Potomac 5/4

[frettr00]

Headed out to the large cove South of Ft. Washington for the first time to try my luck for any bass or catfish. I got on the water shortly after sunrise and started working the south side with a fire tiger bomber diving crankbait. I had no luck with that and after about an hour of casting, moved on to hunting catfish. One thing that surprised me about this cove was how shallow it is. At high tide I was seeing depths between 5-7 feet, even in the middle. Naturally I was looking for any holes or drop offs I could find for a possible catfish spot, but saw no such spots. After paddling around a while I just said screw it and dropped the line towards the middle in around 5ft of water. I used a combination of shrimp and chedderwurst on a circle hook. After drifting slowly for a bit, I hit some kind of hot spot....fish stacked all over the place on the fish finder, looked like a school of something, but nothing was interested in what I was offering. A little after moving over these fish I got my first hit, catfish picked up the drag and ran with it...I waited for a 2nd run to set the hook, but it didn't come. He just nibbled the rest of the bait away and that was it. The 2nd cat made a run like the first, but he then made a 2nd run and I was able to set the hook. After that low tide started kicking in and the bite just died, I'm guessing the fish all went to deeper water in the main part of the river. Depths at low tide in this cove dropped down to 3-4 feet. I tried fishing it a little more hoping to pick up a straggler or two, but a thunderstorm rolled in and I had to get off the water.

Dinner


Shortly after sunrise...


Storm clouds rolling in...

[frettr00]

Also after fileting and washing off the filets...I noticed a mild swampy/mud smell to the meat... It's not fishy/spoiled at all considering the thing was still alive when I was fileting it, but the Potomac is a pretty polluted river.

[PotomacTide]

For some reason I've never had much like with the crankbaits out there either. If you want to target bass in that shallow water, try switching to a spinner bait in the part of the potomac. Especially this time of year as the grass starts coming in. The VA side in between Ft Washington and Mt. Vernon is another great haven for largemouth. Another tip is to follow the tributaries into the potomac further upstream. The catfish are usually pretty good at where creeks intersect with the Potomac, however, I've had more luck with the bass in areas that are far up the creek in areas with lots of structure. Especially after a period of good rainfall. Try the cove on the other side from where your were (North of Ft Washington) and follow the creek all the way up until you can't go anymore. You will run into a nice neighborhood with a marina and lots of docks, fallen trees, and wildlife all around. It's an ideal calm spot for bass to find food and shelter. I had a blast in that part of Ft Washing last week. In about two hours I caught 6 large mouth bass and 5 crappie all on white spinner bait. I also tried some Gulp 4, 5 and 6 inch soft plastics jigging off the bottom with no luck. Its about a 20 minute paddle to get to the top of the creek from the Fort at about 4 MPH pace.

[frettr00]

Thank for the advice. I was considering a popper or spinnerbaits due to how shallow the water was. I'll have to work those next time.

[PotomacTide]

I think poppers will work too. I've seen other catching largemouth with poppers, but I haven't tried it too much.

[PotomacTide]

I also target cats a lot out by ft washington. The cats are so pervasive out there that they bite on all of the usual stuff. But I've found that large chunks of cut bait of local fish work particularly well for the larger cats. Also, I like to try to stay on the edge of the channel where the water quickly cuts from 8' to 50'. When I stay at around the 20-35' depth, I find that is where the cats tend to congregate and be more aggressive. Its a simple rig of a size 1 hook with leader connected to a snap swivel, a chunk of cutbait, and a 1-3 oz sinker that ill hang directly onto the snap swivel. I never go home skunked with that setup at Ft Washington. The only drawback is that Catfish is the only thing I have ever caught with that set up. But there is no shame in catching cats. Hooking into a 30" plus cat never get old for me.

[frettr00]

Potomac I'll have to set up a trip with you next time you want to take the yak out there, maybe next week depending on the weather. I want to see where these hot spot are.

[PotomacTide]

Definitely. But I may not be able to make it out next week. I'm bogged down with work and family obligations right now. But I can shoot for something in late May.

[kevinfry]

muddy taste in cats could be part of filet process if you cut through a intestine. But remember, in many parts of the country they always soak cat filets in milk. I've done it with good success.

[frettr00]

Marinated in milk? I never tried that, but I'll test it out with this fish. I did cut a little too close to the guts on one side, but I thoroughly washed the filets off after to get any blood off them. Right now they're frozen for later in a bag of salt water (to prevent freezer burn).

[ictalurus]

Nice report. When Kevin and I fished there, we went up the creek that's kind of across and a bit to the right from the launch area. It was pretty up there. I'm not sure how the catfishing would be, but there were bass and crappie.

I've noticed cats smelling muddy while I filleted them, but they ended up tasting fine. I've never used the milk trick. I also get my fish on ice right after I catch them. This helps keep the meat fresh and makes it easier to fillet. A couple guys I know that work in aquaculture swear that the less lactic acid built up, the better the taste will be. Also according to them, they avoid harvesting in muddy water and try not to muddy the water up during harvest because they say killing the fish after exposing it to muddy conditions affects the taste. I haven't read much about it to confirm, but they were pretty knowledgeable guys. Putting the fish on ice immediately avoids both problems.

[ronaultmtd]

The catfish out of the upper Mattawoman Creek are really tasty, no muddy smell that I was able to detect. The creek is tidal, but it is several miles downstream from Ft. Washington. Also, I try to only harvest the 18-24 inch fish and throw the bigger ones back...I have eaten the 27 and 29 inch fish before and noticed they were stronger tasting...not bad, but noticeable.

[bdwilliams]

...Also, I like to try to stay on the edge of the channel where the water quickly cuts from 8' to 50'. When I stay at around the 20-35' depth, I find that is where the cats tend to congregate and be more aggressive...

Agreed. Right at the mouth of the creek, closer to the southern end especially, fish tend to stack up near/along the channel edge. On a higher tide we've noticed they'll be a little shallower. Regardless, the fish are usually in that area anywhere from 8-30' or so. Any deeper and we have trouble picking them up with our gear.

[moc]

I was taught by Ron to cut a fillet in half to remove the blood line, so you actually end up with four long strips nice white meat. The bloodline meat is not as good. Also, since I am from the Islands, we always rinse all fish with alittle water, vinegar and lime......before seasoning the fish.

[Meadeo]

Also from my experience Channel Catfish always have yellowish meat with a strong odor of earthy mud.

While Bluecats tend to be very white meat fillets with little to no discoloration and a fresh odor that is very similar to Elm tree sap.

Thus i never keep any channel catfish and when i eat catfish only keep the bluecast under 20"

Hope this helps..

Meadeo