Nitrofreak

Texas/Carolina rigged baits on the flats near deep water channels.

Is the water murky past three feet like a mud color? Since you mentioned rocks and IF the water is murky or stained I would say to try a two blade HAWG CALLER spinner first and bounce it off the rocks just like a jig, don't be afraid to drag the spinner along the bottom where there are rocks also, The other piece of advice...Don't just beat the banks get out there in the middle and work it good too. Downsize your baits too go smaller on the cranks etc...the only things that get the chance to get big on the rivers are the fish and frogs.

No offence catt but are you saying you do not use search baits? If I am fishing in a location for the first time or if I am just looking to find fish quick I will utilise one and if I do get a strike I do switch to a Texas rig to "pick apart" structure. For the most part my Texas rig is my primary rig and a rig I spend most of my time with on the water, so to me just because I utilise other baits first at times does not mean I am ready to abandon it and put it on a shelf.

Good luck and be safe then!!!

Either that or stay home and drink beer !!!

Try watching the stern of the boat next time you back it into the water and see when the stern just starts to float off of the trailer and then make a mental note of where the water line is on the trailer. Back the trailer into that same depth and try loading it, It should go on easy or close to it.

Good post J, I am thinking he was just a little tired of reading most of the posts in here with all of the new stuff hitting the market and most not getting the results the so called bait was supposed to produce, I am only assuming that he posted this to draw attention to us to show just how important the Texas rig is to an arsonal of baits. Of course that is just my opinion, I really can not imagine that with all of the tallent that is in this forum, The Texas rig would be a thing of the past and even suggesting it should be put on a shelf is as about as ludicrous a statement as one could make.

Down sizing is key when other larger baits are not working or using a Texas/Carolina rig with REALLY slow action can really open doors also. Nice fish by the way!!!

I do not have one but my friend does and it is not overkill, This particular boat provides options on just about all kinds of fishing should you ever decide to go pursue other options. We fish for bass as well but we also fish for stripers on the bay and we usually take his boat, It is just a very versitile boat.

Try some smaller swimbaits, they usually work pretty good too. Where exactly are you fishing on the Rapp? What kind of cover and structure do you have available to you?

Specifically? They hold fish, period. As catt was stating in his post and the rest of the posts as well, There are many ways to fish a point, for me it depends on the time of year as to how I will approach a point. During the warmer summer months with heavy boat traffic I will move in close to the bank and fish back toward the shoreline, During winter months just the opposite. There is one spot in particular at the lake you fished across from the power plant the creek channel runs really close to the entrance of Sturgeons creek and it goes from 10 feet to 40 feet in the blink of an eye, But there is also a shelf there that is about 20 feet deep IF you know where to look for it. There are fish there year around. How do you eliminate a certain point? Fish it and see what you catch or dont catch, never pass up an oppertunity, I will generally give them a dozen or two casts with whatever baits, usually search baits first and then that determins how slow I fish after that and with what bait. During the time before the spawn I will usually concentrate on primary points with deep water access, these are usually Feb,Mar,Apr,as the months progress late Mar,through Apr,and into May it's primary and secondary points,during the post spawn I look for points that have flats that lead to drop-offs or deeper water access. The rest of the year since my lake has a lot of boat traffic, deep structure and cover until late this month as the boat traffic lessens then I will start to move back to the secondary and primary points with flats as they start to prep for the long winter.

OH YEA!!!

Sam, I can not speak for any artillery actions around lake Anna but I can certainly attain to thunder as storms roll through. I would think that they would be close in comparison since they have a tendency to be very strong at times especially when the cieling is low they really rumble and shake everything. I have been caught on the water at times when storms would be in the distance and the thunder would still shake the floor in the boat but it seemed to have no effect on the fishing either way...you know how Lake Anna can be your hot one day and ice cold the next anyway, lol. But There have been days that it rumbled and fish were still caught on a, well, I dare say consistant basis with Anna but on a basis none the less. So if thunder doesnt seem to bother them I would think artillery fire would be a passing thought as well for them.

Bass can see up forward and side to side VERY well they just cant see down thats why they look at a bait nose down when on the bottom. Thats also why they are under schools of fish when you see them on your electronics.

catt that is rip your heart out tender right there !!! How eloquent can one be when speaking of a soft plastic worm. MAKES ME WANNA GO FISHING !!!!

HOLY CRAP YOU STILL HAVE THAT!!!lol. For me it was the late 70's fishing with my dad standing on a bank fishing next to a guy we never met who showed us both how to rig it up and use it, Although the technique has changed a little it is still not much different than the way it was used way back then.

AWESOME POST catt and I am in the same boat as far as being "ole school". My tackle box used to be as big as my boat lol or it seemed it was anyway with all of the latest and greatest stuff on the market. Today it almost fits in my hand and in the bottom are an assortment of yep you guessed it WORMS for my Texas and Carolina rigs, Yes there are cranks and spinners and jigs but no more than 2 or 3 of each. When these so called "Wonder Lures" hit the market or when these other lures fail to catch fish you know are there I go back and simply pick up my Texas rigged worms and catch fish. It has almost always worked when all else has failed, The only reason I say it almost always works is because of a lack of attention to detail on my part. I think Glenn said it best "It is the SUV of fishing rigs"... and one that I will never go without.

Awesome post and it has my vote as well. A salt and pepper tube would be my choice first and the lizzard in watermellon or pumpkin seed from the bank SLOWLY worked toward the fish would be my second.

Red I am not sure to whom you are addressing your question to, But I would start at the top of the hump and slowly work my way down to the bottom of it and if that did not yeild any results then I would turn right around and try just the exact opposite and work your way up from the bottom. It is really hard to tell just where they will position themselves but they will no doubt be in the deeper waters at least that has been my experience when my lake gets lower than normal, I have found them staged just off of the top of a channel in the middle and on the bottom but fishing the channel in both directions should help you to locate and figure out what they want. Hope this helps, Good luck and be safe. Like catt stated there is a lot of truth in finding fish late in the season from where you first started the season. OOPS!! Sorry catt I almost said the same thing your post must have hit just before mine

Early am top water,Hula popper if that does not work,I am going to slow down and try throwing some super salt hula grubs in watermellon red and some shakey heads with green pumpkin and watermellon red, as the day warms up a little I will switch to some suspending jerk baits just to have some fun and see what happens, But most likely will end up with 5/16, 1/2oz jigs dressed in green pumpkin/chart and pumpkinseed/green pumpkin tiger.

BassPro should have it too if you can not find it there, I have also seen them at Gander Mountain.

REALLY? They make conversion kits for older boats to hydraulic? I have never seen them, do you have any info on where to look?

If I may ask catt what kind of challenges do you face? Do you look for deeper structure in other areas as well when the channels and coves start to run dry? It has been the same experience for me as well although I fish a man made lake and you fish, correct me if I am wrong a large river, one would have to think the challenges would be totally opposite of one another. In a man made lake the fish can only go so far, in a river system I would think it to be much more challanging.

X2, Find the deeper part of the channel and start there around any humps on the structure or any cover that may be there. The water level is dropping the fish will be in tighter schools in deeper water.

Dhami013, catt posted this earlier on this post, See if you can find one of these before you hit the Rapp. These things are AWESOME!!!! for where you are going.