Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Ernie · May-02-23 2:05PM

Well, we settled on the "O" because I thought other venues would be blown out. Plus, anywhere else we would have gone would have meant an early boat ride which would have been COLD!! Yes, you can call me anything you want about my dislike for cold (especially in May). I don't care!!

Both Bob and I are sick of the cooler weather. We even hinted that we should have canceled but we went. Heck, maybe we will catch the last shad for the year?

OK, we launched around 7:30a and it was a comfortable 50dF and no wind. The forecast called for some light rain later and building winds. Plus humidity.

I decided to go up top and there was a yakker friend there already catching stripers. He bemoaned that he lost a nice one. And yes, we did have rods rigged for stripers!

All year, we've had no current. This changed today...

...luckily, it was not muddy. My assessment is that it takes several days of water running over the dam before the "O" gets muddy. Most of the mud would come from Bull Run (long way) and some other smaller streams up reservoir.

The first fish of the day (9a) was a shad!

I got my skunk off with a white perch!

Then Bob got a decent striper!

Then Bob hooked a BIG striper!!

This FAT striper went 25" and 7.1lbs!

So at this point, we basically said that our day was made.

Shortly after Bob's catch, I hooked into a nice fish (no clue as to what it was). After a brief fight, it broke off.

We continued to fish and it was slow but we kept picking off a fish here and there.

Both of those were caught on paddle tails (looking for stripers).

It was now 10:30a and we had some nice catches but we kept wondering if there were still some shad down below. So we went and am glad we did!

On this next one, Bob had a double of herring and striper and I caught another white perch.

More catching...

It was now close to 12:30p and the wind had picked up a bit. I was actually cold at this point. We left biting fish to go get this!

Who knows, it could be the last brats of the year.

Rant- normally I don't think much about loosing lures but today, I lost 3-4 spoons (one on a very nice shad). They ain't cheap. Then, after I dropped off the boat and gassed up, I realized that it cost me $25 to drive to the "O" and back in the limo. I know the limo's gas mileage sucks but gas is too high!! Rant over.

Today was a day that I did not expect much. Neither did Bob. But after tallying everything, we had 21 shad (Bob had 13), 15 herring, 4 white perch, 6 stripers, 2 LMB, and 1 snagged gizzard shad. Heck, we caught almost 50 fish! Bob had 25.

I will take that for a half day of fishing!

drxfish · May-02-23 3:19PM

That looks like a heck of a day! Stripers and LM on top of the others is cool. That big striper was a fattie!

I was thinking about taking my new (old) boat there for its maiden voyage, but it is a long drive for a test ride and the river is up good now.

AndrewDo124 · May-02-23 4:14PM

whoa!!! that sounds like a GREAT outting. jeez. surprised you guys didn't catch a snakehead or some kitties to round out that assorted bag

side note: I keep seeing these sausages and I feel i MUST try....where are you grabbing these burgers and sausages you keep posting???

Ernie · May-02-23 4:33PM

AndrewDo124 wrote:
whoa!!! that sounds like a GREAT outing. jeez. surprised you guys didn't catch a snakehead or some kitties to round out that assorted bag

We tried...for snakies at least. Bob loves catching kitties!

AndrewDo124 wrote:
I keep seeing these sausages and I feel i MUST try....where are you grabbing these burgers and sausages you keep posting???

Yes, it's a must try thing! You can get them right there by the ramp at Occoquan...Brickmaker's Cafe. https://www.novaparks.com/parks/brickmakers-cafe

And I just found out that the brats are special order from Johnsonville. Can't get them in retail.

Mhen · May-02-23 4:40PM

Nice job fellas, it was a dreary day and river conditions elsewhere were terrible, so kudos to the catches!

Osprey · May-02-23 4:42PM

If anything I feel bad about the last shad trip of 2023, and then Ernie throws in that it's probably the last brat too. The good news, it's only 10 months till shad season.

Today was chilly and overcast all day and mostly calm, a decent day to fish the O. The long awaited current finally made an appearance, thanks to all of the rain over the weekend. I've been told that the stripers show up when there's current, so we actually did plan to try for some. Seems the current woke up everyone ( bass, perch, stripers) that had been missing this spring.

We had an unexpected good day of catching. Any day fishing with Ernie is a good day. Sure hope the smallies can carry us over till the white perch move to the shorelines, but with Ernie it'll still be a good day.

Bryan · May-03-23 5:07AM

Love those multi-species days. Great way to wrap up the season.

I feel you on the gas costs. I need to move closer to the water.

hookup · May-03-23 12:07PM

Nice variety of fish and nice striper Bob

Last week I spent over $100 in gas. The week before $85. Mostly all the driving was for fishing.

Still cheaper than golf

Ernie · May-10-23 6:46AM

Not sure Bob's ever had a triple!

drxfish · May-10-23 4:12PM

What an awesome picture! I saw a big hawk struggling with a large branch today. I heard something rusting through the trees and I saw the hawk dragging the big branch. It landed and re-situated itself and then took off again. Going to fix up the nest I guess.

Pacemaker Fishing Forum

#1 May-02-23 2:05PM

5-2-23, "O"

#2 May-02-23 3:19PM

Re: 5-2-23, "O"

#3 May-02-23 4:14PM

Re: 5-2-23, "O"

#4 May-02-23 4:33PM

Re: 5-2-23, "O"

AndrewDo124 wrote:

AndrewDo124 wrote:

#5 May-02-23 4:40PM

Re: 5-2-23, "O"

#6 May-02-23 4:42PM

Re: 5-2-23, "O"

#7 May-03-23 5:07AM

Re: 5-2-23, "O"

#8 May-03-23 12:07PM

Re: 5-2-23, "O"

#9 May-10-23 6:46AM

Re: 5-2-23, "O"

#10 May-10-23 4:12PM

Re: 5-2-23, "O"

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