We started the float a couple of miles above Harper's Ferry. I had
my fly rod- a seven weight, 9 footer and my friend Tim was using
spinning tackle. I wanted to use my fly rod as much as possible but
the winds were starting to pick up, even at 9:00 AM. I hooked the
first fish, a dinky sunny but it got off. We weren't 100 yards from
our starting point when that happened. Tim caught and landed the first
fish, a decent sized smallie.

Mike Telemeco of Mark Kovach Fishing Services maneuvered the raft
expertly. He not only knew where the fish were but he knew how to get
us in position to cast to the choice spots. The morning was the best.
Tim and I caught more than 10 fish between the two of us. I caught
mine on olive woolly buggers and Tim got his using tube baits. I got
one that was 18 inches on a black bugger but I lost one that felt a lot
larger. One thing I did find out- these fish fight real hard.

The afternoon brought even more wind- now pushing a steady 15 to 20
miles an hour and it made casting my fly rod, even a 7 weight,
problematic. I gave up and asked to use one of Mike's spin rods.

Tim and I learned how to feel a hit from a bass on a spinning rod. The
technique we used was to cast, let the bait hit bottom, then slowly
raise the rod tip (making the bait look like it's swimming). Then
crank the line in as you lower the rod tip and repeat. When you felt
the hit, you had to strike hard, real hard! We caught more than 20
fish I think. A few were dinks but the vast majority was legitimate
smallmouth bass (over 12 inches long). We had started about 9:30 AM
and were in our cars about 7 PM.

Wet wading the Potomac is fun. In the summer it feels good. The
fishing is tough however as you are severely limited as to where you
can get to, even if you like to swim with a rod in your hand

My only regret was that it was a little too windy for ME to fish all
day with my fly rod. On the flip side of that however, I learned some
new bass fishing techniques with a fly rod.

For more information go to http://www.mkfs.com/