to ask where is the bridge at mattawoman

Now i've finished my coffee - Ron is there a Benedict hot spot? Looks like 4-12fow except some deep drops in the center... Not sure i'd want to sit in the center channel in my yak...

[ronaultmtd]

You see the Creek mouth above the bridge on the left side of the Pax? About 200 yards out from the creek is a 12-14 FOW channel...full of catfish...no problem sharing...anchor up on outgoing and hang on- some really big fish here...big uglies...

[clm]

You see the Creek mouth above the bridge on the left side of the Pax? About 200 yards out from the creek is a 12-14 FOW channel...full of catfish...no problem sharing...anchor up on outgoing and hang on- some really big fish here...big uglies...

Thank you Sir...Pretty sure, even if we all were there at once...there'd be plenty left....

[clm]

You see the Creek mouth above the bridge on the left side of the Pax? About 200 yards out from the creek is a 12-14 FOW channel...full of catfish...no problem sharing...anchor up on outgoing and hang on- some really big fish here...big uglies...

Thank you Sir...Pretty sure, even if we all were there at once...there'd be plenty left....

[ronaultmtd]

The creek by the PEPCO power plant is another good spot, but not sure I would keep any from there...fun to get a sleigh ride from the big uglies...but the slime is very difficult to remove from the hull and cockpit...Golden Beach around the point in 5-7 FOW has lots of small eaters and you don’t have the stronger current to worry about. Very gentle current on outgoing tide...there is a ratio of two channel catfish to blues there and most are 14-16 inches...

[clm]

The creek by the PEPCO power plant is another good spot, but not sure I would keep any from there...fun to get a sleigh ride from the big uglies...but the slime is very difficult to remove from the hull and cockpit...Golden Beach around the point in 5-7 FOW has lots of small eaters and you don’t have the stronger current to worry about. Very gentle current on outgoing tide...there is a ratio of two channel catfish to blues there and most are 14-16 inches...

I tried the cedar Haven area from the shore twice...a few bites, but no takers...waiting on my cart to arrive so I can explore that area from the yak with the fish finder....coming up from Benedict is over 4 miles...no thank you....I will hit those spots when I return from Florida next week (21 year anniversary, peacock bass, knife clownfish, bulls eye snakeheads and cichlids.are next week's targets)....thanks again for the info..