Fresh Fairfax County Fishing Reports

The guidung season is winding down on the historic Potomac River. Currently the rockfish are hitting swimbaits. As the holidays approaches i want to remind you of a wonderful gift idea - a gift certificate from the fishing detective agency ! Just reach out to me and ill mail you a beautiful gift to privide to your fisherman.

Windy night on the Potomac but the weeds are dying and its improving the snakehead bowfishing!

The fall is one of my favorite times to fsh the Potomac. I usually launch from Leesylvsnia State Park to take advantage of the fishing options thst portion of the river provides. The fall brings: 1. Explosive largemouth bass bites on frogs and buzzbaits. 2. Schooling stripers on swimbaits. 3. Snskeheads on warmer days thst ambush from holes in grass fields. It is fishing so i csn never make any guarantees other than im a polite, patient, educated guide that works very hard. The season brings beautiful cool days without alot of boats. Success usually will depend on your ability but i can guatantee that you will be a better fisherman after our day. I fish all the way up to thanksgiving.

My facebook sites - “kenny penrod III - the fishing detective” and “The fishing detrctive guide agency llc” is the best soutce of potomac snakehead and bass info. I provide a truly honest fishing report designed to promote the fishery and not metchandise. I provide tealistic expectations without hard selling a trip. The truth is thst the clients fishing ability is a big factor to catching a snakehead. I havent trained them yet to give thenselvres up. I only make one guarantee - you will be a better fishetman after a trip with me.

The snakeheads are burying in hydrilla making the fishing dfficult. Its best to olan ur trip at low light with lower tides. That will bring fish out to hard weed edges near deeper water. All predator fish are following this pattern. The snakeheads are following pods of baitfish. The baitfish pods always has a snakehead nearby. The bass are still relating to current and edges. Wacky worn or dropshots at lower tides. Soon i will do striper guides snd big bass will be under grass mats feeding on crawfish. That makes excellent frog fishing.

Thee Fishing Detective’s Snakehead Report and General Fishing thoughts for week of July 9 to July 15, 2023. House cleaning - this week the boat only caught 7 snakeheads and that brings the total number of snakeheads caught since June 11 to 68. Two clients caught their first ever snakehead and one caught his snakehead in a fly rod. A historic moment for the Fishing Detective’s business. Trips - this week I have the 17th, 19th and 20th open for morning or evening half day trips. Half day trips are 4 hours for $300. Morning trips begin at 0545 hrs and evening are at 1600 hrs. I’m primarily using the leesylvania ramp. This week I’m interviewed by Snakehead Magazine Reporter about snakehead fishing on the Potomac River. Here’s a segment of the questions and answers. Reporter - you consistently throw a hollow body frog. Why and u-tube experts always talk about chatterbaits - do you use other lures ? The FD- it should be remembered that Im a fishing guide that takes clients out that have limited fishing experience. Consequently my lure selection keeps that in mind while placing clients in the best position to succeed. Like Bill Munny said in the Unforgiven “I’ve killed everything that walks or crawls” - I can say I’ve caught snakeheads with every lure and technique I’ve caught bass. However, the hollow body frog allows clients to throw a bait into snakehead habitat rather easily without the need to worry about snagging or engaging the reel or the need for pinpoint accuracy. It allows the client to minimize cast exhaustion and keep a bait in a strike zone as long as possible. Reporter - what about the chatterbait ? The FD - the chatterbait is certainly no secret and very effective snakehead bait. It’s probably the most effective bait for big snakeheads that like hard weed edges in slightly deeper water. I love it but I don’t love it on shallow Inside marsh edges and I don’t love it with clients thst are throwing it on my equipment. A famous guide would often respond to clients asking to use a different lure by stating “you ain’t ready for that yet bub.” There must be practical considerations for a guide and one of the practical considerations is increasing catch probability by limiting lure choice. A chatterbait on a spinning rod equipped with braid is going to eventually result in disaster. Also it requires engaging your reel properly so it isn’t smothered in grass. A guide doesn’t always fish the most effective way but he fishes the most practical way for clients fishing abilities and to allow them to have the highest probability for success. Reporter - why do you hate the internet ? The FD - I don’t necessarily hate the internet but I do understand the difference between “knowing a lot and doing a lot”. Please remember that I’m trained to only understand “Case closed or case open”. I’ve been around alit of smart people in my life that have the ability to communicate well and convincingly but they have a lot of “ open cases”. I choose to live my life not as a promotional assessment paradigm but as a black book that documents measurable success or failure. The first thing I learned at age 11 years old that had a life long impact was that just because your talking loud and a lot doesn’t mean you are right. I try to do a lot while humbling myself in thinking I know a lot. The internet is loud and extroverted and not very insightful - it’s the mob and I dint like what it’s done to fishing. I’ve caught 68 snakeheads in the last month on the Potomac - one either accepts that or they don’t. That’s not a reality show or a perfectly edited u tube video - it’s credibility while acknowledging that one doesn’t have to do it my way. Reporter - why is black frog a diva ? The FD - it’s my creation and my fault. At times we support and give accolades to support staff so that the bigger goal is accomplished. It’s sort or Machiavelli and manipulative but it’s win-win in a goal oriented team project. It will backfire on you when the support staff begins to believe that success depends on them instead of having the intelligence to know their role. Black frog forgot his role. I made him believe it was him instead of tempering my praise with the fact that I’m the one choosing the spots and casting him into the spots. He is now sitting in the boat and you know what he’s catching - nothing. He’s the Antonio brown of the fishing detective guide agency. He needs to get his head straight and understand thst my best bait is the one in the water. The reporter - thank you. Any last piece of advice ? The FD- Don’t be so concerned about lures or colors. Snakehead cliques are obsessed with lures as if a snakehead is a special kind of predator fish. It ain’t. Snakeheads are caught in a very limited number of ways because they are a shallow water fish. Learn habitat and ambush points in that habitat. Learn to cast accurately and efficiently. Keep your bait in the strike zones as long as possible and limit the time that i