Sam

Feels good to have you back. Now don't leave.

DMW, welcome to the Forum. Great having you with us. Gloucester is a large geographical area and I don't know if you have a kayak or a boat to use or if you are bank fisherman. Have you fished Beaverdam Reservoir? You can hit it from Route 17 or go via the road from the courthouse. I have fished off he docks of both locations and maybe one day will fish the waters in a boat. Your first goal is to get that degree so you can have a successful career and buy lots and lots of bass fishing stuff to make the Bait Monkey happy. Be sure to post some pics of what you catch.

None. Avoiding cancer of the mouth, tongue and esophagus.

Wayne Knabe in Powhatan works on rods and reels and does beautiful work. About two and a half hours from NOVA if you can get out of the DC area on I-95. Wayne will repair your rods while you are there. But you need a GPS to find his place and be ready to do a flip and go back to find his driveway. Everyone does it at least one time. Give Wayne a call. Tell him Sam sent you. And consider a fun ride to Powhatan County to meet Wayne. 804.239.6751 Good luck. Sam

Looks like a Neko rig Texas rigged.

RMAx, you "up." Even if you are from Nebraska you are still "up." Glad to have you with us. We joke around and have a good time while we share our fishing knowledge and experience. I thought people from Nebraska only liked Big Red football. Nice to know there are normal people in Nebraska who like bass fishing. Be sure to go to the Central Bass Fishing to ask more specific questions about your geographical area and fishing, etc. Looking forward to your posts.

Try sending your resume to the Paper Moon on Midlothian Turnpike. I am sure they can find a place for you.

Starts on February 17th.

Yes! Totally worth it. Not many people would even try that stunt. Those guys should be proud. Now on to urinals!!!!!

Jacob, we are killing them in Virginia. In fact, many of us have to take time off as our hands are cramping due to reeling in so many bass. Rivers, lakes, ponds, creeks, coves, marinas, bathtubs,toilets, you name it and the bass are going crazy. And big bass. My average catch has been 10.4 pounds. Other guys are catching those 15 pound bass on One Fish Anna. One after another. It gets boring after a while. Lake Anna is on fire. Bass are jumping out of the water due to so many being in the water at the same time. You don't need a rod and reel. You can take your boat into One Fish Anna and use your landing net to scoop up these big bass in the net or catch them as they jump. And if you believe this you are as crazy as me . We will make plans to fish One Fish Anna this year. Once the water warms on the cold side. Be safe.

Floating lipless baits are another tool in your arsenal. It was designed to overcome the problem with collecting weeds and grass as occurs with the regular lipless baits. Good to use when the grass is starting to emerge in the spring. Lipless crankbaits can be used on the Potomac River when regular crankbaits and lipless cranks get caught up in the grass and weeds.

Something was wrong with your bait that caused the fish to turn away at the last moment. No idea what it was or if you could have seen it, but the bass saw something that gave them lockjaw. Or, the bass did not like your bait in their space and were trying to chase it away. Problem is that we will never know.

1. Canned corn on small gold hook. 2. 1-inch white curly tail grub on a 1/64 weight jig head. 3. All on 6 pound flouro or mono. 4. Spinning rig. Have fun.

For fast movement go with Rage Tail. For slow movement go with Zoom, Paca Craws or other name brands. Sometimes you want a lot of action and other times you don't. As for hooks, personal choice. If you want the craw to sit properly on the bottom like a crawfish, rig the hook from the side of the craw or lizard or other creature bait through the bait so the hook is actually going right to left in lieu of up and down. I like the EWG hook but that's just me.

Thanks for the post. Interesting topic. With the bass sinking to the bottom in cold water, and then rising as the water warms during the day, I would think the Neko rig would do well. You proved my theory. Thanks.

Chris, we fish the shaky head all over Virginia waters, both lakes and rivers, in all types of structure. We usually throw it along the bank and then "drag it on the bottom, with small hops" back to us. And yes, we lose a certain amount of jig heads each trip which is expected and not unusual.

Very nice paint jobs. Brings the carving to life. Thanks for sharing.

Looking for bait fish, warmer water and the cleanest water I could find. The bass will follow the bait fish so look for them. So how did you do? Let us know.

Suggestion: Take your reel with you to your favorite tackle store and know your bait and line weights for the baits you will be throwing. Look at the rod's parameters regarding the line and bait weights and select the ones you want to consider and install your reel on each rod you are considering. Note how the rods feel. Are they balanced with your reel? Feel good in your hand? Do your research regarding the rod's length and power for the fishing you do. We can give you our input but each individual likes different rod and reel setups and for smallmouth you need to have a good backbone and a fast action tip. But the actual power of the rod is your choice. Read, read and read some more about smallmouth bass rods on the Internet and then have fun making your choice, unless you go crazy and end up in the funny farm while trying to make a decision. That can happen very easily when selecting rods and reels. Good luck and let us know what you finally decide to purchase and why.

I use Provider jig heads for my shaky head presentations. These are used by the pros and Art was selling them on his web site, only, until two years ago when he went national with them. You can see them via his web site http://www.providertackle.com/store/ or go to Tackle Warehouse. I use the lightest weight I can as long as it keeps the jig on the bottom. Usually use the 1/16 size for90% of my flipping and pitching and then will go up to the 3/16 size for deeper water and heavier current. The 1/16 size does a great job, especially on light line (8 pound braid with a fluorocarbon leader) on spinning tackle. I use a medium heavy fast action rod. My other option are the MegaStrike jig heads which are excellent, too, http://www.megastrike.com/shakey These MegaStrike jig heads make sure your trick worm or creature bait stands straight up all the time. Just remember you want the lightest possible jig head to keep your bait on the bottom. Good luck and post some pics of what you catch on your shaky head setup this year.

What Tom penned above. Head to the dam area. And remember that "water clarity" means the water is a little clearer than the surrounding water, even if it is 2-inches clearer. You need to study the water flows in the lake so you will understand where the water enters the lake and how it flows towards the dam. Once again, finding "clearer or cleaner" water is another factor to put into your formula of finding the baitfish and crawfish and the bass.

Congrats. May you have many fun years in that truck.

That is why you are here: to learn. And there is a lot to learn about a small creature with a brain the size of a marble. Check out the Woo Dave's instructional videos on Woo's web site for information on various fishing subjects: http://woodaves.com/ Then do your research on the Forum for various topics. You need to know about the tide charts available on the Internet if you are going to fish Virginia's tidal rivers. Remember, you want a long outgoing tide. Tides change ever two weeks. Check out and bookmark the tide chart page: http://www.saltwatertides.com/dynamic.dir/virginiasites.html No one can give you a magic bullet to catch them on every cast. You have to try to out think the bass and then experiment with baits, depths, retrieve speeds, and a lot of other options to find the bass. In other words, you are a hunter in a totally hostile environment where this little small green creature can humble you in a New York second. Have fun learning. It is one of the most satisfying things you can do. Pamunkey is a fun river but you have to be careful of underwater stumps in certain places. The Chick River is a vast body of water. So many places to fish. On both rivers you have to watch the tides as you can get yourself stuck in the back of a creek if you are not careful about when the low tide will be reached. Get the GMCO maps from BPS or Green Top of both rivers and use them as your guide. Fish the main river banks, creeks, coves, docks, piers and marinas on each.

Not many guys on the Forum fish Chick Lake. With the grass feeling the winter waters and not crowding out the lake you can throw your lipless crankbaits, Chatterbaits, swim baits, flukes, shaky heads, Senkos, spinnerbaits, drop shots, jigs and anything you want until the bass tell you what they want. The two creeks maybe good but there are so many places to fish the Chick Lake that you should be able to find the bass even though it may take some time. Call Ed. Allen's and ask them what is a good bait to throw. Also call Eagle's Landing and ask them, too. Check out Art Captain Conway's web page, http://edallens.com/fishing-report/ Good luck. Post pics of what you catch. Also, please introduce yourself in the Introductions section.

Pure Fishing (Berkley) and other companies have research and development departments that use mechanical engineers to design rods and reels and baits. Contact all of them. Make a list of those you want to send your resume and credentials and look them up on the Internet or at your local library. All the best for a great career in the bass fishing industry.