I had not been to Sycamore Landing since a failed attempt to launch the canoe here last fall. The first time I fished this section was in June 2008 after work. On that visit, I had limited time and waded directly out from the shore to discover the broad shallow shelf that extended up and downstream along the Maryland shore. The fishing was so good that I did not wander far from the entry point. Excited by that memory, I came back last fall with the canoe and was disappointed to see that the entire stretch was thick with weeds and not navigable. Fishing would've been an exercise in frustration in terms of maneuvering the boat to get to one of the infrequent open spots as well as dealing with the inevitable time spent disengaging hook and propeller from the tangle of weeds. This season, I wanted to be sure I did not make that same mistake and showed up last Friday to exploit this great spot. I need to say that this entire section is wadable. The only disadvantage of wading is that you will not be able to position yourself over the deeper holes in the middle of the river -- and that was exactly my strategy for today. There is no boat launch here. Unless you can carry your boat 30 yards and then maneuver it down the steep bank, don't bother to bring it. In other words, it's the perfect place to launch a canoe or a kayak and I was not the only guy doing that on this day. We loaded the canoe on the shore and had a heck of a time pushing it out into the river as the weight of gear and passengers sank it six inches into the soft mud that lines the bank. We finally broke the seal, d pushed off and motored to the middle of the river where the shallow shelf drops off into a "deeper" section. The deepest spot I found is only about 8 feet -- obviously too deep to wade the less you like to float a little bit as well. The river bottom is a mixture of sand and gravel with small boulders hidden by the depth of the water. It's easy walking without having to navigate slick rock surfaces that work to pitch you head first into the water with a single misstep. With all the sand, you might conclude that this would be a bad area for smallies.  It's far from being a dead zone and is full of fish! Over the course of the four hours we fished, we caught 30 or 40 smallies up to 14 inches and had a few long distance releases on fish that had to be several hundred inches long and weigh thousands of pounds....  well, they felt that way anyway. The technique that worked for us was to bounce 3 inch long powerbait grubs across the bottom. Chartreuse was the hot color and I can't remember a five minute stretch where we did not catch some type of fish. I also tried powerbait micro nymphs using a double rig floating downstream with great success. To fish effectively here from a boat, you absolutely need an anchor. We used a small 10 pound mushroom anchor and I was pleasantly surprised at its effectiveness in holding us in position. There were some other boats that floated through but I did not sense a significant amount of pressure. The approach they followed was to drift with the current and fish their way down river. That is something I could not do with the canoe since I was limited to the small trolling motor to get back to the launch. With a real boat, you can kick in the high powered gasoline engine and get back up to your truck quickly; an advantage that allows a boat guy to fish more of the river. As you can see from the map, we moved all over this area. It appears that the GEMCO map of the Upper Potomac is entirely accurate when it indicates that the entire Maryland bank downstream for a mile or more is wadable; being 2 feet deep in most places. We motored over to the Virginia shore to eat lunch and it looks like there's a decent shelf over there as well. Unfortunately, I do not know how you would gain access from the Virginia side. But that really doesn't matter given the broad expanse of wadable area on the Maryland side. Since this is the first posting this year where I discuss wading, I also need to encourage any wader to wear a flotation device. The current gets pretty fast and it's easy to step into a deep hole and start floating downstream. Bottom Line: If you are going to fish here, do it now before the vegetation grows. Later in the season it would be tough even to wade as you have to fight your way through the thick vegetation. In addition, horsing a fish back to the weeds is a recipe for a long distance releases.

Pressure Trout Size N/A Physical Fitness Bass Size Access Regulations Hard to Find Stocking Scenery Overall Remember to refer to my rating explanations - these are based on what I look for - so RED for Physical Fitness translates to easy physically - you do not need to be in shape to fish this section.  I prefer terrain that is tough to get into and out of.   Getting There:   I hate to do this, but I support the site by selling books.  My book on the Upper Potomac - "Wade and Shoreline Fishing the Potomac River for Smallmouth Bass" is available in both ebook format (instant download) or traditional print. This book walks the 57.3 miles upstream from the Chain Bridge in DC to Harpers Ferry, WV using words, annotated maps and over 200 pictures to provide you exact references while removing any doubt about what to expect in each section of the river.  The 230+pages include detailed directions, 42 maps, 45 tables and 208 GPS coordinates - more detail than you will see in any other fishing guidebook. You can purchase the eBook version for $9.95 by clicking on the buttons below:        To purchase the traditional print version: Secrets Revealed?  No.  This is a public location that is documented in Fishing the upper Potomac River Date Fished: 07/03/2009 Tell a friend about this article by clicking on this link

View up river

View down river.. note other boats drifting through