Bigs

get a used stratos 201 evo, 200 xl or a used champion 210, 206 or 203. If you're talkin upwards of 35k then forget a nitro. Buying a nitro for 20 grand I could understand but for 20 foot boats do not sell yourself short man. The first year of ownership a 50k dollar boat loses anywhere between 10-20 grand. Also keep in mind who is gonna deal with warranty issues should they arise and who is gonna service it. For example, i recently sold my lexus, the closest dealer was over 50 miles away. Same goes for boats, you dont wanna have to haul it 50 miles or more every time you want something done. Bass Cat, Stratos, Champion, Legend or even something like a ranger would all be good choices. They are all fine made boats. if you wanna go fast but get the crap knocked out of you on rough water then buy one of those pretty speed bass boats. Depends on what type of water youre fishing and what kinda tournies. Nitro has huge payouts for certain tournament trails if you are the original owner of a nitro. The bigger the motor and boat then the bigger the payout. If you have a z9 with a 250 then i think it's 6,000 dollars or maybe 7,000 when you finish first place. my buddy did it last year with his new z9 and took home 9 grand total if I recall for a one day tournament, not pro's, just regular weekend anglers. Something to consider also only if that applies to where you live. If not then forget the nitro. Also make sure you test drive it and bring a rod to fish with for a few minutes so you can get a feel for how it fishes , how the trolling motor setup feels, how typsy it is , etc...Made that mistake when I bought a basscat and I hated the way it fished once I got it out. Good luck and let us know what you bought

Pretty sure it's still the same molds too. Nice boats but not as good as what they were building before 2001. As for the nitro, if you like the boat then buy it. I think buying a new boat is silly, get a slightly used one with alot of warranty left and save a ton of money.

I agree, i paid someone to clean my reels once. Ever since then i have done it all myself. Doesnt take long and it's kinda fun.

i dont get the cheap route thing ? Gettin a reel cleaned is usually 10-15 bux tops. Shouldnt be anything expensive bout getting it cleaned unless something is broken which I doubt from it being in the water. I have dropped daiwa steezes in the water, a pixy, bps reels, etc.. Never had a problem after they dried out

I never fish for smallies so i really wouldnt even begin to know where to go and look for them. Not sayin i dont want to, just havent really made the effort. i know I'm missin out on some good stuff but one of these days I'll make a trip to the New river and try and have one of those 50-100 fish days I hear about. For now im content with fishing Anna in the winter and the Potomac spring thru early fall. There arent smallies in Lake Manassas by any chance are there ?

smallmouth in nova ? tryin to think where this is

I know others who never caught anything on a buzbait for the longest time but mostly cuz they rarely used one. As soon as you get that first buzzbait fish tho, its an addicition. Something bout the sound of the buzzbait moving along and then all the sudden it vanishes under water. I like it better then frog fishing but to each their own. I can get a buzbait thru lilly pads just as well as a frog, grass maybe not as well but i still get it thru. The key is to start reeling it in before it hits the water. That way it "hits the ground runnin" you could say, it's on plane as soon as it lands and you avoid fouling it up with grass or debris. Hold your rod tip high if you must and vary your retrieve some. I been throwing a pink buzzbait but also use white, black, and other bright colors when called for. And as for swimmin jigs and chatterbaits, its one my fave things on the potomac, bout to order a Powell Swim Jig rod right now as soon as *** answeres their dang phone

don't fall too in love with senkos. They work good and all but tend to catch small-medium size fish with a big one thrown in there from time to time. This time of year Im mostly throwing moving baits , at least till local waters start to clear up. Go and get yourself a Bass Pro shops 7 foot medium crankin stick, they are around 70 bux and use it for crankbaits , and even spinnerbaits and buzzbaits if you must. Buzzbait fishing is good right now when its cloudy out no matter what time of day. And the crankbait bite has been on fire lately. Fishing moving baits will allow you to cover much more water and much faster. Where as senko fishing is slow , very slow. If you can only have two rod and reel setups then its essential to have one for senkos/jigs/soft plastics and one for moving baits.

what sux about that is when people see them off the bank and catch them to keep esp in a small lake or pond. Saw a guy catch a 5 pounder last spring that was a few feet from her male who was nesting and he kept the fish, really gets under my skin. I'll focus my attention more on the post spawn fish

Thanks, gonna try and catch some more just like it on the Potomac on wednesday

Nice, we caught over 30 bass today from 3 till 8pm on the hot side mostly on poppers and ricos and a few on crankbaits and worms. Nothing over 2 pounds 10 ounces today. No clue what the temps were since my buddies electronics on his Gambler werent working at all. Decent day tho, pretty much a dink fest but it beats not catching anything at all. Get at me tho, I wanna get back out there with you on the Potomac again asap. I'll send you my new cell number right now

jus curious why everyone goes bonkers for the shad run every year. i have caught some huge shad at blue plains and hate them. they are slimy and a pain in the butt. Are they good eatin ? What am I missin here ?

ya she went on a Rapala digital but i had to keep my finger in her gill the whole time so she probably weighed a few ounces more but I had no choice or I would have risked her falling off the scale and gettin hurt. Was a very long fish but not the fattest. She had battle scars from head to toe, who knows what she's been fighting with out there. The tail was bloody so she was spawned out and startin to eat. The belly wasnt like a softball so she has more weight left to pack on before she heads deep. Maybe I'll catch her again this coming week with an extra 8 ounces on her, who knows. Alot of the fish I caught were spittin half eaten baitfish out as I landed them but not this one interestingly enough

Fished from the dock at our lake house today for about 2 hours. Got about a dozen solid bites but only caught 5 bass, all were over 14 inches including this one that weighed a lil over 6 pounds. Caught on 6 pound test on a zoom shakey worm with a 1/8 ounce spot remover. And who said the hot side of Anna is dead after March....

fished the potomac a few days ago and caught several fish between 2-3 pounds on a chatterbait and a few on a red xcalibur rattletrap, great bait btw. The guy i was with saw me catching one after another on the chatterbait so he tied one on and caught a 5 pounder in the lily pads on his first cast. He didnt catch a fish after that but it was a worthwhile day none the less. The river is nasty and muddy right now, lots of stuff washing up on shore and at the ramp. be careful out there.

fished the public side last week and the water was muddy, we only caught a few small ones. Good luck, gonna be tough until the water clears up.

took several attempts to log in today but finally got it to work. Whats all this rep stuff about anyways.

Mid April is the best time to be out throwing traps, to be more specific red eye shad. Once the mats start coming up, after the spawn, just get into a flat, find a small hole and just start throwing a senko or a craw type looking bait. Spend all day just doing this. You will begin to have better luck, it is a confidence type of fishing. No you will not find fish in every pocket just let the wind push you. Stay off your trolling motor since you will most likeley be fishing in 4' or less water, any sound will push the fish away. Once it starts getting warmer and topwater starts to really play a role use that to find your fish and then from where you got your bite start punching mats. Grab a 1oz peg weight with a good craw and just start punching. Find thick mats puch through them, let it sit, pull it up to the top of the canopy bang it against the canopy and then let it fall. You will get most of your bites on the fall. If you ever want help with this tactic just holler at me when you plan on going out and if you need someone to go with you. I will help you as best I can. Good advice but I was always told to use more like a 1.5 ounce weight when punchin the thick mats. I guess its personal preference. And I'd love to get out with some good folks but am currently boatless and wont have another till I can afford to buy a new(er) boat with a warranty and all that good stuff. Just gonna have to rely on others this season to take me out here and there :'(

Hey Rick, just gimme a call. I got out this past weekend and felt alot better, got my mind off my dogs kidney failure and everything else. Spoke to Chris Craft too and told him to take good care of you But ya let's do what we had planned ASAP, Im startin to realize I need to be fishing this spring to keep my mind right. This week is gonna be nasty but maybe next week things will look better with some warmer weather.

wasnt there supposed to be a couples tournament trail starting up this year around central va ?

I heard the river has been tough the last week or so with the cold front. My fave time to start hittin the river the last two years has been mid april. May and June is an absolute blast and then by July I start catching less numbers but good size. The guys who really know how to punch mats do well all summer but Im not that good with punchin yet, still have alot to learn

sinking jerkbait ? You talkin a fluke type JB or a pointer? I usually throw flukes out there but fish them near the top of the water. Case plastics makes the best fluke imo

curious as to why you been on here a few weeks yet you chose to make this your first post, seems strange

yup , but have a chance to fish with someone on the river tommorow whom I respect and enjoy fishing with so Im gonna head out. Still have enough gear to do what I gotta do out there. And Im only selling my expensive stuff. Keeping my BPS stuff since I can catch as many fish on it as I can with pricey stuff. Fish sure as heck dont know the difference

so I registered with MD but didnt have a printer handy. I did write down the number tho. Am I gonna get in trouble if I get stopped and only have the number written down ?