Sam

Cloudy days the bass swim around. Sunny days the bass will hold to cover and go under docks, piers, baits and into the grass and pads. Fish accordingly.

3/0 for a Texas rigged Senko is acceptable. #1 or 1/0 for a wacky rigged Senko. Consider the weedless hooks when throwing Senkos into cover and structure.

1. Yes, the 1.5 is an excellent square bill bait. 2. Yes, the Academy H2O square bill bait is excellent. 3. The KVD 1.5 is worth the money. 4. The Academy H2O square bills are worth the money. Go for both and keep a record as to how they perform.

If the bait wears out from over use it will go into a donut when you start to move it due to water pressure and it does not stay on your hook. If the plastic is fresh it will go into the donut when a fish hits it.

Tackett, losing baits is part of the game. On the Potomac this past weekend we saw a fake palm tree on a dock and there were at least six crankbaits/lipless crankbaits in the top of the tree. I lost two Whopper Ploppers on successive weekends on the Chickahominy River. And on Sunday on the Potomac something took my Senko and by now that fish has passed DC and is headed to Pennsylvania. To minimize losing treble hook baits, snap off the front hook on the front treble hook for crankbaits and remove the rear hook on your lipless crankbaits baits. Fish all plastics Texas style with the hook buried under the plastic's skin. Good luck.

Your photo shows how a stick bait, finesse worm or trick worm looks when the bass hits it and you miss him. Happens to us all. As stated above, you are getting your plastics ticked by bluegills or crappie which can drive you nuts along with the small dinks. But these species, and the smaller bass, are in the water with the larger bass so just keep plugging away and sooner or later you will nail a nice one. Good luck.

Spinning gear as I am a finesse fisherman. Will use baitcasters for treble hook baits and topwaters and deep divers plus jigs.

Thanks a million. I knew one of you great guys would know what it is. I will also fly it for the 4th. Appreciate all of the feedback.

Yes, the "Hot Side." With the water temperature rising via the sun and adding in the warm water discharge, the water temperature must have been in the 80's, which means the bass went deep near to thermocline for the cooler water. Next time when the water temperature is in the 80's go deep. Glad you had a safe trip.

Hey guys and gals, I have the flag shown in the attached photo and was wondering if any one out there has any idea of its origin, history and where it would have flown. I was told it was flown over the Pentagon to commutate each of the five branches of service. But so far I can't find anything in the literature or on the Internet about it. Thanks in advance for your input and thoughts.

As many of you guys and gals on the Forum know, I am a strong proponent of being hydrated when you hit the water. For this past Saturday's club tournament on the Potomac, I hydrated myself starting on Wednesday and going through Friday. But I still got dehydrated during the tournament; got leg and foot cramps; got a little off balance; got really tired; and put down four bottles of water (one gallon) during the tournament. What is scary is the fact that so many guys and gals don't hydrate themselves and you can get into trouble with dehydration on the water or along the bank in a New York second. Leg still hurts a little but foot is fine. Although the temperatures were in the upper 80's and lower 90's, the sun reflecting off the water magnified the heat problem. So be careful out there this summer and be sure to hydrate as best you can before hitting the water.

Wouldn't it be interesting to have a 10-foot cane fishing pole introduced at ICAST? Like the ones used back in the 50's and 60's. They were not highly sophisticated, but they did catch bass, bluegill, crappie and catfish with no problems.

Join the club. This will happen to everyone sooner or later. In fact, yesterday on the Potomac I had something big hit my bait and after I turned her back towards the boat, she decided to go visit a relative or a friend and she took off, popping my line. I was sick. She was the second giant bass we would have had in the well and she would have increased our overall weight by at least 3, if not 4 pounds. But that's fishing and it was totally my fault. We always have to have fresh line, no knicks, cuts or abrasions in the line, a strong knot, and a proper rod to fight her. What I did not realize was that I had scraped my line against the bridge piling which weakened it and that is where it broke off. Live and learn.

Hey D, welcome to the Forum from another southern Louisiana guy who fell in love with bass fishing. I am from New Orleans a grad of Fortier and LSU. I used to go with my uncles and cousins into the Biloxi Marsh, Mississippi Sound, Grand Island, Chandeleur Sound and the Gulf and fish for reds, specs, drum, sheepshead and, God forbid, trolling for shrimp. Still have the scars on my fingers from shrimping. And did we ever hate trolling for shrimp for two days in a row. I still love the Biloxi. Best redfish fishing in the world, even better than the Venice area. My uncle had a 42-foot Chris Craft he stored in Pearl River and we would tow two skiffs with Evinrude and Johnson 25 HP outboards. We would also troll from the big boat or the skiffs for baby croakers and shrimp for bait and keep them in the skiffs' live well. Every once in a while my cousin would take a skiff in to the marsh when we anchored for the night and he would fish for "green trout." I continued to fish for croakers and small redfish off the big boat. After school my cousins and I would head to Audubon Park to fish the lagoon for bream and bluegills. Welcome to the Forum. Lots of great Louisiana guys on the site and then there is Catt, the expert of Toledo Bend. Keep us posted on your adventures. Great having you with us.

Yes, heard about it on the news this afternoon. Since we cannot get political on this site, I can add nothing other than it is very upsetting when these things happen to good people doing their job.

Reason, the merchandiser at Green Top outside of Richmond, VA is very helpful and he is willing to look up what you want in the various catalogs he has and then order it for you. You are correct in your statement about not having buyers at individual BPS or other large box stores. But the buyers do receive input from the store managers and they also visit stores on a regular basis to check out how the products are presented. Major problem is that when you ask someone at a box store for help or information on how to contact the buyer they have no interest or concern about your request and it dies with them. This is what we call retail.

Do not want to steal the Bass Pro Shop Experience thread, but I do want to suggest to all that if you want a specific bait try to find the store's buyer for the fishing department and ask them if they can stock it for you. You can do this at department stores, too, just not for fishing stuff. It may take some months to get the products into the store but if the buyer agrees with your request you may be able to have your favorites in the store. You should ask for the store manager as the clerks have no idea of how merchandising works and they will probably look at you as if you caught a catfish and called it a bass.

The fishing department buyer for the BPS noted above stocked with more saltwater gear as he/she thought, or the sales showed, more saltwater sales than freshwater sales. The Wal-Mart near my house and the Historic James River stocks catfish equipment and baits as fishing for catfish in the Historic James is more prevalent than other types of fishing in my geographical area. Head down I-64 to Hampton and that BPS has a lot of saltwater gear due to where it is located and the guys and gals heading to the ocean for vacations and fishing adventures. Remember, it is all about sales and profits. P.S. Fishing the Potomac this weekend and I am going to Green Top to purchase some bass baits and terminal tackle and bypass the BPS five miles to the north as I know Green Top has what I am seeking.

What Bluebasser wrote. Remember, bass are predators. They will attack anything that they think they can eat or is aggravating them. Catfish will also eat what they can garner, but mostly on the bottom. However, many of us have caught catfish on our crankbaits and spinnerbaits while fishing for bass.

Suggestions to consider: 1. Purchase the larger medium or large size minnows. Easier to handle and place the hook in them. 2. You can hook them through their lips or under their backbone. Some hook them in front of their tail. 3. Light line. 6 pound test is great but it twists so be ready to cut out the twists. Lower test will be a disaster for a child. 8-pound fluorocarbon on a spinning rig would be great! 4. Use a small gold bream hook. You can have the type with a long shaft or a shorter shaft. I like the long shaft as they are easier to remove. 5. Have a needle nose pliers to remove the hook from the fish. 6. Use a light 5'-4" rod for the child. 7. A Zebco may be the answer for the child. Once they get the hang of it they can cast away after you bait the hook. 8. You don't need a weight for live minnows unless you want them to sink to the bottom. The hook and minnow weight should be enough weight. 9. Remember, children have short attention spans so you want action. This is why you use live minnows. Plus the fact that they can watch them swim around and they can put their hands in the minnow bucket. Post pics. Have fun.

Trauma, we are talking retail. Not bass fishing. Retail stores have only "X" amount of space to present their stock. Highest priced, best sellers and high profit products are at eye level. Other, less favorite or lower profit margin products are on the bottom. Just like at your grocery store. BPS buys "X" number of baits and tackle from specific suppliers and manufacturers and they present these products in a manner subjective to the BPS brand. This means that the Cavitrons will be at a lower level or be in less space than the BPS or other buzzbaits based on profit margin who have more space. In addition, BPS has only "X" number of retail feet to stock with products and they do so with those items that not only are their own brand or have a strong profit margin but they have a high turnover rate. The more turnover the more sales and less products to have their clerks invest their time to reprice to move them off the shelves or reprice each one plus use the IT guys to refigure the computer/cash register system. You will find Suffix line at BPS stores but not Gamma. Why? Because Gamma costs more and has a smaller following than Suffix. Throw in the less expensive BPS line and there is no room for Gamma or other higher quality brands. After all, there is just "X" feet of space on the wall to handle the various types and brands of line and BPS wants to move the line as fast as it can. BPS will handle specific brands as they have contracts to purchase the products from the manufacturers. These brands get the retail shelf space. Same is true in all retail stores. Things we used to be able to purchase in the past are no longer on the shelves. But they are on-line or in their catalogs. Thus Tackle Warehouse is very successful as are other on-line fishing industry companies with on-line sales catalogs and great service. Let's face it, isn't it easier to stay at home in front of your computer and find various tackle, compare prices, styles, colors, etc. and place the order than it is to get dressed, get into your vehicle, put gas in the tank, hit traffic on the road, find a place to park, go into the store, talk to someone who has no idea about bass fishing and not find what you want? When commission was taken out of retail we now have "clerks" who try to help us but since they don't have any skin in the game they don't care if you buy anything or not. Then there are the smaller tackle shops like Green Top outside of Richmond, VA, that has some great people in the store to help you and they have a great selection of bass fishing products, many of which you can't get at BPS. And Castaways on Route 1 towards Chester has an outstanding Zoom selection. Best I have ever seen other than for the Zoom distributor. So get used to it. Times, they are a changing!

The crazy guy is a Toolame fan.

There are largemouth bass with humps in their backs in the Chickahominy River near Williamsburg, Virginia in the back of some of the creeks. These fish are healthy and put up a good fight. However, they do not grow to a large weight. Discussions about this situation have suggested a mutation problem or a chemical problem. I have no idea what causes this to happen but the biologist at the Virginia DG&IF are not concerned.

From the reel to the weight, one line, no leader. Gamma 8 pound Polyflex line. Would like to go to six pound test but it is too difficult to control and it twists easily.

Suggested colors, in no order of preference: 328, 213, 194, 297, 021, 187, 208, 301. Color depends on water clarity and forage.