Sam

Hootie, too cold and damp for me up in Richmond, VA, too. Glad I did not have a tournament this weekend. Weather is so bad that my wife told me that she did not want to hit the mall this afternoon as she wanted to stay inside and watch TV. The cold comes through your clothes.

Congrats! May this be the first of over a million bass you catch by flipping and pitching.

Totally agree. Active fish make the day. I usually move the jig within 15-seconds but I do let it sit after the initial pitch for about 30-seconds. My problem is if I don't get hit within ten or so casts it is back to the shaky head, drop shot or Senko. Old habits die hard!!!!!

My knee replacement operation took 45-minutes. Now waiting for the operating room was over an hour with one little sheet covering my me in a cold room waiting to be called was the first of my mistake adventures. But once they knocked me out and got me prepped I had no idea what was going on and woke up in recovery. Recovery is not bad. Still cold with a light weight sheet on me and then they put a blanket over the sheet when I threatened to get up and go get one myself, and then had to wait over six hours in recovery for an open room. The hospital stay was not bad, as long as they are feeding you the pain meds. In fact, I was ready to get up and go the next day, but of course, I had to stay and continue my recovery. At home I had no problems. Used my wife's walker to get around and stayed in bed watching lots of TV. OK, so far, so good. Here is the reason I won't get the other knee replaced: physical therapy. Talk about pain. You will have to bend your knee all the time, and work through the pain. Physical therapy was no cake walk until the knee started to get better. But you have to do your exercises all the time and get that range of motion back. So I suggest you go consider going through the operation. I am glad I did for one knee as the pain is gone and other than feeling the knee cap when I kneel down I have no idea I have a replacement knee. Let us know what you decide.

Caud, please take all of the above into consideration when fishing a jig. And I want to add one more tad bit of information: Fishing a jig is for bigger fish, not numbers of fish. If you are like me and can't sit still or let the bait sit for thirty-seconds or more before moving it then you will never learn jig fishing. Jig fishing is hard for me to do so I picture the jig on the bottom acting like a crawfish. As long as you can do this, and understand that sometimes the jig does not make it to the bottom on a flip or pitch, you will be a successful jig fisherman. Now go outside, wherever you are, and throw that jig every day for two weeks. And only the jig.

Mattawoman is a great creek to fish. Just note all the guys in there on a weekend. Grass Mats - Search for them in the grass. Look for grass by itself, away from the major part of the grass bed. Fish over, under, adjacent to, around and in the grass. As for a frog, I look at the color as I have a favorite brand. And don't forget your toads. Buzzing a toad over the grass can illicit a strike. Try your baits and techniques until you find what they want. Be safe and watch the weather.

Dean, nutria are invasive species that are extremely destructive. There is a market for their fur and meat in Louisiana. I have no idea if it is the same in Florida. Otters will wipe out a fishery over a summer. I do not like killing animals, other than for food, however in the cases of otters and nutria I agree with Mike and they have to be taken out. Dean, I don't think you face the same problems in New Hampshire as found along the Gulf coast. But your input is very valuable and it makes us all take a few seconds to give it some thought about removing destructive animals from our fishing areas. Sometimes it is a good thing to do and other times it isn't. Depends on the situation.

Yes, but you have to watch the weather and winds at all times. The large, open area by Eaton Ferry Bridge is extremely dangerous in windy or rough weather. Waves can get as high as four feet in this area. I used to tool around Gaston in my old Tracker all the time. No problems. Just be sure to attach your kill switch lanyard to your life vest and always wear the life vest when in your Tracker. Good luck and have some wonderful memories of Lake Gaston.

You may be "burning the line" when you tie your line to your hooks. If the line is squiggly then you burned it. Look at the line coming off the hook after you tied and tightened it. Cut it out and do it over, being sure to wet the line via saliva and pulling the tag end tight after pulling the main line taught. You can also run the line over your thumbnail to note if it is smooth or not. If not smooth, cut it out and do it over. You retie your knots after two or three fish, either landed or not. Keep rods, reels, line, baits, etc. in your home and not outside or in the garage or car. Purchase line from retailers that have a high turnover so you will not be purchasing old line that has been in a warehouse or on the shelf for a long time. Practice the Palomar Knot until you can do it in your sleep. Now, how about going to the Introductions section and introduce yourself and add your geographical location so we can help you better in the future if we know where you live and fish. Welcome to the Forum.

I look to a negotiated settlement with the NFL for two games. Then again..........

Where will you be putting in? if at Hope Springs Marina or Willow Marina you can go to the right or left on Aquia Creek. If at Leesylvania you can go up, down and across the Potomac. Will be lots of grass all around you. Moving baits or a drop shot in the grass holes can work. Check out what Logan and Turtle recommend. Also, pink trick worms or Senkos can work, too. For some reason, the Potomac bass like the color pink. Drag an unweighted Zoom pink trick worm through the grass and drop it into the holes when you can. Just another suggestion. Get a GMCO map of the Tidal Potomac and note Arkendale Flats, Potomac Creek and be sure to mark the off-limits section of the river on your map. If you go under the Woodrow Wilson (WW Bridge) into DC waters you will need a DC license. Do not take a flare gun into Maryland. Take hand held flares if you take any flares on your boat. Leave all guns at home while in Maryland. Watch the weather as the Potomac is very dangerous when the wind kicks up. White caps on the main river and rough boating. The river can turn on you in a heartbeat. Main problem is the boat traffic. As the weekend progresses more and more larger boats are launched and the ramps are only so big. Get to the ramp early and launch with the clubs. On your way home just be patient when getting to the ramp and sit back and enjoy the show. The larger boats throw up a mean wake so be very careful. You can be sitting there, happy and calm, when all of a sudden you are being rocked hard. You can miss the Hope Springs Marina and end up on the road above the marina and have to back up. Not a fun proposition. So study that GMCO map of the Tidal Potomac. And you can miss the Willow Landing turnoff, too. Check the times for Leesylvania ramp to open. I think it is still 6 AM if they are on time. Get in line and wait. If the water is calm and no heavy winds or storms heading your way, you can motor all the way down to the back of Nanjemoy Creek towards Friendship Landing and flip and pitch your way to happiness! But a serious word of caution: the creek is shallow so watch the tides or you can get stuck and not have enough water to get out. I would not recommend this place but it is on the map and some nice bass have been taken out of this creek. Remember, check the tide charts. A falling tide is best. http://www.saltwatertides.com/dynamic.dir/potomacsites.html If the weather is not in your favor put in at Hope Springs or Willow Marina (outside of Stafford) and go up creek into the Aquia Creek headwaters. Good fishing up that way and you will be out of the nasty water. Be safe and don't take chances on the Potomac. Very unforgiving river. Let us know how you do. All the best for a safe and successful trip.

No. Give it a try and let us know how you do. And don't forget the Salisbury ponds on Mondays, when the course is closed. Have you hit the pond at the end of Lucks Lane? Powhatan Lakes is fun to fish but don't count on catching a lot. Hit the big pond behind Martin's on Huguenot Road on weekends. The tree bank is the best but of course the most difficult to fish. The street that the Midlo library is on has a big pond. Look it up on a map and give it a shot. Can't recall it name but it starts with a W and it dead ends onto 288. Have fun! The last pond is Loch Lothian on Woolridge Road. Never head of much action at this pond but you try it and give us an update.

Thanks for a great report. Sandy is a nice place to fish with a fantastic ramp. Did any conversation officers visit you at the ramp? They are there making sure no one uses their big motor. Is Briery Creek on your radar now?

Kirby, have never head of shad fishing on the Chick. I know it is excellent at Ancarrows. To make sure your truck and trailer are still there when you return to the ramp you may want to launch from Osborne Landing and motor up the river to Richmond. Just a suggestion.

OK. Sounds like a plan. Will get with you or you get with me in May.

Yes, Gordon Creek. Typo on my part that I did not catch. Great report on Morris Creek. Let us know how you do on your next adventure.

Yes, add a trailer hook. Chatterbait hooks have not been the sharpest in the past although I was told the company has improved the hook points to make them sharper. Scent can't hurt, either.

Jacob, sorry to read about your negative experience but it has happened to all of us who do or have fished tournaments as a nonboater. You did nothing wrong. The guy in the front of the boat has a tremendous advantage over the nonboater as penned above, due to the fact that the up front guy hits the bass first and gets the most aggressive or feeding ones to strike, leaving the less aggressive or ones that are not feeding for you. Your major problem is finding a local bass club on One Fish Anna who is accepting nonboaters. Forget the FLW and BASS tournaments and try to locate a bass club that will allow you to fish tournaments as a nonboater and set your sights on how the boaters fish so each outing is a learning experience. We still have to try to get together to fish One Fish Anna. Once the weather cooperates and you are out of school we can plan an outing. In the meantime, go to the Links link at the top of the Forum pages and click on the bass clubs to find the local Virginia bass clubs listed plus the FLW and BASS state organizations. Contact the state organizations for information on local bass clubs that are accepting nonboaters. You did not mention the body of water you were fishing. We need this data so we can give you our input on its behavior if we have fished it. Don't give up. Bass fishing is an everlasting educational battle between you and a little green monster that is studied and studied and studied but still has the ability to humble the biggest of men.

Nathan, welcome. Great post. Next time remember to split it up as a paragraph that long is tedious to read and comprehend. It all boils down to confidence.

Great report, Nitro. Thanks for sharing. I hit One Fish Anna on April 3rd and we never did find a bed or any lady cruisers. We did see a school of 10-2 pounders in Dukes Creek but that was it. And the were not interested in anything we threw at them. They just ignored our baits and finally swam off into deeper water and disappeared. Caught our fish in the back of Mitchell's creek on the docks and I did nail another one in Duke's creek on a shaky head. Fishing was difficult and the bass were not hitting the plastics hard. In fact, it took me a few missed hits until I figured out that they were picking up the plastics and walking off with them. Thank goodness I hit my plastics with MegaStrike which caused them to hold on to the bait a few seconds longer allowing me to set the hook on the ones I caught. One Fish Anna strikes again!

Mike is doing the right thing. I see so many guys who put fishing first and family second that it amazes me that they do anything with their wives and children. Just this past weekend a friend with a wife and a young child went fishing on a Saturday. Saturdays are family days unless I have to fish a tournament. If I go out in the boat on weekends, other than for a tournament, wife goes with me. Long Mike once again sets the bar high for us all to clear.

I understand the notifications will revolve off in time. You cannot remove them.

Shane, you have found your own honey hole. Do not share its location with anyone. Before you know it the pond will be devastated by those who want to take the bass home to eat or have no respect for the location and destroy it. Keep this type of information to yourself while you post pictures with the understanding that you will double check the background so you will not give your position away when taking the photos.

Ethan, it depends. On some bodies of water I love to fish by myself as the environment is beautiful, peaceful and I don't want to give up my favorite places to fish to someone else. Selfish? Totally. Now, after penning the above, I don't mind taking others who do not fish tournaments and hit my favorite spots. I know my locations will be protected since the guys I take out will not hit that body of water again until I take them out again, probably next year. In tournaments, it can work both ways. Two heads are better than one and to have a partner you can discuss strategy and worldly issues is great. And your partner can take you to his favorite spots and those of others he has fished with in other tournaments. If I get bored while fishing by myself, I have a transistor radio and I listen to ball games or music while fishing. It boils down to personal preference.

Captain, when learning to drive a car one needs to know how to drive a vehicle with a manual shift and clutch. When we cook we do not have to follow a recipe to create something outstanding. When you play sports you can automatically toss or throw a ball to another player on your team without looking at him. So when you go fishing you have to know how to read the water, cover and structure without your electronics. Yes, we all use our electronics but we also use our eyes, experience and learned information to hit a spot without needing electronics. So my answer to your query is: Yes, I do not rely on my electronics until I get to a place I see that I believe will hold fish. Then the electronics can be used to support my thought process or let me know I was totally wrong and it is time to move on. Instinct. A very powerful confidence maker in bass fishing. We all need good instinct.