Addicted to Smallies

Sorry... should have been clearer in my first post. I know where most of the launch points are, but I'm not sure which ones are the best places to put in for bass fishing this time of year. Is one of these spots better for late summer / early fall bass fishing? Also, any lakes in decent driving distance other than Anna and SML that allow full-sized bass boats?

Finally... after years of thinking about it, I picked up my new bass boat, which was an anniversary present from my WONDERFUL wife. Nothing too fancy, but for a first bass boat, I'm pretty happy... I picked up a Tracker 175 TXW with the 60HP fourstroke. So, now I just have to find some places to take it. Lake Anna was my first stop (on the way back from BPS), and I've launched from the Occoquan Regional Park a couple of times now as well. Where are the NOVA folks' favorite places to put in? Anyone care to share their thoughts on the best places to boat? I've been a kayak fisherman for the last few years, and I know many of the lakes around here are 9.9HP or electric only, so I assume that Lake Anna and Smith Mountain are the only lakes for full sized boats, so I guess I should focus on the Potomac and its tributaries? Any suggestions... I'm in Northern Fairfax county, and would prefer not to drive 2.5 hours to one-fish Anna every weekend. I could really use some ideas... I want to try some new spots before winter gets here!

OK, so I had a little time on my hands and started thinking about Striper fishing, and wondered if a modified striper rig would work for bass. Seems like the A-rig has taken over, but there are other striper rigs out there so I thought maybe they would work, too. I also fish offshore a bit and Squid daisy-chains are pretty common (either with or without a stinger on the back) and lots of folks run similar rigs for striper trolling as well, so I thought I'd try it for bass in a downsized version. It's basically a leader of 50# mono with 2 3" tubes (held in place by split shot) with a larger differently colored spinnerbait as the "chaser" (stinger.) I've trolled it at 2-3mph and caught largemouth bass, small stripers and even a few catfish, and have also used it in my massively over-fished local pond to catch some of the bigger bass that have been chasing bait fish, but won't hit a typical lure if you put it right in their face. Overall, it worked pretty well and when I cast it a few dozen times, it doesn't wear out my arm like the A-rig does. So, am I onto something new, or is this something you guys have been doing for a while? I call it the "butler rig" since I first tried it on a local watering hole of the same name.

Baby Brush Hog

Where do you guys keep your rigs? I ask because we're in a subdivision that doesn't allow us to keep boats on our property, so we have to keep ours at an offsite storage lot. (And yes, carrying the batteries back and forth is a real pain, BTW!) Just wondering if other folks face the same issue, or if most folks are lucky enough to have a garage big enough. If you store offsite, any good tips our suggestions for keeping life as easy as possible?

Well, it's been a while, but I promised a trip report. As things turned out, we opted to do the Upper Potomac instead of the Shenandoah. Put in just south of Harper's Ferry and took 2 days to head down to a takeout just above the Falls. GREAT TRIP! We caught 100+ fish if you count all the bluegills my son pulled in, as well as about 25 nice smallies, several largies and a couple of catfish. We camped on one of the islands and had a blast. Nothing like waking up early, making some fresh coffee and seeing the world start to wake up. No problems at all and had a great father-son bonding experience. Highly recommended, but would suggest a weekday instead of the weekend if you want to feel alone on the water... the river was absolutely packed with folks on Saturday.

Catch and release for Snakeheads??? Up here in Virginia, we have a "kill on sight" order from the DNR for those. Is Florida different?

James, I see your point. I was the same way for a long, long time. My dad was a "never wear a shirt when working outside" kind of guy growing up, and I always thought that real men accepted a little bit of sunburn every year as just being par for the course. But after seeing what my Dad's skin looked like at 70 years old, I realized I needed to take a little more precaution. I'm not a fan of worn leather, except on my recliner, my baseball glove and my old overnight bag. ;-) Ever notice how you can always tell a woman's "real" age by looking at her hands, no matter how much work she's done everywhere else? Well, guys are the same way. The gloves aren't a bad idea for us fair-skinned folks -- even without the cancer worries, I want to fight off the aging process as much as possible now that I'm in my mid 40's!

Every time I watch Jeremy Wade on "River Monsters" I realize that my fishing bucket list is getting longer... and less likely to fulfill. Now THAT guy has a great job...

Congrats to him on the catch, but I hate seeing a huge fish like that being killed. It was probably 50-60 years old to be that size (with another 20+ years of life ahead of it). It will take decades to grow another one like that. Big catfish are one thing, but the AG is so rare, it's a shame to see the monsters being killed off.

I just want to know what the "SHT PROTECT" is as the bottom of the list... did you buy Preparation H as well as lures, or is that a plunger?

X2. I don't think I can help with your questions since I haven't done this myself, but I love this thread. If I had the space (and the time) I would definitely do a restoration like this myself. Love following your progress on this thread and just wanted to say "great job" and "I'm jealous." :-)

Can't say enough good about the Buff. Seems like just a simple little piece of cloth, but it's the best piece of fishing clothing I have purchased. Has certainly saved my neck and ears from sunburn this season, and it also helps keep those pesky no-see-'ums out of your ears and nose when they're swarming.

I don't think it attracts fish necessarily, but it definitely helps mask human odor and may make them stay on a bit longer. I view the spray as an added precaution, much like I use Dead Down Wind for my hunting gear... it can't hurt, and it may help, so $8 is probably a good investment.

X3. I love the long sleeved Columbia tees, combined with a Buff and a pair of very lightweight Columbia cargo pants (nylon, not cotton). The extra coverage keeps me cooler in the sun, and the material helps cool you off since it evaporates better than cotton. I used to be a shorts and short-sleeve shirt guy because I thought long sleeves/pants would make me hotter, but with the new stuff from Columbia (and others), I've found the opposite to be true -- much cooler when I cover up and keep the sun off my bare skin. Plus, it will hopefully keep me from visiting the dermatologist so often. As a plus, you can wet the Buff with your water bottle and it feels so good and cool on your head/neck that you'll forget it's 100 degrees outside. I cannot over stress how awesome the Buff is. Probably the best piece of fishing clothing that I own.

Where I fish (mostly rivers and streams, not lakes), it seems to depend on what the fish are feeding on at the moment, I think. If it's mostly crawfish, then the occasional quick hop is better than a long slow drag since it looks more like a crawfish swimming back down to the bottom. If the fish are being opportunistic feeders, or if they are being a bit skittish, then the slow drag may be the better approach. Once you catch a fish or two, try to see if there's anything in it's throat. If you see crawfish, then I'd hop the tube.

Small creeks are some of my favorite smallie spots. Over the last 10 years or so, I have come to the conclusion that if you can't catch some decent fish using 1) Green Craw, 2) Green Pumpkin Baby Brushog, or 3) natural colored tube, then there aren't any fish to be had - one of those will work at any time of the year under any conditions, just about. Senkos can work well, too, but I find that things that resemble Crawfish work best in smaller streams for me. Once you've found the right spots in the creek using one of the 3 things above, then you can try some of the other baits mentioned like cranks and spinners to try for larger fish, but if one of those first 3 doesn't catch a decent fish, you might not be in the right spot. Maybe I'm biased, but ANY time I hit a new creek, that's the order I go in and it seems to work well for me. That said, some of my bigger ones come from cranks, but to find the fish, I'd go 1-3 above first. It's the opposite of big lakes and bigger rivers -- in smaller streams, cranks aren't as good of a search bait IMHO.

I received a nice spincast reel as a gift a while back that I seldom (if ever) use -- a Zebco Omega with 7 bearings and a relatively smooth operation. Overall, it's a really nice reel, but I'm not much of a spincast fisherman. I'd like to rig it up for my 10-year old son to use since he's not quite at the baitcaster level yet, but was wondering what type of line would be appropriate? It came with mono, but I'd like to use a superline for both the strength and the sensitivity. What would be the best set-up... braid? fluoro? Fireline? Basically, I'd like for him to have one rod in the boat / canoe that we could use for anything he wants to catch, from large bluegills to small catfish to bass, but with a little more sensitivity and "get out of the brush" capability than 10lb mono will provide. Any suggestions?

I can vividly remember my first smallie. I was fishing for largemouth bass in the Potomac River with a 5" pumpkin Senko, and suddenly out of nowhere it felt like something was going to rip the rod out of my hands. It took me a good 4-5 minutes to fight the fish and land it (didn't know what was actually on the line, so gave it plenty of drag just in case.) When I finally landed it and saw the size (about 4#, but she fought like a saltwater fish 3x her size) I knew that I was hooked. NOTHING fights like a muscled-up river smallie. I still love going fishing for their large mouthed cousins -- and probably do it more frequently than can fish for smallies -- but ever since that day, I've been addicted to smallies.

Motion-X GPS is pretty good for what you are describing. You can drop waypoints, plot your tracks, navigate to a location, etc. and you can also send the track/waypoint info from the app to your email so that you can then use it in other non-iPhone applications (that may be limited to the paid edition, though now that they updated the app.) I used it for a while hiking and hunting and it worked pretty well, but it drained the battery FAST on my iphone. I upgraded to the Garmin 62 for hunting and kayaking (due to the waterproof aspect, the desktop software, the birds-eye satellite-based maps, better readability, and better battery life)

Any of you guys try the mint-based non-tobacco snuff as a way to quit? I'm wondering if just having something "in my mouth" that feels like a Skoal Pouch would help... especially if combined with a nicotine patch for the first couple of weeks.

+1 on the Natives! I have a pair in Copper Reflex and they are wonderful glasses. I bought them for sports, but have used them fishing and the polarization is quite good for a $100 pair of glasses. As for sports glasses, they CANNOT be beat, IMO. Light, excellent hydrophillic rubber on the legs and nose and optically very high quality. If I'm not fishing, I have my Native's on 100% of the time -- better than Maui Jims or Oakleys from my perspective. But THAT SAID, I have to admit that I'm now a convert on the Costa del Mars. Pricey, but SO worth it if you fish!!! I honestly didn't believe price made a difference and that an $80 pair was as good as a $200 pair, or MAYBE that there was a little "optical perfection" difference, but it wouldn't matter to the human eye. BOY was I wrong... putting on a pair of Costas is like seeing your lake for the very first time. They are absolutely amazing. I can see literally see things with them that I can't see with my other glasses. If you go with the Costa 580g (glass) lenses, then they ARE quite pricey, but I tried a pair of my buddy's 580p (plastic composite) lenses and they were just as good (and lighter.) Plus they are about $75 less than the glass Costas. However, they don't come in the green mirror / copper base lens that I prefer. I am a cheapskate at heart and tried 'em all on the low end, and they worked OK: Berkeley, Strike King, BPS brand, etc.. NOTHING wrong with them and they are MUCH better than nonpolarized glasses. But now that I've seen what the "real world" looks like through my Costas, I'd give up eating for a week to save up to buy another pair if I ever lost them.

The lower-rent option would be to try to get on Lunkerville. I LOVE that show, and the bank fishing ones are some of my favorites.

Think I have to change my vote now... just caught my all time PB at 7lbs and 2 oz using a black and blue flake 5" Senko. For some odd reason, that's now my favorite color!

I'm 100% with Revo on this... it's more of an "activity habit" than anything, I think. I can go a week or two when we're on vacation or something, but when I'm in the fishing or other outdoor habits, it just seems like I HAVE to have a dip in my mouth. It's killing me that I'm such a p@$$y and can't just quite cold turkey, too. Tried the patches (weird dreams) the gum (no impact whatsoever) but nothing else. I think I just have to man up and quit.