Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Outstanding!
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Potomac and small ponds around Ashburn: Welcome aboard to our new contributor, Tyler Folts. Tyler is a junior at Broad Run High School, where he is Vice President of the fishing club. Tyler is an avid and experienced angler, who has been fishing since he was five. This is his first report:

Fishing has been slow for the past few weeks only getting one or two bites a day. In the small community ponds in Northern VA, largemouth bass are in less than 3 feet of water by inlets that have slightly warmer water coming out of them (35 to 45 degrees). A black and blue jig and pig fished extremely slowly has caught all the fish in that past few weeks including two 4 pounders. As you approach these inlets be careful not to spook the fish as I have scared at least 10 decent sized bass recently. In general the water in the main lakes has been a constant 32-36 degrees with about a foot of visibility due to the recent rains.

The action is hot in the warmer waters of the Potomac River just below the Dickerson Power Plant. The warm water discharge of the plant puts out 45 to 55 degree water which is significantly warmer than the 34 degree water of the rest of the Potomac at this time of year. The fish know this and stack up in these waters during the winter months.