It's all cyclical. People thought there was a problem 5-7 years ago when there were similar tournament results and then magically weights were back to 19-20+ lbs one year. I guess those 5-6 lbers were one year old fish that grew overnight ;)
It's all cyclical. People thought there was a problem 5-7 years ago when there were similar tournament results and then magically weights were back to 19-20+ lbs one year. I guess those 5-6 lbers were one year old fish that grew overnight ;)
2015 Nitro Z-7 175 Pro XS
Don’t expect anything magical to happen next year. Another bad spawn will show its teeth in the future as well. When the milfoil grows it can produce massive amounts of fish. Pray for the milfoil to regrow next year.
David is correct. A tidal river is cyclical and predictability from year to year is impossible. Too many factors promote/inhibit SAV growth and fish recruitment/growth. 21 years of trip logs from the tidal Cooper river in SC and 16 years of logs on the Potomac reinforce that. Even with my retirement over 5 years ago which changed my fishing frequency from weekends to Monday-Thursday, I don't have any additional information that allows predictably. Good news is it's like fishing a new body of water every year!
We've never had Hydrilla like we do now. The problem is the Hydrilla chokes out the Milfoil. If the Milfoil does return, It will only be present from March until June. As far as the virus is concerned, I was under the impression that once it cycles through a system it's finished. The surviving fish and their off spring are immune.I could be wrong though. I fished the river a lot March through May this year. I didn't see any signs of sick fish. We'll know what's up when the Hydrilla starts to die off this Fall. You might be surprised about what has been hiding underneath it all summer.....let's hope anyways.
Can someone please post pic of milfoil and hydrilla.
You can look it up on the internet???
bonjour......
Been on Lanier 2 years now and its awesome as long as its not past June :)
2008 ChampioN 198 / 225 Opti ProXS! 1999 187 DC Elite / Merc 175 efi & 1989 184 DCR /Merc 175 xri
Agreed. Look at battle series results from last weekend. No milfoil or coontail and the river is ok at best. Coontail and milfoil not only provide the surface area, they start growing very very early in the year and provide refuge through entire spawn for adults and fry, slow water, etc.
DC88, here you go compliments of Mike (I keep his neat river info) https://www.chesapeakebay.net/visualization/baygrasses/
We will see how bad it really is next week when Potomac teams has the 2 day championship.
04 521VX 250 Pro XS
14 521C 250 Pro XS
Bass fishing on the Potomac is poor at best now. No tournament results are going to change that. It will be different next year just like always.
2015 Nitro Z-7 175 Pro XS