VAfishin4me

I live in Richmond and I just need some new fishing spots. I mostly fish small, private lakes, cuz it seems that around here most of the public lakes are crap. Don't get me wrong I catch plenty of fish in those lakes, but I just can't go enough. It shouldn't be this hard to find a good fishing hole right? Any Richmonders or even anyone living near here know some good spots?

The Hangover definitely ranks up there with some of my favorite comedies such as Old School, Animal House, and Superbad. I saw it in theaters and the audience went nuts for it. I continuously laughed through the whole movie. Didn't really need to see the end credits though. :-X

Mojo sinkers are long and thinso that the sinker shape allows a mojo rig to slide easily through rocks, weeds, and brush better than most other sinker types. Mojo rigs also work for vertical fishing in deep water where baits are suspended for bass in or under the tops of flooded trees and brush. They are part of a system htat inlcudes rubber strands that thread through the sinker to peg it from 12-24 inches up the main line above the bait. The rubber strands cushion the line from any potential damage that can occur with wooden toothpicks or crimping splitshots on the line.

Yep, I haven't been on the forum long, but I have really enjoyed it. I especially love the BR advertisers and staff members of some of our favorite companies such as Bobby, Bantam, and Big-O. Those guys are almost like heroes to me. It really helps to have the people who design the baits and equipment we use answering questions. I also have to say I really look up to RW, mainly because anyone who catches smallies that big is a BEAST! ;D Seriously, the mods are doing everything right.

I was just curious to hear from you Floridians and others who live down there about the fishing. Do the bass bite the same there all year round? Is spawn time different? I live in Virginia, so I still fish in the winter, but the fishing is much slower and obviously different baits are needed. I guess I am basically asking what types of seasonal fishing patterns do you guys see there?

The jitterbug is a far cry from "underrated". Especially for use after dark, the black J-bug is probably Numero Uno among all surface lures. Roger Agreed, at least where I am from the first lure someone tells you to put on for topwater is a jitterbug. That bait has been around FOREVER and I don't think it will ever stop catching fish and selling. Definitely not an underrated lure around here, but hey, I don't do much fishing out of state.

wow! great responses. I am still looking up some of the lures I had never heard of or used before (about 80%) ;D thanks for sharing

I was taught how to fish on a slider worm, and I haven't used one since, but if it works for ya.

I was just thinking today about all the lures I may never try because they are a certain brand name or get a bad rep from a friend, but in reality they might be bass catching machines. What do you guys think are the most underrated lures or brands? I have found that the Cabelas and Bass Pro Shops brand lures, and plastics generally get a bad rep. The most underrated lure I think would have to be a beetle spin. My friends will laugh at me when I bass fish with these, but I catch more bass than them. You'll may not agree with me, but I am curious to hear what you'll think because maybe I could start using lures I thought were bad.

Go big or go home. 8-)

7lb. 24" largemouth on a 3.25" YUM Crawbug; Green Pumpkin/Red color; with a 1/16 oz. weighted 3/0 owner twistlock. Yes, I remember EVERYTHING about that catch. ;D

Went to BPS today and in my search for large grub-like worms (earlier post) I picked up some 10" Fork worms made by Lake Fork Plastics. I've never used any bait made by this company so I was just wondering if anyone has had success with these baits specifically or that company in general?

Yea, I should have mentioned Kalin's big profile grubs are similar, but can you get that size at stores without ordering them? I have seen Kalin grubs before at Gandor Mountain but I'm not sure what size they were.

One of my favorite baits to pitch is the big grub made by GYCB. Usually I pitch an 8" grub into heavy cover for the best effect and I have caught some big bass this way. However, no one in my area, not even BPS carries those large grubs, so that I have to order direct from GYCB. This is SOOOO expensive, and I was wondering if anyone knows of any baits like this and where I could get them. The closest I have found are some large ribbontail worms, but these really aren't the same. It may be that there isn't anything else out there like them, but any help would be appreciated. Thanks

For Senkos I really think it comes down to the rod quality more than quality of the reel, so I would recommend a Pflueger President reel for 60 bucks and a Shimano Crucial rod. This might come out to a little over your budget, but that is an amazing rod for the money. Get this setup and you may be wanting it for yourself. ;D

if you wanna catch some serious bass try out some of the GYCB baits such as the 8 or 10" single tail grubs, 12" curly tail worms, and 10" Kut tails

Get yourself some 5" senkos or other senko style bait, and some Berkley Powerbait ribbontails. You'll also need some 4/0 hooks

It seems like lately I have been hearing a lot about ceramic ball bearings, and I have even heard of folks who always put them on every Daiwa baitcaster they get. What are the advantages/disadvantages to putting these on a baitcaster? How about on a TD Zillion 50th hyperspeed reel? Which type/brand is the best? How would one go about putting these on? Any help would be appreciated, thanks

There's only two brands of hooks I won't buy....Eagle Claw and VMC Bad experiences right out of the containers

I have also had a lot of trouble with the Gama weedless hooks I use for wacky rigging, I eventually gave up and went to some split shot hooks, but those look great. Let us know how they work

Yep, Yep, Yep ;D

6'6" MH Shimano Crucial Trigger Rod- 149.99

Thanks Oldschool, you really know your reels, and yes I was very surprised by how good of shape the reel is in. Thanks for your input

I checked up on that because I was thinking the same thing, but it is definitely the original case for that reel. (At least the one he bought with it, who knows what case might have come with it at the type of store he bought it at). That is actually what originally confused me because the early seventies models had nicer black leather cases, very unlike the brown one I have here.

Yep, I think I am leaning more towards the seventies