basser89

Hey Jim, I was out last weekend on the Potomac in Washington county. Saturday, the water temps reached a high of barely over 40. The guy you said that was throw obviously didn't know that boating laws for MD or at least disregarded them. From the end of November until the end March (I believe) it is mandatory to wear a lifejacket at all times. Anytime I run my outboard, no matter what time of year, everyone in my boat must have a life jacket on or I don't fire up the motor. Obviously, when the law requires me to wear it, I wear it then too. The only action my partner and I had was seeing a school of walleyes that took us by surprise (we were making a run to our next spot when we ran right through a nice sized school before we even realized they were there). Do you fish the Washington county section alot? We may have crossed paths a time or two.

I have two depending on the time of year and conditions. Year round I'll throw a 4" BPS Magnum flippin tube (color depends of the water color and whether I'm fishing for smallies or largemouths) matched with the lightest weight I can get away with for the conditions I'm faced with. From the time the water reaches 50 degrees until it falls back to 50, I'll have a spinnerbait (color, weight and blade combination are determined by water conditions as well) tied on one or two other rods.

I fish it two way primarily. T-rigged and weightless. Both work well for me. My 2nd biggest bass was caught on a red shad Brush Hog! As others have said, I flip it, pitch it or cast it in or around grass and wood. One technique that worked well for me during the summer was adding a 1oz bullet weight to it and cast it into the thickest grass I could find and worked it on the bottom! Most other times of the year when I t-rigged it, I use the lightest weight I can get away with.

I was just on the Bass Professor's site and the video on the home page mentioned that one of the anglers he knows from PA catches a fair number of BIG bass (smallies and largemouths) fishing larger minnow baits (like ones used for musky fishing) while using a steel leader! Just thought I'd share that.

Welcome aboard Doug! Can't wait to learn from the BEST! Just one more reason why this site is head and shoulders above the rest!

Just as others have stated, on overcast days or stained to muddy water, I prefer painted blades. Chartruese blades on stained and muddy water and white on overcast days. Here's another option that's proved well for me the past 3 years.

I'm not a huge plastics guy but the plastics I have the most confidence in are tubes, creature baits and Senkos so wide gap hooks and circle hooks are my mainstay for those. I may have to pick up some straight shank hooks to see if that helps my wormin success! Darn, now I'll have to make a trip to BPS! Thanks 5BL! LOL

Took me a little bit to navigate PA's site but here's PA's link for citation regulations SPEEDBEAD. http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Fish_Boat/awardapp.pdf

For the MD guys, here's the link to MD's requirements. http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/recreational/tournament/mdsportfish.html Looks like they canned the master angler program but they still do the citations. The link includes the size requirements. Hope this helps!

I've qualifed two fish this year for citations (one largemouth and one musky). As far as the master angler award goes, I think you have to have at least 4 different species qualify for a citation to achieve this in MD.

They're one of the best crankbaits I own! They've worked well for me on smallies! My fishing partner turned me on to them and I'm glad he did!

I've encountered a couple of muskies while bass fishing on the upper Potomac and have had mixed results. When I'm actually fishing for the toothy critters, I've been using HEAVY fluoro and hard mono leaders that my fishing partner makes. I've yet to loose a bait to a musky since I started using my partner's leaders. So, IMO, it would be possible to use a fluoro or hard mono leader but I think you'd loose at least some of the action of the crankbait. My best result this year with a musky, while fishing for smallies was around a 30 incher I got boat side on a small Norman Mad N crank. It threw the hooks just as I tried to land it. I was using 20# Suffix braid at the time and it held up well! With that said, I'd much rather target the toothy critters on my musky tackle!

Yet another great video LBH! Thanks for all your efforts!

Hands down its the C-rig for me!

Nice job Ben! They're some nice looking smallies! Congrats!!!

I have two that I want to work on next year. Jigs for largemouths and jerkbaits for smallies. I tinkered a little with jerkbaits late in the year and had some success. I'm curious to see what my numbers will do on the smallies giving them a shot the whole year!

Way to be creative Muddy! Can't wait to see where it ends up next!

Hey BASS fisherman, I have the same tackle bag as you. I like the room it has (I can almost carry everything I want to in it) and the strap is comfortable even though mine weighs somewhere around 45lbs. When did you get your bag? Mine claims to have a waterproof compartment for maps n such, but I'd have to say its more water resistant than water proof. A couple of the outings I was on this year, the rain really came down hard! Thankfully, all the maps I have in my bag are waterproof because mine was less than water proof.

When I'm fishing stained to muddy water, I'll add a plastic trailer (usually a bulky single tailed grub) to my spinnerbaits to give the bait a little larger profile. As others have mentioned, I use a trailer hook unless I'm fishing extremely dense cover. When I fish buzzbaits, I use a double bladed buzzbait so it make a fair amount of noise so I don't need to worry about adding as much bulk. I'm relying on the noise to let the bass locate the bait.

Hey, I'mjust thinkin about saving my back for all the bass and BIG MOMMA (as long as you don't catch her first).!! And while I do have a couple of years on you Slayer, just remember I'm not the only one with back problems! ;D

Hey fishbear, MskSlyr is actually trying to talk me into going out to with him in the spring. I can't remember where on the Columbia we're going (if he convinces me) but we are planning on hiring a guide. Sturgeon Frank, if my memory serves me right.

Hey Jake, The next time we meet up for a trip, I'll be sure to bring a musky fillet along for you to try!

It's gone south already? Did I miss something??? :-?

Musky are one of the best tasting fresh water fish, IMO! I rank the a close second to walleye. They do have the big bones in the middle of the fillets but can be easily removed. Well worth the hassel, again IMO! I usually try to keep one smaller keeper a year unless I can't CPR a big one.

I picked up a spool a few weeks ago and have had limited use with it so far. With the limited use, I've formed an opinion but I'm just curious what other Berkley fans that have tried it think. Thanks in advance for the input!