Nitrofreak

Not real sure just yet, I know I will be camping there, but we may meet somewhere else, I don't think it will be too far from there if we do.

Makes good sense for sure, but I only mentioned he helped build it, so that means he was there for the process, yes I agree it was handed down to him but he should still understand it pretty darn well. New O coordinator should definatly improve the Ravens NO DOUBT !! lol !! but first game out and you really think it's gonna be successful? maybe? as long as they don't try everything all at once and make wholesale changes right from the get go, this team is and can be Superbowl contenders for sure let there be no mistake about how I feel about that, but a change like they have going on during this period of time may be to little too late, I think they should have had a couple more games under their belt before the playoff's, they needed this mid season, not now, and that's one big reason why I think the Colts will pull/can pull it off. I think if they jell right away then yes they will sit the Colts down, but I just can't see it working in time, this could be another Jimmy Johnson story on the other hand, he was winning almost right out of the gate, but I guess we will find out this weekend.

I think school is out by August, but I don't know who gets out when. We should have Aug 24th and 25th open September 7th and 8th, 14th and 15th, 21st and 22nd. Those should be our available dates.

Watch who you are calling old there friend lol !! Lets get a date that works for everyone set first then we can post a new thread with all the specifics so it's all in one place, would that be ok for you? We share as much as we can with others, so yes we do learn new things and teach what we can as well, glad to have you join in with us it should be a great time.

What makes you think they can't hang? This is the 3rd time these 2 will meet in the post season, they have already beaten the Ravens two times, once at home once on the road, Who was Pagano working for last year and the three previous years before that, I will give you a hint, last year he was Baltimores defensive coordinator, one of the top ranked defenses out there and he helped build it, I would think he may know a thing or two of how to take it apart.

No not at all. anyone is welcome to join us, I just though that would be one heck of a drive depending on where you were in NC, we have one from Md that joins us as well. We do this in the hopes we can get families together and enjoy not just fishing, but give some of our fishing buddies a chance to fish from a boat that they may otherwise not have the chance to do, this will be our second one, the first was at Lake Anna, but we want to cover the state of Va, with all of her bodies of water, so each year one place is eliminated, we try hard to include the state parks as well. We have a day of fishing then a big cookout at the end of the day and enjoy some of the company, last year we had some great supporters who had sponsored us with some gifts to give away, Seibert Outdoors joined us, BAM Magizine, Our own Bass Resource, and Traveler even made some of his baits and gave away a ton of them. We get together and talk trash too, we lie to each other, but most of all we have a lot of fun, I hope to see you there and we look forward to meeting you, don't forget to bring your family if you wish !!! Have you checked out the Roadtrip for Pickwick?

Teal, It looks like you live in North Carolina, Are you new to Va?

Nice Avatar Endless !!!! I too do the same as Endless, I have a couple of e-mail addresses, facebook address, and some cell phone numbers as well.

Haaaaaaappy biiiiirrrrrrthday toooo yooooou Haaaaaaappy biiiiirrrrrrthday toooo yooooou Haaaaaaappy biiiiirrrrrrthday dear Gleeeeeeeennn Haaaaaaappy biiiiirrrrrrrthday toooooooooooooo yoooooooooooooooooooouu !!!!!!!!!!! Ha didn't know I could sing did ya !!! Happy birthday Glenn, thanx for all you do for us and I hope you have the best birthday ever !!!!!

I was pumped when they picked him up as well !! We owe a huge amount of credit to Cousins too, he won two of those games for us and did quite well, we are still spotty in some areas but the game will be a good one I feel. I had a house full of Cowboy fans watching the game with me, Dallas fans, in Va. no different being a Skins fan in Oklahoma, I have been a Skins fan all my life, I have no problems showing my support everywhere I go, I have been to NY wearing my Skins outfits and PA, Glad to hear you are showing some love !!! Denver I agree with Green Bay not feelin it, I think Green Bay will fall short of the prize. LMAO !!! Oh you are a funny one !!! For that to happen the God's would have to show themselves, Care to make a prediction? I think Denver just might get there as long as they can keep Manning in the upright position, they have put together some pretty good games, and home field throughout the playoffs, I don't see Minn going, too much strength in only one person with far to many defences built to stop the run beyond the packers, I don't see Green Bay going either, Atlanta,??? they are pretty tough, The Pats?? they have enough experience and know how to get there, but I feel they will fall short too, Ravens, no, just that simple, Colts are getting warmed up but Andrew shows good poise, however he has no play off experience, it depends on who they face I think but could be a suprise team this stretch, the Rams, I feel are too one dementional as well but still pretty tough to call, they have beaten some pretty good teams down the stretch here, 49ers, they still have a pretty good shot, lots of speed, Seahawks, what a great season they are having, Texans, no, again just that simple, just not disiplined enough IMO, Redskins even though I want them to win and will be forever a fan, just not strong enough...yet, but we have some pretty good depth and a great running game to open up for RG3, plus they have won some tough games while on the road, honestly I don't really know who to pick right now, but I like Denvers chances the most at this point.. I will however go out on a limb again and say the Redskins can pull it off IF the coaching staff stays away from those stupid trick plays and they keep giving the different looks they have been the past few weeks, so they are going to be my shocker team to make the party. GOOOO SKINS !!!! WWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOO !!! Predictions for this weekend Texans vs. Bengals I pick the Bengals in an upset on the road, Bengals defence is too fast, to keep Matt Schaub off the ground I think the Texans O line has their work cut out for them, and Texans pass defence is too leaky. Green Bay and the Vikes I pick Green Bay, tough to beat at Lambo for sure Colts vs. Ravens Colts should be able to handle the Ravens Redskins vs. Seahawks This is really tough to say, this will be a good game, two rookie QB's this will be a close game for sure and one to watch, I am going with the Redskins at home.

We want this to work for everybody, so yes, but it's going to require a lot of information from everybody to help put this together, I personally have never fished the Potomac but I look forward to doing so, we already have some info so if anyone has suggestions please feel free to share, I hope to visit with Traveler in the spring to get floor plans together for the area and do a little fishing as well. Either Zoff of I will put together another post in the future for boaters and non boaters etc... but for now we would like to work on getting a date set

I got my prediction right as the Redskins are in the playoffs !!!!!!!!! Looks like all of my predictions so far are correct, the biggest surprise to me has been the Seahawks, they are looking pretty good, Congats on a great season for them, I look forward to Sundays game between my Skins and Seattle.

During those times when it becomes tough to focus, I find that taking a short break, such as sitting down, taking a deep breath or two and grabbing a quick snack, like a piece of jerky or a cracker seems to help a lot, when you are new to trying to mentally perform a task as slowing down it's mentally tough and exhausting for the ol' gray matter, it wants to do what it's been conditioned to do, the one thing that will help the most is sleep, get plenty of rest prior to the night before your trip, we all know how excited we get before the big day of fishing, the more relaxed you are the less stress you have on yourself and your mind, rest is key to being and staying razor sharp when it counts the most.

It's tough mentally to hold your concentration for long periods of time, thats what causes us to daydream or loose focus on what we are trying to get accomplished, just like if you are pitching to a target, your focused in on hitting your mark, once you hit that mark, you have a tendency to relax and start focusing on other tasks, even the simple task of switching hands, or clicking the spool lever by turning the crank handle, those simple things are done by second nature and becomes so natural that we don't even think about it at all, it just gets done automatically, so slowing down or holding your concentration is something you have to condition your mind for just like the simple tasks we take for granted, the longer you can hold your concentration, the more conditioned your mind becomes to performing that task. Most everything we do in life only takes seconds to perform, our minds become conditioned to short periods of time, if you want to hold your concentration on longer periods of time you have to train your mind to do so, try staring at a glass of water and time yourself as to how long you can hold your attention to that glass of water without thinking of something else, it's the same as if you were watching your line, then try putting a lure in that same glass of water, see how long you can focus on the lure in that glass of water, you will find that you can hold your thoughts a little longer even though it may only be for a few seconds longer, your mind is expecting a reaction from the object and will hold it's thought process until it knows there are no more tasks to be performed, in short it's learning something new. Slowing down is something you have to condition yourself to do, it's not a repetitive act we perform on a daily basis.

It's not the snow that has me shorebound it's my boat, I am trying desperatly to save enough for a new trolling motor and get out on Anna to get this year rolling, I have so many new things I want to get accomplished this year and yet, like you, I know the opportunity is right there and can't do anything about it...yet. It's driving me nutts !!!

Thoughts and prayers sent out their way, keep us posted gar-tracker if you would not mind please.

Same to you gar-tracker and thanx !!!

Looks like we will be fishing the Potomac !!!! Congrats to all of those who voted for the Potomac, now we need to set a date and get all the details worked out, we already know we cant do it on the last weekend of the month we choose. Months we are looking at are August and September, due to some are still in school, so for you in school guys, when is your last day of school scheduled for this year? We look forward to meeting all of you and having some fun, it was a blast last year and I for one can't wait to do it again !!!!

Tonight is it !! So far it looks to be the Potomac with 9 votes, SML with 6, good luck and I can't wait to see where we end up !!! Happy New Year everybody !!!!!

I have so dang many really good trips it's hard to pick one, I will say this, it's everytime I am with my daughters on the water, I have not had a better time than when I am with them for a father/daughter day on the lake. I think if I had to choose one related to this web-site, then one in particular stands out for me, RW I hope you don't mind but it had to do with you, there was a challange that RW put fourth with Rage Tail baits, sometime back, I don't remember exactly but it was winter or close to it, anyway he was suggesting how good these baits were in any color, having never used these baits before, I decided to make it a real challange, I guess I took it a little to personal you might say, at the last minute, I filled in a tournament as a co-angler, I went out and purchaced I think it was the lobster or the craw in Bama color and put it on a 1/2oz Strike King jig, I fished my strength untill I helped to put 5 in the well, I have to tell you all that I was very sceptic about this bait, all of my friends that fish tournaments had said to save my money, they don't work as well as others for the price that you pay, even the angler I fished with stated this to me, well I picked up my rod and piched it to a boat dock, and for the first few pitches I thought what they were saying about this bait was proving to be true, the angler I fished with, without even turning around said to me, see, I told you, well, I gave it one more pitch and on this particular pitch the bait made it to the target but I had developed a professional over run, as I stood there and picked the over run out, finally getting the reel cleared up I proceeded to take up the slack and started to retrieve the bait, low and behold a nice 7lb fish had a hold on it, I pitched it again to the next location and let it sit again with just a dead stick and Wham !! another nice fish, the angler that I was fishing with was kind enough to slow the pace down and we caught some really nice fish that day, we ended up using the 5 that I caught and placed 2nd or 3rd, with somewhere close to a 30lb bag, I have never had a day like that one since but close, I owe a great deal of thanks to RW and Rage Tail baits for that day, even though I dont remember all the specifics, I will never forget how fun that day turned out to be and the doors it opened with the new friends I have made.

The only thing that suprises me is that you actually thought it was going to be for you lol !!! silly little man !!!! Well at least you are both happy and thats the best thing !!

Same derivative as "Dirt Floor Poor", most of these phrases come from way back, even before the great depression, coal miners in the hills of WVA and surrounding states, the families were put up in shacks that had no floor, basically just a roof and four walls, living quarters were very small and often times several children shared the same room, rooms were seperated by bed sheets hung as a divider. As history comes and goes, I take nothing for granted, I am thankful for each and every day and each and every thing I work for.

Fishing high pressured lakes to me is just a mind set, like WRB posted it would help you to know a lot more about what he is asking, the next thing is something that Shane J stated "get off the banks" if everyone else is fishing them and not being successful, chances are you won't be either, learn a little more about the structure of the lake and find the fish first and then start fishing. If you are fishing a high pressured body of water then slow down, these fish spook really easy, think about an animal that has been mistreated, how long will it be before it will trust anyone, find out how long it takes for the fish to react to your bait by letting it sit if you know they are there, try and excersise your patience and work your baits a good bit slower.

When fishing non visable targets, you need to rely on your sonar, if you do not have a sonar, then there are a number of different approaches one can take, You need to figure out what the fish are relating to first, ie...structure, cover, if they are on the bottom then jigs/jigging spoons work very well, if they are relating to the channel ledge then maybe a jerk bait, or some narrow wobble crank bait that runs at the proper depth where the fish are located. Exploration of the creek channel with a jig or C-rig will help you to understand what the fish are relating to if you do not have a sonar, relate to the time of day and the position of the creek channel as well, your best option this time of year will be creek channels that are East to West, the sun will stay over these waters all day and will help aid in keeping the waters warmer, bait fish will seek out these warmer water temps and the bass will follow, look for differences in the channel and note them, such as a bend for example, if you are an early riser and on the water before the crack of dawn, don't expect too much action until a little later in the day if the water temps are really cold, this is not to say that you wont catch any that early in the morning but the fish are just more active during warm water periods of time, give the sun a little time to heat up some areas first, such as shallower pockets of water or an area that has a lot of rocks, pick an area that best suits the time of day and fan cast it to get a feel for what is down there and you will soon find what the fish are doing if the fish are there. Good luck and be safe !!!

Each season brings a new challange, as Sloan posted, paying close attention to details during each of those seasons is very much a key to what the fish are doing, for me I guess the biggest key is structure, I visit a lot of new waters each year, looking at a map for each of these places helps me decide where I would like to fish first or where I would like to start my search for fish, I am always looking for bait fish first no matter the time of year, with the exception of the spawn, most of us already know where to look for bass during this time, it's the time before and after that drive me, finding fish and catching fish during cold fronts is also something that drives me, during fronts and shortly after is much like fishing winter patterns, slow and methodical seems to work best with the bait right in front of them, even then it wont ensure a strike, you just have to be patient and exsersise your mind to be patient when you know your there in the right spot and usually it works to your advantage, thinking outside the box on heavily pressured waters will a lot of times yeild results, most importantly though is, whatever bait I am fishing I want to make sure it's in contact with the surrounding area, it's always in contact with cover or structure, no matter the season, the only thing that changes is the speed. Of course the best trick I have is reading everyones posts on this site and taking what they have to say into consideration while on the water, while not everything is something I can use, I use everything to the maximum advantage I can, hopefully I am able to give back as much as I learn.