Mattawoman 06-16

[Nitefly]

I took advantage of my Father's day pass and went fishing all morning on the Mattawoman. I launched at the end of Mattingly at 6:30 am and took a left to go upstream. The weather was perfect and there were signs of fish everywhere. I started with a topwater Rapala and wasn't getting any action on that. Switched to a white gulp curly tail shad dropshot and got a catfish on the first cast up by a tree. Got a couple top water strikes on a weedless frog at the first lily pad fields and missed both of them, so I tried a skitter plug with treble hooks and hooked one that jumped off right as I got him to the boat. I tried buzzbaits, spinners and rat l traps with no luck. I rigged up a gulp minnow on a weighted hook and still nothing. As I was switching rods, I let the gulp minnow hang off the side of the boat and a 15" bass came a grabbed it while I was rigging the other rod. I can't really take any credit for it, but it was my first Largemouth in 25 years. These two were all I went home, but I got 1.75 lbs of fillets out of them! I tried to take a pic of the Bass but I had the camera on my phone flipped the wrong way and couldn't tell with the glare, so I just have a pic of it in the sink. These were the first fish I took home to eat. The family approved.

The scenery was awe inspiring. I saw a water snake, several blue herons feeding, some Osprey feeding and I think I saw a Bald Eagle, but it was pretty distant. I also heard a lot of splashing deep in the vegetation, so I took the yak in there thinking it was Snakehead. They were giant carp splashing around violently. I could get so close to them, I probably could have grabbed one by hand. I heard a lot of that in the morning. I think I saw a snakehead in the middle of a patch of vegetation, but I couldn't interest it in anything. Next time I come out, I think Ill try more texas rigged plastics. Anyone have tips for this river? There were lots of fish around, but I couldn't interest them in much.

On a side note, my youngest daughter went out with me on Saturday morning on Weems creek to try for Perch and Croaker. We didn't get any Perch
but we got some small Croaker on shrimp.

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[Grilled]

Nice job. Gotta love the "Do nothing method" lure hanging off the side and it gets slammed. I've caught a few fish like that.

Btw....That catfish has a ginormous head.

[Nitefly]

Nice job. Gotta love the "Do nothing method" lure hanging off the side and it gets slammed. I've caught a few fish like that.

Btw....That catfish has a ginormous head.

Yea, and that wasn't camera angle. Big ole head. Looked like he got hit with a trolling motor propeller or something too. He tasted great coated in corn meal

[Snakehead Hunter]

I usually use ripple shad 4" and Rage toad from Dicks. I have plenty success with bass and snakehead with it.

[FRED driver]

Key to this creek is timing...launch 45 minutes prior to sunrise (prior to boat traffic) and work topwater until 1030, 11 latest in the summer...go back out at 4 pm and fish until dark. If able, choose a morning when the ebb tide will be rushing as the sun comes up.

Beating the boat traffic and heat will increase your catch rate by a huge margin. Most fishermen in heavily fished bodies of water like the mattawoman don't appreciate that nuance until they pay the dues and show ugly early.

Can't speak to catfish behavior, I don't target them

[shutter113]

any recommended largemouth recipes ?

[Nitefly]

any recommended largemouth recipes ?

I've only cooked one so far, but everyone in my family loved them beer battered. Anyone else have favorite recipes? I want to try that masgouf style sometime.

[yakhooker19]

Nice snake head MondayIMG_20130617_185212_368.jpg

[jhoss]

Sometimes bass taste a little fishy to me. I've found that soaking in milk or buttermilk will get rid of that. Then it's an egg dip and cornmeal and fry. I've also done a 2lb or less whole on the grill.

[imagine29028]

Largemouth aren't good to eat....should be released

[russ498]

Largemouth aren't good to eat....should be released

A big old disagree. Like most fish, smaller is better. A nice 14" or 15" LM is hard to beat fried up.

[BassMoore]

A big old disagree. Like most fish, smaller is better. A nice 14" or 15" LM is hard to beat fried up.

we still rather release them though... lol its a sport fish. a big money fish for some people

[therevolution]

we still rather release them though... lol its a sport fish. a big money fish for some people

Depends on who you ask. My family goes on a trip to Maine every year to fish. The locals around the lakes we fish consider bass a trash fish. They are after the togue and salmon mostly. We have had many a fish fry of stringers full of smallmouth. 16,17,18 inchers up there. Delicious!

[BassMoore]

When ya tournament fish... bass are worth a pretty penny.... lol

[FRED driver]

It has always made me uncomfortable to see LMB being taken and couldn't imagine eating one...but ultimately they're a public resource. I would much rather see catfish eaten (taste way better anyway). It's been many years since I've kept a fish--I'm out there for the fun of catching/releasing and getting away from it all. Nothing wrong with fishing with the intent of eating, whatever floats your boat =)