Sam

Green, if this happens then LSU will be the 2021 National Champs! But...although Herbstreit is very knowledgeable, I foresee the virus being taken down with vaccines and other treatments and we will have college and pro football. In fact, I believe the quarantine will be over in May at the latest and we can go back to normal with our lives. Geaux Tigers!

Great report. Just being on the water is a gift. My friend went to the Mattaponi river in Virginia last Saturday and the Walkerton ramp was a zoo. He had to park in the lot across the road and launch from that ramp. He knew how to get into a creek and he said he did very well catching over 20 bass. I know the creek he went into and I love it, too. You just have to know how to get in and out or you will be stuck on a sandbar at the mouth of the creek. He told me that there were way too many boats in the river to enjoy yourself so he went home. What is disturbing is that I like to fish the Mattaponi river on weekdays when I have the river to myself. Looks like this will not be happening until the quarantine is lifted and everyone has to go back to work.

Country, yes, the Japanese Cherry trees are beautiful. Pink and white and lots and lots of pollen. Your dogwoods should be about 7 to 10 days behind Richmond. Just note the buds and one day you will wake up and they will have the nicest pink flowers on them signaling the spawn is going full blast. And you are correct about having fewer guys fishing bedding bass so we may have some strong spawns, which we need. All we can do is stay home and wait for the all clear signal and then run to the ramps!!!!

Glenn, I had a safety inspection of my Ranger last month and the gentleman performing the inspection told me to get an orange flag on a stick to wave in case of trouble while on the water. He said boaters can see a waving orange flag if you wave it. Trying to find one now. He also had me upgrade my fire extinguisher to a larger model that holds more repellent. Thanks for the other two suggestions. I will look for the strobe light and locator beacon. You all be safe and stay indoors.

Good question. I suggest you call the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency and ask one of their game wardens or someone who is in the know (not the telephone operator) if fishing off your own dock is acceptable in closed areas. I would think the local sheriff and police would tell you "no" as they want to error on the safe side. Let us know what you find out.

I get to see LSU defeat Clepsom on the SEC network, like tonight at 7 PM with another game rerun. I hope the Fighting Tigers win again. I miss college baseball. I was looking forward to see how far a number of college basketball teams would go in the NCAA tournament. The NFL college draft is always fun to watch to see who is going where and I hope they will still have it on TV. However, with that said, we get the Outdoor Channel and I watch the fishing shows on TV. And would you believe this has lead to me and my wife having conversations????? How about the Bengals and Burrow???

I saw the Ned Rig as a flash in the pan bait, like so many before it. If you want to hear about other different baits out there tune into Ike as he promotes just about anything as he is always on the cutting edge of bass fishing technology. I do throw the Ned rig with the Z-Man TRD's on the Z-Man Ned Bait jig heads but so far my results have not been as good as throwing a Senko or a trick worm against the bank.

OK Hampton Virginia red neck. About time you started posting and asking questions and adding your answers to others' queries. Check out the Dogwoods Have Bloomed link in the Southeast Fishing section of the Forum and hit some of those apartment and office building ponds in the greater Hampton area. Great having you with us. We can always use another Virginia guy. And have you seen Air Force One do touch and goes at the naval base when you are crossing the hole in the water? Hope you see that plane as it is a beautiful sight. Kerr is closed to tournaments but the ramps are open if you want to go by yourself. The Chick is doing great now, especially with the tournaments cancelled or postponed. So go out there and file your reports so we can all enjoy your adventures. Welcome to the Forum!

Direct from Bon Air, Virginia, where the men are successful, the women are beautiful and the children are above average, the Dogwood trees have bloomed today, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. This means that the bass in Virginia are on their beds; getting ready to get on their beds, or are already on their beds. Just like the outstanding guys on this Forum, who have to stay home in quarantine with their wives and girlfriends, spawning season is upon us. Lets' get to work and show those nasty little green monsters who we are. Let's go out there and let the Bait Monkey know that we have not forgotten him. Lets' go out there and tell the women in our lives to shape up and get out of our way as we are now in the planning stages to hit the water with all of the pontoon boats, skiers, jet-skis, swimmers, tubers, and the other 10,000 bass guys who will hit the waters this week and weekend. Tell your ladies who is boss. Tell your ladies it is spawning season and you are ready to rock and roll. We are men. We are bass fishermen. We do what we want and when we want. OK, that's all for now. I was just told to put out the trash. Good luck and be safe.

I tried a cotton ball soaked in scent but it came out of the tube. The foam ear plug never crossed my mind. Thanks for the tip.

When fishing treble hook baits I "swing" the rod from left to right or right to left to set the hook. When I use an underhand roll cast I "swing" the rod tip to get the bait to go where I want it, or close as possible. When I cast sidearm or skip the bait I "swing" the rod to get the motion to cast the bait. When I flip and pitch I "swing" the rod to let the bait fly into the air and enter the water with a soft touch. When I want to send the bait as far as possible I "swing" the rod over my head towards the water. When I go to the park with my grand kids I "swing" on the swings and hope not to fall off. Lots of "swinging" going on in bass fishing and while at the park.

Check the rod's line test and bait weight parameters to determine the best line test rating. You can add the low and high parameters together, divide by 2, and you have the optimum line test for that rod. Just make sure your baitcaster or spinning reel can support the line test and bait weight. With the beautiful Tatual Elite baitcaster you don't have to worry about line test and bait weight. But you do regarding your rods. Flipping and pitching are finesse presentations and you will have a fun time with your set up. Now it is time to keep the Bait Monkey happy and start thinking about the Dobyns pitching and flipping sticks along with the Daiwa LT spinning reels. Regarding braid vs. floro, I go with braid ever since I went fishing with a BASS pro and he cleaned my clock using braid on his spinning rigs. Of course he probably would have cleaned my clock if he thew the Banjo Minnow but to watch him work the braid was a privilege I will never forget. In fact, I don't even use a leader with my braid as he proved to me that it is not necessary. And you know what? He is correct. As for what to pitch and flip? Plastics. Shakey head trick worms; Senkos and other stick baits; lizards; finesse worms; Fat Ikas, jigs, and anything plastic. No rules. Throw what you want. I use the Provider jig heads in 1/16 up to 3/16 for my shaky head presentations. Great jig heads and you don't have to worry about pegging or not pegging the weights. Look them up on the Internet. Check out this web page to see all the different types and colors of plastics that are available from Zoom: http://virginiaguidebaitco.com/ You will have a good time experimenting until you find that right bait and presentation that gives you the confidence in flipping and pitching. Just use any plastic you wish, or a Shad Rap if you want to go wild. Good luck.

The jigs I throw are hand made by a gentleman in Virginia. He creates skirts with the colors that have proven to have positive results on specific bodies of water. If you make your own jigs don't do it with the goal of saving money. You do it for the satisfaction of the finished product and how it works better than mass produced jigs.

Do you mean that bass fishing is at its height and the only way to go is down and then disappear? Need your definition of "swing sport."

Looked up the words in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Definition of reservoir 1: a place where something is kept in store: such as a: an artificial lake where water is collected and kept in quantity for use b: a part of an apparatus in which a liquid is held c: SUPPLY, STOREa large reservoir of educated people 2: an extra supply : RESERVE 3: an organism in which a parasite that is pathogenic for some other species lives and multiplies usually without damaging its host quarry noun (2) plural quarries Definition of quarry (Entry 2 of 4) 1: an open excavation usually for obtaining building stone, slate, or limestone 2: a rich source In other words, Buggs Island is also called Kerr Reservoir and it is a very large lake on the Virginia/North Carolina border. The Richmond Metropolitan Authority that operates the toll road into and out of the City of Richmond, Va has a quarry off Forest Hill Avenue. This quarry has very high walls and is not very big.

1/2 ounce

https://www.vabassnation.com/home/ www.vabass.com Look up the same BASS and FLW clubs for Maryland and ask them for their guidance on joining a bass club. Check out the local clubs in the above links. The VABass link may be a problem so you may have to retype it in your browser and then try to figure out how to contact them. Here is what you would find out sooner or later on their site: Region 1 Director William (Bill) Haire Cell (540)205-4967 Email: wiliamhaire10@yahoo.com Includes the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon, Clarke, Frederick, Warren, Shenandoah, Stafford, Culpeper, Rappahannock, Page, King George, Orange, Spotsylvania, Caroline, Louisa, Madison, Rockingham, Fluvanna, Albemarle, Prince William and Greene also all the cities within them, and the District of Columbia. Good luck.

Koz, game wardens will usually leave alligators alone if they are in their territorial waters even if the locals ask for the gator to be removed. I was told a gator can run up to 30 MPH on land but I have not confirmed this. Maybe you or others on the Forum have correct information on gator land speeds. Gators are very inquisitive animals. Although they sit in one place for long periods of time they will investigate commotion in the water or along the bank and as you know, they will lie in wait for a deer, cow, dog, cat, fox, raccoon, etc. and attack when they get the opportunity. I watch Swamp People and their alligator hunting, which gets boring after doing the same thing for the 100th time but being from Louisiana and having Cajun friends (no, they don't hunt alligators unless they move close to their homes or favorite fishing waters and then they use a .22 to take them out) I enjoy seeing the beautiful marsh and bayous that are loaded with bass and other species. And don't feed the gators. If you do they will follow you around all day. They love large white marshmallows, too. And chicken. They really like chicken parts. I think chicken tastes like people. ?

After a cold front passes the bass get lockjaw. The bass will be active right before and during the storm. Just a fact of life for bass fishing. You can read some good articles about fishing after a cold front moves through an area in the bass fishing literature. You can also look up cold fronts in the search section of the Forum in the upper right hand corner as fishing after cold fronts has been discussed previously. Be safe.

Gators are sneaky and they use stealth to their advantage. Be careful as they can blend into their surroundings and remain stationary for hours. I have had them stare at me while fishing back in Louisiana when a teenager. They just sat in the water about 50 to 60 feet away and watch us in the skiff. They never came closer or threatened us in any way. But it was still spooky. And remembering these types of encounters gives me chills. Be safe and watch your step!!!!

This is why I want this quarantine to be over: more boaters during the week. I love fishing on weekdays. Mondays and Tuesdays are the best. You have the waters to your self until school would let out and then you have to contend with the pontoon boats, skiers/tubers, jet ski's and guys fishing for catfish. Now it looks like the crazies will be released onto the water when the weather permits.

X2

Scaleface, if you use a baitcaster reel to skip you will get backlashes. It just happens. Comes with the territory. Supposedly the high cost reels can help control backlashes but not 100%. Reels costing $400+ are "supposed" to keep backlashes down but not 100%. If you skip with a baitcaster all I can do is tell you what a pro told me: lift the rod tip at the end of the cast. I use a spinning rig to skip baits but every now and then I get the urge to use a baitcaster, knowing it will not end well. But you just got to do what you got to do. ?

Just James, I think you got it covered.

On Sirius radio's SEC station this morning the guys were interviewing Ross Bjork, the Texas A&M athletic director, about A&M and how the cancellation of the spring sports impacted the school. Although I did not get to hear the entire conversation, I gathered it revolved around what the various schools are going to do with their scholarships since the returning seniors, who would have graduated had they not gotten another year of eligibility, return to school and to their respective teams and did not give up their scholarships as expected. Ross Bjork said that he thought the NCAA and the schools would work something out and that at A&M there was one athlete that he was not concerned about since the guy wants to be a professional bass fisherman. The team is called the Aggie Anglers and they fish the college tournaments. https://www.facebook.com/AggieAnglers/ I could not believe my ears. A PROFESSIONAL BASS FISHERMAN. A guy who is considered to be an athlete and fishes for A&M. And no one, not the radio guys or Bjork, laughed or snickered or said anything silly at this declaration. Looks like being a professional bass fisherman with a college degree is the way to go. Just show us the scholarship money. ?