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I arrived a little before 7:00 A.M. and Berto showed up minutes later. We unloaded, rigged up and were under way before 7:30.
We took a few tentative casts around the boat ramp at Occoquan (thinking that maybe some recent livewell drop off bass might be milling about) but quickly headed over to the shoreline that would get the full effect of the morning sun. Water color was stained brown. A white spinnerbait disappeared 24 inches down. Water temperature was 47 degrees. We had blue skies and a bit more of a breeze than expected out of the West (also not expected). I like Scoutlook Weather but I find wind predictions are about as good as my NCAA brackets.
Low tide was expected around 11:00 A.M. so we started off searching for a workable pattern on the outgoing tide. I tried a jerkbait, a lipless crankbait, a spinnerbait and I had a jig tied on. No easy bass on horizontal moving presentations so as an hour or so evaporated I decided it was time to get serious with the jig.
Strike King Hack Attack Jig, 3/8 ounce, with a "Potomac Blue" Baby Paca Craw Trailer. First bass of the day on a hard bottom with scattered rock in about 4 feet of water. Just outside of a small shallow area that could serve for spawning.
Shortly there after Berto catches a bigger bass on a football jig with a craw trailer that I believe had hint of chartreuse. Probably 35-40 feet from where bass # 1 was caught.
A little later, probably 40-50 yards from bass # 1 and # 2, same jig as I used before.
It's not 10:00 A.M. and we have 3 bass, all on jigs, and I'm thinking "here we go!", the day is looking very promising as the sun warms the water a few degrees.
We worked that area through low tide but no more bass. Headed up top to the headwater area to see what was going on up there. Some anglers were fishing for Hickory Shad and catching one here and there. We tried some presentations up there but it looked like better water for catching a striper than a greenie.
I headed back to where we had success. Water was up to 50 degrees, the tide was coming in, and now we had a breeze out of the east.
Nothing doing.
We fished until about 5:30 P.M. but could not scrape up another bass. This is where my limited experience on tidal water comes back to bite me. Either our bass made a dramatic move (unlikely), repositioned (probably) or the bite just shut down (your guess is as good as mine).
Ah well, great day to be alive and fishing non the less!
Thanks Berto!
We took a few tentative casts around the boat ramp at Occoquan (thinking that maybe some recent livewell drop off bass might be milling about) but quickly headed over to the shoreline that would get the full effect of the morning sun. Water color was stained brown. A white spinnerbait disappeared 24 inches down. Water temperature was 47 degrees. We had blue skies and a bit more of a breeze than expected out of the West (also not expected). I like Scoutlook Weather but I find wind predictions are about as good as my NCAA brackets.
Low tide was expected around 11:00 A.M. so we started off searching for a workable pattern on the outgoing tide. I tried a jerkbait, a lipless crankbait, a spinnerbait and I had a jig tied on. No easy bass on horizontal moving presentations so as an hour or so evaporated I decided it was time to get serious with the jig.
Strike King Hack Attack Jig, 3/8 ounce, with a "Potomac Blue" Baby Paca Craw Trailer. First bass of the day on a hard bottom with scattered rock in about 4 feet of water. Just outside of a small shallow area that could serve for spawning.
Shortly there after Berto catches a bigger bass on a football jig with a craw trailer that I believe had hint of chartreuse. Probably 35-40 feet from where bass # 1 was caught.
A little later, probably 40-50 yards from bass # 1 and # 2, same jig as I used before.
It's not 10:00 A.M. and we have 3 bass, all on jigs, and I'm thinking "here we go!", the day is looking very promising as the sun warms the water a few degrees.
We worked that area through low tide but no more bass. Headed up top to the headwater area to see what was going on up there. Some anglers were fishing for Hickory Shad and catching one here and there. We tried some presentations up there but it looked like better water for catching a striper than a greenie.
I headed back to where we had success. Water was up to 50 degrees, the tide was coming in, and now we had a breeze out of the east.
Nothing doing.
We fished until about 5:30 P.M. but could not scrape up another bass. This is where my limited experience on tidal water comes back to bite me. Either our bass made a dramatic move (unlikely), repositioned (probably) or the bite just shut down (your guess is as good as mine).
Ah well, great day to be alive and fishing non the less!
Thanks Berto!
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