Drum In the Potomac
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HeaveToo
Oct 14, 2012, 2:47:10 PM10/14/12
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I received information that they are catching puppy drum in the Potomac River. They are catching them off of the last red marker out of Colonial Beach. The area inside of the marker is a sand bar with an oyster bed near the marker. The drum are being caught drifting in the area of the oyster bed. You can probably mark this on a fish finder pretty easily.
A local waterman who keeps his boat at the dock where I dock my sailboat told me of this. There are been a few fish in the 22" range that he has personally caught. They have also caught a few drum in their crab pots (which they were in the process of pulling out for the season).
The water in the area outside of the sandbar should be around 10 feet. On the sandbar side is is much shallower and, if I remember correctly, you may find the oyster bed in 7 feet of water (between 7 and 10 feet).
This area should be accessible by boat or kayak (you could launch a kayak directly off of the beach and paddle out there on a calm day). There is a boat ramp inside of Monroe Bay that is free to use if you have a boat.
I was told by the waterman that they are not catching fish in Monroe Bay or Mattox Creek, just in the main part of the river near structure.
A local waterman who keeps his boat at the dock where I dock my sailboat told me of this. There are been a few fish in the 22" range that he has personally caught. They have also caught a few drum in their crab pots (which they were in the process of pulling out for the season).
The water in the area outside of the sandbar should be around 10 feet. On the sandbar side is is much shallower and, if I remember correctly, you may find the oyster bed in 7 feet of water (between 7 and 10 feet).
This area should be accessible by boat or kayak (you could launch a kayak directly off of the beach and paddle out there on a calm day). There is a boat ramp inside of Monroe Bay that is free to use if you have a boat.
I was told by the waterman that they are not catching fish in Monroe Bay or Mattox Creek, just in the main part of the river near structure.
hawaiian bones
Oct 16, 2012, 7:56:57 PM10/16/12
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I will vouch for that. My buddy got into 3 drum this past weekend in vicinity of Deltaville. That said... I don't think I'll have much of a problem figuring out where I'm headed this weekend
Casey Peltier
Oct 16, 2012, 7:58:23 PM10/16/12
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(Say that fast 4 times...:-))
here's a pattern we can all relate to!
http://forums.flytyer.com/forum/31-freshwater-tying/29199-snakehead-fry-imitation-pattern
here's a pattern we can all relate to!
http://forums.flytyer.com/forum/31-freshwater-tying/29199-snakehead-fry-imitation-pattern
Miles
Oct 17, 2012, 9:57:31 AM10/17/12
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Casey,
Those are Giant Snakehead fry in the picture. Northern Snakehead fry -- what we have around here -- look like this: http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/Snakehead_circ_1251/Snakehead_1251_36a.jpg
I've tied a baby snakehead fly that's basically a clouser-zonker hybrid: I use yellow and brown chenille to created a mottled body, then tie down on top of that a barred yellow zonker strip. I top it with a few strands of herl from a turkey or pheasant feather. The one time I fished the fly seriously, I caught a nice smallmouth by the wrecked barge at Occoquan. I'll post a photo of the fly if anybody's interested.
Miles
Those are Giant Snakehead fry in the picture. Northern Snakehead fry -- what we have around here -- look like this: http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/Snakehead_circ_1251/Snakehead_1251_36a.jpg
I've tied a baby snakehead fly that's basically a clouser-zonker hybrid: I use yellow and brown chenille to created a mottled body, then tie down on top of that a barred yellow zonker strip. I top it with a few strands of herl from a turkey or pheasant feather. The one time I fished the fly seriously, I caught a nice smallmouth by the wrecked barge at Occoquan. I'll post a photo of the fly if anybody's interested.
Miles
Danny Barrett
Oct 17, 2012, 10:09:59 AM10/17/12
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Id love to see it if its not to much effort. Never heards to see an extra one to try and tie or modify.
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Miles
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Aaron O
Oct 17, 2012, 10:25:42 AM10/17/12
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Hey Miles,
Thanks for the suggestion. I will tie some and give it a try. Would like to see that photo. Have you fished theses any differently compared to the classic clouser. I don't know if snakehead fry hide more in the weeds compared to other fishes. Just a thought.
Aaron
Miles
Oct 18, 2012, 9:07:08 AM10/18/12
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Here's a pic, plus I'll give a more detailed recipe for this version.
Hook -- #4 streamer, down-eye
Thread -- black or brown 3/0 or G
Eyes -- gold dumbell
Tail -- yellow barred zonker strip (I cheaped out and used a permanent marker on a plain yellow strip)
Body -- yellow and brown chenilles wrapped together (or mottled chenille, if you have it)
Rib -- gold tinsel (not necessary)
Collar -- brown hackle (not necessary)
Under-wing -- gold flash
Head -- brown sculpin wool
Wing -- dark brown turkey feather herl
Tie the eyes as you would for a Clouser -- i.e. about a third of the way back from the hook eye, and on the top of the hook shank.
The big trick to the fly is to tie the body first, then tie in a strand of tinsel, then put down the rabbit strip -- you'll have to push the hook point through the strip to get it in the right position. Tie down the front end of the rabbit strip and wrap the tinsel forward around the rabbit strip to secure the strip to the body. For each wrap of tinsel, you'll want to work it into the rabbit fur so the tinsel doesn't trap any; that way the rabbit fur has relatively free movement. Then tie down the tinsel. If you don't like this method of tying down zonker strips, the other way to do it is to tie down the front it, then whip-finish and clip the thread; tie in again right at the hook bend, secure the strip there, then whip-finish, clip, and restart the thread at the front end. Different strokes and all that.
The hackle collar is not necessary -- the wool head does all of the work in terms of pushing water. The wool head is just a fat puff of wool tied in on top of the hook right in front of the eyes, so that it flares out and sweeps back. You'll want to trim the head to be flush with the side of the eyes.
The wing should be a section of turkey feather about a quarter inch or so across. Tie it down lying flat on top of the head -- so the plane of the feather is horizontal, not vertical as normal for baitfish. Snakeheads have relatively broad heads, and this give the fly the right profile.
As far as fishing the fly, I would expect it to be reasonably effective anywhere in the tidal Potomac, but especially where there's weeds and some depth. It does sink, you can't fish it very shallow, but it's somewhat weed-resistant.
Miles
Hook -- #4 streamer, down-eye
Thread -- black or brown 3/0 or G
Eyes -- gold dumbell
Tail -- yellow barred zonker strip (I cheaped out and used a permanent marker on a plain yellow strip)
Body -- yellow and brown chenilles wrapped together (or mottled chenille, if you have it)
Rib -- gold tinsel (not necessary)
Collar -- brown hackle (not necessary)
Under-wing -- gold flash
Head -- brown sculpin wool
Wing -- dark brown turkey feather herl
Tie the eyes as you would for a Clouser -- i.e. about a third of the way back from the hook eye, and on the top of the hook shank.
The big trick to the fly is to tie the body first, then tie in a strand of tinsel, then put down the rabbit strip -- you'll have to push the hook point through the strip to get it in the right position. Tie down the front end of the rabbit strip and wrap the tinsel forward around the rabbit strip to secure the strip to the body. For each wrap of tinsel, you'll want to work it into the rabbit fur so the tinsel doesn't trap any; that way the rabbit fur has relatively free movement. Then tie down the tinsel. If you don't like this method of tying down zonker strips, the other way to do it is to tie down the front it, then whip-finish and clip the thread; tie in again right at the hook bend, secure the strip there, then whip-finish, clip, and restart the thread at the front end. Different strokes and all that.
The hackle collar is not necessary -- the wool head does all of the work in terms of pushing water. The wool head is just a fat puff of wool tied in on top of the hook right in front of the eyes, so that it flares out and sweeps back. You'll want to trim the head to be flush with the side of the eyes.
The wing should be a section of turkey feather about a quarter inch or so across. Tie it down lying flat on top of the head -- so the plane of the feather is horizontal, not vertical as normal for baitfish. Snakeheads have relatively broad heads, and this give the fly the right profile.
As far as fishing the fly, I would expect it to be reasonably effective anywhere in the tidal Potomac, but especially where there's weeds and some depth. It does sink, you can't fish it very shallow, but it's somewhat weed-resistant.
Miles
hawaiian bones
Oct 27, 2012, 9:40:20 PM10/27/12
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