April 8, 2012
Easter Sunday
It doesn't make a lot of sense to me to fish anywhere other than my beloved Potomac River. If my river were high and off color, I'd probably make the trip to Stonewall Jackson Lake in good old West by God Virginia to fish for mammoth size muskies that take refuge in the shallow back bays this time of year. But a lot of fisheries peak in April where I have connections and know how, like the legendary 100 pound tarpon in the Keys where one of my best friends from College works for the Planning department down there to another friend who is a charter captain to non-stop steelhead up north but why would I leave the Potomac in April? I always tell people, even if I lived in famous fishing places like the Keys or even Guam, I'd always come back to DC in April. My favorite month.
So the Susquehanna flats just hasn't started yet. On Thursday John C. found a school of fish but they were mostly small. When I talked to him in the morning it sure sounded like it was going to be an awesome trip. We’ve had it in the books for a year probably. It’s an unwritten rule between John C and I that we know we are fishing somewhere on the full moon, especially when the big cows are around. Then I get a report about the Potomac that was good, then I see that the wind is going to blow at the flats. Not good. Figured we'd fish the river mostly for the larger fish, this is what we planned so we are sticking to it. Well, we set up camp, fish for shad and stripers and there just isn't the amount of water needed for good fishing. We can't win. Most years this time of year there's too much water and too muddy. This year hardly any water and the power company is not sticking to the schedule they posted about that very same day. The water releases are much shorter and much less than their hotline reports. Thursday was a bust. We ended up retiring to a camp fire and more than a few beers early. But since we did that too late, it was tough waking up for the first early morning bite. And we were sleeping river side. I should be shot. Oh well. There wasn't a bite to speak of anyway. Slowest fishing I've ever seen there. When you can’t even catch a shad in the Susquehanna River at the start of the second week of April with almost 60 degree water temps, than something is very wrong.
So John goes home and I hit the flats, or might as well be the open Chesapeake Bay with 25mph gusts in a 14' V john boat. Not the smartest but figured since the wind was from the north I could hide in the northern portion of the flats. I know the area very well as I used to fish it in my 22'cc for several years and know every square inch but this was going to be different for sure. I managed to avoid the worst of the wind and waves except no one told the fish. Most of them were down south from what I've heard. Not a thing and I worked my tail off. I took a beating, got soaked, wind burn, sun burn for not a single strike.
Headed home early on Friday a few hours before prime sunset with my tail between my legs and made it home in time to take the wife out to dinner. Courtney and I plan to do a bike ride in the morning since the kids are at their grandparents. Then I get a call from my best man, he wants to fish the next day. I tell him I can't, but then hear from another friend that the Potomac was hot. Okay, what do I do? I lower my head, ask, beg the wife. She's okay with it, just be home by noon. No problem.
Hit the river pre dawn. Fish on right away, big fish. Wraps me into a rock ledge. Gone. Then one 5 pound striper, a baby, then the sun comes up above the trees. The bite stops dead in its tracks. We make a move around 11am and found the mother lode. I really mean it too. Non-stop hook ups on sassy shads, cut bait and live perch. Crazy crazy. Lost I don't want to know how many. But guess what, I'm supposed to be working on the yard and the house at noon. Guess I'm going to miss it. My best man is also my lawyer and I told him I might need him but I'm not missing this bite. I stuck it out till 2, hands cut to pieces, tired, frightened about going home. I made it home in ample time, fixed the toilet and got the house ready before the in-laws showed up. Even thought about heading back down there once everyone else went to sleep but since I was on the couch last night, I slept through the full moon. Oh well, hanging with the family today. The kids already did their Easter egg hunt. We have some brunch planned for later over here. Then who knows, maybe I can come up with an excuse to take Ryan to the river. I don’t know how much longer it can last. The little fish have shown up with the larger fish. That means one thing, the spawn is near if it hasn't happened already and they could bug out of here in days or even seconds.
God I love April.
So the Susquehanna flats just hasn't started yet. On Thursday John C. found a school of fish but they were mostly small. When I talked to him in the morning it sure sounded like it was going to be an awesome trip. We’ve had it in the books for a year probably. It’s an unwritten rule between John C and I that we know we are fishing somewhere on the full moon, especially when the big cows are around. Then I get a report about the Potomac that was good, then I see that the wind is going to blow at the flats. Not good. Figured we'd fish the river mostly for the larger fish, this is what we planned so we are sticking to it. Well, we set up camp, fish for shad and stripers and there just isn't the amount of water needed for good fishing. We can't win. Most years this time of year there's too much water and too muddy. This year hardly any water and the power company is not sticking to the schedule they posted about that very same day. The water releases are much shorter and much less than their hotline reports. Thursday was a bust. We ended up retiring to a camp fire and more than a few beers early. But since we did that too late, it was tough waking up for the first early morning bite. And we were sleeping river side. I should be shot. Oh well. There wasn't a bite to speak of anyway. Slowest fishing I've ever seen there. When you can’t even catch a shad in the Susquehanna River at the start of the second week of April with almost 60 degree water temps, than something is very wrong.
So John goes home and I hit the flats, or might as well be the open Chesapeake Bay with 25mph gusts in a 14' V john boat. Not the smartest but figured since the wind was from the north I could hide in the northern portion of the flats. I know the area very well as I used to fish it in my 22'cc for several years and know every square inch but this was going to be different for sure. I managed to avoid the worst of the wind and waves except no one told the fish. Most of them were down south from what I've heard. Not a thing and I worked my tail off. I took a beating, got soaked, wind burn, sun burn for not a single strike.
Headed home early on Friday a few hours before prime sunset with my tail between my legs and made it home in time to take the wife out to dinner. Courtney and I plan to do a bike ride in the morning since the kids are at their grandparents. Then I get a call from my best man, he wants to fish the next day. I tell him I can't, but then hear from another friend that the Potomac was hot. Okay, what do I do? I lower my head, ask, beg the wife. She's okay with it, just be home by noon. No problem.
Hit the river pre dawn. Fish on right away, big fish. Wraps me into a rock ledge. Gone. Then one 5 pound striper, a baby, then the sun comes up above the trees. The bite stops dead in its tracks. We make a move around 11am and found the mother lode. I really mean it too. Non-stop hook ups on sassy shads, cut bait and live perch. Crazy crazy. Lost I don't want to know how many. But guess what, I'm supposed to be working on the yard and the house at noon. Guess I'm going to miss it. My best man is also my lawyer and I told him I might need him but I'm not missing this bite. I stuck it out till 2, hands cut to pieces, tired, frightened about going home. I made it home in ample time, fixed the toilet and got the house ready before the in-laws showed up. Even thought about heading back down there once everyone else went to sleep but since I was on the couch last night, I slept through the full moon. Oh well, hanging with the family today. The kids already did their Easter egg hunt. We have some brunch planned for later over here. Then who knows, maybe I can come up with an excuse to take Ryan to the river. I don’t know how much longer it can last. The little fish have shown up with the larger fish. That means one thing, the spawn is near if it hasn't happened already and they could bug out of here in days or even seconds.
God I love April.
No comments:
Post a Comment