G-Man Fishing

For the second consecutive weekend I made a trip to the Potomac River at Riverbend Park. This time it was with a buddy and we rented a jon boat. The cost was $15 for 3 hours and included the boat, oars, life preservers, seat cushions, and an anchor. Notrolling motor unfortunately.It was another beautiful morning at 7 AM but the forecast was for a hot day in the mid 90s. We paddled across the river to some rocky areas with fallen trees. Again, the fishing action was fast and furious with bluegills pouncing on my small floating Rapala minnow jerkbait. I had it rigged the same way as last week, with a split shot about one and a half feet above the lure. When we got to a section of shaded shoreline, I caught a little smallmouth bass. A few moments later I felt another hit and started reeling fast. This time the fish seemed to be heavier. When I got the fish to the boat, I saw that it was not one fish… but two smallmouth bass hooked on my lure! Wow, thats never happened to me before. I’ve seen that happen only on the Bassmasters show on ESPN2. 7/7/07 must really be a lucky day!We fished some more and got probably at least 6-8 smallmouth bass and many more bluegill. None were really big but the fishing was still fun.

Oh what a beautiful morning it was. Cool. Temps in the 60s. Perfect for a 7 AM Potomac River excursion. We brought the canoe over to Riverbend Park near Great Falls, VA this morning for some early fishing action. This part of the Potomac is navigatable by canoe/kayak in both upstream and downstream directions. The bottom is rocky and some parts may require some tricky paddling to avoid bumping into the rocks. The scenery is beautiful with outcropped rocks, small islands, abundant wildlife, and more. The fishing was swift and fast. We used both jigs and small floating Rapala minnow jerkbaits. The lures were productive on the aggressive Bluegill and Smallmouth Bass. We must have caught about a dozen Bluegills and one baby Smallmouth by 8:30 AM. To cover more area, we decided to troll the small Rapala minnow. To get it to dive a little deeper I added a split shot weight about 1.5′ up from the lure. More Bluegill hits! After some more trolling, I got a hit and expected to reel in a Bluegill. Then I saw a 15″ Smallie do an acrobatic aerial dance over the water. Unfortunately, he jarred himself loose and got away. Darn! Anyways, we had a great time and didn’t mind just catching these little scrappers. If you haven’t tried the Potomac at Riverbend, give it a try. Although the fish are likely to be on the small side, you are guaranteed plenty of action.