Bigbarge50

I bet.... You going very bright colors or max vibration stuff or a little of both? I am sooooo inexperienced with stained water..... my home water in NY were crystal clear and same in florida. With huntsman I have had my most luck with lipless cranks and double Colorado spinner baits. I tend to stick to those. Would love to know what other throw, just for stained in general, no need to reveal huntsman secrets..

Thanks dan, your the man. Hit up your dick's for a few deals on some sinking worms, a lipless red eye shad, and another crank that looked too good to pass up. Figure I'll pop my head in every few weeks and see what deals there are. Was eye-ing the hummingbird 570 fishfinder pretty hard....not sure if that is the one I want to pull the trigger on though. I heard of some guides who takes you out on lake Anna.... anyone ever use em?

As a anna noob who is clueless about the lake other than what I can see on google maps and hearing you guys talk about it, what makes one side warm? Power plant? Springs? Is the private side and public side connected or separate? If you launch on one side, are you allowed to the other? Do you need an outboard to actually get around, looks rather big... No need to pollute the stream with explaining to this guy, but if someone wanted to drop me a message or direct me to a website, that would be great. I just have been looking on maps and reading the official state park site and like 100 real estate sites promising catching the fish of your life if you just take out a mortgage right now...haha.

So looks like I will be getting out of work early today..... so if I am going to hit the water..... which one do we think? Burke was a real miss again the other day. Leaning towards huntsman..... but maybe fountainhead.... Opinions on this nice sunny, crisp fall day appreciated.... will be leaving work probably after 12, getting gear, and going so comment away

Here is some feedback..... one hell of a nice catch, good work. Congrats

Congrats..... Nice Bass and less snakeheads in the world now.... The couple of beers you had sound well earned on a day like that.

Too bad on the muskie..... Burke has been real tough lately.... real tough. Any ideas? I slow dragged the bush piles off the points at a snails pace yesterday with jigs..... I ripped some loud rattling cranks...... I used spinner baits on slow and steady retrieves, and yo yo-ed em in.....Used a jerk bait and some small top waters in the shallows.... Nothing. Not sure if they were just super inactive, I was trying the wrong depths (currently no electronics....so no way to see thermoclines) or it was just Burke being Burke..... Just another tough day at Burke I guess unless I am missing a fall pattern....

Hey intheweeds...... how did that trips go? Hope it beat mine yesterday.

Nice work, two quality fish. I finally got out of work at a decent hour yesterday and because it get's dark so early I went to Burke.... figured the cooler water temps would make the fish there at least a little more active then the hibernation they seemingly were in all summer. Fished from like 5pm to 9pm..... threw a wide variety...from topwaters to super slow jigs and shakey's.... and not a nibble. Was thinking huntsman first, but figured I would like to be out some after dark, hence Burke. Think only an hour or two a light as Huntsman would beat 4 or 5 hours at Burke.

Thoughts on if it will rough going after the storm moved through or do you think it might help the bite?

Anyone have a good idea what the rains this week will do to the bite at Mercer, Huntsman, and Burke?

X5 Have the same motor and battery..... Charge lasts all day, and have done a 12 hour overnight and no issues. I have only ran out of juice once, it was a 8+ hour day and I was working through HEAVY weeds. Speaking of which, anyone who runs this series of motor do anything to make it more weedless? My prop doesn't foul that much, just in real heavy cover the whole thing seems to just wrap weeds around the whole housing and shaft.

7 on anything is impressive, nice catch.

Well I would not avoid my normal spots here locally in NOVA..... but are you saying it is not worth a longer hike out that way?

Is the 570 really portable? What does it run on? How is the resolution? I know this is a lot of questions, but my never ending search for a quality fish finder for my inflatable continues.

Interesting..... any info on boat launch ect? Would be real interested in getting my inflatable out there. Looks much much larger than Huntsman, closer to the size of Burke, only bigger. Always willing to drive a further for a potential 7 lber...ha.

Nice fish. You can use the "ramp" where the gate is..... but the gate is always locked and you have to talk it down the "road" ...... and that is a not fun walk with batteries, poles,...ect. I have enjoyed huntsman a lot this summer, though have not had a lot of success shallow or in the trees down in the water. Have always done better deeper. Speaking of which anyone use electronic much on there? With the stained nature of the water, I would love to know what else is down there besides what I can "feel" on the bottom with a carolina rig. Anyone have a map?

You been out much in the last two weeks? I am swamped.... with work....not water. Missing when I was wetting a line a few days a week

Been about 3 weeks now..... water was very very warm last time I was there. The weeds at lower tides are as thick as they come..... Would think the temp has dropped some..... which could get them a little more active.

Seems from florida to va the heat is bad for those of us above the water, and causing those below it to not want to do much of anything. Nice pics and that is a great looking set up on your yack. Your ruler looked great too.

I am not a big jig fisherman either and have always been a texas rigged worm guy. I used to always treat them as rather interchangeable. Used to being the key word. I think a jig and good trailer can really make a difference when fishing structure, especially stuff like the trees in the water at fountainhead. Think the bigger profile and slower fall makes a difference. I would think (depending on how many poles you use) that it might be a really good idea to use both on your trip. Flip one in for a few casts, then switch over. I did not throw a texas worm last friday, which very well could have been a mistake. I can tell you the two I did catch on jigs, the hook sets were deep.... so they really gobbled em up. I also barely threw a crank, having been concentrating on using spinners and carolina rigs for my "search" baits where I usually use a crank. I do not know the submerged weeds there good enough to know where to run a crank (I am also without electronics). I am sure though if they are interested that day and all this heat is not making them too lethargic, that a crank would do just fine. (P.S.- willing to take any and all suggestions on carolina rigging.... been a total failure for me this summer.)

Ant welcome. As a fellow newbie at fountainhead (only a handful of trips) I have barely explored it. I have always gone left and have never made it down to the dam. With that being said, it seems that working any of the points, any of the literally hundred of tress down in the water, or marking any of the drops offs from shallow to deeper water .... seems to produce. the best is if the point your working seems to not be working, just head for the nearest downed tree or overhang. Last Friday was right after a really bad storm, and I pulled a 2lb-er out of a tree that had obviously fallen not 24 hours earlier in the storm. Got it on a jig-with rage chunk (coffee scent). Just a lot of options in terms of approach.

yikes.... well when I get a cart I am in. I have huntsman down to three trips up and down the hill to bring my stuff. The cart will be nice to reduce that to one as well. How is the water temp at Royal Rocky?

Dan, your dicks is where I bought these double colorado blade strike king spinner baits..... say dick's exclusive on the very limited packaging that comes on the lure. I can not find another spinner bait like it, especially dual colorado and trailer hook (seemingly should be kinda common, but no one seems to carry dual colorado) I will tell you that spinner has torn it up for me this summer, and has become a real go to plug for me. I caught a 3.5 lb one one it, then lost it in a tree, went to your store and bout two more, so I have a back up. It has been so good on friday I had to fix it because the 3lb-er I caught destroyed it...... literally he bent the living daylights out of the stem to the blades and he knocked an eye out of the head. If you don't already have one, might be worth the employee discount to get one or two. Been the best spinner I have used, and I have bought a lot..... to the point I started making my own (seeing this one is the best, speaks poorly of my spinner bait making haha). Might go pick up a second and third back up for the future, especially if/when they go on sale. Any insider tips on when a fish finder might be on a great sale? Been in the market all summer.

After Huntsman on sunday I went over and scouted mercer.... that is a hike and a half. So when I go there, I obviously am going to need a cart for my boat. Do most people launch by walking across the d**n and down and around the path to that flatter area or do some people just wing it down that rocky path by the dam and go off that really small, kinda sketchy spot? I am thinking the long walk, but even with the cart, I timed it out over ten minutes with no gear. Might make me hesitate, but all those stumps and trees look too good to pass up, even if the bite seems to be at fountainhead.