Potomac reports?

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Bill Wittig

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Jul 4, 2020, 9:33:34 PM7/4/20
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Anyone fishing the Potomac this weekend? Taking my girls out on canoe out of Fletcher’s tomorrow and wondering what to expect. Unfortunately, haven’t gotten much fishing in lately.

Yambag Nelson

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Jul 5, 2020, 5:25:04 PM7/5/20
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Did you catch anything?

Barracuda

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Jul 6, 2020, 5:58:14 PM7/6/20
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I put my kayak on the river inside the Beltway today, (spin) fished hard for about 5 hours. One small smallmouth.

I've been fishing the Potomac since the late 1980s. The last three years have been by far the worst three years for smallmouth I've seen in that entire time.

Nathaniel Buckner

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Jul 6, 2020, 8:37:38 PM7/6/20
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Hi all, I'm new to fishing the Potomac. This is sort of on topic: I saw several dead fish floating just south of chain bridge on the fourth. One was a cat. Didn't get close enough to see what the others were. I was in a kayak. The river was pretty slow and there were bait anglers everywhere from the shore. The river seems to get a tremendous amount of pressure in the georgetown/fletchers cove/chainbridge areas. There was a person every 10 feet or so at one point. But I've never seen anyone land a fish from the shore as of this writing but I've only fished it a couple days so far. 

Is it better during the week rather than the weekend?

Best,

Nathaniel

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Luke Morrison

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Jul 6, 2020, 8:51:22 PM7/6/20
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I really admire those that find success from the bank near fletchers. Just navigating the mud alone is a workout. Kudos to all those brave souls that make it happen and find success. I’ve tried my luck from the bank at fletchers about six times and have sworn not to waste an afternoon battling the mud and crowds again. 

Now fishing from a boat at fletchers is a completely different scenario. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 6, 2020, at 8:37 PM, Nathaniel Buckner <n.bu...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all, I'm new to fishing the Potomac. This is sort of on topic: I saw several dead fish floating just south of chain bridge on the fourth. One was a cat. Didn't get close enough to see what the others were. I was in a kayak. The river was pretty slow and there were bait anglers everywhere from the shore. The river seems to get a tremendous amount of pressure in the georgetown/fletchers cove/chainbridge areas. There was a person every 10 feet or so at one point. But I've never seen anyone land a fish from the shore as of this writing but I've only fished it a couple days so far. 
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JB Rolter

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Jul 6, 2020, 9:41:48 PM7/6/20
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I went to hemlock overlook this weekend just to get away and wet a line. Must have caught 15 different types of bluegill / sunfish.
But surprising also caught a few smallies ranging from ~ 3 to 9 inches. Most were under 6 inches but I saw quite a few all day. Wonder if the are coming back from the heavy rains of 2 years ago. The ones I caught were definitely feisty.

Carp were plentiful, HUGE, and nowhere close to wadable access ...

Yambag Nelson

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Jul 6, 2020, 9:57:38 PM7/6/20
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Generally less people fishing there during the week.  If you go there from mid march through mid may you will see a lot of people catching shad from shore.  You can sometimes catch schoolies from shore around chain bridge.  Other than that I have never had any notable days fishing from shore.  An occasional smallmouth here and there but it is generally a waste of time outside the spring window.

Most of the people you see are probably fishing for catfish.  They catch them from shore all the time.

Bill Wittig

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Jul 13, 2020, 8:07:25 PM7/13/20
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Nope. We just broiled ourselves in the sun. Clearly, the fish are smarter than we are.

Chris James

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Jul 14, 2020, 7:53:13 AM7/14/20
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Has anyone ventured up to Dam 4 around Shepardstown this year? Thought it may be better way up stream for smallmouth. I hit Violettes lock a few times with not even a tug.

-Chris

Carl Z.

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Jul 14, 2020, 8:22:41 AM7/14/20
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Let us know if you head up that way.

I have been hearing that the other Virginia rivers are doing well (not Shenandoah).    
Carl

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On Tue, Jul 14, 2020 at 7:53 AM Chris James <cja...@gmail.com> wrote:
Has anyone ventured up to Dam 4 around Shepardstown this year? Thought it may be better way up stream for smallmouth. I hit Violettes lock a few times with not even a tug.

-Chris

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Art Friedlander

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Jul 14, 2020, 9:20:56 AM7/14/20
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Not being familiar with the Virginia rivers, can you say which rivers are doing well.
Thanks
Art

Chris James

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Jul 16, 2020, 2:48:18 PM7/16/20
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I ventured out to dam 4 this morning. Fished from around 8am to 1pm and managed 10-12 smallies, the largest being around 13 inches. Not sure where the bigger fish are? Fletchers cove maybe?

Gregg Rockett

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Jul 16, 2020, 3:42:06 PM7/16/20
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Daniel Lazenby and I were out on the C&O very early to fish for carp.  We started at Lock 7, but that was fruitless.  Water was very discolored and there was a film of algae on the surface.  So we went down to Fletchers and walked toward G-Town for about 1 mile.  Barely saw any fish because water too was very discolored.  We saw a few mud clouds, so knew there were fish in there.  Found one tailing in grassy area just near Fletchers and had it turn to a fly, but probably caught sight of us and turned away.  Found an angler with rod and reel that also hadnt seen any fish.


On Saturday, July 4, 2020 at 9:33:34 PM UTC-4, Bill Wittig wrote:

Luke Morrison

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Jul 16, 2020, 6:51:36 PM7/16/20
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Is the dam 4 you’re referring to on the Maryland/West Virginia line? If you have a Maryland license is that acceptable or do you need a West Virginia license? Thanks in advance for the info!

Richard Farino

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Jul 16, 2020, 7:00:21 PM7/16/20
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Either license from either side of the Potomac is acceptable. MD & WV share reciprocity on the Potomac above the Shenandoah. MD & VA share reciprocity below it.

On the Shenandoah there WV and VA also share reciprocity.


R

On 7/16/20, 6:51 PM, "Luke Morrison" <tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com on behalf of lukemor...@gmail.com> wrote:

Is the dam 4 you’re referring to on the Maryland/West Virginia line? If you have a Maryland license is that acceptable or do you need a West Virginia license? Thanks in advance for the info!

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Carl Z.

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Jul 19, 2020, 12:25:16 AM7/19/20
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The Virginia rivers  I was thinking of were the Rapahanoch and James,  

It's good to know someone was catching smallies in the Potomac. 

Carl

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Owen Williams

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Jul 19, 2020, 6:16:17 PM7/19/20
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I got skunked on the smallies today at Riverbend (and even started fishing before 7:30). Saw three other fly casters over the course of about five hours, and only one had caught a small smallmouth (casting a clawdad with spey). Maybe they're wearing masks? 

Had to switch to poppers and hit the shaded wood on the banks to save the day with a half dozen 'gills. 

The water temp was like taking a bath. 

Best, 
Owen



On Sunday, July 19, 2020 at 12:25:16 AM UTC-4, Carl wrote:
The Virginia rivers  I was thinking of were the Rapahanoch and James,  

It's good to know someone was catching smallies in the Potomac. 

Carl

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On Tue, Jul 14, 2020 at 9:20 AM 'Art Friedlander' via Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders <tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Not being familiar with the Virginia rivers, can you say which rivers are doing well.
Thanks
Art

On Tuesday, July 14, 2020, 8:22:40 AM EDT, Carl Z. <carl....@gmail.com> wrote:


Let us know if you head up that way.

I have been hearing that the other Virginia rivers are doing well (not Shenandoah).    
Carl

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On Tue, Jul 14, 2020 at 7:53 AM Chris James <cja...@gmail.com> wrote:
Has anyone ventured up to Dam 4 around Shepardstown this year? Thought it may be better way up stream for smallmouth. I hit Violettes lock a few times with not even a tug.

-Chris

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namfos

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Jul 19, 2020, 6:52:05 PM7/19/20
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I was at Weverton at the crack of dawn this morning: skunked. Water was 82F. When sun got above the trees the solar beat-down was too much and headed for home. 
Mark

On Sunday, July 19, 2020 at 6:16:17 PM UTC-4 

Chris James

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Jul 19, 2020, 9:35:31 PM7/19/20
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Went up to Big Eddy on the Doah just north of Harpers Ferry and all I got was a bluegill on a popper.

Art Friedlander

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Jul 20, 2020, 9:33:21 AM7/20/20
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Kevin KB

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Jul 20, 2020, 9:48:34 AM7/20/20
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Ok, you can question my judgement, but I was tent camping at the Rappahannock River Campground this past very hot weekend.  The fishing was "ok".  Went out for several 2 to 4 hour wading trips over the three days.  Never got skunked, but mainly caught sunfish, but caught a good number of 8 to 10 inch smallies.  I got one that was probably 14 inches.  The water was really low and warm.  At Fredericksburg, the USGS gauge showed the water in the 90`s and it was at least that at the campground.  

Owen Williams

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Jul 21, 2020, 7:30:43 AM7/21/20
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14"! That's not too shabby!

I like to think of it more as "slow-motion partial bathing while fanning myself with a long stick."

Thanks Carl

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Luke Morrison

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Jul 25, 2020, 5:37:08 PM7/25/20
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Fished the Potomac above Harpers Ferry this morning, got out early to beat the tubing floatillas. 5 smallies brought to hand all within the 8-10” range. All fish looked healthy, I’ve only recently started fishing this area and I’m much more familiar with the Shenandoah system. Are sunfish and fall fish present on the Potomac in the Harpers Ferry area? I’ve had a few encounters with catfish, they’ll attack a black bugger or a clouser.

Lane Smith

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Jul 27, 2020, 2:05:42 PM7/27/20
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Camped at the Harper's Ferry adventure park this weekend and put some time in fishing while others in our group were tubing/ziplining/sleeping. Had several bites, but didn't catch anything. Probably because the fish were too small for what I was using. The variety and number of terrestrials I observed was astonishing compared with what I normally see closer to DC. If nothing else, it was fun using a bunch of larger patterns I wouldn't bother with closer to home.

Someone above questioned their own intelligence for camping in July. To any who would ponder it, I recommend getting a portable air conditioner (USB vaporator). Our nights were lovely. Nothing beats falling asleep with real running water in the background. Pure magic.

Lane


On Saturday, July 4, 2020 at 9:33:34 PM UTC-4, Bill Wittig wrote:
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