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I took my son and his friend kayak fishing on the Potomac yesterday evening. We got there around 6PM. The one launch area on the C&O Canal I wanted to use was closed due to electrical crews working on the power lines. So we went with a plan B, just south. I had never kayaked or fished this exact area, but had a general idea of what was up river a little ways.
We had to carry the kayaks a little farther than I like to do and the water was pretty shallow in quite a few spots. But we had the river all to ourselves. We paddled and fished up river about a mile until we came to a small WSSC dam that diverts water into one of their filtration plants. We got to that little dam around 8PM and floated and fished back down to the launch and got there around 9PM. It was brutally hot at first and the water was crystal clear. The water felt like a hot tub. I love fishing crystal clear water and being on the river until sunset is my favorite time. I ended up with 4 smalles all between 10 and 13 inches. The water was pretty shallow and we had difficulty finding prime areas to locate bass.
I found a few nice spots though. Generally if you could find chutes of fast moving water that emptied out into a deeper section (like waist to chest deep) then you were in business. If you found a downed tree and/or shade, then you were really in business.
My son caught two smallies and his friend caught one. All their fish were on tubes. I had one on the tube and 3 on the reliable beetlespin. My son almost had a monster catfish up at the little dam. The catfish ate his tube and was on for a few seconds after he set the hook. But then the fish rolled and came loose. That would have been a great fight and a fantastic catch. The next time we go to this spot we will be spending more time up near the little dam and fishing the deeper pool section above it. Here's some photos.
We had to carry the kayaks a little farther than I like to do and the water was pretty shallow in quite a few spots. But we had the river all to ourselves. We paddled and fished up river about a mile until we came to a small WSSC dam that diverts water into one of their filtration plants. We got to that little dam around 8PM and floated and fished back down to the launch and got there around 9PM. It was brutally hot at first and the water was crystal clear. The water felt like a hot tub. I love fishing crystal clear water and being on the river until sunset is my favorite time. I ended up with 4 smalles all between 10 and 13 inches. The water was pretty shallow and we had difficulty finding prime areas to locate bass.
I found a few nice spots though. Generally if you could find chutes of fast moving water that emptied out into a deeper section (like waist to chest deep) then you were in business. If you found a downed tree and/or shade, then you were really in business.
My son caught two smallies and his friend caught one. All their fish were on tubes. I had one on the tube and 3 on the reliable beetlespin. My son almost had a monster catfish up at the little dam. The catfish ate his tube and was on for a few seconds after he set the hook. But then the fish rolled and came loose. That would have been a great fight and a fantastic catch. The next time we go to this spot we will be spending more time up near the little dam and fishing the deeper pool section above it. Here's some photos.
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