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FEATURES FISHING ARTICLES
THE
MIGHTY POTOMAC, My
first tournament of the 1999 season took me to the Potomac River.
Located between Maryland and Virginia, the Potomac River is without
doubt one of the premiere fishing locations on the eastern
seaboard. River fishing for bass is tough. So many factors
play a role in the presentation, location and color selection. The
Susquehanna River in Maryland, the St. Lawrence River on the US and
Canadian border and the St. Johns River in Florida have left me with
physical and mental scars, including memories of lost fish, lost
opportunity, lost equipment and a several close, personal looks at
Mother Natures awesome power. The Potomac this day would be no
exception. With a stalled storm over the Atlantic Ocean, wind and
high tides caused havoc for the fishermen. During official
tournament practice on Saturday, I had damaged my boat in only 20
minutes of battling the waves and wind. I was now a non-boater. Add
to that the prospect of bad weather for the following
day and I began wondering if it could get any worse. Sunday morning
showed no promise of change as we waited patiently for the start of
the tournament. I watched as 200 boats were rocked from side to side
by turbulence. How rough would it be I wondered, when we took off We hit the wave full force and watched helplessly as the electronics located at the bow the boat were ripped from the mounting and slid along the flat casting platform towards us. As we pressed on, equipment straps began to give way and rods bounced towards me. Rob, who was driving the boat, battled with cross winds and waves with each passing moment. The next large wave that hit us ripped the electronics and windshield from its bolted mount in front of Rob's face. How he was not injured still remains a mystery to me. We were now without depth, temperature or location electronics. With no shoreline in sight and the waves continually beating us from all sides, we had no choice but to proceed. After
what seemed like an eternity, (one hour and 40 minutes) we reached
our destination. Gathering our thoughts and equipment, we began
fishing. The creek provided us with some shelter from the wind and
current and soon the journey seems a distant memory. (Fishing can do
that!). The size limit for the Potomac is 15 inches. That is a
two-pound plus fish, so catching them to size proved a daunting
task. Between us, we caught and released forty fish in the 13 and
14-inch size range. Rob finally caught the only keeper a 15-inch
fish but we were now facing an out going tide that bought the
fishing to an abrupt halt. We searched for a few more fish in vain
and decided we should begin our journey back to the launch site and
weigh in the only legal fish of the day. We
tried to be optimistic about the journey back, hoping that the wind
would be at our backs and that the turbulence has in someway
subsided. How wrong we were! Once we left the bay, the wind lifted
us into the raging river system once again. Pressing onward, we hit
large waves similar to those we had seen in the morning. The
trolling motor on the bow was ripped from its "gator
mount" and plunged into the water causing a large spray to
cover us both from head to toe. Rob cut the engine and I tied the
motor down to secure it and protect us both from the possibility of
it breaking free and hitting us full in the face, (A trolling motor
weighs approximately 40 pounds. With a gator mount, that is
increased to near 70 pounds) not a pleasant event! As we moved on,
we began to notice water coming into the lower deck area around our
feet. Rob turned on the bilge only to find that the unit had failed.
Now we were beginning to fill with water and still had several miles
to go before reaching safety. After almost two hours, we finally
pulled into Mattawoman Creek opposite the launch site. Here we tried
to find out what was wrong with the bilge, but with so much water in
the boat, there was little we could do. With time
almost run out, we had to make a final crossing of the river at one
of the widest points. When Rob tried to get the boat on plane, we
became lower in the water at the rear of the boat. The only solution
was for me to sit on the bow and counterbalance the boat so that we
could attain enough speed. I had to perform this function twice
By
the time we got the boat out of the water, the lower deck area was
full. As we raised the boat onto the trailer, Rob turned to me and
asked, "have you ever had worse" to which I replied yes I
had. (I will tell you that story another day) But I also added that
today was a good day! "A good day", said Rob, "Why is
that?" I replied today was a good day because we made it back
to the dock. "So what's a bad day?"………… I replied,
Do I really need to tell you that !!!!!!!!!!!!
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