any warm-water adventures over the weekend?

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martalus
Posts: 486
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:39 pm

any warm-water adventures over the weekend?

Post by martalus » Mon Jul 06, 2020 2:04 pm

With it really heating up, did anyone successfully chase other species? I got out to the Potomac just north of DC, but within the beltway (lock 8) for a few hours on Friday afternoon-the river is quite wide and I wading out between a series of small islands/rocks. After a few hours, I managed only one 10 inch smallie and an 18inch channel cat. Its only 15 min from my house with lots of interesting water so I will try again one evening or early morning when the sun is not beating down. On Saturday I went out to the South Fork of the Shenandoah river with my kid, about 10 miles south of Front Royal. It is supposed to be one of the best smallie rivers on the east coast in terms of quality and quantity of fish. Unfortunately the Shenandoah state park with five miles of river access was full when I got there at 930 am and all the camp grounds nearby were full. We found a boat launch and did some bush wacking/wading to a nice stretch of river. Unfortuanely it was opposite a camp ground and there were literally hundreds of tubers, kayakers, fishermen, swimmers, etc.-It was July 4 so I guess that the only time people go outside? Anyway, I managed only two smallies, a bunch of bluegill and one massive 15 pound channel cat on a Mepps number 2 spinner. Its the kind of river where you can have 100 fish days, so I was a bit disappointed-it was a long way to drive to have no solitude-I was better off right outside of DC on that front! I will have to try again during the week or another less busy time as it is nice scenery and water.

Fishybig
Posts: 326
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2019 6:43 am

Re: any warm-water adventures over the weekend?

Post by Fishybig » Mon Jul 06, 2020 5:56 pm

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20200703_144239.jpg (9.91 MiB) Viewed 5914 times
I got some diff species this weekend!!!gr8 day ...5 fer5

15 lb. Cat is no slouch!!! dat makes the trip worth it in my mind!!!

martalus
Posts: 486
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:39 pm

Re: any warm-water adventures over the weekend?

Post by martalus » Mon Jul 06, 2020 6:33 pm

Is that tuna and a mahi mahi? Looks tasty!

The big cat sure was a surprise and an exciting fight considering I was chucking a Mepps spinner for smallies. Some local boy was actually targeting cats just up river of me in the slow water and he asked if he could keep it, to which I replied, heck yes if you can help me land it (I was only using 8 lb test and had no net). After many minutes of dives and runs, I got the fish between us (we were wading in almost waste deep water) and the guy grabbed the line (which was a mistake) and it broke off when the fish rolled. The guy was afraid to bear hug it like I suggested as he didnt want to get stung by the barbs. It certainly was an exciting event for my four year old who was wading next to me!

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