Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-08-11
WIND GOT THE BLAME
Bass ApIenty-But Ny, What Size!
BY WHEELER JOHNSON
Outdoor Editor

BY WHEELER JOHNSON
Outdoor Editor
Having tried that stretch of
the Potomac River about 8
miles above Brunswick, Ma,
fishing 1t in several different
ways with some success, it
seemed in order to visit an
other reach of it and use a
slightly different technique.
Lefty Kreh, who is almost a
one-man Chamber of Commerce
for the outdoor possibilities of
the countryside around his
home town of Frederick, Md.
and my preceptor on the earlier
trip, had invited me back for
q one-day float trip down the
river from a point just above
he Route $40 bridge just be-
low Harper's Ferry, w. Va, to
a take-out point at Knoxville,
Md.
He asked me to bring a
friend, so I chose Fred
O'Rourke, operator of The
Sportsman, who would rather
fish for small mouth bass than
be indoors on a bright, sunny
day.
Our other fishing partner
was Irving Swope of Frederick,
another old regular at the bass
fishing game.
Path Is Steep
We had two canoes carried
on the tops of two cars. They
were put in on the Shenandoah
at a point several hundred
yards after crossing the $40
bridge. There is a steep path
leading down to the river and
it's rocky, but a husky man can
made 1t down the hill, even bur-
dened by a canoe. Several flat
rocks at the waters edge make
a.natural landing place.
Things are somewhat easier
at the Knoxville take-out point
except that canoes have to be
carried several hundred yards
from the river bank to a park
ing lot, but at least the ter
rain is more level.
It was an ideal day when we
started out for the river. The ,
sun was shining, the tempera-
ture was not supposed to go
out of the 80s, and the wind 4
was supposed to be an easy III
miles an hour. b
Wind tunnels Though
Swope first raised the specter
that was to haunt us all day. {
'"The weather report might I
say it will be only q 7-mile I
breeze" he ruminated, 'but a ,
7-mile breeze funneled through
this cut becomes a 15-mile
wind and more. And I never q
have done anything in this
stretch of river when the wind
was blowing" ;
We showed off and hadn't
gotten more than 20 yards
from the shore before could {
see he knew what he was talk {
ing about. What was a ruffle ,
of leaves on the bank became,
on the river, a gusty blast that
made 1t almost impossible to
control a canoe.
But he wasn't exactly right
about not doing anything. He
and I picked up three small
bass before we reached the
bridge, perhaps 500 yards down
river. Meantime, Leftyand
Fred had taken another route
and were out of sight. We were
not to see them again until
lunch time when fishermen
additionally get together to
swap lies about what they did
In the morning.
Canoe Hard to Handle Il
All of the bass were small,
but even with the wind blow
ing, we managed to get some
fair action. But it was neces-
sary in most cases to anchor
the canoe and make a few casts
IN likely spots and then fight
the blow to another likely spot.
You Just couldn't work the area
thoroughly as it should have
been.
Finally, Just at the bridge, I
got a real good strike. This
was a nice bass and I knew 1t.
I had him coming along and
was Just about to ask Irv to
get the camera out so we could
get his picture before we re-
leased him. But the bass had
other ideas. He gave one great
lunge and went away carrying
about 20 yards of my line and
my favorite yellow and black
DEVILS Horse lure that had
proved so effective on the
earlier trip up the Potomac.
The bass just about took my
luck with him too. For a long
time after that I couldn't even
come up with one of those lit
tie fellows that make up the
bulk of what one gets in mid
summer smallmouth fishing.
Fish Won't SpOOk
Finally ! picked up a bass
right at the side Of the canoe.