http://occoquanwaterfront.com

The Maryland Department of Natural Resource plans to reward 3 lucky snakehead killers with $200 cash. You read that correctly: anybody who catches and kills a snakehead fish should email photographic evidence to fishingreports@dnr.state.md.us for a chance to win.

This contest is good thing because the Northern snakehead is a non-native, invasive species that  negatively impacts the Potomac River ecosystem. As a top predator, the snakehead fish is a direct threat to valuable fish populations, including bass.

In case you were wondering, there are 3 ways to kills a snakehead: decapitation, evisceration, or gill arch removal. Check out the video for more information.

Via Baynet.com

This weekend, for the fourth year in a row, the Prince William Marina is hosting the “Washington Capitol Boating Show” along the Occoquan waterfront. The boat show will be running all weekend long, from Friday at 2:00 until Sunday at 5:00.

There is an impressive list of 50 vendors that will be in attendance. Prince William Marina is a Sea Ray dealership and they will have many new & used boats on display. This year promises to include a large number of boats to explore, as both Hoffmaster’s Marina (Chaparrel Boats) and Holly Acres (Bayliner and Regal Boats) will also have boats on display.

If you’re thinking about buying a boat or just counting down the days until summertime, you should plan on stopping by.

With Spring right around the corner, it’s time for the crazies to plunge into the freezing cold Potomac River. The 10th Annual Polar Plunge to benefit Virginia Special Olympics takes place today, Saturday February 25th, at Tim’s Rivershore.

The river will be rocking with live music, contests, prizes and more! Visit Tim’s for more information.

Unbelievably, the tiny island in the middle of Occoquan Bay (known as Holiday Island, Dogue Island, Smoot Island, or Rock Island) has turned up for sale! The county assessment? $2,500 The list price? $477,000 ouch! Here is the virtual tour, courtesy of MRIS.

For some unknown reason, the address of the island is 15751 Featherstone Road. The island is 1/4 acre and zoned A-1 (agricultural) but you could probably talk Corey Stewart into rezoning the island for commercial office space.

Correction: A previous version of this story included photographs of Conrad Island.

The Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge is a strip of 325 acres of pristine riverfront property wedged between Route 1 and the Potomac River.

In 1970, the refuge was made off-limits to the general public. As of today, access is no longer limited. At this point, only boaters can access the refuge via the trail at the southernmost point of Farm Creek, which leads out to Occoquan Bay.

If you’re a fan of hiking and boating, you’re in luck!

The “true color” image below, courtesy of Maryland’s Eyes on the Bay website, shows just how unbelievably muddy the Chesapeake Bay has become the in the wake of the copious amount of rainfall that has fallen in the past 2 weeks.

Red Bull National Wake 2.0, a professional wakeboarding competition, will take place July 23rd at National Harbor. This very cool event will feature professional wakeboarders Brian Grubb and JD Webb, along with a crew of local riders. It seems that all-star Parks Bonifay will be M.I.A. from this year’s competition.

These tremendous water athletes will be flying off of custom made features built especially for National Harbor. Towed by Red Bull Waverunners, the riders will put on quite a show for National Harbor visitors. There will be a post event autograph signing and give-a-ways throughout the day.

Check out the Facebook page here and the official event page here.

When: Saturday, July 23, 2011 @ 11:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Where: National Harbor, Maryland

The largest boat show in the Washington DC region takes place this weekend at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia. If you’ve got spring on your mind, check out the details! Saltwater fishing boats, ski boats, runabouts, motor yachts, jet boats, jon boats, PWC, bass boats, inflatables, deck boats and pontoons will all be onsite, ready for you to hop aboard.

Here are the boat show hours:
Friday, March 12, 2011:     12:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Saturday, March 13, 2011: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Sunday, March 14, 2011:   11:00 AM – 5:00 PM

On Saturday from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM, there will be four Washington Redskins Cheerleaders hanging out at the Prince William Marina (Sea Ray) booth, signing autographs.

Remember, boat manufacturers usually team up with dealers to offer special incentives during boat shows, so it can be a favorable time to buy a boat. If you are thinking about buying, maybe now is the time!

With Spring right around the corner, it’s time for the crazies to run into the freezing cold Potomac River. The 9th Annual Polar Plunge to benefit Virginia Special Olympics will take place on Saturday, February 26 at Tim’s Rivershore.

The river will be rocking with live music, contests, prizes and more! Visit Tim’s for more information.

The image above, courtesy of the Fairfax County Stormwater Management Program, indicates that the watersheds around Mount Vernon are the lowest quality in the county. The areas around Belmont Bay, fortunately, are high quality.

With the exception of the Colchester stretch, the entire Fairfax shoreline of the Occoquan river is a high-quality watershed.

The annual Parade of Lights boat parade will take place this weekend along the Old Town waterfront in Alexandria. Santa Claus will arrive at the docks by fireboat at 4PM. Later in the evening, at 6PM, roughly 50 powerboats and sailboats will parade down the Potomac River from Washington to Alexandria.

If you haven’t already winterized, time to deck out your boat in lights and holiday decorations!