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Good fidhing this afternoon

The bottom fishing on the Special and Sunset trips are producing good numbers of seamullets (whiting) spot croaker and some Cobia and rays the past few weeks!!! We also have the crab pots pre-set and ready to pull !!

Fishing picked up today

Fishing is pretty good catching some throw backs but some good fish mixed in.

Cobia were chewing and Caught some spanish mackerel as well.

My snakehead trips are beginning and anyone interested should read this prior to booking a trip because I’m going to share my reality of targeting snakeheads with artificial baits on the Potomac. As Jack Nicholson once said in the “The Departed” - “This ain’t no YouTube video”. Also this is my experience and others may have a different experience and if they can promise you a different experience then what I’m describing then I certainly would go with them. Last year was not the greatest Potomac snakehead fishing that I’ve experienced - in fact it was the worse. The truth is that my numbers of fish and strikes have been declining for several years and that experience was validated by US Fish and Game surveys showing a pretty dramatic decline in the snakehead population. However, there are still snakeheads to be caught by the dedicated angler that is prepared to work. There will still be days when it’s relatively easy but there will be far more days when it won’t be easy. Social media has certainly distorted anglers expectations and there are probably places where snakeheads are still relatively easy to catch. That doesn’t mean these people have a snakehead secret or secret bait or snakehead technique - it just means that there are more, undisturbed snakeheads that are generally easier to catch in some places. I fish the Potomac from Washington DC to south of nanjemoy and every tributary has proven pretty consistent with the Potomac snakehead experience. I’m saying that targeting and catching a snakehead can be work. It requires a lot of efficient casting and mental discipline. It requires the outdoor skills of observation, patience, and persistence. The opportunities may be limited but they are further limited if you don’t notice a small disturbance on the water, or a snakehead cruising on the bank or if you don’t cast immediately and accurately if you do see a snakehead. I mostly guide with topwater baits in shallow water - many snakeheads are caught with chatterbaits and assorted other baits - on outside weed lines but to me - this isn’t the snakehead fishing experience. You may work very hard to get a strike and then miss the opportunity. I’ve heard a lot of excuses but sometimes they just miss the bait. However sometimes it’s completely your fault. It’s not that you didn’t wait to set the hook - it’s mostly because you didn’t set the hook at all. If they missed it - and you jerked - then immediately cast again. If you waited and they missed it - let it sit - most will still be under the frog ready to hit again. If you choose to use the wrong equipment then you are choosing to miss your opportunity. I’ve caught a lot of snakeheads and I’m only trying to help you with reality. If you choose to validate your vicarious YouTube learning of catching a snakehead - then I would call them and see them in action but I’m not interested. The reason snakehead fishing is popular among some is that the fish is really not susceptible to a lot a varied techniques. Nobody is fishing deep rock piles or deep contour lines for a snakehead. They are fishing shallow with frogs, flukes, buzzbaits, etc.. It’s visual, relatively “easy” techniques but require a hunters mentality. In the end - it’s usually work to target a snakehead. It’s a challenge at times. You must keep casting. I say this because I’m preparing myself for the “I watched a YouTube video” comments. They drive me insane -.especially when the angler can’t cast, isn’t being observant, lacks persistence, and generally believes there is a shortcut or secret to success. That’s life now - work is outdated and everybody has a shortcut to success. I get it but if I interrupt your YouTube fishing knowledge comments by saying “just keep casting” - well at least I warned you ! ?. If you do have a real tangible measurable secret that isn’t you fish where there are a lot of unpressured snakeheads - then I’m ready to learn and I’ll pay you my rate to teach me that secret. I love to learn.