Articles

Chopawamsic Creek To Cockpit Point

-by Andy Andrzejewski

Chopawamsic Creek, located in Virginia at the Quantico Marine Corps Base, is easily identified by its narrow entrance, abutted by rip rap rock banks and by the Marines air strip which is along the main river at the creek entrance. The creek mouth is the place to start. Fish the rocky point on the airfield side of the mouth of the creek during the last half of the outgoing tide. Continue to work your way inside the creek all the way to the bridges. Do not overlook the bridges, especially the second one which has a series of old pilings as well as an underwater wood bulkhead both downstream and upstream of the bridge. This area can be especially productive at the beginning of the outgoing tide when a topwater bait worked tight against the bridge pilings can result in both largemouth bass and rockfish. The wooden pilings and bulkhead remnants are good places to try deep diving crank baits as well as plastic worms or jigs.

After fishing the bridge, continue upstream fishing both side of the narrow channel. You will find the fall down trees as well as an irregular bottom to be good bass habitat. Dont ignore the launch ramp on the left side just before you enter the bay. Chopawamsic Bay is a vast shallow mud flat, the creek runs to the left toward the wooded bank. It is seven to 15 feet deep but ends after several hundred yards. What used to be one of the better places in the creek is no longer visible. A marsh island used to be just above the launch ramp on the right side of the creek channel. A fifteen foot deep hole is alongside of what used to be an island but what is now best called a shoal. The island itself having succumbed to erosion, some created by boat wakes of anglers who seem compelled to operate their boats at speed in this confined area. The ledge along it produces some quality bass and it shows its best side during the last hour of the outgoing through the first hour of the incoming.

Just past this location is another marsh island along the creek channel. This island is visible and is made up of Arrow Arum pads. The channel runs along the left side of the island and has a nice ledge which should not be overlooked. A wooded bank is visible on the left and the creek channel shallows out at the point on the left. The bay itself contains fields of Spatterdock pads as well as some duck blind remains and a few logs and fall downs. As of this writing, the bay is full of submersed aquatic vegetation, fish it as you would any where else.

The creek proper enters in the far right rear corner of the bay and is accessible by boat, the smaller the boat the more access you have.
This is a spawning creek and has a good population of bass in the spring. It is not an unknown creek and receives heavy pressure most of the year, especially on weekends. As you leave the creek and proceed upstream, you will see a rip rapped bank along the airfield. It too is productive. On the upstream end of the rip rap bank, just where it turns in behind the air base, you will see a PRFC marker sitting off of the point. For the uninitiated, PRFC means Potomac River Fisheries Commission and the markers mark the boundaries of their main river regulatory authority.
Between the point and the marker, enterprising anglers constructed a rock pile from the rip rap rocks on the bank. The rock pile is not visible except at a very low tide. Work this area with crank baits until you locate it.

You are now at Chopawamsic Island. The bottom in this area is rocky so careful navigation would be prudent. There are many pieces of old concrete walls as well as wooded bulkheads along the shoreline of the island. On the upstream side you will find old pilings, piers and barge remains, Inside of this rubble you will see a sunken house boat, it all holds bass. In behind the island on the sandy point which points toward the marine base is a 13 foot deep hole. The point drops off quickly into this hole and if you watch your electronics closely, you will locate some brush lying in the hole. The flats around the island are covered with grass this year and all of the flats, as well as the shoreline along the mainland shore, will produce. Above the island is the Quantico Marine Base marina. The marina is the only location along this part of the river that post small craft warning and storm warning flags to aid mariners, so make yourself familiar with the warning flags and pay heed. The marine is surrounded by a large concrete wall. The wall is a fish holder, fish parallel to it for best results. The small rock point just above the marina extends a good ways out into the water. On the upstream side of the marina, the shoreline is loaded with rocks and old, dilapidated, wood piers and bulkheads. You can spend an entire day in this area.

The shoreline ends at Shipping Point at the mouth of Quantico Creek. Shipping point is an excellent spot, especially at the beginning of either tide turn. Just inside of the point, is a long row of pilings which are awash at low tide and covered at high. The GPS coordinates are 38 31 69, 77 16 07. Most of the pilings sit in two feet of water which abruptly drops into nine feet. On the upper end of the pilings, another set of pilings sit out in front in deeper water, approximately 25 feet out from the main piles.

The concrete railroad bridge is the next most visible object, yes, the pilings hold bass. Immediately inside of the railroad bridge is the old railroad bed. The bed is rock and rises above the bottom a few feet. Some of the old wood pilings still remain along the railroad bed. I used to go under this bridge on the right side of the boat channel on plane until I discovered one of the old pilings. I now only idle through this area.

Lets start on the right side as we enter the creek. The sandy point just above the bridge drops into deep water and can occasionally be productive, the more vegetation on the point the better it is. The rocks along the right side are sporadic producers as well as the wood along the shore all the way to the old pilings at the rock bluff. The old pilings produce bass but immediately to the left of the piles is the remains of an old wreck which sits in seven feet of water. It can be located by drawing an imaginary line across the front pilings, fifty feet to the left, in line with the pilings, are the remains. My sources tell me that these are the remains of the C.S.S. Page, a confederate gun ship which was scuttled here during the Civil War. In any event, it holds bass. The GPS coordinates are 38 32 12, 77 17 09.

The next feature along the shore will be the discharges of the power plant. The first discharge you come to is the deeper one but the next, a flat concrete structure, seems to be the better of the two. Continuing on toward the back of the creek you will see power line towers, they are good. Beyond the towers, on the right, are docks of private homes, all good. Past the homes you will see a narrow opening in the pads, this is where the creek enters the bay and is accessible for several hundred yards when not choked with vegetation. As you exit the creek, boat along the right side shore. You will see marsh points, wood banks and even a few pier remains. It would be hard to find a spot along this shore that didnt hold bass.

As you pass under the railroad bridge, steer toward the power plant that sits on Possum Point. Beside the power plant and just prior to the point, you will see a small concrete launch ramp. Just to the left of the ramp is a rock jetty which comes off the shore about 25 feet and then makes a 90 degree turn toward the bridge for another 50 feet. In addition, in front of and to either side of the ramp are several rock piles. They lie just beneath the surface but sit in approximately six feet of water. Fish them thoroughly and then continue to fish the rocky shoreline to the pilings on the point. A PRFC marker sits on the point also, coupled with the fact that a large power plant sits on the shore should make finding this spot rather simple. The pilings are a community hole and heavily fished but they often produce good numbers of bass. The GPS coordinates are 38 32 03, 77 16 77.

The rip rap bank from the pilings to the power plant intake can be productive as well as the rocky ledge running from the intake to the docking area for petroleum barges. A float cable extends from the intake to the docking area but casting behind it is no problem. The metal bulkhead on the upstream side of the docking facility is a good spot. Especially near the shore. A rip ramp bank continues upstream of the bulkhead and is productive on occasion. The more submersed vegetation in this area, the better it is.

Continuing along the Virginia shore you will come to Possum Nose. Many large rocks are visible with a few sitting away from the bank. There are downed trees along this shore which can be good at times and just above Possum nose is another rip rap bank. Fish all of this area until you come to Cockpit Point. Cockpit Point is recognizable by the long pier which extends into the river as well as the petroleum storage tanks on the shore. The pilings hold some fish but the adjacent point used to be a hot spot. This area is no longer as good as it used to be, vegetation is no longer as thick as it was and a shallow rock pile which used to sit just inside of the point is no longer there, apparently covered by Hurricane Floyd.

The area we just covered may have the most bass habitat in it for such a short distance as anywhere else on the river , except for Mallows Bay, but thats another story.