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I went to the 'quan this afternoon to scope out the area for Saturday's M&G. I had to make it quick, though, because I had to get back home in time for my wife's birthday dinner. Today is her birthday, and she insisted I go fishing...isn't she great?
Anyway, here's what's up at the Occoquan as of today.
As beetlecat Jimmy said, the kayak launch beach has been cleaned up a bit. There are far fewer rocks than before. Here's a pic of the beach from the water:
Lots of water coming down from the reservoir at the end of the creek. The flow of water coming down looked like rapids... The water was pretty murky (less than 1' visibility maybe?)
The winds were pretty calm, and I think Saturday is forecasted to be similar to today...so that will be nice.
I spent most of the time paddling around in areas I hadn't fished before (upstream from the launch area), but came up empty-handed. I went to the ol' reliable marina and ran into the dock guard there (note there were no empty slips). He was fishing too, and I asked him about the fishing. He said the crappie bite was hot in October, but has been slow lately - at least around the marina docks. He said recently anglers have been catching some big slabs at the 95 bridge by jigging on the bottom. So if you're targeting crappies Saturday, bring some small weights to get to the bottom around the bridge - it's ~20 feet deep there.
If you want to try the bridge Saturday, here's what it looks like from the water:
I paddled over to the bridge and jigged a small red/chartreuse tube for about 20 minutes. I ended up with just one fish, but he was a beauty! 12" crappie.
So unfortunately I wasn't able to find any big schools of crappie, but did prove that they are there and that they will bite... bring whatever you've got that will allow the crappie to find your bait/lures in the murky water.
Anyway, here's what's up at the Occoquan as of today.
As beetlecat Jimmy said, the kayak launch beach has been cleaned up a bit. There are far fewer rocks than before. Here's a pic of the beach from the water:
Lots of water coming down from the reservoir at the end of the creek. The flow of water coming down looked like rapids... The water was pretty murky (less than 1' visibility maybe?)
The winds were pretty calm, and I think Saturday is forecasted to be similar to today...so that will be nice.
I spent most of the time paddling around in areas I hadn't fished before (upstream from the launch area), but came up empty-handed. I went to the ol' reliable marina and ran into the dock guard there (note there were no empty slips). He was fishing too, and I asked him about the fishing. He said the crappie bite was hot in October, but has been slow lately - at least around the marina docks. He said recently anglers have been catching some big slabs at the 95 bridge by jigging on the bottom. So if you're targeting crappies Saturday, bring some small weights to get to the bottom around the bridge - it's ~20 feet deep there.
If you want to try the bridge Saturday, here's what it looks like from the water:
I paddled over to the bridge and jigged a small red/chartreuse tube for about 20 minutes. I ended up with just one fish, but he was a beauty! 12" crappie.
So unfortunately I wasn't able to find any big schools of crappie, but did prove that they are there and that they will bite... bring whatever you've got that will allow the crappie to find your bait/lures in the murky water.
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