Mattawoman Creek June 23

[ronaultmtd]

Launched at Slavins this morning They are having a bass tourney this weekend- the parking lot and road parking was completely full....still went- saw a bunch of kayakers- one (other than me) from MKF-fishing started off slow-caught one bass on a chatterbait- tried for snakeheads in the lilly pads at high tide- lockjaw- only had one little slurp at my frogs- went up stream and joined the bass boats- lots of folks puttering around all day- I decided to anchor up and wait out the tide- went to my ultra light Pflueger Supreme outfit and small crankbaits- caught four nice size crappies- one was really nice- I decided to keep the crappies (they are delicous) I tossed the Real Target frog up next to some obstruction and Blam! big boil, frog gone, hard hook set, fish on- rod was bent double with a heavy fish- I just knew it was a snakehead- Nope- probably the winner if I was in the bass tourney- about six plus pound largemouth bass- damn! I really wanted a big snakehead- few minutes later another big boil, hookup, rod bent double- a second big bass...ended up with eight bass- two over five pounds, one over six- tide was running pretty strong when the bite turned on- I caught three bluegill, one yellow perch, one channel catfish, six crappie (I kept the four biggest)...and ran out of drinking water- Cardinal sin in the summer- take plenty of drinking water- got home, iced down the fish and wrote this report...good luck to my fellow yak fishermen- I had a ball-

[CB kayak 02]

NICE!!! Did you get some pics of the bass, over 21" is a citation!!

[ronaultmtd]

Matt- I went really light this morning- no electronics, no camera- one bottle of water, two power bars- I'll take some pictures of the crappie before I clean them tomorrow- one might be a citation- my pickup truck and truck extender worked perfect for the Outback- and I need to buy a hog trough for measurements- I have a yardstick, but I didn't bring it-

[AnimalPA]

Nice, every day on the water is a good day.

[Shady]

Nice report! You know you are having a good day when you are dissapointed to catch a six pound bass!

[ronaultmtd]

Ryan- Trouble with bass amd me is that I always, always release every bass I catch- I have no idea what they taste like- my Dad taught me to release bass when he was teaching me as a young child how to cast a baitcaster and use fly rods- I have caught them all my adult life and I have caught some real monsters- I am orginally from Hot Springs, Arkansas- bass capital of the Southwest- Five big lakes within fifty miles and hundreds of miles of rivers and large creeks- it sounds jaded, but big bass are fine- I just wanted a big snakehead because I haven't been able to bring one home with me and fry it up, yet- and the operative word here is YET- I will-

This crappie is a hair over 13 1/2 inches- the other one is 13 inches

[Southerly]

WOW - a super bass fishing day, super crappie day! very nice work especially considering a tournament going on top of everything.

[ronaultmtd]

Southerly- the tourney guys were super fast- hit a spot.. three or four casts and they move on...they had no patience whatsoever- cast move, cast move- all day long- and they all looked the same- Triton or Ranger boasts- $40,000 minimum...completely rigged to the nines, sponsor stickers plastered everywhere- dressed in fishing uniforms, sunglasses, hats, pants- a dozen or more rods, each rigged with different baits, and they pushed right over you...didn't matter how long you had been there, they came, cast all over you, and left...what fun is that? I took my turn at being a tournament fisherman back in the 70-80's...cost me a lot of time and money traveling to the events, staying in motels, pre-fishing, etc. and looking back- it was all just an ego thing...not my finest moment...not saying it wasn't a learning experience or that it is bad...just not that important- and a lot of fish die- can't be helped- injuries happen to fighting fish that cause them to die...dead fish are not good for tournaments, so you are penalized if you bring in anything that looks hurt, so you throw back injured fish you know are going to die- terrible waste of good eating...

[Memory Maker]

Wow ....... and I thought we had a great day ........... congrats

[DOGFISH]

Sounds like a great day. A little funny though, a bit disappointed after catching a 5 lb and 6 lb bass but no snakehead. Who said snakeheads would not be welcomed in the river?

[ictalurus]

That sounds like a great day, Ron. That's nice variety of fish, a sweet mess of crappie, and some killer bass. I'd love to get some 5 and 6-pounders. I think the tournament guys would've tried my patience, though...

[ronaultmtd]

Bill- The moving water at tide change started the bite- high tide was 2 hours of totally dead fishing- bass were hiding deep in the structure- same place the snakeheads are- small opening deep in grass beds and lilly pads- Every time a bass hit my Real Target frog back in the thick stuff - I just knew it was a snakehead- the big bass turned my frog insideout- the double hook was pulled completely out of the frog body and the rubber body was way up the line- never had a fish hit it so viciously- no way the fish wasn't getting hooked solid- the crappie were out in the edge of the deeper water and they were quick to start biting when the tide changed- they were pretty steady- I caught the big one out by the sunken barge on the fire tiger Rapala- had one nice bass on the fire tiger- it eventually ripped the little hooks loose- the 20 inch channel cat ate the fire tiger, too- that was a real battle on 6#...actually the tourney guys didn't really matter that much- lots of water on the creek- the majority of them went down the creek-

[camelbird]

WOW, killer day Ron! Nice report, gotta love the summer frog bite.

"oh not too bad of a day out there a few 5... 6 pounders"... HA!

I hope you caught those in front of the tourney guys