Off to the Potomac

[bassboogieman]

Three of us are headed to the Potomac this morning for a couple days of kayak fishing. Will be in the back of Mattawoman Cr., launching from Slavin's in Indianhead. Bass and snakeheads - here we come. Pictures upon return.

[WatterBoy]

Have fun and good luck! Looking forward to the pics.

[keithdog]

I hope to see lots of photos! Good luck!!!

[bassboogieman]

I have some pictures - kayak pictures. We caught decent numbers, after we figured out what bait and presentation would produce bites, but nothing over 3 lbs. Now we've all seen NUMEROUS pictures of 3 lbs bass so I didn't bother with pictures of average bass. I really wanted a decent snakehead, and yes I got one to the kayak on Wednesday and it was pretty darn big. Sad story was, it was too big for my net, would not open it's mouth for my gripper to grab hold, too big behind the head for me (and I have large hands) to get ahold of it and when I finally tried to sink my gaff into it (the gap on the gaff hook WAS TOO NARROW) and failed, the fish went nuts right beside my kayak. I had 15# leader on my braid, but didn't think I could lift it half way out of the water to slit it's belly and hauling it into my kayak with my rods vunerable to a wildly thrashing snakehead was out of the question. Due to my lack of patience - my two companions were pedaling like crazy to come to assist me - it got off. I had that darn fish filleted, baked and on my dinner plate - well that's all I was thinking of - so I learned a lesson, when dealing with large fish in a kayak - you need to think and have a plan to get it in the cooler. My next addition to my kayak equipment (for the Potomac anyway) will be a hammer. So here are the pictures, we did get drenched on Tuesday afternoon by rain, but it was warm and I really didn't mind (goretex is GREAT).

My latest version of my trailer. With my current back problems getting the second PA-14 off the top when on the ramp was a bit of an issue, but with three kayaks on it, it traveled well running down I-95.


At the ramp, all unloaded and ready to go - Doc couldn't wait, that's him out in the creek fishing away while we park the car and get ready to go.


Doc fishes from a Hobie Outback, I did too my first year but I wanted something bigger, and I don't like all my rods sticking up to snag branches or lures. NOT that branches were an issue on the Potomac.


My PA-14, notice NO rods sticking up in the air. I really like this "kayak".


This is my buddy Bob. This shows you how we had to fish. The bass were back in these pads. No fishing the edges, we finally hit on hollow body swim baits thrown several yards back in them, or getting deep in the pads by going back the tiny channels, inaccessible to a boat. Bob also has a Hobie PA-14.


Rods in the air or flat in the kayak? Whichever works!


I like fishing the Potomac and it won't be too long before we are back down there. But it won't be a holiday week, we had horrible traffic Wed. nite on the way home - a 3 hr drive turned into 5 hours. I hate that. But it was a couple of fun days fishing the pads, I think I need a pink frog...

[bamabassman]

looks like ya'll had a fantastic time brucie. it is SUPER GOOD to see ol doc again. glad everything went well for ya'll.

adn you ALSO need a PINK HOODIE bruce, BWAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[lilmule]

Makes those thick pads accessible.

[3dkicker]

My weapon of choice on the river........


"NOT that branches were an issue on the Potomac." - You must not be fishing in the right spots.......

Swimbaits this time of year are a good choice on the river. Sorry you didn't find any bigger fish.

[keithdog]

Looks like an awesome time to me! I can see your being able to get deep into the shallows with a kayak. One thing though. Loosing the big snake head. A real BF.COM member would have thrust his hand deep into the throat and grabbed those sharp gills from the inside and lifted him out of the water. Sharp teeth, laugh it off. hahahaha Sharp hooks, no problem. lol

[nofearengineer]

I'd love to have a kayak...

But I have no idea how I'd get 15 rods, two 1198's, four tackle bags, downriggers, and a hairy giant into one.

[bassboogieman]

I'd love to have a kayak...

No reason NOT to. You do have to learn to be more selective in your tackle and an 898 would be sufficient for a kayak.

It is a much more relaxed form of fishing, so carrying 15 rods with a different lures tied on isn't really the way to do it. Many rods will perform multi-tasks you just have to take a minute and tie on something rather than pick up a different rod. And for most waters you don't really need 15 rods for a day's fishing. For the Potomac trip that was the origin of this post I took 6 rods and a small tackle bag of plastics and three 3600 size Plano boxes of lures. I used THREE rods, a bag of Rage Toads, and a couple bags of hollow body swim baits over 2 days. I didn't open any of the Plano boxes. I needed a frog rod, a rod for the HBSB and a Senko rod - that was all. I'm going back down in a couple weeks and I will not be taking as much tackle, I've learned I don't need it and to eliminate the excess. It's a BIG change from having the virtual tackle store that is aboard my boat.

Just think about the week at Dale Hollow - I had 19 rods in my locker, how many do you think I picked up during the week? Try FOUR! for the whole week the other 15 never made it out of the rod locker. Tackle? I used a few poppers and a few bags of Senko's, a dozen other lure boxes and 30 pounds of plastic never saw the deck.

For a day of kayak fishing you have to think and prepare a little differently than when you hook up your boat. That can be fun also, it is for me. Planning also enters into a days fishing when you try and decide WHERE you will be fishing also. It's not like a boat and you can run 10 miles or more if you guessed wrong.

Bottom line you need to plan where you are going to go, what presentations and lures will likely work the best there, then load up and hit the water and just have some fun. There is NOTHING like it. I like my boat, but I enjoy the kayak even more.

Oh and as for the HAIRY GIANT - a Hobie PA-14 is rated for 600 pounds and for a "kayak" has a good bit of room. I'm not a little guy and I am comfortable for a full day on the water in mine.

Oh and I just thought of this: I know several guys that TROLL for stripers in a Hobie PA-14 on the Upper Bay, so you could maybe try your planer boards, though I don't think downriggers would be a good idea.