Sam

From the look of it, Southern Cal had a very impressive game against hapless Virginia. USC right now looks good but they always seem to shoot themselves in the foot during the season. Ohio State may have lost Bennie for a few weeks or his injury will nag him throughout the year. If so, I cannot see OSU playing for the National Title. Oklahoma has a good shot but Missouri is very strong as is Texas so OU will have their hands full during the season and in the title game. Missouri has a favorable schedule; a very good football team; and should challenge Texas and OU for the conference title. ACC's top two teams were defeated by a lower level East Carolina and a SEC lower echelon Alabama team so both have to regroup and run the table for either Virginia Tech or Clemson to earn the bid. The SEC has many strong teams so you have to look at their schedule. LSU has too many tough games on the road; Georgia has a very tough schedule and I can't see them coming through the season undefeated. Auburn and Florida are long shots but Florida is looking good with a favorable schedule of the SEC teams, which really does not mean that much as all SEC teams are formidable opponents. So right now, I like Missouri and Southern Cal, but this will change as the season progresses.

Cajun friend in Houma moved his boat under the carport and filled her up with water; boarded the windows; drove both cars to friend's home in Kenner; then they took one car and headed north. Friends and family in New Orleans and Metarie have already moved out to Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia and Florida. I sincerely hope the levees hold. Thanks for the website, lugar306. I will watch it along with the Weather Underground site.

Dave, That was the biggest bass in the entire state of Maryland. Had you caught it you would have pushed Bassboy15 over the edge and into a mental hospital. ;D

A good one. ;D

They headed deep. If you are fishing from shore you are limited as to how you can reach them out in the middle or in an area you cannot access from shore. The bass will move during the day to feed, so you may catch them early in the AM or late PM when they head to shore. You are in a situation that is difficult to overcome until there is more water in the reservoir and they start to move once again. Good luck and be patient.

Dave, You have too much time on your hands. Shouldn't you be doing homework or something???? ;D ;D ;D

Have avoided this body of water due to its low water conditions. Glad to hear you did well. Keep those reports coming.

St. Croix.

You can use whatever you want. 50 pound test braid can be great for frogs. However, here are the basic rules from Ike on line: Mono for treble hook baits. Flourocarbon and copoly for anything. Braid and super lines for frogs, heavy cover and deep water. Just use what you feel comfortable and experiment with different brands, types of line, test and color. This should take you the rest of your life. ;D ;D ;D

Let's say she is 23 inches long with a total 19-inch girth. OK, let's use the formula. Length X Length X Girth = Pounds 1200 So this gives us 23 X 23 X 18 = 7.94 pounds 1200 I will give you 8 pounds. Please double-check this formula as you know your dimensions which can be estimated to the fish and let us know what your formula promulgates. Great catch!

Outstanding! A guy from beautiful Italy. Can't wait to see and read about what he catches. Chow!

Wonderful story. You must be old! ;D ;D ;D

There is June Parker Marina off Route 17, just east of the 360 bridge and the Shoreline Marine to the right of the bridge, all on the south side in Tappahannock. Naylors Beach off Route 634 is up-river and across frm Mallorys Point off Route 360. Heading towards the 301 bridge, which is a l-o-n-g way up river, about 35 miles, there is Hicks Landing off Route 17, before you get to the 301 bridge heading east from Fredericksburg. Look for the country store and pay your $8 ramp fee and then take the dirt road to the ramp. At the 301 bridge there is Port Royal Landing on the south side of the bridge near Gouldman Creek. Leedstown Campground is on the northern side of the Rapp off route 637. Please get a GMCO map and you can see these places. I suggest trying to calling them to make sure they are open. Watch the tides and have some fun.

Let's see. She looks about 18 inches long and a total of 14 inches grith. So..... 18 X 18 X 14 = 3.78 1200 If you can give us the length from the photo and then estimate the grith you can use the above formula to estimate the weight. And that is a beautiful smallie. Good job!

Anything Shimano.

Sent you a PM.

I follow the storms on www.weatherunderground.com. Great site. Storm to go up to a Class 4 before hitting Louisiana coast west of New Orleans when it will be a Class 3. I hate when this happens. The marshes have come back strong and the south Louisiana fishing has been outstanding since Katrina. Plus the fact that the eastern side of the storm is the worse and we have no idea if the levees will hold, although I expect them not to be a problem.

Welcome. Another Richmond fisherman. It just gets better and better on the forum. Thanks for releasing the cats. We all enjoy catching them over and over and over and over and over! Please do not tell anyone where you caught them as we do not want a run on the area. If you want to fish for catfish in the lower James, below Hopewell, check out the James River Fishing School with Mike Ostrander. Mike is a great guy and he guides on the James River. Looking for more posts about cats and smallies, too.

Flowers bloom in Louisiana in February while they bloom in Maryland in May so the Louisiana weather is better suited for fishing all year. Now, fishing on the LSU campus. Campus Lake is off South Stadium Drive across from the Cow Palace, aka Livestock Exhibit Building. College Lake is across the street from Campus Lake, to your southeast, off West Lakeshore Drive. University Lake is the big lake along Lakeshore Drive across the street frm both Campus and College lakes. City Park Lake is off Dalrymple, too, so check it out. Campus Lake is easy to fish. Just walk around the bank. Crest Lake is off Dalrymple Drive, across from University Lake, but I have never fished it. College Lake has some places to fish from the shore. University Lake is the challenge. There is a lot of vegetation along the shoreline so you will have to look for openings to fish the Lakeshore Drive side. And the private houses will block your efforts on the other shore. I have never fished City Park Lake. You can walk to these five lakes from anywhere on campus. Walk over the the Alumni Association Building, 3838 Lakeshore Drive, and then look for the TKE House and three other frat houses together on the lake side of the road. Start there as there are some openings to the pads and grass along the shoreline behind these four frat houses to fish University Lake. Use topwater frogs on braid or something to punch through the pads and grass. Otherwise, look for openings and throw your plastics and other baits. Then decide to go either towards Crest Lake or back towards campus and Campus and College Lakes. I never fished the Mississippi River area adjacent to the campus but you may want to recon that area which is past the baseball field and vet school on Skip Bertman Drive. But with the five lakes on or adjacent to the campus you should keep yourself busy until you meet some other fishermen and go out with them. There are a number of apartment complexes and subdivisions off Nicholson Drive so get a map of Baton Rouge and look for the blue ponds, etc. Rand McNally has a great Baton Rouge street guide and I know the bookstore carries it. Or used to carry it. There is a lake off Laurel Lakes Avenue but you need a car to get there. There is a lake in the College Town area but I have never visited it. It is off Aberdeen Avenue behind Robert E. Lee High School, known as Lee High. Be sure to get a resident Louisiana fishing license although I have never been bothered and I don't have one. I fish these places when I go to Alumni Association or Undergraduate Recruiting meetings and I use a two piece ultra light rod and light reel which makes catching anything a lot of fun. With that said......are you ready for some football? Geaux Tigers, Sam P.S. Secret way to check out of the bookstore on football Saturdays is to go to the register upstairs. Keep this a secret as this register is always open without a long line.

Use a Palamor Knot when tieing on baits. Use mono backing to avoid problems. Use braid for topwater frogs, deep water fishing or when fishing in slop, grass and pads.

YES! DRAWBACK!! You want to be a quiet as possible and the carpet muffles the sound of your movement in the boat. Get carpet installed.

Welcome to the forum. Great question and the answers are right on target. You may want to use the search feature to locate other posts about dirty water, too. Be sure to let us know how you do.

You can fish the lakes on campus by LAkeshore Drive and the sorority ouses. There is a big pond by the Cow Palace, too. I am sure you will meet some great people in Baton Rouge and at LSU who go fishing. Try saltwater fishing, too. Redfish fishing is spectacular. Now fall in love with LSU and Louisiana and look at the beautiful flowers in February!!! ;D ;D ;D

Wonderful. Now she "owns" the boat and will not mind you going out by yourself. Just let her tell her story and smile knowing that this is an opening for you to use your boat as much as you want.

The poor thing sure could use some structure on the bottom.