basspro48

Awesome day, check it out http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1189891394

When my HS baseball game was cancelled this morning I decided try out the Pony Pasture section of the James river. I was pumped the whole way there because of the overcast weather and I love catching smallies on topwater, except as soon as I got there the clouds broke and the sun came out > So I switched out my black buzzbait for a 3" GYCB tube on a gammy 2/o superline wide gap hook and an 1/8oz weight, and man did they hammer that little tube. I must have caught 10 keeper fish and 5 or 6 nonkeepers...Nothin better than fat river smallmouth!!!! This brute was the biggest of the day, I fought him for exactly 4 minutes and 47 seconds...

Very sorry for your loss, Sam

Wow, all I can think of is I don't understand!?!?!?! I mean, grabbing another man's crotch to the point of injury, this guy should be thrown in prison just for thinking about doing that. When I think of a bar fight it usually involves punches being thrown, not something this stupid, bizarre, and sick. And this all happened over a college football t-shirt, I understand that NCAA football is serious business...but never in my life would I see someone wearing a rival team's shirt and think "let me go grab his...and squeeze em til they pop, that'll teach him" some very weird people out there...

1. Bandit 100 series 2. Bagley B2 3. LC BDS 3

A shimano scimitar was my second ever casting rod, it was an awesome rod even when compared to all of my high $$$ rods I have now. I used it for everything from slinging senkos to throwing cranks and spinnerbaits, it was very sensitive for a cheap rod and served me well. I would probably still be using it had it not been stolen last year >

"By now you're nerves are strung tighter than Ted Nugent's bow" ;D ;D ;D haha good ole avid...

I was sitting in my 4th grade classroom that morning, which is really the only part of 4th grade I remember (I'm a sophomore in hs now) and I clearly remember my teacher telling the class that there was an "emergency" that morning and throughout the day the principal went to each 4th and 5th grade classroom and tried to explain what had happened. But it didn't really occure to me what happened until I got off the bus, walked in the house, and saw my mom crying in front of the tv...Then I saw the video of the 2nd plane hit and the towers falling. But what really sticks in my mind was the day after, Sept. 12 is my birthday and I remember my dad calling me from the RIC airport (he is a mechanic there) and saying "I wish I could say happy birthday"

Nice setup, have you tried getting any video of them feeding? That would be really cool.

Actually, it would probably be a better route if you go straight across from the spot you were fishing. It would be a shorter hike and you could hit many of the good spots on the way over. I'm gonna have to try that on the ledges and in the pools, sounds like a good idea.

ahhh I see, the ole jerk n twitch probably wouldn't work to good in that situation

some very good info in there Have you had much success on suspending jerkbaits in the cold water?

The area right up near the dam is a good spot during the summer because of the current but it gets a fair amount of pressure. I suggest going straight across the river from the parking lot and fishing the wooded island and the "hidden" dam on the other side. When you finish fishing that section move up the river and rig up a 3.5" tube in a natural color with a 2/0 wide gap and an 1/8oz weight. Throw it right into the fastest, strongest current flows you can find, keep a semi-taught line and let the bait drift naturally with the current. Fish will dart out of nowhere to smash your bait, the bite will usually either be a hard thump or line just starts moving against the current. I'll probably be back out there either Saturday or Sunday morning with my dad

I parked at the Pony Pasture rapids parking lot, the one with the little ramp thing for kayakers, and waded straight across the river all the way to the other side. This is where the best fishing is because it receives much less pressure than the rest of the river. Once you get to the island with the trees growing on it you will see several smaller streams that cut through the island, there is one deep hole here that has a big tree pointing downriver right in the middle of it and there is always at least 2 nice 12+ inch fish in there. Then if you keep going across you will see a dam, this is not Z dam, in fact I'm not exactly sure what it is called, but it gets little to no pressure and the fish are just stacked up in the deep holes along the ledges. This is where I toss the Rapala and other hard baits like Bandit 100 series and LC sammy's and G-splashes (the topwater strikes from these fish are so vicious it is almost scary) And I was using GYCB 3.5" tubes in wat/red flake, which brings me to a very important point...Don't be afraid to toss the big baits in the Pasture!!!! Yes this section may not look like much but resist the urge to toss tiny baits on little UL rigs, because there are big fish in there and they WILL break you off. I personally have broken off several fish in the 4+lb range due to undersized tackle. My preffered setup is a 6'6" MH Loomis GL2 with 12lb Seaguar fluoro and these awesome fish still pull drag like crazy, one of the 13"ers I caught made a total of 9 jumps before I could get him in, so don't think for a second that the beefier tackle will take the fun out of it

I believe I saw you, were you wearing a black shirt? I went across the river to a dam that is on the far side, that is where I caught all of my fish. They like to hang around the tailraces because of the moving water, which is especially true when it is as hot as it is.

I use a 7' MH Graphite Special and love it as much as my Loomis. I mainly use it for jigs, t-rigs, weightless plastics, and basically anything that requires a lot of sensitivity and a lot of strength cuz this rod has it. There is absolutely nothing I dislike about this rod.

Great day man, I fished there today and caught 6, all 10+ inchers. If you want to get into the larger keeper size fish I suggest upgrading your tackle. I was using a 6'6" MH Loomis casting rod with 12lb fluoro and a t-rigged 3.5inch tube with an 1/8oz weight. I also caught several on a medium sized Rapala husky jerk. You may think I'm crazy but you'd be surprised, I used to think that smaller river=smaller baits, but I have just as much success with the bigger stuff and the fish I catch are much bigger.

My dad and me drove up to the Pony Pasture section of the James (just above Richmond) this morning and had a pretty good day for that section. I caught 6, 3 of em were 14+ inches on a GYCB tube and the other 3 were about 10" on a Rapala Husky jerk. And my dad caught 4, biggest one being about 13" and the rest 8-10". Pretty decent fish, however I did not get a pic of the 15 incher I caught (biggest fish of the day :'() but it was a good day and I got to break in my new Loomis GL2 on some mean river smallies...aint nothin better. Here's the only pic of the day, not very big but he fought like a brute...

Got it from Greentop sporting goods, my local tackleshop... LakeAnnaBasser, you ought to head to Green top and check em out. there were at least 4 others that were marked down to $120 or less.

Did a little shopping yesterday and walked out with one helluva deal. A 6'6" MH G-loomis GL2 for only $100 I am in love with this rod now, it is very light, strong, has the perfect action, and is one of the most sensitive sticks I have ever used. Here's a couple pics... I am now officially a Loomis fan for life...and I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing

Oh yeah man, nice job!!!

Wow SS, that's a nice fish for the Pony Pasture Oh yeah man, biggins to...

I agree with avid here, I find A day on the lake and the tournament info really interesting, and I don't think there is an outdoors/fishing/hunting magazine out there that doesn't reprint articles with new wording. It's not like a groundbreaking new technique or bait comes out every week and sometimes ya gotta repeat, which I don't mind and still find interesting.

I was fishing Claytor Lake earlier this summer and I was fishing steep rocky banks with a GYCB hula grub on a 3/8oz jighead. I was just hopping it along when I felt the usual tap tap, which in my mind told me I had yet another spotted bass. So I set the hook and the "bass" did not move, after a couple seconds it started slowly coming towards me, at this point I thought it was a catfish or carp. But once I got him to the boat I saw that it was a 30lb snapping turtle I didn't want to cut the line because I had him hooked perfectly in the corner of the mouth and those rockhopper jigheads are expensive. So i got him next to the boat, whipped out some Channel locks and gripped his bottom jaw while my dad held onto his tail, I then went in with the needle nose and twisted the hook out. He ruined my jighead but I figured it was worth it since doesn't have to swim around with a hula grub pinned to his face all the time. But on a more serious note, DO NOT mess around with big snappers. They can take your fingers clean off in a snap, and this one almost got my dad (my dad grabbed his tail and he whipped his head around like a shark and barely missed taking his hand off)

Your question could be answered more easily if you could describe what kind of water you will be fishing, lake, river, pond, etc. But for now I suggest you pick up some Gamakatsu 2/0 and 3/0 offset worm hooks, and some offset wide gaps (it will say on the package if it is a wide gap or not) Next you need some worm weights, I suggest a pack of 1/8 and 3/16oz lead bullet weights. These will be threaded onto the line before you tie your hook on. Now for your baits, 5 inch Gary Yamamoto senko's in watermelon and watermelon/red flake rigged weightless are good, 4 inch and 6 inch Ribbontail worms in the same colors are good too (many companies make their own ribbontail so just browse around until you find some you like) Lastly I reccomend some Zoom trickworms also in the same colors, these will be rigged weightless like the senko's This is only a little bit of info, for more try browsing around the fishing articles and learn as much as you can.