Are the fishing gods Redskins fans?

reel report

Friday, Oct. 23, 2009

The temperatures were raw, the cold rains and drizzle miserable and the wind made things even worse for it was often howling.

Our fishing gods certainly must have been furious about something.

Hey, who knows? Maybe they're Redskins fans.

The weatherman is promising better conditions for this weekend coming up so don't lose all hope. And, talking about despair, maybe the ‘Skins will really stick it to Philly Monday night.

Sure, it could happen; and cows might sprout wings to fly and Washington politicians may stop spending our money and actually lower taxes. Uh huh.

On a serious note, this past Tuesday, American Rivers issued an advisory stating that the future of the Mattawoman Creek was still uncertain after they listed this water six months ago as one of the most endangered waterways in all of America for 2009.

Speaking about the proposed cross-county connector, Rebecca Wodder, president of American Rivers, said, "The only place this highway will lead is to dirty water, more traffic and poorly planned development."

Here's my humble vote in hoping that the Army Corps of Engineers and Maryland's Department of the Environment turn down the applications for those key permits needed and actually do something to protect one of the last remaining healthy streams in the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed.

After all, where is it written that we have to pave over absolutely everything in our natural world?

Southern Maryland lakes and ponds –– It's still a take-your-pick deal from among categories such as bluegill, crappie or bass.

A little minnow under a bobber should be deadly on the crappie, a piece of worm in the same place will work on bluegill and just about anything you throw should get the attention of the largemouths.

This good fishing isn't going to last forever. Water temps are dropping fast, and it will all be over pretty soon.

Mattawoman Creek –– It has not been consistent daily, but the Life Outdoors Unlimited guides (301-937-0010) have been occasionally catching some fine bass from the dropoffs and spatterdock/grass up in the 6-mph zone.

Their most successful lures were Big Mouth spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, chatterbaits, frogs, Case Magic Stiks and Mizmo tubes.

Nearby, the Occoquan, Chicamuxen and shorelines near the Chopawamsic have been productive.

Upper Potomac River –– Water temps are in the upper 50s, the conditions are generally clear and the river level is around 1.2 at Point of Rocks.

The fishing at both Whites and Edwards Ferry remains quite productive where ledges and remaining grass beds hold the fish.

At Lander, some impressive smallmouths were caught last week both up and downriver from the launch.

Tidal Potomac River –– Andy Andrzejewski with the Reel Bass Adventure guides (301-932-1509) said last week was tough for fishing with the cold rains plus multiple cold fronts that blew through our area. Things are more stable now and the severe lockjaw that seemed to taint most shallow bass should be over.

This time of year, Andrzejewski recommends crawfish color crankbaits worked around creek channel ledges and said it just might be time to break out the 2-inch Mann's Stingray Grubs and load them up with Smelly Jelly.

The LOU guides are finding their bass alternating between wood and grass. They recommend buzzbaits worked around the grass in Piscataway, Bulltown Cove and Pohick Bay.

Lower Potomac River –– Even during that nasty weather last week, Ken Lamb at the Tackle Box in Lexington Park says the lower river around Cornfield Point still produced some rock and blues. Trollers should be connecting on fish now throughout the lower river if the conditions stay generally stable.

Patuxent River –– It has been tough fishing, but hopefully that will improve very soon. The spot have been playing very hard to find and the limited live-liners that did discover a little bait couldn't do much with them.

Deep Creek Lake –– Don't forget the heavy jackets and bring along a snow scraper for your windshield if you're heading out this way. Some trout are now being caught and bass are still possible off main and secondary points.

Lake Anna – High Point Marina is reporting water temps ranging throughout the 60-degree range and the lake almost two feet below full pool.

Stripers are breaking around The Splits at first light and are being taken on topwaters, jigging spoons and swimbaits.

The bass are moving into the back end of creeks chasing bait while crappies are shallow and found in basically the same places now as where they were in the spring. For the specks, cast to docks, rocks, grass, beaver huts and bridge pilings.

Susquehanna River, Harrisburg, Pa. –– There was quite a bit of precipitation in this watershed last week, but most all of it fell as snow.

Still, the LOU guides working the river between Montgomery Ferry to Fort Hunter rate the smallmouth action as "awesome" and are catching their quality bass now on spinnerbaits, Rattlin' Rapalas and tubes.

Kerr Lake –– Very good fishing is happening down here, particularly in the creeks between town and Nutbush Creek. The shad are moving well up into many feeder creeks and the bass are right behind them.

Chesapeake Bay –– Most of the fishermen that ventured out recently were chasing birds looking for the fish.

Lamb did report on some rockfish caught earlier this week on Sassy Shads and surface plugs and he also said a 35-incher was taken at Goose Creek just below Cedar Point last Sunday. No big ocean-runners (with sea lice) have been seen yet, but that report can change any day now.

Christy Henderson at Buzz's Marina told me her husband and a friend went fishing Tuesday of this week and found breaking rockfish in 17 to 25 feet of water from the lighthouse by their creek all the way to the oyster sanctuary at Point Lookout. Only a few blues were mixed in with those schools.

Atlantic Ocean –– Sue Foster at Oyster Bay Tackle in Ocean City says the big blow last weekend shut off most surf fishing and they even had to close the beach on Assateague. Some decent tautog catches saved the day for a few fishermen working in the back bays. No really big stripers have been seen yet but they are expected very soon.

zbasser@aol.com