First Walleye outting of the season

[Salmo trutta]

It should only get better but I used up the last of my leave from my wife on Sunday afternoon while the skins were playing. I'm glad I didn't know what was going on and went fishing instead. The weather was nice, windy, with strong enough gusts sometimes to almost push you off the rock.

The water was dead low, less than 3' at Little Falls which is practically a trical. Lower than I've ever seen it at G. Falls. Well, we managed one decent fish. This is about average or a little small and maybe a two year old. Suposedly the YOY walleye can grow to ten inches or so by now which is huge for a fish less than a year old. Every now and then you will catch a larger fish but for some reason the walleye fishery is just not that patternable. It can be tricky. I was able to get to bottom and not get hung up in one of the deepest eddies of the river with only a 1/4oz jig head and 6 pound floro carbon line. Usually it takes quite a bit more weight and usually you get hung up. Well, an hours effort and there's a decent fish, which was released. The water is low and calm enough for me to maybe be foolish enough to try my SOT 14' Ocean kayak to paddle accross Fishermen's Eddy to the MD shore. There will be more than a few fish over that a way. If you can get there. The MD shore is offlimits to foot traffic.

Good luck.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/Salmo123/PA310103.jpg?t=1288798786

[Don Hershfeld]

Howdy Salmo,

I have never fished below GF; instead have only viewed it from the VA shoreline. Whereabouts downstream would one be able to conveniently launch a SOT 'yak to fish this area? At normal water levels, should I infer from your comments that it is just too swift/turbulent in this area for safety? Just curious... probably unlikely to make such a trip myself but interested in your findings just the same.

[BBCroaker]

Hope you earn more leave from your wife again soon and will be able to fish. When you do please post another report. The last one was pretty interesting especially when you mentioned the kayak part.I kayak fish around Richmond and tidal areas for specks, puppy drum, stripers, flounder and some times croakers.I've never caught a Walleye.
Tight Lines!

[SteveL]

Salmo,

You burned my top secret spot!! Just kidding of course, great report and its nice to see a Po walleye, even if its a dink!

You and I need to catch up and fish there together at GF one of these days, the next month or so is prime time. With yesterday's rain the Po will likely rise to around 3.4 or so over the next few days, and the water will become less clear--both are good for walleye fishing!

For the folks that asked about kayak paddling and for everyone that may be wondering, launching a kayak on the Potomac in the area below Great Falls is nothing to be taken lightly at any water levels higher than summertime drought levels (below 3 ft on the LF gage) shown in Salmo's photo (which we may not see again soon).

There are numerous drownings of non-paddlers in the area most years and even experienced whitewater kayak paddlers sometimes get in trouble in this area. All kayak paddlers are legally required to wear a pfd (aka float vest) AND a helmet at all times, and this requirement is enforced by the National Park Service Police and Park Rangers. As the river rises above the low 3 ft range at LF the character of the river changes quickly to be way above the skill levels of most kayak fishermen.

The best levels for walleye fishing below Great Falls are generally in the 3.5 to 4.5 range on the Little Falls gage, and the best season is from now thru March. Do not bother fishing at levels much over 4.5. As Salmo stated, these fish are hard to pattern, you need to fish a lot and pay some dues to catch them. The websites below show the level at Little Falls and the forecast level for LF.
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/md/nwis/uv?01646500
http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=lwx&gage=BRKM2

Good fishing and be safe!

[Timbo]

Pretty looking fish Jon. Thanks for the report.

[SteveL]

I am posting a follow up fishing report:

Yesterday, Friday Nov 19, during the mid day I fished the same area but I was fishing from shore directly across the river from where Salmo is standing in the photo. I accessed the spot via whitewater kayak, I paddle the area frequently and fish occassionally. The character of the river changed dramatically over the past two days as the river rose in response to this week's rain. It was class IV kayak paddling yesterday, with cold air and water. Anyone paddling a kayak or canoe without advanced whitewater skills would have a lot of difficulty getting out from shore without flipping and having them and their boats flushed downstream into raging currents of the river gorge below.

The river rose from below 3 ft to 3.5 ft on the LF gage over the past few days--the volume increased 3 fold from around 2K cfs to 6K cfs. Most of the "new" water was from the Monocacy, which is the closest large trib and which has lots of sediment. The Potomac in recent weeks has been the most crystal clear I ever remember seeing it in the fall--easily 8-10 ft vis. Yesterday even with the Monocacy muddy water input the Potomac was still very clear; it was slightly stained (like tea) but I could easily see 5-6+ ft down into the water. The water temp was around 50 and the air was in the low 50s, with bright sunny conditions.

I was completely skunked, not even a tiny smallmouth. I did not spend a lot of time fishing, but I covered the water and hit the primo spots in the eddies across from the observaton decks and just downstream to the point opposite of Salmo in the photo. From my experience it was way too bright light conditions for walleye, especially with the water clarity, but its possible the fish may have turned on at dusk (or not). Lots of fine, stringy vegetaton was in the water column and it got on the lure at least every other cast. No other fishermen were fishing between the odecks and the base of Rocky Island, which suggests that fishing is very dead right now--if the cats and other fish were active there would probably be at least a few shoreline "subsistance" fishermen.

[BBCroaker]

Thanks for the info on paddling the waters below Great Falls! Sounds tricky!