Bass, Smelly Jelly, and the Mattawoman, 7/11

[ictalurus]

I decided to hit the Mattawoman last night after reading all great reports lately. I fished from 5-8pm, which bracketed low tide. I wanted to see what lures/rods I should bring for Saturday and to test out an alternative net storage option on the yak.

I headed upstream looking for areas that conformed to the bass and snakehead pattern I found at Leesylvania State Park last month. The low tide didn't help with this. I found a likely area and started working it with a Rage Tail toad, Live Target Frog, a chatterbait, and two different types of square bill/shallow-running crankbaits in firetiger. Nothing. I whipped out the Smelly Jelly, smeared some on one of the crankbaits (it made an oily sheen when it hit the water), casted out, and BAM! fish on:



It wasn't what I was looking for, but it was a nice 8" bluegill. At least the skunk was off. I can't believe it hit a fat 2"+ crankbait. On the second cast, I caught a 9" bass. On the 4th cast, the water exploded right next to my yak as I brought the lure in, and the drag started zinging. I thought I had a nice snakehead, but it turned out to be this guy:



It was deep hooked, so it was invited to come home for dinner. That area produced a bunch of 14-15" bass, both on the Smelly Jelly/crankbait combo and my trusty Rebel Pop-R:




That convinced me of the Smelly Jelly effect.

I moved upstream a bit and noticed some spatterdock moving and a big, recurring swirl that I thought had to be a nice snakehead. I threw all kinds of stuff at it but only managed to spook it a couple times. I came back a while later, and this guy took a perfectly placed popper:



While not the fish I was looking for, it was the biggest fish of the evening at 17". I picked up another 14-incher on the Rage Toad, which was my first fish landed with that lure.

I didn't have any luck upstream of the barge. I decided to work my way back downstream as the sun was setting when tragedy struck. I stopped to take a picture of the sunset, put my trusty Bass Pro Extreme spinning rod in my RAM rod holder, took a few pics, and went to grab my rod only to find that it was gone! It didn't even make a sound. I'm pretty diligent about leashing my rods when I'm no using them, but I didn't leash it this time. I guess I didn't tighten the RAM holder and it tipped over and fell out. I can't believe it did that without making a sound. That was one of my two favorite rods, and it was my do-everything rod. It could cast everything from 1/8oz to 1.5oz and was the first "nice" rod I ever bought. It was always in my truck, went on nearly every fishing trip, and felt like an extension of my arm. It was my "grown-up" version of my blankie. It also had my Pop-R tied on. I lost a lot of mojo in one drop. Of course, I had forgotten my sonar display, I didn't have anything heavy to drag, and it was rapidly getting dark. I'll bring some stuff to drag at low tide on Saturday, but I don't think the odds are good. To add insult to injury, the picture wasn't particularly good, especially since it was the most expensive photo I've ever taken:



I worked the Rage Toad along the shore on the way to the ramp and picked up a couple more 14-15" fish and missed some nicer ones. In all, I caught around 20 fish, which made for a really good evening trip despite the low tide, but my truck was noticeably emptier on the ride home.

[Shady]

Excellent report and sorry for your loss... Cant wait for saturday!

[chimo]

Nice report Bill! Too bad about the rod, I have dumped a couple overboard but haven't lost any of them yet (knock on wood). Can't wait to fish Mattawoman again but have a date on AI this weekend. Btw, the snakeheads I caught down there the last couple trips were all way back in the spatterdock at high tide. Might be something to try if the edges aren't producing

Chimo

[perchy]

Nice report. Were you positive smelly jelly was the only variable? I swear sometimes it's the wind changing direction, or the bite turning on from an incoming storm and the drop in barometric pressure.

[DOGFISH]

Good fishing Bill. I lost two rods last year in my mishap. They were two of my favorites also. I have still not built the rods to replace those two.

[ictalurus]

Ryan--Thanks. I'm stoked for Saturday, especially since the tide will be higher in the morning.

Wayne--I really wanted to get back behind the barge and back behind some other areas, but paddling through the hydrilla, or whatever that fine stuff is, was way too difficult, even with my rudder and fins up. It might've been possible in my Tarpon, but paddling through that stuff is like paddling through oatmeal. Plus, I really didn't want to get stuck somewhere. I was hoping to find clearings in the spatterdock like I found at Leesylvania.

Perchy--Ha! Far from it. For all I know, all my casting got them riled up and ticked off so they hit whatever came near them. I've been fishing for stocked trout where I couldn't catch anything, but then everything went wide open once I caught the first fish. Studies have shown that when one minnow in a school starts feeding, the other members will, too. Maybe that works for other species. The wind might've changed while I was there, and the current was definitely easing up. To do it properly would require at least double blind treatment of identical lures and alternating casts in the same area. I might've done a better job placing my treated lures. I was just happy that I went from fishing to catching.

Don--Losing your rods was frustrating because I had the lines for a little while and almost saved them. Close but no cigar. This weekend, I was looking over my quiver of rods and appreciating how they all suited me and suited the tasks for which I typically use them. There's a kind of satisfaction that comes from having nice tools. None of them are high end or nice customs, but they're all fun to use. I'm looking forward to see what you build to replace yours.

[chimo]

Wayne--I really wanted to get back behind the barge and back behind some other areas, but paddling through the hydrilla, or whatever that fine stuff is, was way too difficult, even with my rudder and fins up. It might've been possible in my Tarpon, but paddling through that stuff is like paddling through oatmeal. Plus, I really didn't want to get stuck somewhere. I was hoping to find clearings in the spatterdock like I found at Leesylvania.

As you go around the first bend heading upstream you can find some open water between the spatterdock and solid ground on your right and if you keep heading straight instead of following the channel around towards the barges the spatterdock got burned up and is dying in some areas. Gives a little more room to work a lure through unlike the healthy stands.

[ictalurus]

Thanks for the info, Wayne. I noticed that the spatterdock was burned in places, but it was still tough to work a lure through where I was fishing. I'll check that area out. I should be able to scare up a snakehead if I alternate between following you and Ron.

[beerums]

I was out there the same day as you from around 11-330 and didn't have nearly as much luck as you with the bite. I threw a live target frog in the dead spatterdock but didn't even get a swirl at it. I caught a couple of small 6" bass on a watermelon flake worm next to the barge and that was pretty much it. I did scare a bunch of SH out of the shallows. I went just past the barge and went along that shore to the right. I saw a huge SH about 3 ft from my yak just sitting near the bottom. It had to have been at least 8" around and 3ft long, the thing was massive.

Definitely looking forward to some morning top water action tomorrow morning. See ya'll out there!

[tufnik]

Nice report. Were you positive smelly jelly was the only variable? I swear sometimes it's the wind changing direction, or the bite turning on from an incoming storm and the drop in barometric pressure.

I was thinking the same. Could have been a change in the bite. Could have been coincidental. Would the bite continue if there was a switch back to non-jelly lure? If no, would the bite continue if there was a switch back to a jelly lure?

Anyway, good job, Bill.

[camelbird]

Nice report Bill, sorry to hear about your loss. My brother and I flipped my canoe last year and lost a combo I had been fishing with for close to ten years, I admit I cried a little

[tufnik]

I lost stuff too....as a result of forgetting to leash the stuff (pliers, rod holder, rods,......). Anyway, do you plan to get another Extreme? I am happy with my Bionic Blades, but the Extreme looks like an upgrade. Nothing wrong with the foam handles on my Blades, but I prefer the cork on the Extreme.

[ictalurus]

Nice report Bill, sorry to hear about your loss. My brother and I flipped my canoe last year and lost a combo I had been fishing with for close to ten years, I admit I cried a little

Thanks. It's good to know that I'm not the only one.

Efren--I'm not sure what I'm going to replace it with. Bass Pro has changed the design of the Extreme and now uses a different graphite (and it's not as pretty). The most important aspect of my old rod was the wide weight range it could cast. It was medium heavy power, fast action rated for 1/4-5/8oz but could cast 1/8-1.5oz. My Carrot Stix is rated 1/4-3/4 but starts feeling overloaded at 1oz and doesn't feel as solid when working a big popper. The new Extreme still has the 1/4-5/8oz range, but I don't know if the new, higher modulus graphite is as versatile. I need to hit a store, handle the rod, and talk to a (hopefully knowledgeable) salesperson. I was thinking about buying a Powell spinning rod since I like my baitcaster so much, but they don't make the medium heavy power spinning rod any more. The Bass Pro Carbonlite I bought my father feels really nice, so I'll have to borrow it to test with my favorite popper.

[ronaultmtd]

Bill- I really like my Powell Rod- it worked frogs really good Saturday and hook set was damn good-I was able to break 20# braid without a problem-