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Rob, Let me clarify my earlier post, the LMBs are going to go dormant soon if they have not already. I have noticed a siginificant drop off in LMB reation strikes and catch rates after having a great fall fishing season (my best ever). The water temps are dropping fast in the lakes around here and that should be no surprise based on our recent weather. The only bites that you will see from the LMBs now are going to be reaction bites. It is going to take a bit of luck to trigger a reaction bite now due to colder water temps and those will be few and far between. The best fishing now is going to be SMBs and trout, not LMBs.

The smallie bite should still be ok, I don't know about the LMBs though. I went out today and tried fishing Lake Brittle and Lake Mercer and could not get a single bite at all. Maybe it is due to the front that came through or maybe the water temps are to low for the LMBs to be active. I guess I will find out when I try fishing these two lakes again this weekend. I am leaning toward the water temps being to cold, the season may be finally over, I hope not.

We ended up with one inch of snow and the school district that I work for closed. I may have to go fishing after my doctors appointment today if the temps rise above freezing .

The news is reporting that his parents kicked him out of the house, he got busted for drugs, he lost his job and his girlfriend broke up with him. I guess he snapped.

LMAO...

My wife would kill me if I put lures in the dishwasher and she caught me.

Congrats on the new pb, don't forget to post pics.

Thanks for sharing this video, it was funny. There are also more funny videos on that site.

I set mine so I can pull them through the grass.

Nice catch, I have been catching hogs with the rat-l-traps lately too.

Hey Peasey where did you catch that hog? Thats one nice looking LMB.

Thanks senko77, Heck yeah, I am having the best time fishing even though it is in the 30's & 40's outside. The hogs are still hitting the crankbaits. I am going out a few more times this week in search of my trophy LMB (either 8 lbs or 22 in). It would be sweet to get one by the end of December. I feel pretty good about my chances since I have really just started pulling in the hogs over the last couple of weeks. I have just increased my rat-l-trap collection to 15. I always buy more when I see ones that look like they will help me land the trophy. The wife hates the fact that the bait monkey is always in my wallet, but hey I am having a good time fishing.

It is snowing in Northern Virginia right now however that will not stop me from my quest to land a trophy LMB. I am going to fish a couple of different lakes this weekend, it is supposed to be in the high 50s.

It is going to be a close game. The Pats have Colvin out with a foot injury, Harrison sprained his groin against the Ravens. The Patriots defense is also giving up to many big plays in the middle of the field, both running and passing plays. This is due to the fact that the linebacking corps is getting old. You also have to consider that the game features the best offense (Patriots) and best defense(Steelers) in the league going head to head. This should be a great game. I see this as 31-24 in favor of the Patriots.

Most of the time when they get caught up on something I have been able to give the line a couple of tugs in the opposite direction and the lure frees up. I have only lost one or two rat-l-traps in the last couple of months and I throw them a lot. The reward has also been well worth it in the quality and quantity of my catch.

I used to fish exclusively with the swim senkos, they work great. However the colder water has forced me to fish with crankbaits and I find them much more effective in catching the bigger LMBs. I will most likely fish swim senkos again next spring when the LMBs move back into shallow water around here.

It would be nice to have another ramp to launch at but this is only in planning stages. It will take several years before any money is dedicated to it due to Virginia budget issues. It might be interesting to hear what they have to say about the boat ramp but it sounds like they already made up their minds on that issue. I guess I will just continue to launch at Occoquan and Leesylvania.

Nice catch, I sure would like to try fighting one of those.

I pull my boat with a 2007 4Runner and it pulls nice. I do not have any problems at the boat ramps and it gets about 22 miles per gallon on average. I would highly recommend this vehicle for the boat you are pulling, my boat weighs about 1,500lbs

Paul, The bass are still pretty active around here in deep water. I have been catching good numbers and good size LMBs the last couple of weeks at Lake Mercer. I am hoping to catch some LMBs at both Lake Brittle and Lake Mercer this weekend as well. I would not know of any place to catch Perch since I only target bass.

Wow, I am disappointed to hear about the fishing in this lake. I may still try it just to see if I can get lucky like I have with Lake Mercer.

I have had luck with many different colors. The two 5lb + were caught on a (BPS shad rat-l-traps)silver/black and a blue/silver. The 3.5lb was caught on a bluegill color rat-l-trap. I love these lures and only wished I had tried them earlier in the season. They are definitely my go to lure and I now have about 10 different rat-l-traps since they have been so productive. I am always looking for new ones with different colors.

The last two weeks have been the best fishing I have experienced since I began Bass fishing earlier this year. I started on Fathers Day when my son bought me a new rod and reel for a gift. I have caught some nice hogs by fishing just Rat-L-Traps. I have caught 4 (2lb), 1 (2.5lb), 2 (3lb), 1 (3.5lb), 1 (5.25lb), 1 (5.5lb) and a buch of 1lb LMBs. Has anyone else had success with Rat-L-Traps? If so what is the largest LMB you have caught using them? I have been throwing the half ounce ones.

How about Lake Brittle? It looks to have a lot of shore access and the 2007 fishing report from VDGIF looks pretty good. Anyone up for the trip? I will drive from Woodbridge, VA and I have room for three others. The information below is from the 2007 Lake Brittle Biologist Report. The population structure of largemouth bass remained similar to findings from 2003, with Proportional Stock Density (PSD) values slightly decreasing (PSD 57) over the previous sample in 2001 (PSD 58). Relative Stock Density of Preferred fish (RSDP) greater than 15 increased to 26 in 2006, which is similar to the RSD-P value from the previous sample year (25). Catch per unit effort (CPUE) of largemouth bass was 111 fish/hour. Angler success should be very good at Lake Brittle with good numbers of bass larger than 15 available for the catching.

Any Northern Virginia folks up for fishing this Saturday 12/8/07? I am thinking possibly Beaverdam Creek Reservoir or Lake Brittle but I am open to other locations.