Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Tips for this newbie on catching bigger fish

Remember,  Size doesn't matter.  Fun matters.

That and the likelihood of you catching more/bigger fish goes up dramatically with the amount of time spent on the water.  There are good days and bad days.  And when you are there for a really good day, that's the type of story you will tell (and here of here).  You don't usually hear, "oh I caught 4 tiny bluegill and an 8" smallmouth".  

As for gear,  I wouldn't bother with a sinking line on the 5wt in the waters you mentioned.  If you end up getting a 7 or 8wt rod, then I would think about it.

Just put on a heavily weighted woolly bugger/clouser and a 10' leader.  It's not very fun to cast, but it is very effective in the tidal basin. You might try something like a less weighted size 8 or 10 woolly bugger for bluegill.

Targeting really big fish is a different game.  It means you have to find them first.  Just read the historic posts in this group.  Now is the time people are on the lookout for  stripers.  March/April/May are the shad run and big stripers move in to chase the herring run. Catfish and carp are around all the time, but water level and temperature can make a difference.  Big small mouth should start biting above great falls now that the temperature is cooling down and they are starting to put on weight for winter.

Part of the joy of fishing is learning these patterns on you local water and anticipating them.  

Carl

On Mon, Oct 20, 2014 at 10:39 AM, Yambag Nelson <northstreetwreckingcrew@gmail.com> wrote:

You are kind of in a catch 22 situation.  The potomac is generally much more suited to fishing with some sort of sinking line (especially fletchers/chain bridge).  However, you should really focus on becoming a good caster with a floating line before really getting into sinking lines IMO.  They are not easy to cast and I would think would be extremely difficult to learn on.  I could very easily see someone developing bad habits if they did so.  The other thing is that the vast majority of flyfishing is done with floating lines.  Before moving to DC I never had any use for sinking lines.  I did have an intermediate line that I never used, but other than that, my fishing was entirely with floating lines. 

 

Ultimately, I would recommend becoming a good flycaster first and then worry about catching fish.  Or try to find some places that allow you to do both.  But ultimately, your success rate ate the places you mentioned will go up with a sinking line (I don't really fish the C&O, so my comment may not be valid there).

 

The flies you are using are fine.  Other than shad fishing, those are pretty much the only 2 flies I use on the potomac.

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