VekolBass

Anyone know what the stage of the spawn is on the Chick or James Rivers?

That's pretty much the story for lakes in Stafford County, a lot of pan fish and an occasional bass. I fished Smith lake on Quantico on Monday, and caught one small one. I could see a lot of fish on my sonar holding from 15' to around 7' of water. I think a lot of them were yellow perch based on the types of bites I was getting--but couldn't set the hook. Actually saw one that clamped onto my Senko, and wouldn't let go till I got him close to the boat. Tons of small minnows--they were all over the place. Most of these lakes are good pan fish spots--I did pretty good at Abel once fishing from shore for crappie. To catch bass you have to fish the river.

Welcome back.

Only one, I have a 17' jon boat with a 25hp motor. If the winds are 15mph or less I can get across the river safely. Maybe a little wet, but safely.

Count me in--I'll put it on the calendar. JP

Chatterbait fished very slowly over old vegetation. If you aren't cleaning glop off of your bait after each cast your fishing to fast.

Never wade in the tidal Potomac. The bottom in many areas is a grayish goo, and you will sink in up to your knees. You may also find it difficult to free yourself. Wading is a great way to catch fish in the summertime in places like the upper Rappahannock or the South Fork of the Shenandoah. Not the tidal Potomac in winter--or anytime for that matter. As far as eating the fish, follow the fish consumption advisory that a previous poster supplied and you will be fine.

Are you referring to Lake Anna in Spotsylvania County--or a lake in Reston?

Milfoil is the predominant grass around here--but my favorite areas are where two different species of grass meet--generally between milfoil and eel grass.

I think the show is targetted at beginning bass anglers, or people thinking about doing it. In a couple of episodes he stressed throwing crankbaits into heavy cover and banging them off of it to generate strikes. Everybody reading this knows that banging a crankbait into cover is the way to go--but a beginner doesn't, and is afraid of it. That said, the non-stop sight gags and childish humor is too much even for me--and I happen to like FF. Humor in a lot of cases is a matter of balance. A lot of shows could use more of it. Fish's show has too much. And I already know to bang crankbaits into cover, and that dressed treble hooks are often a good idea.

Check out the article at http://www.bassresou...er_clinic.html. You might also want to visit the TBF website--they have a series of articles regarding life as a co-angler. Jon

* Anglers, an established club based in the Woodbridge/Dale City area, is looking for new members for the upcoming 2011 season. Please visit our website-- another siteanglers.com or send me a PM for more information. Jon

Let us know how you do Sam. Plan on being on Anna next Saturday--weather permitting. It is the opening day of general rifle season--the one day I refuse to go into the woods. It's either fishing or chores!

I was there a week ago. There were two good fish found in the upper lake hanging on submerged structure. I was using a Rapala DT 14. Caught two small ones using a Baby 1 Minus.

Regarding getting through the grass with an under-powered motor there are a couple options. One is the "salad shooter" method where you partially lift the motor out of the water except for the motor body and the blades, hold it with your hand, and then chop through just the top layer of grass. This avoids grass tangling around the motor shaft. It is however, very noisy. A second option is not to use the TM. Pull the engine out of the water and use a push pole--very quiet, but you can't fish and push at the same time--and you have to move constantly from the bow to the back. It is a good method for punching mats (which is a grass fishing technique that works well starting now, and lasts through the summer). Your last option is to buy a TM with more power--that's what I plan to do when my current 55lb finally dies.

To All: What was your best day on the water of 2009? Where were you at (generalities of course--not specifics), how many, and how did you do it?

I think you have to buy a special marine chart for tidal waters. See http://www.navionics.com/Charts_GoldPlus.asp?ChartSizeID=8&GoldCode=16XG-2

Chrome with blue back is what I use generally. When the water gets heavy stain to muddy I have had good luck with the chartreuse/purple color.

If the state were to mark one hazard, then they would have to mark all hazards. This really applies to "non-permanent" manmade hazards like sunken boats, barges, duckblinds, etc. that can be placed at any time. Rocks, shoals and generally pilings are a bit different, and on the Potomac at least, a lot of these things (but not all) are marked--generally by some good Samaritan who drives a painted pole into the bottom. Sunken boats rarely are. If only some were marked, and someone were to hit a hazard that by chance was not marked--then that person would have a legal cause of action against the state claiming that to only mark some puts people at risk by leading them to believe that all are marked. Also, the channels are marked--stray outside of them at your own risk.

Water temperature has dropped 10 degrees in the past two weeks. On the Potomac this has caused the baitfish to move into the creeks--they are there in the millions. Today there were numerous patches of water that were literally bubbling and hissing from the large schools of baitfish present. Caught 20 keepers, largest five weighed at least 15lbs--including one that went 6-7lbs. If you can put up with all the boat traffic, now is the time to be out there.

Welcome to BR. I live in Stafford as well, and launch out of Hope Springs as well--so I understand the pain of a $15 ramp fee all too well. Send me a PM some time. JP

The river is not quite so good, or at least it wasn't last week. Between fishing Thursday afternoon and pretty much all day on Saturday I caught a total of three for a weight of about 4 lbs. The only thing I could say worked at all was lipless cranks in grass--where you can find grass. However, there was a tournament ran out of River's Rest where the winning weight was something over 14lbs. So perhaps it was simply my incompetence.

I see you holding up a smallmouth bass. If that is what you are in to, and don't mind a little walking, send me a PM.

Can you back that up Wayne? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Global_Warming_Map.jpg I'm not a big proponent of the global warming conspiracy but I do vote for legislation that comes out of it. I am an anti-pollution advocate which is real. An interesting link. If you look at the data presented in it closely it actually exposes the several fallacies inherent in the global warming scam. Thanks for the info.

I've never fished for shad before, I'm thinking about doing it on Saturday @ the Rappahannock. Any tips?