Mallows Bay - Yellow Perch

[DanMarino]

I hit Mallows Bay with my coworker Wedge, in hopes of catching some tidal largemouth bass.

Beautiful weather. Hardly any wind. Neat place with all the sunken ships all over the place. Tough day fishing. I only ended up catching this yellow perch. It was a brute that hit my Redfish Magic spinner bait. Large yellow perch are neat looking fish. Beautiful markings.

Mallows was a neat place. I'm definitely heading back there next April, May, and June. Hopefully the bass will be there then.

13

[ronaultmtd]

Mallows Bay is a special place- the hulls of the ghost fleet create a massive artificial reef, full of old rotting hulks that take up depth and fill in the bay- some really big snakeheads and blue cats hang out here-

I use plastic worms/tube baits fished really slow along side the hulls- the bass are very sluggish this time of year- they normally won't chase crankbaits or spinner baits-

[CB kayak 02]

What did she measure?

[chimo]

Nice perch and it is a neat place. Never caught any whoopers there this year but I did catch a few nice bass and a bunch of snakeheads around the ships and some decent blue cats (to15lbs) in the channel just outside them. Lost a couple snakeheads well over 30 inches and heard some stuff blowing up frogs or whatever back in the creek that sounded like a horse jumping in the creek Definitely going to put some time in there this summer!

[CB kayak 02]

Where do you launch from to get to mallows bay?

[DanMarino]

I did not get an actual measurement on the yellow perch since I forgot to load my hog trough that morning. When I was getting set up at the launch I realized I left the measuring device at home . That yellow perch was bigger than many of the Upper Potomac smallies I caught in 2012. I estimate that it was 12-13 inches long.

Mallows Bay is a very nice launch. There is one boat ramp and a separate kayak launch. Plenty of parking up above the ramp. A jiffy jon too. For me it was about a 20 minute drive from the top end of Mattawoman Creek where I normally launch. Just stay on Route 224 as it makes a right or two and eventually when you think you are lost, you will come across a sign marking Mallows Bay and take a right. There is a gate and then a gravel road to the launch. Nice place. A heck of a drive from my house, but I'll certainly head back there.

One of you guys needs to show me how to catch a blue cat this winter from there or from Mattawoman.

13

[ronaultmtd]

Rig up a fish finder rig with a 6/0-8/0 circle hook and a big hunk of alewife in the deepest part of the channel and let it soak- Blue cats are not too fussy about what they eat- earth worms work, but I have the best luck with meat-

[DanMarino]

Thanks a lot Ron. I need to get an anchor trolley rigged up so I can stay stationary. I'll check and see if I have any circle hooks of that size. Most of my circle hooks I believe are size 1 or 2 that I use for nose hooking tubes for smallie fishing on the Upper Potomac.

[chimo]

One of you guys needs to show me how to catch a blue cat this winter from there or from Mattawoman.

13

Ron can definitely point you in the right direction. I like to mix it up a little and have a couple different baits when I head out. Any type of chunked fish, Bunker worked great but I have also had good luck with dead and alive creek chubs, spot, etc. I will usually drop a line in with one of the above on a 4/0-8/0 circle depending on the size of the bait and then drop a high low rig with shrimp / nightcrawler on another rod to mix it up a little.

Use your electronics to locate fish in the deeper channels, fish the tides and anchor upstream or off to the side and drop your bait into the channel. If no bites after 15-20 minutes change location a bit. Good fishin!

[moc]

I found it on the map. I may need to go there next year.

[scorpioreno]

Thanks for the report. I looked up Mallows Bay on google earth and I shows a red kayak in the middle of the creek there. Way to represent. That launch is no far from my house I'll try it during the winter months.

[CB kayak 02]

Does the park have a launch fee? it looks like it would be a great location to host one of the Mid-Atlantic Kayak Bass Fishing Series Events...

[moc]

Look also like another Meet and Greet possible location.

[AbuMasgouf]

Look also like another Meet and Greet possible location.

Agreed! possible snakehead hunt? (or as a friend calls them... Potomac Pike)

[wedge]

No the park does not have a fee to launch, they also have a pretty cool kayak launch. It's a great place to fish.