shimmy

everyone knows about the bridge, so your gonna need to know more than that on that lake. It can be brutal if you don't know what your doing. Also look at Burke, Abel, Brittle, and Curtis. They should be accommodating for the boat.

no i wouldn't no the first thing to do if i launched on the potomac. Well, first off, i would probably sink. The raft i fish out of is out of commission temporarily as i patch her back up. These are just the local public lakes within 70 miles of Falls Church. I am slowly learning these and have learned through default where not to go on some of these lakes. Gets annoying trying to learn a lake. A lot of time spent where no fish live. Moved here in October so i have just barely been trying to learn these. I hope you have been killin em on the Anna. Yeh, you ever want a partner, i'd love to go. Ripnlips

Wow wow and wow. That truly is sickening. My family, i can't afford to lie. In our family a big bass does not count unless it is weighed and verified. I always film my weigh ins with the camera. Kinda weird i know, but i always save it so i can verify with my competitive bass fishing family. Without a scale, it is dangerous to report a big bass

I have a serious weakness in the spawn. I do not like to sight fish and don't find it as entertaining even if it means catching the bass of a lifetime. I know this goes against the grain. The part i enjoy most about fishing is going to a great spot, takin a cast, and not knowing how big of a fish i might catch at any moment. To me it is like opening up a Christmas gift every time i hook into a big bass. Like any Christmas gift, i do not enjoy knowing what it is before hand. Now, i have nothing against anyone who sight fishes since i'd think most bass fisherman do this. Just wondering if anyone else feels the same. If i was in a tournament, i woud definitely sight fish but just wouldn't enjoy the big fish as much. Even when i have caught some nice ones sight fishing, it just seems to take away from the catch for me. Do i stand alone in this?

A.Do? That is a nice bass! That is gorgeous and every bit around 7 pounds.

Swimbait, not on this one. The NOVA gang had a dispute over what size is best to stick with. I took the stance of make what ever your using and supersize it while some others talked about there stinkos. Yes every once in a while they can catch big bass but i just hate to use them. So, these bass are not gettin pulled on a 3 inch sinko i can promise you that. I think the main thing is, the spring prespawn to spawn patterns change everyday, even throughout the day and is a nightmare if you try to find a daily pattern. So, the best bet is to forget about numbers and stick with bigger lures and fish good lookin prespawn locations and spawning spots. I think what helps me is i'm not afraid to get skunked. Thats why i am not interested in tournament fishing cause i just don't care about the limit and find it pointless to go for smaller ones when the bigguns don't seem to be biting. But, just my 10 cents and anyone who likes the smaller ones that's perfectly fine. I just won't switch my lure if they're not biting cause there is always one that might.

Weather was hot, blue bird skies, and no wind. Made for a rough afternoon. Tuesday morning and 4 other boats out so not too bad. Caught this 6+ lb. betty though. She was busting out of that belly. Not ten pounds but c'mon, this is always fun. Gave me quite the fight. Ripnlips

yeah, so? There aren't too many spots around here that don't get hammered with pressure. Lots of us keep specifics to ourselves and people we trust. Posting it on this forum makes it open to anyone with Google and the internet...people who aren't even members. Well said Dan, Dubb, i would share where i am catchin them, however, my problem is that unlike most with a boat, i can only hit less than a handful of lakes. Like Dan said, i just can't afford to have these crowded lakes any more crowded than they are cause i then have no other options fishing from this raft. However, just so you know, they are very public, and pressured, so just do things a little different than what your competition is doing on the lakes/ponds/private ponds you fish. This was caught in northern VA. Ripnlips

I have nightmares of posts like this. But, to each his own. RIP my darlings

6.1 lb. Always look at the hand to head ratio. That always puts the fish in perspective when held 2 inches from the camera lens. Great fish

Definitely a good point. However, the lures i choose to use are proven to work on the waters i fish. I do not like tournament fishing where you go for the limit and then try to upgrade. I like to go for 1 big fish. I'd rather fish with someone who stuck ten and i catch nothing while using something i know catches big bass. I know this is not the tournament angler mindset, hence why i would not like to fish tournaments. Now if they were catching big fish...i think my ego would allow me to tie on the same lure but probably a different color. This is the burden i must bare

That is very true. I despise the sinko. I will not tie one on and you will never catch me even lookin at one. Matter of fact, when i say i catch a fish, i have to tell people that it was caught on a sinko because i despise it so very much. A lot of fisherman have an ego, me as one of them. I just can't use what my competition is using. A lot of fishing is about self discovery and self achievement and that part is taken away when your buddy is telling you what to use. They might as well set the hook and hand you the pole. Some people don't mind that, i am stubborn enough that i would. It's pathetic

that looks fun nevertheless. I would take a 6 pounder anyday. They are just beautiful fish, as are yours

wow, heartbraker. That is the worst feeling. Nice size to her though. I can't tell you how many times i thought i hooked a monster bass only to see a 3-4 foot northern pike. The first time it happens on a trip is entertaining, after that, it gets out right annoying

Hah! I try to give hints here and there. Everyone has fished these lakes. I even provide a picture of each lake that i am gettin these gals at! So, it's a rubber raft, hand trolling motor (so can't handle too much wind or i will be thrown 100 feet in 3 seconds-which makes it a nightmare to cast while stearing-I cast 1/4th of the amount that i do from a normal boat), there not too big of lakes, and it's in northern VA and nowhere near as south as Lake Anna. So, you should be able to narrow some of the lakes that i am hittin. I don't have the leisure of fishing a private pond yet. I guess i haven't made those types of friends yet... I'll keep trying to throw you hints. I hope your gettin into some bigguns yourself Dan Oh, and to see just how ghetto my set up is, if you look at the raft, there is a hammer to the left of it holding the boat ashore. Yes, that is my anchor.

Everytime i go out, they get bigger. I am enjoying this trend. The raft strikes again. Well, decided to hit a new public lake this morning up in northern VA. As always, the learning process took a while as always. The water was 47 degrees which was a huge surprise. It got up to 51 this afternoon but dropped to 47 where i caught this gal. I almost didn't hit this cove since i was gonna be the tenth boat (raft) in it. However, this gal new who her daddy was! She knew that she must wait for my arrival. At first i thought it was a big catfish until she jumped and went nuts. Since it was a slow day, i had a horrible hook set, so i gave the second hook set a few seconds later which luckily held strong. Everyone else i talked to got skunked given the temperature. My rubber raft setup is pretty red neck. I miss fishin out of a bass boat. This gal was 23.25 inches. Long girl and pretty full

absolutely beautiful! 6lb test makes it even better. Good fishin

mercy me. I am moving to Mexico

I agree with the headshake. Absolutely wonderful when that happens, your heart drops, the head looks huge and you think it's over ten pounds. No other feeling. That was some good fishing to get that lunker in given the circumstances. Just awesome

Definitely 9 pounds 9 ounces. I want a lure for being right

beauty, well done.

Great fish. Just beautiful. You can tell thats a big fish for that lake. Reminds me of Minnesota bass, where there length is stunted and the big girls are only 20-21 inches but fat all the way down to the tail. Great fish, that's exciting. Where did you catch it? If it's private then saying a private pond will suffice!

Your a good man! You can tell that kids happy, fun fishin

wow, how i wish i could fish California. Just amazing. And yes, nice fish. You have proven time and again that you can catch em. Well done

I am just not sure how you can get better at this point. Flawless victory