I had some downtime last week as my current consulting assignment winds down. Right now, it is only absorbing a few hours a week with the challenge of being to try and get those hours to occur on the same day so I can get out on the water!
For years, I have had my eye on fishing Aquia, but never found the time to go down here. Time to change that!
After being stunned by having to pay $10 to launch the canoe from the boat ramp just to the west of the bridge, I motored out with the intent to try and find some snakeheads. I headed west towards the shallow water. According to the study I read, snakeheads are in motion at this time of the year. They may be in the shallow water or they may be in the deep areas. Given the warmth of the day, I bet on the shallows.
The underwater vegetation was oppressive with only a few un-vegetated channels available to fish. In fact, I kept getting plenty of crud on my war so I eventually switched to using top water presentations exclusively. Unfortunately, in the western end, there was no activity on buzz baits, top water plugs or frogs. After working diligently for several hours, I gave up on the snakeheads and motored over to investigate the shoreline to the north of the ramp.
I was pleasantly surprised to find it relatively clear of the clogging vegetation that disrupted the fishing farther west. I worked down the shoreline using the typical set of plastics and began to pick up small bass on black or dark green senko type worms. I did not catch any fish worth bragging about, but there were enough of them to make it an enjoyable finish to a perfect sunny day.
On the way back to the ramp, I fished briefly underneath the bridge since I have been told that this is where the tournaments release all of their fish. They must all have migrated back out into the broader Potomac, because I could not find them.
Bottom line: This area is clearly the domain of bass boats. Clearly, there are big fish crusing these waters and that makes fishing here worthwhile if you have the right gear. But, with a $10 launch fee, I do not think I will return.
Google Local Coordinates: 38.422184,-77.358643
Secrets Revealed? No. This is a very public location that is a well known bass tournament location.
Tell a friend about this article by clicking on this link
Big water, thankfully… a calm day
I looked for snakeheads near the surface vegetation
I picked up all my bass on the shoreline
Plenty of little guys like this one
Unless stated otherwise, this article was authored by Steve Moore