Sam

It grabbed the smaller bass; got choked with the smaller bass; tried to throw the smaller bass out of its mouth on the surface; got too many predators interested in the commotion; one of the predators grabbed the big bass, brought her to the bank and ate her. Case closed Sherlock Bass

Old school had us using mono for treble hook baits for the stretch. Today, the pros are using fluorocarbon for their presentations. So it is up to you in what you have confidence: mono or flouro. Then you can add braid to the formula if you wish and really get confused. So keep it simple and use the line you like best for your various presentations. And you are right, the pros always hawk their products. Ike sells anything he can.

Welcome to the Forum. Please go to the Introductions section and introduce your self and give us some information about you and your skill set. Now, fishing in Chesterfield County. Here is a suggestion. Go to the Dick's by Lowe's off Midlothian Turnpike or the Dick's by the Hobby Lobby on Hull Street Road and get a free copy of the 2020 Fishing and Boating in Virginia booklet. Look for the section on central Virginia and you can note the places you can fish in Chesterfield, City of Richmond, Henrico, Powhatan, and Hanover counties. Living in Mosley you have Swift Creek but it is difficult to fish from the bank. Amelia Wildlife is not allowing fishing from the pier at this time and it is almost impossible to fish that body of water from the bank. Powhatan lakes is a good place to go and you can fish from the pier and bank in the lower lake and try your luck in the upper lake. Look it up on the Internet. Check out Lake Evergreen off Lucks Lane near St. Francis Hospital. You can walk around most of the small lake. No idea of what is in it as I have never stopped to fish it. But I think Black Bill Dance has and he has a wealth of local knowledge. Send him a personal message. To catch a lot of bluegill and maybe a small bass or two, call Westminster-Canterbury and ask for security and then ask if you can fish their pond. You will need to have your name on the list so the guard will let you onto the premises. Bring white bread and use white bread dough balls and you and your son will catch bluegills all day long. With the current health situation I doubt they will let you in but once the coast is clear give them a call. There are ponds off Route 13 in the Powhatan WMA off Route 60 along with the lakes. Look them up on the Internet for both Powhatan Lakes and Powhatan Ponds. If you want to drive into Richmond you can fish the lake behind Stony Point Shopping Center off Huguenot Road. Tough place to fish for bass but you can fish easily from the bank. Lots of bluegills in the lake. The lake off Old Hundred Road in Midlothian can be fished from the bank. Find it on Google maps. I think it is Old Hundred Road. It is close to the library. The pond off Biggin Pond Road in The Grove can be fished. Look it up on Google maps. The apartment complex called Fox Chase off Genito Road near Charter Colony Parkway has a pond. I don't think anyone will bother you if you fish it. Had lots of pads in it at one time. Also, check out the ponds off Charter Colony Parkway off Waterford Lake Drive. Big pond and little pond. You can see it on a map if you Google it. If you are adventurous, you can hit the ponds in Maymont Park. Check out the park's map and note South Davis and Lake Road ponds. South Davis is the best, followed by the big pond on Lake Road and then the smaller pond on Lake Road. Good luck finding places to fish in the greater Richmond area. Now put on your mask and go to Dick's and get the DG&IF booklet and start fishing the area!!!!

Talc powder can also work to keep baits dry.

Suggestion: Put your backing line on half of the spool and the good line on the rest of the spool, leaving 1/8 inch from the top of the spool clear. This will cut down on line costs. As for the line test, what does the say regarding line size and what are the line test and bait weight for the rod? Add the high and low for the rod's line test and then divide by two and you have the best performing line test for your setup. Regarding your query as to what line to use, anything you, as the dad, has confidence.

My friend who repairs rods and reels tells me to bring all new reels to him to remove the old grease and replace it with new grease. He says we have no idea of how long the reel has been on the shelf and sometimes part or all of the grease dries up.

...cut a chunk of line off...

Anything Zebco.

Honor Blackman, the actor best known for playing the Bond girl hero, has died aged 94. She was in Goldfinger, the second Bond movie released in 1964. Just thought you old guys would like to know.

Please send him the entire Forum family's best wishes for a successful surgery and rapid recovery. Tell him we are looking forward to seeing him in his boat back on the water later this year. So he has to do what they say at dog obedience schools: Heal!

Thanks for the good news. We all can use some good news.

Aaron is a health nut. He is known for his workouts and his running. It is very upsetting when anyone has to go into the hospital but a healthy and strong guy like Aaron having a seizure is extremely bad. Sincerely hope they find the cause and can medicate it. Aaron is one of the best bass fishing ambassadors in the industry.

Hard as Nails clear nail polish from Walmart if you need a fast coating. I use Hard as Nails over the orange spot nail polish dot on my crankbaits when the orange nail polish dries. Only problem I have encountered are the funny looks the women in the area give me as I look for the correct colors and clear coat. OK, maybe it is because I am wearing a dress and a wig.

Horrible. Just horrible. People have no idea of the power of water and wind. Makes me sick to read of events like this that should never happen.

No surprise. The bass are on their beds and you have find the beds and drag your plastics through the bed, allowing it to sit in one place about 60-seconds in the bed. The ladies are not eating and the small males are guarding the nest, meaning that bites will be few and far between. We are handicapped when fishing from the bank and can't get to the beds. By April 20th the fishing should pick up again.

Me. But heading to double secret farm pond on Tuesday.

Hi Bill. I like plastics this time of year. Dragged across the beds while leaving them in one place in the beds for about a minute to see if they will try to remove or kill it. Shakey heads and Texas rigged plastics that are bottom bait presentations I would try. Also, would try a buzzbait, Whopper Plopper, RICO, and a RICO or popper for topwater bites. Let us know how you do.

#1 weedless hook of the brand of your choice. I use Owner and Eagle Claw. Not a 1/0 but a #1. I like weedless hooks as I throw wacky plastics and Senkos into trees, brush and wood and the weedless hook helps avoid snags.

Kev, I agree with Jedi above. Get baitcaster reel cleaned and checked out by a person who knows reels. In the meantime, and when you get your baitcaster reel back from being checked out and greased, may I suggest the following that was shown to me by Ike at an old time Bassmaster University? It is a pro's trick that the pros, and you, can do without anyone noticing. By the numbers....... 1. Rig up rod, reel, line, and bait ready to cast. 2. Tighten drag to where you want it in addition to placing the magnets on the side of the baitcaster in an "X" position. 3. Tighten spool so that it holds bait in place when released. 4. Point rod tip to 11 o'clock. 5. Release spool and let bait hang there at end of rod. 6. Start turning spool tension knob slowly so that the bait starts to fall slowly to the ground. 7. When the bait hits the ground the spool needs to stop and no line comes off the spool. 8. Do this three or four times as necessary to get the spool to stop when the bait hits the ground. 9. If you can, cast the set up to see if the spool stops when the bait hits the ground. 10. Adjust the spool tension to have longer or shorter casts as you wish when you hit the water. Some other rules about doing this by the numbers..... 1. Do this every time you change baits on your baitcaster. 2. Do not do this on carpet. Carpet seems to want to eat your hooks. 3. Once you get the hang of doing this you can do it while fishing in five seconds. One more set of unwritten rules...... 1. Balance line test and bait weight per each of your rods' parameters as stamped on each rod. 2. Add the high and low test numbers, divide by 2, and you have the best line test for the rod and reel. I would think the reel will perform at its maximum for you after getting it cleaned, repaired, adjusted, and balanced. Let us know what you find out. Good luck.

I organized my tackle three times so far. I rigged 11 rods and reels with different presentations to use, hopefully this Tuesday at my double secret pond. Will put together my tackle to go to the double secret pond. I sent emails to Gamma about a question I have regarding their lines. I am waiting for a link to order some nice spinnerbaits with special skirts for local Virginia waters. Cleaned up almost all of the garage. Still have one section to go. Reorganized my MegaStrike and KVD Line and Lure Conditioner spray in my man cave. Will clean out shed tomorrow (Saturday). Will mow field with riding mower Saturday or Sunday. Will drive to Seven Springs Marina on Lake Chesdin on Saturday to confirm they are open and to see if the place is a zoo. Reading Bass Times and Bassmaster magazines. Took all of my swimming and workout stuff out of my SUV and will store it in the attic until pool reopens. Making angle food cakes. Fried oysters for my oyster loaf this past week. Will probably fry some shrimp for a shrimp loaf this weekend. (It's a Louisiana thing) Will watch LSU and Clepsom in the football championship game on the SEC network when it airs and hope the Fighting Tigers will win it again. Also will watch LSU and Georgia in the SEC championship game when it airs. Will be invoicing clients and emailing the invoices to them this weekend. And not shaving; wearing my favorite sweats all day and night; and aggravating my wife for the fun of it. ? And you say what you are doing.........

Use a good grease and mix some graphite in the grease when servicing the reel. Clean out the old grease and then add your new formula to replace the old grease.

I was told many years ago after I got scammed at the Sheets on Midlothian Turnpike and Providence Road in Richmond, VA, that you can actually see the illegal card readers where you insert your card. I have never gone back to that Sheets. I now always double check for illegal card readers. The detective told me that you can actually move the illegal device with your fingers while it is in the pump. I have no idea if what I was told is true about moving the illegal device as I have never encountered another one since. And I do keep my two credit cards in a lead lined card holder in my wallet.

I have fished with a number of guides. Some good and some bad. But I did learn from each. Guiding is a difficult occupation as your success is based on too many variables that are out of your control. The public is hard to deal with when things don't go well and they will blame you. The public does not care about cold fronts, dirty water, waves, wind, other fishermen, other boaters, time of the day, time of the year, what baits to throw, how strong is the line, how you did the last trip out, and the size of the fish caught. Best guided trip I had in years was with a guy who just got divorced, enjoyed his booze, dressed like a homeless person, and had a small boat. However he knew where the fish were, his equipment was excellent and my wife caught her first redfish, speckled trout, drum, and sheepshead down in the Biloxi marsh in southeast Louisiana. Worst guided trip I had was with a nice old man who said he knew Buggs Island but he knew only a part of it and we did not get a bite all day. I blamed him as I paid him good money to put me on the bass and he failed to do so. No way you could get me to be a guide. All the best if you wish to do guiding but be ready for damaged rods, backlashes, hooks and baits flying all over the place, people yelling at you, bad weather, people not showing up for the trip, people wanting their money back, and no telling what else they will blame on you. Let us know what you do and some stories, too.

Follow the rules no matter how much you disagree. Older folks are more susceptible to the virus than the younger crowd. However, it is the younger crowd that is passing the virus along to others, including older people and then older people to other older people and everyone to the medical professionals who are working overtime to help us. So the governor's proclamation means to stay inside and forgo fishing, biking, swimming, skinny dipping, hiking, running, jogging, walking, nude beaches, cook outs, walking the dog for a mile, etc. to be on the safe side. By sacrificing fishing until this is over is not asking too much from us. After all, we want all medical professionals to avoid the virus and we do not want to take the chance of getting the virus and then passing it along to others.

X2. When carp spawn they jump out of the water and make a big splash when they come down. I would agree it is a smaller fish, like a bream, bluegill, sunfish, small bass, minnows, shad, etc. The only other thing I can think of it is the Monster from the Black Lagoon getting ready to attack you. Or a turtle.