I’m
pretty sure my buddy is asleep in his seat behind me. His bobber floats unattended on the glassy surface
of Pohick Bay, a sheltered finger of the Potomac River. Our kayak is tied to a fallen log, in a secluded
cove dappled with lily pads. In the
clear water below, juvenile fish dark between long tendrils of algae, floating
like aquatic dreadlocks.
We have been out on the water for almost five hours, baking slowly in the relentless summer sun. I am still half-heartedly casting a top-water frog into the lily pads, trying to muster the enthusiasm to make the lure dance convincingly in still water. My buddy Tony clearly gave up long ago.
Pohick Bay is a fisherman’s paradise. Largemouth bass, catfish, striped bass, bluegill, carp and perch can all be hooked in the bay’s sheltered waters. And seemingly, when we paddled out in the late afternoon, it was an absolutely perfect day for fishing.
Yet, not a bite. All damn day.
We spent the morning unsuccessfully fishing for catfish from the shore, casting pungent hunks of shad. Instead, we amused ourselves watching a burly paddleboarder struggle futilely to mount his board in the water, the paddleboard repeatedly shooting comically from between his arms like a giant bar of soap.
I see a dark shape dart like a 16-inch torpedo underneath our kayak toward deeper water. Tony reels in his line and checks his hook—gingerly picked clean. Out in the middle of the bay, fish are jumping, and I swear they are the size of basset hounds. We both cast again, and wait.
The only successful fishing I have seen today has been on the part of the birds of prey scouring the tranquil water for a meal. While my various, carefully selected lures snagged only copious amount of soggy algae, I watched more competent, beaked anglers consistently harvest shimmering, silver fish from the clear water. The shrill calls of bald eagles regularly fill the air, and many of the trees on the shoreline are adorned with well-crafted osprey nests. On a previous fishing trip to Pohick, I almost took a cheeky bald eagle directly to the face as the bird dipped low over our boat in an attempt to escape with the stolen prey of a rapidly pursing osprey.
Tony and I begin paddling toward 13-mile Pohick creek, one of major watersheds entering the Potomac River. We navigate past the angular hook of Fisherman’s point and nestle protected in the spatterdock and hydrilla. Twilight is approaching and soon we will have to paddle out, but I put a top-water lure back on my line.
‘One last cast,’ I say to Tony.
Because, in the end, isn't fishing really just about hope? Pure, blind, unfounded hope. The hope that even though you have spent half a day adrift in a tiny, godforsaken boat without as much as a nibble, the next cast will undoubtedly hook that hulking river monster hovering just below the surface of the water.
More about Pohick Bay
Regional Park:
Pohick Bay Regional Park is about 25 miles south of
Washington, D.C. The park is operated by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. The park offers boats for rental (sailboats,
kayaks, canoes, jon boats and standup paddleboards) as well as offering hiking
trails, a miniature golf course, a disc golf course, camping sites, and a full
waterpark).
Pohick Bay 6501 Pohick Bay Drive Lorton
Virginia 22079
For more information
about the park, check out:
Pohick Bay
Regional Park
For information
about paddling Pohick Bay and surrounding areas, check out:
Occoquan
Watertrail League
For a
detailed map of the watertrail, check out:
http://owlva.org/newowl/images/occoquanwatertrailmap.png
