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Last Saturday morning I got up early and drove over to my favorite submerged ledge on the Potomac River. It is a part of the river that sometimes gets overlooked. The next time I go, I'll bring my kayak. This trip was supposed to be 2 hours of wet wading. I wanted to hit a submerged ledge that I've probably fished a dozen times since around 2008, but I hadn't been there in probably 7 or 8 years. This was my first time attempting Tenkara fishing in the Potomac with the goal of catching a smallmouth bass.
I hiked along the C & O Canal towpath and eventually found where I needed to get off and do a little hike down an overgrown path. I was working on memory and some things had changed along the towpath with some downed trees and construction activities done to maintain the path. I was glad I found the spot. The path through the woods down to the river was there, but not heavily used. I'm guessing not many people venture to this exact spot to fish.
I made my way into the river and almost slipped getting in. That couple of feet right at the water line is slick. The river was low and clear, but was rising very slightly due to some overnight thunderstorms. The water had risen enough to dislodge a lot of aquatic vegetation. Every cast resulted in some grass on the fly.
This area is a shallow flat that in one direction leads to a submerged ledge. The ledge has some deep holes behind it. I ended up wading around on the flat and eventually worked my way along the ledge. I spooked a few smallmouth bass. I saw some zebra striped fish that I assumed were a school of suckers. There were a lot of minnow/darter fish all in the grass areas and shallows. I made some crayfish scatter as well.
Fishing was ok. I caught about 8 sunfish. Most of the sunfish were caught on a bead chain eye clouser that had a strip of rabbit fur on it. It was kinda orange, so I guess it looked a little like a crayfish or an orange minnow. The sunfish were in the current breaks behind clumps of grass/grass mats, or behind the rocks/ledges.
I only had one smallmouth bass strike a top water foam cylinder minnow/popper. The smallie was in the deepest hole behind the submerged ledge. Naturally, I was spacing out and messing around with a clump of grass that had wrapped around my leg and I missed the actual strike. By the time I realized my minnow/popper was underwater I gave a weak and ultimately terrible hook set. The smallmouth bass was on for a few seconds, but came off when it jumped.
Overall it was a fun trip. Nostalgic to find the submerged ledge that I remembered and fun to encounter some fish there. The water was clear and low. The continual floating grass clumps were annoying. The river was beautiful and I had the place to myself. It was good to see the abundance of fish/minnows/crayfish/bugs in the river. Sure, I would have liked to have seen more smallmouth bass, but I was glad to spook a few and hook one. Next time I hope to land a few.
I hiked along the C & O Canal towpath and eventually found where I needed to get off and do a little hike down an overgrown path. I was working on memory and some things had changed along the towpath with some downed trees and construction activities done to maintain the path. I was glad I found the spot. The path through the woods down to the river was there, but not heavily used. I'm guessing not many people venture to this exact spot to fish.
I made my way into the river and almost slipped getting in. That couple of feet right at the water line is slick. The river was low and clear, but was rising very slightly due to some overnight thunderstorms. The water had risen enough to dislodge a lot of aquatic vegetation. Every cast resulted in some grass on the fly.
This area is a shallow flat that in one direction leads to a submerged ledge. The ledge has some deep holes behind it. I ended up wading around on the flat and eventually worked my way along the ledge. I spooked a few smallmouth bass. I saw some zebra striped fish that I assumed were a school of suckers. There were a lot of minnow/darter fish all in the grass areas and shallows. I made some crayfish scatter as well.
Fishing was ok. I caught about 8 sunfish. Most of the sunfish were caught on a bead chain eye clouser that had a strip of rabbit fur on it. It was kinda orange, so I guess it looked a little like a crayfish or an orange minnow. The sunfish were in the current breaks behind clumps of grass/grass mats, or behind the rocks/ledges.
I only had one smallmouth bass strike a top water foam cylinder minnow/popper. The smallie was in the deepest hole behind the submerged ledge. Naturally, I was spacing out and messing around with a clump of grass that had wrapped around my leg and I missed the actual strike. By the time I realized my minnow/popper was underwater I gave a weak and ultimately terrible hook set. The smallmouth bass was on for a few seconds, but came off when it jumped.
Overall it was a fun trip. Nostalgic to find the submerged ledge that I remembered and fun to encounter some fish there. The water was clear and low. The continual floating grass clumps were annoying. The river was beautiful and I had the place to myself. It was good to see the abundance of fish/minnows/crayfish/bugs in the river. Sure, I would have liked to have seen more smallmouth bass, but I was glad to spook a few and hook one. Next time I hope to land a few.
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