Sam

Great report. You did sensational ,especially when you understand that you were against guys who fish Gaston on a regular basis. My gripe with my bass club is that we fish Buggs and Gaston only once a year so we really do not know either lakes in great detail. So we are behind the 8-ball at blast off and all day long. But the guys want to continue fishing both lakes so I will go along with them, but my heart is not in either tournament.

For you guys who are not familiar with Raider....hold onto your hats as here we go! Great having Raider back on the Forum.

Welcome back. Now start posting!!!!!!!

X2 Brutal, the "spawn" can last into September as there is no official date it stops, depending on each individual body of water. I have seen bass fry in Virginia's Mattaponi River in September. You will see white patches on the bottom where the beds were located and are now abandoned. You can throw to these empty beds but there are no longer any bass on them. And as WRB (Tom) posted, look for the bluegill beds and you will find the bass fry trying to eat the bluegill eggs. I also suggest contacting the State of Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife and ask to speak to someone who knows freshwater fish and ask them about the spawn in your area. You may have to fight your way through lower echelon people who think they can help you but keep trying until you get to the specialist. If the Washington Fish and Wildlife officers are like those in Virginia you should be able to speak with someone who can help you as the men and women who work in the states' fish and wildlife departments love to give out information and they are very helpful. Remember, during the spawn it takes a few days for the bass that spawned to get back to normal and during this period they will not hit your baits. Let us know what you find out and if you catch any bass.

Did you have your kill switch lanyard attached to your pants???

Sorry to read about all the rain you all are experiencing. Thought of you and your family as I saw the national weather report. NBC morning show weather man, "Al" said that you all are getting more rain than you get in a hurricane. Not a good situation. Watch out for snakes and gators. Please be safe.

Good luck in your tournament. And as you said, be safe!

What is the bottom composition? Hard, soft, grass, rocks, wood, etc.? Is there any wood they can use for cover? Can you drop some "bushes" or wood into the pond in a few places to create a good habitat? Can you score some old live Christmas trees this winter and put them in the pond? As I read your post you say the bass you stocked are the same size. This means you may have too many bass and they are fighting for what they can get to eat. So let's help them eat! Bluegills, bream, minnows of different sizes, and crawfish would form a strong food chain for the bass and other fish. No Crappie, please. You can get some dry dog food and feed your catfish. Watching a catfish feeding frenzy is great. Only problem is that the school of catfish will follow you around the pond all day after you feed them. So feed them when you are not fishing. Although we have no idea of where you are located, you are probably in the USA somewhere and your state's fisheries management department (or whatever they call it) is available to give you some insight and assistance with your pond management. This may be a better use of your funds than buying more baits. As for baits, have you fished the pond before daybreak with topwaters? Then switched over to moving treble hook baits and then plastics as the morning progresses? And then have you fished the pond at sunset starting with plastics, then going with treble hook moving baits and finally topwaters as the sun sets? Poppers and buzzbaits should work. It is up to you to find out if they feed first on the north and west side (early sun and warmer water) or if they stick to the shady bank areas. Have you kept a log of each fishing adventure? Google "Bass Resource Fishing Log" and you can download and print them, keeping each one in a three ring binder for future use and to see if there is a pattern to your pond. As for presentations, Texas rigged crawfish type baits; drop shot; shaky head; Carolina rig; MOJO rig; Ned Rig; a jig and pig; and the Slider are good presentations for your pond in addition to your Senkos. Scale down the bait sizes, too. Sometimes being small is good. You can order live crawfish from LA Crawfish in Louisiana. They are expensive but a 40-pound sack should be a good investment to get the crawfish started in your pond. They will need habitat so some wood for them to hide in plus grass in the pond for them to eat is necessary. Just some suggestions for your consideration. There are many more that will be made so pleas give some a try. Good luck and let us know what you do and the results. Welcome to the Forum.

X2

Things happen for a reason. Like the time I was on I-95 and a lady in front of me was going 50 miles an hour in the 60 mile an hour hammer lane so I slowed up behind her and there was a state trooper to my left in the bushes with radar. Had the lady not been there I would have been going 70 in a 55 zone and would have been pulled over. So on my way home from a client's board meeting tonight I took Carey Street off I-195 as it would be a faster route home. At the traffic light right before the Huguenot Road bridge over the Historic James River, I let a big RV going slow in the bumper lane into my lane in front of me to cross the bridge and we ventured across around 30 MPH. As we left the bridge, I scooted around the RV to the right and into the bumper lane on Huguenot Road, passed the RV, and made a right onto Cherokee Road, slowing down to 30 MPH in a 25 MPH speed zone. And then it happened. A WINN 60-passenger bus carrying a bunch of private school kids from their game at Trinity High School was coming the other direction towards Huguenot Road on Cherokee Road when a small white pickup truck burned through the stop sign on Southampton Road, a half block from Huguenot Road, and scraped the front of the bus that was traveling around 20 miles per hour. The little truck threw off sparks and started to turn in circles as it disappeared onto a home's front lawn and ate a tree to stop itself. Had the truck been a second slower the bus would have tee boned that truck and probably sent him flying in my direction. Had the bus been a second faster the truck would have tee boned the bus and the two occupants of the truck would have probably been killed. I hit the brakes and called 911 immediately and got out of my car and went to the truck to pull the driver out. His passenger had a head injury and was bleeding and others were trying to open the passenger side door to get him out. The driver was shaken (not stirred) and confused but otherwise he seemed to be OK. The bus driver was physically OK but he was shaken up. I have no idea if any of the kids on the bus were injured. Between us girls I think the driver was drinking and got confused as he left either Huguenot Flatwater or the Pony Pasture where the teenagers hang out and he may have thought he was on Huguenot Road. Anyway, between the seat belts they were wearing and the air bags that deployed, both seemed to be shaken up but not injured badly. I then left the scene as about 40 people from around the local houses and the drivers/passengers in the cars behind the bus and me were arriving and they were on their cell phones, probably with the Richmond Police emergency dispatchers. The Richmond Ambulance Authority called me asking where the accident was and I told them. They were dispatching an EMT truck to the scene. And the dispatcher was gong to send a black and white to the accident location, too. Had I not let the RV in front of me; and had I been going a little faster on Cherokee Road; that little white truck would have tee-boned me and probably cost me my life. Someone upstairs was watching over me. As for my wife, the $1,500,000 in life insurance goes back in the drawer. Better luck next time. (Actually she was shook up when I told her the story and was very happy that I was not injured) Things happen for a reason. We just have to figure out the reason.

Good report. Thanks. Now go out there next year and clobber them!

I guess you are not married.

I used piano wire but now you can buy the rig ready to go.

Read or go on YouTube and see what they say about the Slider rig, the "Do-Nothing" rig, and maybe your luck will change. And you can throw a Ned Rig bait on a Slider. Start with a 1/4 ounce Slider jig head and 6 pound fluorocarbon on a spinning rig. Just food for thought.

I don't seem to have any problems with Gamma.

Billy, great post. On Sunday I called my cousin in New Orleans who fishes almost every day out of Shell Beach and into the Biloxi. We grew up together fishing the Biloxi and the Chandeleur Islands on weekends. Great memories. My cousin told me that the salinity of the water in the Gulf is moving across the mouth of the river and towards the west, taking the reds, specs, and Sheepshead with it when the Corps opens the spillway. One of my cousin's friends, a guide, went from Shell Beach via Pilot Town and up the river to Point A La Hash to find some good fishing. My cousin also told me that the shrimp he uses for bait is the size of your little finger and that he bought 100 live shrimp last week and only 15 were larger than his little finger. He decided to go into the Biloxi two weekends ago and fish for "green trout" which he did and he said he caught close to 70 but they were all dinks, other than for a few around 2 to 3 pounds. He said that in the past he would boat 30 redfish and 60 specs but on Saturday he managed to nail only 5 reds and 10 specs with no Sheepshead or catfish in the mix. He keeps a daily log of his catches and he is seeing them being reduced with the salinity being impacted when the Corps opens the spillway. Have you seen this in your area east of Pearl River towards Gulfport? Let us know. In the meantime, please remember to wear your purple and gold when you go fishing and yell "Geaux Tigers" when you set the hook. P.S. My uncle had a 42-foot Chris Craft and we towed two 16-foot skiffs to troll for our bait, especially the baby croakers. We hated it when we had to go into the Biloxi to shrimp as we would constantly get stuck by those nasty shrimp. But in hind sight, it was great being out there on the water with very few boats around.

Hey Cayden. Remember the good ole days of Bart Starr from Bamasux and all of the great LSU players on the Packers team? Good, hard nose football back then. Championship football. Please add your home location to your avatar so we can give you better input based on your geographical area. And a photo would be nice, too. Welcome to the Forum. Glad to have you with us.

X2. And always attach the kill switch lanyard to your PFD. Always. Welcome to the Forum. And study how to work the trolling motor, too. Good luck. Let us know about your fishing adventures; ask us questions; and we will watch for you in the Classic in a few years.

For those of us who are lucky enough to have a Mission BBQ in your area this is the week Mission will be giving free sandwiches to veterans in each of the six branches. Here is the press release: "Monday–Friday, all active duty service members and Veterans can enjoy a FREE SANDWICH from any location on their designated day. You can get Carry Out or call ahead to order your Free sandwich To-Go. And they offer Curbside Pick-Up for your convenience. FREE SANDWICH for all active duty service members and veterans." Army: 5/10 Marine Corps: 5/11 Navy: 5/12 Air Force and Space Force: 5/13 Coast Guard: 5/14 All branches: 5/15 I will be headed over to the Mission BBQ to meet some of my American Legion Post guys but I will miss out on this Saturday's free sandwich as I have a tournament on Lake Chesdin. All you vets out there, enjoy!

X2 And the Virginia DG&WF does not want you to purchase live crawfish from other states like the Carolinas or Louisiana and release them into Virginia waters. We do it for our crawfish boil which is allowed since we do not release any crawfish into the Historic James River. As far as I know, the last crawfish farm in Virginia was on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and they closed shop many years ago. How about posting your location on your avatar so we can give you better input on your questions.

Using braid, fluorocarbon, copolymer, or mono line?

Never too late to understand what happens in college. I know you know via your UT experience, and so far everyone that I have met who was a UT grad was a super person, a good sport, a knowledgeable SEC fan, and nice to be with. College is not for everyone but the more you know what you will be facing in the future the better prepared you will be.