Sam

We had a large Dick's store pull out of the Stony Point Fashion Park as one of their anchor stores three years ago, leaving five other locations open in the greater Richmond, Virginia geographical area. Since all I do is swim for exercise I don't buy anything from any of the Dick's outlets other than for goggles and ear plugs and stopping by to see what they have on sale at the store off Kroger Center Boulevard behind Chesterfield Towne Center. With all of the Internet options to the fishing industry we can order on-line easier than driving to a retail outlet and have better selections. As for my plastics, I go to the Zoom distributor to purchase my plastics, other than for Missile Baits and YUM Dingers. And to make matters worse for Dick's, the guys and gals working the fishing department do not know bass fishing so you are on your own, if you can find anyone in the fishing department in the first place.

Its OK. But here is the truth. The House of the Rising Sun by the Animals does exist. So I am posting The House of the Rising Sun as a great song.

The "big ones" aka Florida Strain Bass, are in the Chickahominy River, east of Richmond and west of Williamsburg. You have to take Route 5 from where I live, which is a dangerous road on a good day, to get to the Route 5 ramp at the mouth of the Chick. Or, you can go Route 60 and go south in Providence Forge and take the back roads to River's Rest in the middle of the river. The third option is to go Route 60 to Rock-A-Hock by the dam where the big ones hang out. And if you can find your way through the maze of roads, twists and turns, you can launch at Brickyard Landing below the dam. In all of the above I have to plan for between an hour and a half to two hours of travel time. Since the tournament weigh-ins are on the Historic James River at Osborne Landing, I usually launch there and fish the river in both directions. Time of travel from my house to Osborne Landing towing the Ranger is about 45 minutes. So far I have nailed a 4.5 pound Florida strain bass by the power plant that I suspect was released at Osborne Landing.

Happy Birthday. Have a great 2020!

I tried double split rings on some Rat-L-Traps just for the fun of it and never got a bite. Never have tried it again.

Fishing a tournament on Lake Gaston when we decided to head across the lake from Sixpound Creek to Poplar Creek in order to beat the approaching storm. We exited Sixpound Creek into the main lake and I just held on and closed my eyes due to the rain stinging my face as my friend, who was the boater, took us across the lake in his old Cajun bass boat. The wind was pushing us across the lake so fast we made it in about three minutes. I opened my eyes as we entered Poplar Creek and could not believe we made it so fast. I learned that you can't beat Mother Nature and if you see storm clouds approaching, hear thunder, see lightning, or note bad weather on your iPhone Weather Radar app you head for cover.

Super, welcome to the Forum. Glad you are with us. Do you know the secret to eliminating backlashes? If not, here it is from Ike as he presented it at one of the old Bassmaster Universities. Over a hardwood floor, out in the grass, or in your boat, rig up your baitcaster with the bait you want to throw. Do not do this on carpet inside your house as the hooks will get stuck in the carpet. Loosen spool and set your drag to where you want it. Point rod tip to 11 o'clock and release the spool, controlling the fall with your thumb. Tighten spool to slow down the bait's fall speed. Do it again. And again. Your goal is to have the spool stop when the bait hits the floor or ground. It may take you three or four tries to successfully achieve the spool stopping when the bait hits the floor/ground so be ready to make adjustments. After you have the spool stop when the bait hits the ground/floor you are now ready to cast away without any worry about a backlash. You do this every time you change a bait. It will become natural and you can do it in 10 seconds. You can then adjust the spool tension to make it tighter or looser, depending on where you want to cast your bait. Good luck and keep posting.

I may be incorrect. Fritts showed us the bait and what Berkley did to make it work like balsa this past weekend. If it is balsa I stand corrected. Thanks for the correction. I plan to get some so I will find out, soon. Here is what was penned about this Frittside crankbait: Developed in collaboration with renowned crankbait angler David Fritts, the Berkley Frittside Crankbait is a new take on a classic design responsible for countless tournament wins across the country. Delivering proven balsa actions with the durability and casting performance of a plastic bait, the Frittside is a key bait for tough conditions when fish are sluggish or heavily pressured. The information does state the crankbait is balsa on the BPS web site.

Ricky, you need a set of split ring pliers. You also need to set up your table with a bath towel over the area you are using to catch the split rings when they pop off the pliers, which will happen. Or try to change them inside an empty shoe box so they can't fly across the room and disappear. Once you get the hang of using split ring pliers it is a piece of cake to remove and replace them on your treble hook baits.

Balsa baits are silent (no inside ball bearings) and will shake side to side as you move them through the water. This produces the "thump-thump" sound you mentioned. It is like shaking your hands fast which would create a sound wave that the bass will pick up in water. Balsa baits can be thinner than plastic baits and have a powerful movement in the water creating the vibrations you are seeking to entice the bass. David Fritts' Frittside crankbaits are made of plastic but it has properties that match balsa and create a strong vibration. Are they better than our Rat-L-Traps and standard crankbaits with or without the small ball bearings? No idea. It is up to you to get a few and give them a try. Let us know what you find out.

Do you have a spinning reel for your new rod? if so, bring it to a local tackle shop or a BPS/Cabela's store and look for a spinning rod that has a medium heavy action and a fast tip that fits your budget and your height. Look at the rod's parameters regarding line test and bait weight to make sure it is what you throw and it matches up with your spinning reel. Put the reel on the rods you are considering to see how they feel when you cast and move it around. Make sure it is not too heavy for you. Lots of spinning rods in the marketplace under $100. Look up "$100 or Less Spinning Rods" on the Internet to see what is out there. Good luck.

X2. This is what I do.

Yes, my main goal is to return home safely with some wonderful memories. That is all I can ask for.

Trial and error. All I do is change my presentation to something I think will work. The objective is to find the pattern for that day or hour.

FYI in case you did not see it.

We have the Marines Museum off I-95 south of DC and it is a fantastic museum. The WWII Museum in New Orleans is excellent, too.

Yazirrrrr. I be here with my crankbaits. And getting some special ones very soon, too.

Catfish Black Crappie Striped Bass Yellow Perch White Perch Smallmouth Bass Warmouth Bowfin Snakeheads

Wife took me to an estate sale after we left the Fishing Expo and BPS today. I had to go back to the Expo to get something I should have bought yesterday and then to BPS to exchange her birthday gift for another size. The estate house is 7,700 square feet on a lake and they have some top of the line items for sale. Beautiful home with beautiful furniture, pictures, lamps, silverware, etc. I could not locate any old or new tackle or rods/reels, but hanging against the garage wall were seven old rods and reels. So I walked over and looked that them, somewhat depressed that all the good stuff was sold yesterday, and to my surprise there was a dirty Shimano 1500 Symetre reel on an old Ugly Stick for $20. With the prices discounted 25% today I picked up the rod and reel for $15. Once home I cleaned it up and it runs perfectly. An excellent addition to my spinning reel collection. And the rod is in excellent condition for one of my grandkids to use. So other than what I bought at the Richmond Fishing Expo from Bobby Uhrig at the MegaStrike booth and a 400 pound rated magnet to drag on the bottom to see what you can dredge up for my grandkids to use when they visit, I did pretty good this weekend. And the David Fritts seminar was excellent, too. Hope some of you guys and gals in Virginia and DC had a chance to go to the show.

Went this morning and said hello to Bobby Uhrig of MegaStrike and John Crews who gave me the "double secret bait" to use on local Virginia tidal rivers. David Fritts had a good seminar at the Oklahoma Bass Tub and introduced us to a couple of new baits that look promising. Going back tomorrow to get one of those heavy magnets to drag around boat docks and ramps to see what I can find. Overall, it was a good show. Smaller than in past years but still good.

Thanks for what you did. We retire flags at my American Legion Post and we have saved many old cotton flags along with the special 911 flag which I have as I took it.

Yes, they work great on the Historic James River east of Richmond.

Great. I will be wearing an LSU sweatshirt and cap now that they finally won a national championship. So look for me on Friday morning.

A condom on the Historic James River.

Lose them and never see them is the worst. Even if they get off after you see them at least you know what you hooked.