Bigbarge50

As a guy who has been driving himself crazy with analysis paralysis trying to figure out what unit to put on my big fish 105 yak and how to mount it...... this thread has been insanely helpful so thanks to the OP and all who have contributed. (I am leaning towards the hummingbird helix 7 with downscan and sidescan and now maybe the fishfinder-mounts.com box ... might need an adapter to make it work on the T bars on the bigfish/feel free line)

That was my go to stretch for a while when I was land locked. It was a great area and could produce some nice bass. That draw down was brutal. I always wondered how much access the fish have to different areas of the canal. The area above swains did not seem to have any river access anywhere close so was not sure after the draw down if fish would be repopulating that area easily, if at all.

Anyone know what is up with the posts and nets in the southern end of roaches run?

Prior to all this construction that body of water always had a reputation of being a tough place to consistently fish. All the draw downs and construction would seemingly have made it worse. It is disappointing to hear about some kayak rental company out there. It used to be a pretty unused gem of a spot. Pretty soon it seems everywhere in NOVA will be over developed and will not be too many places for fishermen to go.

I grew up in Putnam county just outside NYC but went to school our in Rochester and have been all over the state. My best evening numbers wise still came from a Upstate NY public pond on a calm summer night..... 48 bass in a couple of hours. As I get skunked here in NOVA/DC I often wonder the same thing. I grew up in NY reading bassmaster and watching all the shows dreaming that the waters down south were so full of bass you could walk across them and that 5lbers were like every other fish. Ah reality. Glad to have another NY-er on here to talk shop with and excited to not be land locked anymore and back on the water.

Also new to a yak and also from NY..... Fished roaches for years from a zodiac and had some great days but not been there for 2 or 3 years now. Been 3 times in a week with the new yak and only have a catfish to show for it. (It took a jerkbait). Seemed everyone else fishing there lately has been struggling to find bass and even snakeheads. Not sure what is going on there because it used to have nice bass and some very large snakehead.... maybe the bow fishermen have hurt the numbers in there.

Thanks for sharing info on the Canal around Swains. I really like fishing there but when I saw in the winter on a walk that the water was nearly completely gone, I had kind of given up on it as a fishery..... I just did not see how it could come back within the next few years seeing it was basically dry in many spots. If fish and especially Bass are already back in there, that is great news.

Congrats on the fish, sucks with the backlashes, and excellent report. Everyone I know around the DC area struggled hard this weekend with many skunks, making what you got done even more impressive.

Awesome share and sounds rather snag proof (for an A rig) thanks.

I have an old one (pre switch) that casts well and has caught many a bass (color bleeding shad). I own three newer ones and they come with crap hooks and feel flimsy and they do not cast well at all. For me I still like throwing my old one over shallow weeds and around rocks when I want a tight shake to my cranks. I think the flat sides give a real nice profile and many a bass seems to agree.

Own it and still yet to catch a fish on it. As others have mentioned the rear hook set up is strange. Their are a bunch of other Pradco topwaters alone I would throw before I throw it again.

I always found Cabelas more focused on hunting and other species than bass, which while interesting, was less attractive to me than what BPS offered. As the years have gone on, both have backslid..... BPS only some whereas Cabelas seems to have fallen off a cliff both in terms of what the offer and the price they offer it at. When I lived in PA I used to drive up to the Cabelas near hamburg all the time.... then only started stopping only when I was passing through. I still enjoy going to a BPS and handling the merchandise I am interested in, even if I am not looking to buy (that no good bait monkey) which I can not say about Cabelas.

Looks interesting.... I might make the drive down too.

Friday would have to be after school hours, Saturday can go all day (and very well might). Def want to hear Ott this year and excited to hear from Mr Crews again this year (thought he gave some good insights last year.... just wish his missile bait stuff worked for me)

As a member here and of the NOVA group on FB, you will find the NOVA guys (myself included) can sometimes be a little inconsistent as life gets in the way and this site does have a lot of NOVA non fishermen come on here to collect info and go out and ruin spots with their disrespect of the limited natural resources. I would keep active on these sites, there are some great VA guys on here who are very generous with their knowledge. As our weather improves we can talk some specifics in NOVA.