Hyrule Bass

skunks happen to everyone. you just need to relax it seems like. youre too focused on fishing. take time to mix in doing other things you enjoy as well. dont go "fun fishing" and treat it like tournament day. dont overthink the situation. and remember, the pros didnt learn everything overnight, they have a lifetime of experience to build off of and look back to...

gotta love that part about the dog too...

i was using new, good and fresh 14lb trilene xl on a baitcaster(not the same as yours) and it was backlash city, got one so bad one day that i finally said screw it and ended up taking all that line off. afterwards i put 17lb FC on it and havent had even close to the problems i had backlashing with the 14lb line... oh, and thats on a 6'6 MH rod, not an ugly stik but still it was a shakespeare rod. and it was on a round baitcaster(abu garcia 5601). maybe your reel isnt suited to handle smaller lures... i would try a new line, as the one major similarity my situation had to yours was the line was 14lb trilene...

you can catch big fish on it as well. i got a 5'6 Light ugly stik lite-pro ive caught 4lb bass on...

I AM READY!!! I am ready to see what RGIII can do to help out my Redskins this year. I've even taken up watching Washington Nationals baseball to fill the non-football void. Hell i'm even excited for the preseason to start, even though i sour on that after a couple weeks while waiting for the regular season to get underway. HAIL REDSKINS!!!

you can still get boats in beaverdam if you do it right. you wont be able to back a trailer with a bass boat into the water though. ive seen people carry john boats in and out of there, canoes, inflatable rafts, etc. but its no gas engine, electric only. i still like to remember the days when beaverdam was much more accessible and there were lots of good shore fishing spots back when i was a kid. now its where i really dont even want to go back there without a boat. I really wish Loudoun and Fairfax counties would come together and reach a compromise about cleaning beaverdam up a bit, though i know some would disagree and treat it like its a hidden gem and they dont want a ton of people there fishing, so they like it the way it is...

in the OPs own words, just shut up and fish lol. really though, it wouldnt hurt to try the game wardens advice. just throw cranks on points. a crank doesnt have to bang off of anything to be effective, though at times it is what draws the strike. ive caught fish on cranks that come in contact with nothing but the water im fishing though. but the OP wont really know a true pattern without actually going to said points and cranking them, from there he can find out if the crank scraping the bottom is drawing the strike or if it some other variance of retrieval. there are several variables here. one being scraping the bottom may or may not produce fish as opposed to say a retrieve in the middle of the water column. another could be scraping the bottom draws strikes from the bigger fish and not scrapping it could draw smaller fish or vice versa...

no jet skis and water sports is certainly to your benefit. sometimes SML mid-day the traffic is so heavy the water looks like its boiling as wakes collide from any and all angles. it even affects "no wake" coves at times. the fish will bite, but keeping a boat in position whether anchored or using a trolling motor can be difficult. and SML is 20,600 acres with over 500 miles of shoreline, its big, but it can be hard to enjoy fishing from a boat mid-day from memorial day to labor day due to extreme traffic on the lake. i guess it really just depends on everyones individual situation and what one prefers...

i thought the points were the structure...

^^^this

when i was a kid in the 80s, Beaverdam used to be much more suitable to shore fishing, it is severely overgrown now, atleast the last time i went there...

i dont know about those Cali lakes, but if you waited that late on Smith Mtn Lake you would be going out just when the majority of other boat/jet ski traffic is starting up. If you want calm on the water at SML then its best to go out early or late, especially on a weekend...

just be mindful if there are other plastic things in her purse, it could melt into them. i used to just cut off and throw used plastics still on the hook in parts of my tackle bag...until they melted into a flash light and a couple sinker cases...lol

i like to use the gamakatsu octopus hooks for catfish. never been a fan of circle hooks myself...

beaverdam is a tough place to fish, especially from shore. there are some nice bass in there though. watch out for ticks when you go there. what side did you go to? by the church or down the long dirt road?

i have a couple spincast reels. one of them is my "lucky reel" that i caught most of my PBs of different species on. the drag is weak but the reel is otherwise strong and made of metal not plastic. its an older model of the Shakespeare Tiger Spincast combo from Wal-Mart. i wouldnt touch the cheaper plastic models of that reel now. but the one i got has held up pretty well, at one time it was so in tune i could cast a tiny rebel crickhopper a country mile with 20lb mono. now i use 15lb on it and it still casts pretty well.

nutbush creek is good crappie fishing

larger bodies of water are typically tougher to shore fish in than say a small pond, there are many more places for the fish to go in larger bodies of water...

I wouldnt worry about the burned bridge in this case. You tried to do it the right way and they seem to have gotten bitter about it. Sounds like they wanted to play games with you

nice cats, seems like you got them dialed in pretty well...

sounds like youre outting was as rough as my last trip fishing wise. so you got checked 5 times in all? thats crazy. after the first check that day, you should get a tag or something saying youve been checked and passed for the day, sounds ridiculous that you got checked that many times. atleast you finally got to get out though...

LOL!!!

sounds like a bluegill bite to me too

easy, just fish for something else

thanks i will have to try that...