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Sounds like one fun family outing. Just remeber the outings make great memories, enjoy them. Congrats to your daughter, it seems like she is picking it up quickly. I hope to help my daughter catch her first bass this fall when she comes back home to visit. She has caught other fish but not a bass.

I like the Rage Tail toads, they do move water and I caught a few lmbs with them so far. I just went out and bought a few more packs today. I will be throwing them Saturday morning and I expect to catch some nice sized lmbs with them again.

Nice pics, I have been having some good luck lately throwing the Strike King Rage Tail toads/frogs.

Sorry about your loss. Nice pictures and report.

Welcome to the Southeast section. I am in Northen Virginia a few hours away from Suffolk but I have family down there. I have placed a link to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries below. That should be a good starting place for you to find lakes and rivers to fish in. Good luck moving and welcome to Virginia. http://www.dgif.state.va.us/fishing/

I would say between 3 and 4.

Nice boat, good luck with it. I'm jealous, I just have a 16ft V-hull with a 25hp Evinrude.

Looks good when are you going to launch it?

Nice hawgs you got there.

Congrats on the 7th place finish.

Trust me the thought crossed my mind since I have done that once in the past. I don't think I could have been fast enough to catch her as she took off real fast when the line snapped. FYI: I had to jump in a lake after my PB when the line snapped at the shore. This seems to be a bad family tradition that we need to stop from happening again.

Thank you for serving our country, my family prays for your safe return.

The bass was hooked solid, I saw the hook of the spinnerbait protruding just above the top lip. The line snapped above the knot, I saw and heard it break since my face was only inches away from the fish when it happened. The knot did not fail, the bass somehow got enough momentum to actually break the braid. It must have had just enough slack line when it surfaced to get that momentum. My only regret is not having a net with us today so Jason could have landed her.

Jay, This is an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life, and a story I will pass down to my grandchildren. This is a thrill I may never experience again, who knows. To see the sheer joy on your face when you hooked into the biggest bass I have ever seen. This was bigger than the ones I saw up close in the Baltimore, MD and Foxboro, MA Bass Pro Shop tanks. This bass had to be an easy 12lbs+, the mouth was big enough to insert a small bowling ball in it. She was beautiful!!! Then my worst fear happened right as I was getting ready to lip her I watched her make one last effort to break free when she saw my hand reaching for her and then I heard the snap, I wanted to cry. This bass made my PB look like it was a dink!! This was a much better thrill and I thank the lord that I was there to share this thrill with you. I know there will be those that may not believe this story but it is true, I was there and shared this memory with you. Great job Jay!!!

Nice smallie Paul

Nice hawgs ou got there

to the forum, our thoughts and prayers are with your family.

to the forum, our thoughts and prayers are with your family.

I love fishing top water, here are a few suggestions. Cavitron Buzzbait http://assets.espn.go.com/winnercomm/outdoors/bassmaster/i/P2h_BMM_Dec05_Lures12.jpg Rage Tail Frog http://www.sportsmansgarage.net/images/W/18toad.jpg Spinnerbait (black with a single colorado blade) http://image.basspro.com/images/images2/200-000/249-753-15-t.jpg

Cavitron buzzbaits, rage tail frogs and chatter frogs in and around the lily pads depending on time of day. I have had really good luck throwing all three of these into the lily pads in Northern Virginia.

We didn't need to fish slowly to hook these, the bass were very aggresive each time I have fished this location. I didn't have to pause at all, I just hopped them across the pads and when the frog hit the water the bass attacked it.

That is really cool, sounds like one great family. I am a huge Scott Martin fan and I hope to meet him one day.

I have a couple of pics but the fish were only 1.5lbs so I didn't post them. I lost some nice ones though in the pads. I need to find a way to pull them out without loosing them. I may try giving them a little line and see if they swim back out and then pull them in. I will figure it out.

I think the color is called green/pumkin.

I finally tried out the new Strike King Rage Tail frogs/toads today. I was in a bay off of the Potomac River that has large amounts of pads and hydrilla. A storm had just rolled through the area a few hours before so I was dealing with post front conditions and slightly stained water with temps in the high 70s to low 80s. I threw the frogs into some heavy cover and ran them across the top of the pads and hydrilla. As soon as the frog fell back into the water the bass struck them violently and then ran with the bait. Setting the hook was pretty easy as I was using Gamakatsu hooks and I always get good hook sets with them. Reeling them in was a whole other issue because the cover was so thick. I hooked into 6 keepers in a little under an hour, the largest was approximately 4 pounds and the smallest was about 1.5lbs. I must say I am extremely impressed with this bait and need to go buy a few more packages to keep in my tackle boxes.