Post by 31Airborne on Sept 18, 2023 10:59:57 GMT -5
Went up to NOVA for a few days to prep for, participate in our FoM regional championship. Was an interesting week as we approached the event, with all of that activity in the Atlantic. As it turned out, the hurricane affected only one day (FRI). The winds were pretty bad. Our TD did the right thing and waved off on the first day of the planned 2-day event.
Practice (13-15 SEP) - The weather was hot initially, but the cold front came thru and cooled things off nicely. The drier air was a welcomed change, too. Our first day (WED) was spent visiting some history in the ~middle of the river. We put in at Leesylvania SP and worked Belmont Bay, Mattawoman, Chicakmuxen, and some main river stuff around that area. Managed to catch a few small fish but nothing that got us excited. On THUR we put in at the new state park (Widewater, tournament launch site) and worked Aquia and some of Arkendale. My partner found a pretty consistent bite on a swimbait that produced a few quality fish. We had a few bites on weightless and t-rigged plastix but nothing that came close to matching the consistency and quality of the swimbait bite. With that, we set our plan. We went into the tourney with a variety of swimbaits sizes and colors.
With TX day one called due to weather, we motored down to Lake Anna for a few hours with some of the guys from our FoM division. We had no trouble finding places to get out of the wind and managed to catch a few fish. Plastix and jigs did the work for us. No good ones, just a bunch of small keepers. It was a fun trip. Points were the deal. Fish were holding shallow down to ~10'. Breaks and stumps were key. WT 82*, water was gin clear.
TX day two - The wind laid down and the air was crisp. It was fall-like as we put in. We drew boat 32 (out of 33). We headed south to Aquia, to a small bay we fished during practice. Had the last bit of incoming tide as we dropped the TM and started fishing. Water was high and fish were busting on bait everywhere. My partner hooked up on our first keeper with about 30 mins of incoming tide left. From there he put on a clinic with his swimbait. I mean it was one after another for a solid half hour. I finally contributed a small upgrade right about high tide. From there, we picked that bay apart w/ every size, shape, and color of swimbait we had. We managed a few small upgrades throughout the falling tide. The sweet spot in the tide was from 1- 3 PM. The activity picked up a bit but not like it usually does for an outgoing tide on this river. We did manage a couple more upgrades but never did find the fish we needed. We called it with about 10 mins to go. Our 5 fish weighed 9.42 lbs.
Observations: 1) The water was stained (~12-18" of viz) on the main river, much cleaner in the dense grass (~3' of viz). Water temps in practice held steady in the low 80s; cooled off a good bit after the front came thru (77* on TX day). 2) High tide on TX day was one of the highest either of us had seen. There were many docks under water. When the tide turned, it never really picked up any momentum. There was a steady outflow but not like we usually see. Can only guess that was a result of the heavy seas banging on the coastline from Hurricane Lee. Our low tide was more consistent with a typical midpoint outgoing tide. In other words, the tide never really got low, which means the fish never moved out to their usual low tide haunts. 3) The abundance of baitfish was noteworthy. No missing the onset of fall weather - the bait was up shallow and active. We watched in awe as one bass after another raided the baitfish pods around nus. No trouble on our part understanding why the bite was so tuff. Too much of the real thing hanging out in the grass. 4) Size matters. Bass can get really specific in what they want and how they want it. 3.75" was the magic number for us. We had a few fish on smaller and larger baits, but 3.75" out-produced other sizes 10:1. 5) Color matters. There are shades of green pumpkin - some darker, some lighter. In our case, a lighter shape of GP was the ticket. 6) Weight matters. My partner used a pegged 1/16 oz bullet sinker on his swimbait rig. He would let the bait free fall when it came to a hole or an edge. The smallest weight I had was a 1/8 oz. It fell a little faster. That was enough to affect the way the fish reacted to my baits (they didn't). When I made the adjustment, the fish bit. 7) The facilities at Widewater SP are fabulous. They do need to do some dredging around the ramp and adjoining piers tho'. Getting into and out of the ramp area is not hard, but you do need to heed the markers. There are some unmarked/uncharted nasties lurking just beneath the surface close by.
The bite, in general, was tuff for everyone. Winning bag did not break 14 lbs. The better fish were hard to come by. I suspect the quality of the grass had a little to do with that - it's the healthiest I've seen the grass on this river in years. The long, hot summer definitely helped. I have no doubt fish got into the thick stuff and stayed there, esp with the goofy tide we had. I also think there were some other subtle influences from the storm, but I can't quantify those. Just a guess at this point.
With that, our FoM season comes to a close. The team is working on the 2024 schedule now. Hope to see that in the coming week or so. My partner and I had a solid season. We had a couple of weak performances on lakes we are usually pretty confident, but we did log our first FoM win as a team. Lots for us to build on, lots to digest as we prepare for next year. My focus will shift to outings with wounded warriors and other veterans for the rest of the year. Also have a bucket list trip in OCT (Chickamauga).
I will be making quite a few trips to SML over the fall and winter. Hope to see some of y'all out there.
best, B
Practice (13-15 SEP) - The weather was hot initially, but the cold front came thru and cooled things off nicely. The drier air was a welcomed change, too. Our first day (WED) was spent visiting some history in the ~middle of the river. We put in at Leesylvania SP and worked Belmont Bay, Mattawoman, Chicakmuxen, and some main river stuff around that area. Managed to catch a few small fish but nothing that got us excited. On THUR we put in at the new state park (Widewater, tournament launch site) and worked Aquia and some of Arkendale. My partner found a pretty consistent bite on a swimbait that produced a few quality fish. We had a few bites on weightless and t-rigged plastix but nothing that came close to matching the consistency and quality of the swimbait bite. With that, we set our plan. We went into the tourney with a variety of swimbaits sizes and colors.
With TX day one called due to weather, we motored down to Lake Anna for a few hours with some of the guys from our FoM division. We had no trouble finding places to get out of the wind and managed to catch a few fish. Plastix and jigs did the work for us. No good ones, just a bunch of small keepers. It was a fun trip. Points were the deal. Fish were holding shallow down to ~10'. Breaks and stumps were key. WT 82*, water was gin clear.
TX day two - The wind laid down and the air was crisp. It was fall-like as we put in. We drew boat 32 (out of 33). We headed south to Aquia, to a small bay we fished during practice. Had the last bit of incoming tide as we dropped the TM and started fishing. Water was high and fish were busting on bait everywhere. My partner hooked up on our first keeper with about 30 mins of incoming tide left. From there he put on a clinic with his swimbait. I mean it was one after another for a solid half hour. I finally contributed a small upgrade right about high tide. From there, we picked that bay apart w/ every size, shape, and color of swimbait we had. We managed a few small upgrades throughout the falling tide. The sweet spot in the tide was from 1- 3 PM. The activity picked up a bit but not like it usually does for an outgoing tide on this river. We did manage a couple more upgrades but never did find the fish we needed. We called it with about 10 mins to go. Our 5 fish weighed 9.42 lbs.
Observations: 1) The water was stained (~12-18" of viz) on the main river, much cleaner in the dense grass (~3' of viz). Water temps in practice held steady in the low 80s; cooled off a good bit after the front came thru (77* on TX day). 2) High tide on TX day was one of the highest either of us had seen. There were many docks under water. When the tide turned, it never really picked up any momentum. There was a steady outflow but not like we usually see. Can only guess that was a result of the heavy seas banging on the coastline from Hurricane Lee. Our low tide was more consistent with a typical midpoint outgoing tide. In other words, the tide never really got low, which means the fish never moved out to their usual low tide haunts. 3) The abundance of baitfish was noteworthy. No missing the onset of fall weather - the bait was up shallow and active. We watched in awe as one bass after another raided the baitfish pods around nus. No trouble on our part understanding why the bite was so tuff. Too much of the real thing hanging out in the grass. 4) Size matters. Bass can get really specific in what they want and how they want it. 3.75" was the magic number for us. We had a few fish on smaller and larger baits, but 3.75" out-produced other sizes 10:1. 5) Color matters. There are shades of green pumpkin - some darker, some lighter. In our case, a lighter shape of GP was the ticket. 6) Weight matters. My partner used a pegged 1/16 oz bullet sinker on his swimbait rig. He would let the bait free fall when it came to a hole or an edge. The smallest weight I had was a 1/8 oz. It fell a little faster. That was enough to affect the way the fish reacted to my baits (they didn't). When I made the adjustment, the fish bit. 7) The facilities at Widewater SP are fabulous. They do need to do some dredging around the ramp and adjoining piers tho'. Getting into and out of the ramp area is not hard, but you do need to heed the markers. There are some unmarked/uncharted nasties lurking just beneath the surface close by.
The bite, in general, was tuff for everyone. Winning bag did not break 14 lbs. The better fish were hard to come by. I suspect the quality of the grass had a little to do with that - it's the healthiest I've seen the grass on this river in years. The long, hot summer definitely helped. I have no doubt fish got into the thick stuff and stayed there, esp with the goofy tide we had. I also think there were some other subtle influences from the storm, but I can't quantify those. Just a guess at this point.
With that, our FoM season comes to a close. The team is working on the 2024 schedule now. Hope to see that in the coming week or so. My partner and I had a solid season. We had a couple of weak performances on lakes we are usually pretty confident, but we did log our first FoM win as a team. Lots for us to build on, lots to digest as we prepare for next year. My focus will shift to outings with wounded warriors and other veterans for the rest of the year. Also have a bucket list trip in OCT (Chickamauga).
I will be making quite a few trips to SML over the fall and winter. Hope to see some of y'all out there.
best, B