Potomac river Catfish 4/5 w pics

[J.A. Veil]

Good report Skip. That sounds like a fun day. I tried for blue catfish from my kayak last Sat at Mattawoman Creek. The other guys fishing with me caught several blues each, but I could not catch a catfish. I had fresh alewive and bloodworm, but could not coax the cats to bite. I'm sure that Capt. Mike knows more than a few tricks to improve the catch rate.

[Charlie S]

Leon...Mike uses fresh Mullet that he gets from the DC fish market. Real meaty and it stays on the hook longer.
Marty...I'm going to get one in Costa Rica first !
Mark....Ask Skip about my cell phone ring tone and the picture on my credit card ! Life's short - Fish hard !!
Mike....The Capt. said that they come from Alabama. They are shipped alive and you need a tank to keep em alive. The way they worked it sure seems to be worth the effort!
I met Mike Starrett at Skip's MSSA meeting a few months ago and enjoyed his presentation. When Skip posted for Ho's on this trip I jumped on it and was glad I did.! Mike really knows the river and is very accommodating on the boat. We both had a very enjoyable day, doing something a little differant for a change. I look forward to the next time.

[Hookman571]

Great report Skip,

I took my Buddy George and his 2 Grandsons on the 3rd. Netted up a bunch of Gizzard Shad first then went to Ft. Washington and set up.
The two boys were alternating hits. The older one caught 4 fish and 3 were 12 lbers. The smaller one caught 2 citations. Here is the video.
It was a fun day. We then tried to Bow Hunt Snakeheads with no luck even though conditions were perfect.

http://www.youtube.com/user/hookman571?feature=guide

Enjoy,
Hookman

[wino]

Very nice video, the kids looked they could get hooked on fishing after that outing.

[wen]

Chasing Rock is fun but cool to try different fishing every now / then. Fellow Tfer Charlie S ( Charlie ) made the long drive from eastern shore to meet me in Bowie. We then drove to Fort Washington and met Capt. Mike Starrett with Indian head Charters. Capt. Mike has the 22 foot Mako launched when we got there at 7:15 am.

Hard to believe we were about 10 miles from the White House - Potomac river here is not too built up. We ran to a spot Capt. Mike thought would be good for Catfish - nice sharp drop off. He set out 10 rods - 4 with cut bait and 6 with live black Salty minnows. Some were cast to port - deeper water - some straight back and some to starboard - shallower side. Theory was the Cats would move from shallow water to the deeper as sun came up.

Well , fish being fish - they hit off the deeper side. We did not wait long between hits and the circle hooks worked great to get the fish in jaw. Charlie got the first one - about 3-4 lbs.




Current was out going and wind was from north ( luckily ). This kept the boat right on the ledge. Between strikes - we looked around at Ospreys and saw perhaps a Sturgeon roll. What ever it was - looked big. Few fast bass boats ran by but river was mostly quiet. Again - hard to believe we were so close to DC.

We moved a few times when bite slowed - often hooking up quickly after the move.

The black Saltys got hit a lot but some hit the cut bait as well. It was a relaxing way to fish until Charlie broke out his fried chicken lunch. If you fish - you know what happened next. Bite really took off - at one point we had three fish on.




Most were 2-4 pounders but we did get a few bigger ones.









They fought well - these Blue catfish are aggressive. We caught an Eel on the cut bait but it got away at surface. The full moon made for a very long outgoing current but also brought a lot of sticks and we fished until about 2:30. We ran out of the Saltys - going through about 3 dozen or so. The cut bait worked well - as long as it was fresh. Baits out more then 15 minutes got washed out. We also hooked a few interesting Clams. These were about 3-4 inches long and 2 inches across.

The sun was out and river calm as we ran back to the ramp - that Mako goes fast . Capt. Mike really knows this river - Charlie and I both had a great time. We did not get a monster Cat but hope to try again in fall or next spring.

Hey Skip,
That must have been a sight trolling 22 lines for catfish !

Nice post.
Wen

[240 LTS]

Great video with the kids (and Men) having a good day on the water.
Lots of smiles and laughter all around!!!
That will get a kid "Hooked on Fishing" for a lifetime!
Good job!!

Jeff

.

[Slipsinker]

Thanks for the great report Skip. The pics of you and Charlie tell of a fun time. Charlie looks great. Haven't seen him for a long time. Great guy. I need to book a trip with Capt Mike. Love to catch cats and the smaller ones are great in the frying pan. BTW Clydes carry Salties.

[RiverCat09]

Great report! I love the bay, but sometimes the call of the river is strong, and I need to get back to my roots. Thanks for posting!

Don