Jedwards36  01/11/2012 - 21:16  Potomac    I was thinking of planning a trip this spring for some big Potomac smallmouth. Any suggestions to places and lures. Thanks

DanMarino  11/21/2011 - 09:47  Trip Reports  Essays  Potomac    I hit my usual portion of the Potomac in the jet. Air temps were very comfortable and water temps were 46-47 degrees.

I'm trying to learn where the smallies go in the fall and I tried to focus on deeper water.

I found this 14 inch smallie. He hit a beetle spin with a curly tail grub on it. I lost two other fish on a tube and a fish bit the tail of the grub off.

It started raining and getting dark, so I called it a day.

Jedwards36  11/19/2011 - 17:51  Black Hills  Clopper  Farm Pond  Impoundments  Liberty  Loch Raven  Monocacy  Potomac  River  Whittier    How has this year of fishing done? What would be your best fishes this year( or so far for the musky chasers)?

DanMarino  11/06/2011 - 08:33  Trip Reports  Potomac    I met up with a guy named BigPat100 and we fished the upper Potomac on Saturday morning. Pat's boat has a 40 HP jet and it ran much faster than mine with the 20 HP engine so it was fun and CHILLY. Water temp was 48 degrees. Pat caught his healthy 12 inch smallie on a tube. I caught my 14 incher on a spinner bait with a grub on it instead of a rubber skirt. Fishing was slow, but we were both surprised to see 2 other boats fishing as well. We fished for about 3.5 hours and called it a day. Pat also caught a largemouth on an in-line spinner. I almost caught the largest fish of my life. I decided to put a crank bait on and began throwing it along the river bank as we drifted along. I thought I got snagged on something, but then my line began to move and my fully tightened down drag began stripping away. I should have loosened the drag. Pat thought I had a muskie or a big smallie. I wasn't sure. Whatever it was pulled like a horse. I eventually made some ground and got the fish to the surface after what seemed like 5 minutes. My crank bait had snagged the tail end of a HUGE carp! It was around 3 feet long and it was very broad with huge scales. The thing was a horse and probably wouldn't have fit into the net. We got it within arms reach of the boat and it made a frantic get away attempt. Then the knot on my lure slipped and the fish was gone with my crank bait still in its tail. I was using braided line and it seemed like the end of the line just sorta came undone and slipped through the palomar knot. It was a fun experience and would have make a very cool photograph. I could definitely get into carp fishing!!!!! Had a great time fishing with BigPat.

DanMarino  10/09/2011 - 08:18  Trip Reports  Potomac   

I took my kayak out on the Potomac Saturday afternoon. This weather is fantastic for fishing! The river was coming down from last weekend's rain and the water was pretty brown. Not much visibility at all, so I threw a beetle spin with a curly tail grub on it. I put in and paddled up river to get to some rocks and ledges. I fished up there for a while and caught this fish. It ambushed my lure from behind a rock as the current went by. It was an old looking fish and around 16.5 inches.

DanMarino  10/06/2011 - 07:15  Trip Reports  Essays  Potomac    I've got a 4 day weekend and the weather is looking splendid for a change!!!!

Is anyone planning to hit the Potomac this weekend (October 7-10)?

The river looks like it's coming down from being up from last weekend's rain.

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ogbudha  09/06/2011 - 18:30  Friends of MDfishing.org  Potomac    The Potomac River is forecasted to severely flood in the upcoming week. The high water is predicted to crest at 32 ft @ the POR gauge. When this occurs it will crest the C/O canal in multiple locations. This high water event will cause many fish to be become stranded and trapped in the normally dry C/O canal. Then as the water receeds these fish become stranded and they will ultimately perish as the water slowly drains back out of the once dry canal. We are in need of a few volunteers to assist with recovery efforts through the Washington,Frederick and Montgomery County areas. This same exact event occured this spring as well as the spring prior and recovery efforts saved thousands of fish.

DanMarino  09/05/2011 - 16:35  Trip Reports  Potomac    I was inspired to drive out towards Hagerstown/Sharpsburg this morning in search of smallies. I read some info in Penrod's Potomac River book and Taylors Landing sounded interesting. Water was pretty clear with an overcast sky. I fished for about 2 hours and caught 3 smallies, a big rock bass, and a sunfish the size of my outstretched hand. All fish were caught on a beetlespin with a curly tailed grub. I tried fishing tubes, but kept getting hung up terribly on the underwater rocks and ledges. The smallies were around 12 inches and fought well. One possibly bigger smallie was on, but came off half way to the kayak.

DanMarino  08/13/2011 - 15:58  Trip Reports  Potomac    I hit the Potomac this morning above Great Falls. I got to the river at 8AM and left at 11AM. Overcast skies and a couple of light rain showers. Water clarity was green/brown and really less than a foot. Nothing like mid-August the past 4 years. Air temperatures were in the 70's and water temperatures felt refreshing. Some star grass growing in the shallower spots.

No smallies on the buzzbait I was throwing, so I switched over to a tube. I decided to rig the tube on the bottom and also put a circle hook about 18 inches up the line and put on a Gulp Minnow. Caught two smallies pretty quickly on the minnow. Began fishing the minnow alone, with no takers. Switched to a tube again and eventually got one more. Largest smallie was 14 inches. The other two were around 11 or 12.

DanMarino  08/01/2011 - 09:57  Trip Reports  Potomac    I got the whole family, dog included, out on the Potomac yesterday afternoon for some fun. We strapped the kayaks to our 16 ft. jon boat and headed out to our normal launch. Water levels were very low. Water temperatures felt extremely warm and there was a huge algae bloom going on in the river. No observed aquatic vegetation, something seems off compared to my knowledge of the river the last couple of years. We headed up river towing the kids in the kayaks. Boy do I need a bigger engine. My 20hp jet wasn't cutting it and my wife agreed that a bigger engine/boat and an additional kayak would be nice. Found some willing fish and we weren't even in a prime area to do so. Documented my daughter's first two kayak smallies. Daughter Marino caught 2 smallies that were around 9 inches. Son Marino caught 3 smallies with the largest being 13 inches. We only fished for about 40 minutes so we did fine considering the high water temps and that we were in a slow pool area with little water flow. No good pictures of Son Marino's fish because he decided to go Drew Gregory and paddle off and stand up and fish in the Manta Ray. He was too far away to get any good pics using my camera.