Fun and frustration on the Occoquan, 4/6 & 4/7

[ictalurus]

I went home to visit my folks to celebrate my father's birthday. We usually do some shad fishing and follow that up with some sort of float trip. We decided to hit the Occoquan since our spots on the Rapp have been crowded the past two years.

We launched at 4pm on Friday into fairly stout winds and headed upstream. There were a surprising number of boats there, and to make matters worse, they were in my spots. Two guys were anchored in a canoe in one of my spots and had the audacity to catch a shad right in front of me as we passed by. I wrote my name on the water at that spot last year. Couldn't they read?

There were a couple boats where I wanted to try for snakeheads, too. One had a woman fly fishing for shad, and she was slaying them. She could cast as far as her partner could with a spinning rod, and she caught on nearly every cast. Dad and I couldn't do squat a bit downstream of them. I felt like I was getting the evil eye from the fly fisher, so we headed downstream.

I had to anchor up to hold position in the wind. Dad and I had a couple strikes each as the sun went down, but couldn't connect. The guys in the canoe finally left with what looked like a nice stringer of fish, but I couldn't make out the species. We went to where they were, and I hooked up with a really nice shad not long after. It pulled easily against my dragged and stayed deep, which makes me think it was an American. I finally got it near the surface, and it looked like one of the the biggest I've ever caught. Then the hook pulled. We had a few more hits here and there, but nothing stuck.

I don't know what we were doing wrong, but the fish were definitely there. I've never had that happen before. We tried a variety of sizes and colors of darts as well as spoons and grubs. Chartreuse darts seemed to get the most attention.

The upside of the evening was I got a rare pic of Dad smiling:


Another upside was we met a couple of nice guys back at the launch who fished out of a kayak and canoe. The dude in the kayak had a good evening of bass catching, and the guy in the canoe caught a mixed bag of cats and bass. I had my thermometer with me, but I forgot to check it.

On Saturday, we did a float on the Occoquan River trail. We launched by the dam at Lake Jackson and floated down to Bull Run Marina, which was about a 9.3 mile float.

There isn't much parking at the top--maybe enough for 3 or 4 cars:


The trail to the water is steep. There's gravel at the beginning and mulch most of the way down. Definitely bring a cart (we didn't).






The launch:


The dam:




All ready to go:


I didn't have high expectations for the fishing. Unfortunately, the fishing was kind of lackluster, but the scenery for the first 4 miles or so was really pretty. The fishing at the beginning was the best. Dad hooked a nice bass on an electric blue worm, but lost it when it jumped. I had something big and green flow my swimming fluke and open its mouth to strike, but then it saw me. It was either a nice bass or a big pickerel. Sunfish were pretty common at the beginning:


Creek scenery:




Bluebell bank:






Other wildflowers included green and golds and spring beauties:




Rocky shoreline farther downstream:


There was lots of wildlife, including turtles, herons, and a bald eagle:




This is an easy float to pace yourself on because there are two bridges that divide the float into thirds, more or less.

The first and second bridges after the launch:




I threw almost everything I had in my tackle box, and could only manage a handful of bluegill and one small bass. Once again, the small firetiger Rapala was the most productive lure and caught half the fish. The other half came on various spinners. I tried natural color and firetiger crankbaits of all diving depths, small plastic worms (too windy to work effectively), various Storm shads and swimming flukes, spinnerbaits, and grubs. I threw lures at rock piles, brush piles, flats, stumps, and every kind of habitat I could find. I don't know what we were doing wrong. Water temperature was right around 60*.

At least it was a nice float, and the first 4 miles are really pretty. After that, there are more houses and the scenery isn't as wild. The beginning of the float isn't Hobie-friendly, and it was the farthest I've ever paddled. I'm definitely sore today, but at least all the right muscles are sore. The last mile was into a 20mph+ wind, but we were able to maintain 3mph, which was cool. In all, it was a good trip and lots of fun, but I wouldn't recommend it for the fishing, at least on windy days.

[kevinfry]

I love float trips. bet you had fun anyway.

[tufnik]

I only fished at Fountainhead and Occoquan Regional Park before. You have some interesting pics along the river. Nice report.

[jsnyd86]

great pics and report. the most scenic Ive gotten with my yak is Piscataway haha. That looks like a fun trip, especially getting out with the old man. Those are always special.

[CB kayak 02]

Awesome Pics as always.... A Bald eagle up that close is an awesome sight.

[Meadeo]

Sorry about the poor fishing but thanks for the informative post. I might have to try that float from lake jackson down.

Meadeo

[jffoley]

Nice report and even nicer pics. Thanks for the details. Looks like a great, "close to home" float trip.

With the Potomac quite productive and, not having done much in the reservoir I haven't explored these areas much. Is that a branch of the Occoquan River? Have you had decent bass or pickerel action there?

[Meadeo]

BTW -

I fished the Rapp @ Fredericksburg on Saturday, besides it being insanely windy and one of the hardest paddles i have ever done to the fallline the fishing was good.

Hickory and American Shad were holding in the rapids below route one fairly decent. Caught about 20 in 4 hours throwing darts.

Later in the evening on the way back in we found a school of White perch chasing bait in the shallows and managed about 20 before dark all on darts 8-10 inches. Made for a nice wrap up to the day.

It was crowded and i crossed lines a few times with the "Country Folk" throwing 1-2 oz bank sinkers with sabiki rigs for shad with Zebco 33's but all in all was worth the trip and the paddle.

Meadeo

[ictalurus]

Thanks, gents.

Thank for the info on the Rapp, Chris. Unfortunately, I don't know if I'll have time to hit it after looking I what I have to do this week. We'll see.

John--We floated down Occoquan Creek. It hits Bull Run and forms the Occoquan River. I guess you could say that the Occoquan Reservoir starts at Bull Run Marina and ends at the dam at the town of Occoquan. Other access points to the reservoir include Fountainhead Park, Lake Ridge Park, and Sandy Run Regional Park. The downside to fishing the reservoir is all the crew teams that practice on it, mostly on weekends, I think. Not only are they loud, but they think they own the water.

There used to be decent bass action on the reservoir when I was a kid. My father had good luck a few years ago, but lately the action hasn't been that hot. There are pickerel, some of which are nice, but we haven't caught that many. The reservoir produces a solid number of citation crappie each year, though.

[chex]

Beautiful! Looking at those pics is a good way to start the week.

[ComeOnFish]

Sometimes shad are there, soemtimes aren't. Call me next time when you come to the area

Here is a log for shad on March 25. the best time for shad is March 15-31 I think:

[jet]

awesome pics as always

[ictalurus]

Thanks for the video, Joe. At least I got see some shad close up. You need to figure out how to include a vibrate signal in your videos so I can feel the fish shake through a video game joystick. I really wish I had landed the big one I hooked...