Knowing that the rain was coming, the fact that I took vacation today, not knowing what the upper Potomac was looking like, and knowing that the fish are in the Occoquan River I took my kayak out into the Occoquan River today.
As I usually do, I paddled to the back of the river. I began about an hour after high tide. I tied on a red headed flasher in chartreuse and went to work looking for a snakehead or a shad (both seem to take this fly as do other species of fish).
The fishing started out slow and I didn't get a bite in one area that I was catching shad in a few days ago. I then moved up to another area and on the first cast I got a nice hit. I set the hook and landed a nice sized schoolie striper (almost 3 pounds and somewhere between 16 and 17 inches). As time went on I caught two very nice largemouth bass (one over 3 pounds). The other bass was almost as nice. I then caught a few white perch.
In total I landed 5 schoolie stripers, 2 nice largemouth bass, and 6 or so small white perch. I didn't catch a single shad.
The snakehead weren't as active today. I did have a very big hit followed by a lot of weight on the rod. This was short lived and when I checked my fly I found a scale on it and there was a little green on the scale (probably snagged a snakehead for a second).
There were a lot of other people fishing the area. People hike in back to the back of the Occoquan but I believe that they are probably trespassing when they do so (they come off of the Fairfax side of the river). They were snagging fish (mainly snakehead).
I still can't seem to get a snakehead to bite my fly. I have tried a variety of flies and no luck. I have also changed up presentations and things like that. I think that the other ones that I have caught were because I basically was lucky and I hit them in the mouth as they were coming up (caught them right off of the cast).
I have read that after the snakehead spawn they guard their nest. I also read that they tend to spawn in areas of heavy vegetation and when the young hatch they guard them. This is supposed to be when they are most vulnerable. Has anyone seen this and where can I find this? What flies do you use for this?
-- As I usually do, I paddled to the back of the river. I began about an hour after high tide. I tied on a red headed flasher in chartreuse and went to work looking for a snakehead or a shad (both seem to take this fly as do other species of fish).
The fishing started out slow and I didn't get a bite in one area that I was catching shad in a few days ago. I then moved up to another area and on the first cast I got a nice hit. I set the hook and landed a nice sized schoolie striper (almost 3 pounds and somewhere between 16 and 17 inches). As time went on I caught two very nice largemouth bass (one over 3 pounds). The other bass was almost as nice. I then caught a few white perch.
In total I landed 5 schoolie stripers, 2 nice largemouth bass, and 6 or so small white perch. I didn't catch a single shad.
The snakehead weren't as active today. I did have a very big hit followed by a lot of weight on the rod. This was short lived and when I checked my fly I found a scale on it and there was a little green on the scale (probably snagged a snakehead for a second).
There were a lot of other people fishing the area. People hike in back to the back of the Occoquan but I believe that they are probably trespassing when they do so (they come off of the Fairfax side of the river). They were snagging fish (mainly snakehead).
I still can't seem to get a snakehead to bite my fly. I have tried a variety of flies and no luck. I have also changed up presentations and things like that. I think that the other ones that I have caught were because I basically was lucky and I hit them in the mouth as they were coming up (caught them right off of the cast).
I have read that after the snakehead spawn they guard their nest. I also read that they tend to spawn in areas of heavy vegetation and when the young hatch they guard them. This is supposed to be when they are most vulnerable. Has anyone seen this and where can I find this? What flies do you use for this?
http://www.tpfr.org
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