Mattawoman Creek, Sunday 3/18

[ronaultmtd]

Moc, Itcaluras, Chimo and I fished the creek today- everyone caught lots of fish- I started off catch several nice bass casting in the shallows- all released- fished for thirty minutes more and ended up with some where around ten bass- got tired of catching bass so I anchored up and started catching blue catfish- I released anything over ten pounds- we caught Crappie, Bass, Channel and Blue catfish...it was a banner day on the water- I have a big mess of fresh catfish for the table-

[MTDluvsFishin]

nice catches. Great variety of species. Not sure how to get tired of LMB. Keep the cats your way!

Great day guys!

[ronaultmtd]

I usually like to catch bass and I did for a while this morning, but I had orders from the boss to bring home catfish for the table- that is just about the only fish she will eat- she doesn't like any fish that is strong tasting, so Blue Catfish were the target species today- and I caught a bunch of them, some way too big to eat, so those got put back- anything above 24 inches was released as was all channel catfish.

[frettr00]

Very nice. I may end up heading out there on the 21-22nd.

[MTDluvsFishin]

As long as the boss loves them then by all means catch them. Never go against the boss.

good stuff!

[tufnik]

Congrats on a great day of fishing!

No snakeheads?

[ronaultmtd]

We saw some but no bites- spatterdock is coming back- won't be long-

[ictalurus]

7 species!

I ended up with seven species: 2 bass, 1 bluegill, 3 blue cats, 1 channel cat, 1 bullhead, 1 yellow perch, and 3 crappie. That might be a record number of species for me, at least from my yak. The cats were caught on menhaden chunks supplied by Ron (thanks again!).

19" blue


24" blue (my biggest so far):


20" channel (biggest from a yak):


12" bullhead (also my biggest):


The bullhead reminded me of an oyster toadfish both in terms of color and attitude. Not only did it spine my hand, it also bit the crap out of my thumb and wouldn't let go even in the water. I guess that's what I get for hooking it.

I caught both crappies on a 2" firetiger storm shad.

11" crappie:


12" crappie (my biggest from the yak):


The first bass I caught was small but chunky and it hit a firetiger Mann's 1-Minus:


The second one was even smaller and hit a 5" Zoom paddle tail. Ron was clobbering the bass, and I barely caught two. It was a perfect morning for topwater action, but the fish wouldn't play along. I also tried a chatterbait and a variety of other lures. I was really hoping for a couple of bigguns. The yellow perch hit the storm shad. It was too small to keep, so I didn't bother taking a picture. The bluegill hit a 2.5" firetiger floating Rapala and was also small, unlike the nice one Martin caught.

Here's what the cats looked like this evening:


Here are a few more action shots:












As usual, it was a blast fishing with everyone again. It was especially fun since everyone caught a nice variety of species. I actually had to leave while the fish were still biting, which was tough. The evening bite was probably on fire. It was far and away my best day on the Mattawoman.

[jet]

Love all the pic, thanks!

[CB kayak 02]

Nice guys!!! Congrats on the Record day Bill...

Hopefully you guys will be able to fish this coming weekend... I would like to get down that way for some cats and new water

[chex]

Wow nice going guys!!! Sweet pics!

[moc]

It was a great time. The weather cooperated and we had a blast. I only caught 4 species, but there were many first for me. I kept 4 blue cats. I released any catfish over 21 inches. I caught about 10 in all, and lost many others. I was even caught off guard when I landed an 18 inch catfish trolling. my largest catfish was 24 inches. In addition I caught a BIG bluegill. I also caught 5 bass, most were small. I have never caught that many bass before. Finally I landed and target crappie. Something that was on my bucket list, but I never targeted. I caught 11 crappies and traded some bait with Wayne for another to make an even dozen. The largest crappie that I caught was just over 12 inches. He was a whopper. As the afternoon wore on, it really got warm and sunny. What a nice day. Plenty of pullage and it was good fishing and learning new things from good people as always. Thanks Chimo, a.k.a. Wayne, for the fat crappie. Also for the crappie catching lesson. It worked like a champ. Thanks Ron with your suggestion of just filleting the catfish like you do any other fish. It worked great. I will cook my fish on monday. Many nice fillets. And Bill, what can I say, we dispelled theory that fishing with you would cause me to get a skunk.

This was soo much fun that I can't wait to go back there again.

[ronaultmtd]

Moc- wait until you taste these Blue cats- yummm- filet and skin them- cut the filets into one inch thick strips, dust them liberally with Tony Chachere Cajun seasons, put white corn meal in big ziplock plastic bag- drop strips into bag and shake, coating completely- drop strips into 375 degree hot oil...when fish float and are golden brown, take out of fryer and drain on paper towels- serve with tartar sauce, cole slaw and hush puppies- enjoy-

Bill, Chimo, Moc- thanks for fishing with me again- we always seem to catch fish when we get together. Bill and Moc took me on my very first kayak fishing trip last spring at Wheatly Lake when I couldn't figure out how to sit down in the kayak- they were great- lots of patience with a real dumb ass- even left my PFD sitting on the dock- they went back and brought it out to me- under their instructions, I gradually acclimated to the kayak and by the end of the day, it was like throwing a duck in the water- thanks guys!

[jsnyd86]

Fantastic report! I can't wait to get over there. Maybe I can have a great day like you guys did!

[MetroMan]

Nice going guys. I tried to get off Sunday, but just wasnt able to make it happen.