Sam

Congrats. Very proud of you and your results. Now head back to school and have a great year!

It's official, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Dick's, one of the three large anchor stores at the failing Stony Point Fashion Park is closing. Hopefully they will have some nice fishing department sales. Check out the story: https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/dick-s-sporting-goods-leaving-stony-point-location/1373322178

Outstanding. Thanks for sharing.

Some teams hit the ball really well and others had outstanding pitching. Should be a fun LLWS.

Been there and really enjoyed it. Liked the gift shop, too. Agree with your suggestion that if you are in the area go see the place. You will not be sorry.

Great story. Thanks for sharing.

Bummer

Did Glenn and Keri make it this time?

Sent PM

Fun to watch the kids. My grandson wants to play baseball but his parents want him to do soccer, where he is not that good. He can really hit the whiffle ball when he visits with us. Calling son and his wife tonight to tell them so he can start playing next year.

Glad you joined the club, Johnny. It happens to us all. Keep rod tip in water to help stop jumping. No slack, ever, in the line.

Grass finally dried out so I could cut the field. Grass was still holding moisture and I had to stop the tractor a number of times to pull the grass out of the blades. Grass was two to three feet high in some places due to all the rain we received this past two weeks in Richmond, Virginia. Still have to take the push lawn mower out to cut some places I could not get the tractor to cut it. Historic James river is like coffee and milk and is high. Dirtiest I have ever seen it. So in Missouri they nee rain and in Virginia and Florida we have too much rain. And that's the way it is.

Go with a medium heavy 7-foot rod, be it baitcaster or spinning rig. Use 8-pound test fluorocarbon or braid line. Use an extra wide gap hook of your choice, be it a 2/0 or 3/0. Use white, silver or pink flukes to find out what color they want for starters. Lots of colors to select to try to match the bait fish. Do not use the super flukes. Go with the regular flukes. Cast. Let sit. Twitch bait with rod tip. Let fluke sink to bottom. Repeat back to you. You can raise your rod tip from six-inches to the "noon" (over your head) position and any in-between. Flukes can be great or a waste of time. But you do need to throw them to find out if that is the bait the bass want. And do not discount those pink flukes. For some unknown reason, on some bodies of water (like the Mattaponi River in Virginia) pink is a great color for flukes and trick worms. Go figure.

One of the guys in my bass club used to wear waders when it rains and he almost drowned when he went into the water. The waders filled up with water immediately and the weight had him in a bad situation. Lucky for him the other guy in the boat grabbed his hand and helped him to the motor where he then got back into the boat. You don't need waders when fishing from the bank. If you do use waders be sure the bottom can support you in the waders so your feet will not sink into the mud.

Mottel, do not use a weight. You don't need a weight with a Senko. You have to throw the Senko where the fish live and hide, which is inside and adjacent to the fallen tree. So getting hung up is part of the game. Continue to throw your plastics rigged Texas style. Try a wacky presentation for your Senkos and trick or finesse worms to note if it may slide through the tree limbs easier. Try using a 1/8 ounce jig head (weight at head with a 2/0 or 3/0 hook) with a trick worm. You will not have to be concerned with pegging your weight or using a separate weight. You can go to a 1/4 ounce jig head but that is a heavy weight to throw into trees when there is no current. Provider jig heads are used by the pros. I think Tackle Warehouse carries them or go on line and Google Provider Tackle. They are excellent. And tell us about the line you are using. If it is braid, do not use a leader. If it is fluorocarbon then what is the line test? You should not go over 8-pound test on a spinning rig. 6-pound test may be too light for the places you fish and a 12-pound test may be too heavy. Consider pitching or flipping your bait adjacent to the tree. You need to do this first so you don't spook the bass that are within the tree's limbs. If the bass can see your bait they will come out and hit it. Then slowly move your target closer to the tree and its branches. Looking forward to your input on the above queries.

Are you using weedless hooks? If not, consider purchasing some and set them up Texas rigged on your plastics for all techniques. Your sinker can get hung up on the tree but you will have more success in running the plastics over the tree trunk without any problems.

Flip and pitch over the water or over any brush on the bank. Casting may be useless so go with spinning setups and flip and pitch those plastics on a drop shot, shaky head, Senko (wacky and straight), finesse worms, trick worms, Carolina rig, MOJO rig, Ned rig, Biffle Bug rig and if you are really good flipping and pitching, use a small crankbait or spinnerbait (crappie and bream size) and throw those, too. Just be careful when setting the hook and casting. Let us know how you do.

Congratulations! Everyone needs a scale so when we lie about the fish's weight we really know the truth. Now, save your pennies and dimes and purchase a small kitchen scale to weigh your baits and weights. I have one and it really is a blessing when I try to figure out the weight of my lead and tungsten weights plus my jigs and jigs/pigs. I do this to make sure the weight is within the rod's total weight limits and to reorganize my weights after I spill them on the floor. Be sure the scale can go as low as 1/8 of an ounce. Let us see some of your catches hanging on the new scale you just purchased.

At dinner tonight my wife told me that she had something to share with me. Seems the ghost is back. Nice ghost. No problems. But he is back. My wife told me that last Saturday when our grandkids stayed over for the weekend, my 6 year old granddaughter asked my wife is she smokes. No, my wife nor I smoke. But the ghost smoked. And that is what Marlee smelled in the family room while watching the Disney channel. We have smelled it many times before. It smells like pipe tobacco. Then, last Sunday, my 7 year old grandson told my wife that he felt someone was watching him as he played and did his art work upstairs in the guest bedroom and my man cave. I have felt that I was being watched a few months ago but nothing happened so I forgot about it. But Fisher felt like he was being watched and he was a little upset about it. Spooky. This week my wife decided to can some tomatoes from our garden and from Hanover County. My wife told me that last night (Friday) while she was in the kitchen putting the jars of tomatoes on the counter to cool the big black canning pot that was filled with water moved on the stove about a half-inch. And there was no reason for a canning pot full of water go move. And it took a lot of power to move the large black pot that is filled with water. And she did not touch it. Our home is on land that was once a large plantation. As I have posted before, there are three cemeteries on the property. So far they have found one white and one slave cemetery but they can't find the third one, the second white cemetery. I think I have an idea of where it is. So we will put up with the ghost until we get annoyed and I yell at it to go away. And he disappears for a few months, only to return. I wish he would leave me clues as to where the bass are when I go fishing.

Way too many places to fish SML so get your map and stay within a two to three mile radius and you will do great. Or, consider running around to places that look good. If you can get a SML GMCO map you can see so many excellent places to drop a line. Have a safe time and post some pics of your catches.

X2

Where is James Bond when you need him?

You will have to have them out of the rod locker and on the boat's deck or over the seat where you can get to them. Problem you will have will be having will be the lines getting tangled and finding the exact rod set up you are seeking. So when putting one rod down you have to make sure the bait is secure and you wrap the line from the bait around the rod at least one time to secure it. Otherwise you could have a disaster on your hands. When I had my little 18-foot Tracker I would do this by putting the rods in the order I was planning on using them in the seat area. Worked fine but did have some line tangle and hook problems every now and then.

You have a very intelligent son. He is even smarter if he is an LSU Fighting Tiger fan. Great having you with us and we look forward to your queries and input. And remember the two secrets of bass fishing in Louisiana: 1. Wear purple and gold when you go fishing; and 2. Yell "Geaux Tigers" when you set the hook. Welcome to the Forum.

If it happens to others, like my best friends in south Louisiana while gigging frogs, it is funny. If it happens to me it is a disaster of immense proportions. My friend, Ronnie, freaked out when a water moccasin fell in the skiff one night. He grabbed the shotgun and was ready to shoot it when my other friend stopped him. Ronnie would have sunk the skiff had he pulled the trigger. Louie the Animal took one of the oars and flipped the snake into the water. Looking back on it we have a good laugh. But Ronnie will no longer go out gigging frogs or pulling crawfish traps in the dark. And Louie will not take him when Louie hits the bayous. And I ain't going, either.