Scott Hammer TOXIC
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I was the chaueffer, yeah, I almost froze him to death (the outdoor writer), but what he doesn't say is that I limited out first and had big fish....oh well, it was in an outdoor mag and there's no such thing as bad press!!
TOXIC
A Potomac Hotspot
By Jim Brewer
The alarm rattled me out of bed at 4:30 AM. Still groggy, I shoveled down a quick, hot breakfast and bundled up like an Eskimo. It was in the mid-twenties outside and the wind would be blowing. I was on my way out the door at 5 AM.
Hunting, right?
Nope. A fishing trip.
Most people with a pea for a brain fish in the summer and hunt in the winter.
But my brain pod is apparently one pea short. I like to fish in the winter.
Especially with Teddy Carr.
Teddy, one of Virginia's top bass fishing guides, is a longtime friend. When he called not long ago to let me know that the largemouth bass on the Potomac
River could be had, I said "Count me in, Daddio."
I met Teddy in Locust Grove as the sun was peeking over the eastern horizon and we continued through Fredericksburg on up to Alexandria where Scott
Hammer, one of Teddy's guides, would meet us at Belle Haven Marina.
After transferring rods, reels, tackle boxes and a big bag of turkey sandwiches to Scotts' boat, we were on our way.
I don't know what it is about bass fishermen, but the colder it is, the faster they like to go. As the speedometer reached 60, the wind knifed through my body like an icy dagger, despite umpteen layers of fleece and
Thinsulate. My head felt like a gallon of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia.
Thank heavens, we didn't have to ride far and it took less than ten minutes for my upper body to regain feeling.
We were on fish immediately. Fat, chunky bass.
The Potomac River swings back and forth like a pendulum when it comes to productivity. Back in the 60s, the only thing that would live in the Potomac was moss. Then, concentrated efforts at controlling pollution began to take
effect. The grass took hold, the water cleared and the Potomac quickly developed into one of the top ten bass haunts on the eastern seaboard. Then in the late 90s, the grass died, and the fishing went south again. In the
past two years, however, the grass has made yet another comeback and the fishing is great.
"I believe the fishing is as good as it's ever been on the Potomac," Teddy said, while tying on a Bill Norman crankbait. He handed me the rod, I made about a dozen casts and stuck my first fish of the morning, a pound and a
half chunk of green fury.
No largemouth I have ever encountered fights like a Potomac River bass. If you didn't know better, you'd swear these were smallmouth. But they're not.
They're tidal largemouth, and they don't know when to quit fighting or eating.
Bass grow quickly in this river because of the abundance of food.
"These fish feed on shad, perch and especially crawfish," Teddy said, as he struck hard and later boated a four-pounder. "That's why they're such hefty fish."
Teddy is truly a master at assembling a pattern to fish for bass. I've been with him on occasions when nobody else could buy a bite and I personally have caught some huge bass with him serving as my mentor. Teddy has a feel for
tidal rivers like Tiger Woods has for the fairways at Augusta National. Over the years, I've fished with some top guides with varying and sometimes disappointing results.
"It was a cold front," they'll say.
Or, "The tide was wrong."
Teddy Carr doesn't believe in excuses. He believes clients ought to catch fish and this guy really produces.
The locale Teddy chose was near a big grass flat where bass had gorged themselves throughout the summer. With the first downward ticks of the thermometer, Teddy reasoned that the fish would move out of that shallow
cover into a nearby sanctuary offering submerged rocks and barges at mid depth levels. The fish were there
TOXIC
A Potomac Hotspot
By Jim Brewer
The alarm rattled me out of bed at 4:30 AM. Still groggy, I shoveled down a quick, hot breakfast and bundled up like an Eskimo. It was in the mid-twenties outside and the wind would be blowing. I was on my way out the door at 5 AM.
Hunting, right?
Nope. A fishing trip.
Most people with a pea for a brain fish in the summer and hunt in the winter.
But my brain pod is apparently one pea short. I like to fish in the winter.
Especially with Teddy Carr.
Teddy, one of Virginia's top bass fishing guides, is a longtime friend. When he called not long ago to let me know that the largemouth bass on the Potomac
River could be had, I said "Count me in, Daddio."
I met Teddy in Locust Grove as the sun was peeking over the eastern horizon and we continued through Fredericksburg on up to Alexandria where Scott
Hammer, one of Teddy's guides, would meet us at Belle Haven Marina.
After transferring rods, reels, tackle boxes and a big bag of turkey sandwiches to Scotts' boat, we were on our way.
I don't know what it is about bass fishermen, but the colder it is, the faster they like to go. As the speedometer reached 60, the wind knifed through my body like an icy dagger, despite umpteen layers of fleece and
Thinsulate. My head felt like a gallon of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia.
Thank heavens, we didn't have to ride far and it took less than ten minutes for my upper body to regain feeling.
We were on fish immediately. Fat, chunky bass.
The Potomac River swings back and forth like a pendulum when it comes to productivity. Back in the 60s, the only thing that would live in the Potomac was moss. Then, concentrated efforts at controlling pollution began to take
effect. The grass took hold, the water cleared and the Potomac quickly developed into one of the top ten bass haunts on the eastern seaboard. Then in the late 90s, the grass died, and the fishing went south again. In the
past two years, however, the grass has made yet another comeback and the fishing is great.
"I believe the fishing is as good as it's ever been on the Potomac," Teddy said, while tying on a Bill Norman crankbait. He handed me the rod, I made about a dozen casts and stuck my first fish of the morning, a pound and a
half chunk of green fury.
No largemouth I have ever encountered fights like a Potomac River bass. If you didn't know better, you'd swear these were smallmouth. But they're not.
They're tidal largemouth, and they don't know when to quit fighting or eating.
Bass grow quickly in this river because of the abundance of food.
"These fish feed on shad, perch and especially crawfish," Teddy said, as he struck hard and later boated a four-pounder. "That's why they're such hefty fish."
Teddy is truly a master at assembling a pattern to fish for bass. I've been with him on occasions when nobody else could buy a bite and I personally have caught some huge bass with him serving as my mentor. Teddy has a feel for
tidal rivers like Tiger Woods has for the fairways at Augusta National. Over the years, I've fished with some top guides with varying and sometimes disappointing results.
"It was a cold front," they'll say.
Or, "The tide was wrong."
Teddy Carr doesn't believe in excuses. He believes clients ought to catch fish and this guy really produces.
The locale Teddy chose was near a big grass flat where bass had gorged themselves throughout the summer. With the first downward ticks of the thermometer, Teddy reasoned that the fish would move out of that shallow
cover into a nearby sanctuary offering submerged rocks and barges at mid depth levels. The fish were there
Cmon north for smallies sometime,we have a fe that'll test your tackle!!
