Mataughquamend Report

[Southerly]

entered creek in the late afternoon. the Patawomeck river was way windy and muddy but there was shelter from both in the creek.

most noticeable was low tide that left spatterdock laying in mud. at least most of the hydrilla was still wet. saw some bald eagles fishing in low tide 'puddles' deep in the vegetation.

we explored up and waited in line to fish a couple laydowns that were still in the water. and fished a small rip coming out of a spatterdock field with spinnnerbait and 7" black culprit on a small shaky head. one bite on worm, no hook-ups.

moved further back in the creek, past the ramp. just before the islands was a very bait-fishy hydrilla edge on right side. water clarity was at least 4' here. tried everything here with no hook-ups.

moving on. just past bulkhead, my buddy hooked up with a catfish using a white/red ratLtrap (released). on the way back out the tide was incoming and i hooked up (2) 10-11" white perch on a fire tiger deep crank bait at the bait-fishy area.

interesting place. i'd like to return to kayak the place with higher water, less boats (weekday).

[ictalurus]

Nothing like catching catfish on lures. I knew a guy that routinely caught nice channel cats on Jitterbugs. The strikes were something else.

The clear water there blew me away at the M&G earlier this year. I never saw a tidal freshwater creek that clear before. I'm not used to fishing those conditions.

Where did you guys launch from?

[Southerly]

we fished from my old powerboat i sold to him last year. he kept it at leesylvania on VA side of river this year about $80/mo but a nice arrangement.

i really enjoyed being on my old boat. in that respect, it being mine, felt like yesterday. the powerboat could have been a huge asset if we had known a place in the mouth of the creek to go because that's big water. back in the creek, it crippled us because it didn't have a trolling motor.

we would attempt to coast into the spots with motor off using the wind but nothing lasted. i think checking lots of edge is a good strategy there. at least if like me, you don't have any known 'spots'.

i would not have posted a powerboat report on here except that i asked for tips here because of other reports i've seen and in return, a report was requested.

all in all, i think it's good general info to know the creek doesn't muddy up as fast as the main river. i looked at satellite the night before and wanted to cancel but my buddy is not worried about catching and just wanted to hit the water. but of course that did void his LMB guarantee,...

i think the water clarity is 100% directly related to the low percentage of impervious surface (pavement) in that watershed. i believe it's less than 10% there. if a county says the limit is 25% (but actually allows 30%+ by paying mitigation fees into the deficit), i think the permanent ruination of the watershed is effectively guaranteed by law.