Radiated mudhole and flooded Potomac...again.

[3dkicker]

First off I apologize about the picture size. I was not, I repeat not trying to make the fish look bigger than they really were.....

So I got out last week for a midweek tournament on Anna. We had 2-3" of rain overnight and since we had 7"+ a week or so before the ground was saturated. Of course this means the lake would be muddy or rumored to be. Actually it was in pretty good shape and just a little high. Headed up lake to check things out and fished a couple areas without luck. Ran to a bridge that typically holds fish and sure enough set the hook and have a nice 2-3lb bass jump and throw the hook...... NOT a good start. We continue to fish and try to figure out a pattern. I do catch a couple peanuts on a fluke bait and a grub so I'm happy that I'm putting fish in the boat. I'm not happy that I lost 3 bass that really would have helped. It was a good day but pathetic weight at 2.95lbs and that was with the bag . Yes three legal fish, postspawn, weighing in at 2.5lbs. Looks like the old Anna is back!!!




Now on to the river. More rain and thunderstorms continue and we've got flood tides. This tournament is a single lure format where the TD chooses one bait and everyone fishes that bait for a specific period of time. The choice by the TD, aka The Major, aka My Partner for the Day, turns out to be a good one . We head on out to the area that I had some success two weeks ago, with the same bait, and start tossing the blades. Working down the bank I hook up with a 14" short chunk. Not bad start but we need 15" fish. Next fish goes a little over 15". And the next. And the next and we're working down the bank. We work back and forth for a couple hours and I've got 4 keepers in the boat. The Major has one but he's building up momentum. He'd snagged a snakehead or two, a white perch, and a citation yellow perch before he caught his first bass. Once he catches his first keeper he's pumped up and he's found a nice blade to throw. Double Indiana that he's dragging off the bank does the trick and he's catching better fish than I have. When he hits the 4lber I know my limits in trouble..... We spend most of the day on a 1/4 mile stretch and both have our limits. A very nice day . Now how did everyone else do??? We head back in for weigh in and it turns out most other boats had a tough day. The Major leads day one with 13.45 lbs and I'm second with 10.97lbs. A very good day. But will the lead hold the next day???

Day 2. It's cold! It was 48 degrees overnight and water temps have dropped 8-10 degrees over two days. Winds are blowing out of the north. The water has gotten muddier not cleaner and we have bluebird skies......tough day of fishing. We hit a number of areas without much luck unless you call a 5-6lb snakehead luck. I called him dinner!!! We head to the back of Mattawomen to fish a couple areas and stop along one wall area. The Major tosses out a T-rigged craw and sets the hook!!! Get the net he yells and turn to see the biggest bass I've ever seen on the river jump and toss the bait.....silence. Tough tough way to lose a bass. I guess those Trokar hooks aren't as good as they claim......



We move on to other areas. Still waiting for the bass to start feeding. We think we need to wait out the tide and find some warmer cleaner water. No luck. A lot of casting with very little reward. No bass for either of us. Only good thing that came out of the day was that we did see a world record snakehead in one of the areas I like to fish.....GAME ON!!! I'm gonna get him!!! I drop a Punisher 1 foot in front of it's nose but no luck. But I know where he lives and next time out he's in trouble!!!!

So we head to weigh in and hear pretty much the same stories from everyone else....very tough day on the water. One fish here or there and only one limit weighed in. A good one too but it was a guest and his weight didn't count. Not bad for the weekend placing #1 and #2 on the same boat.