Sam

Short! ;D

And by the way, try to find a Medium Heavy six foot, six inch rod. Your choice of a baitcaster or spinning reel, whichever you feell more comfortable.

Hey Link, I had a wonderful post going when the site shut down for maintenance so I will just give you some places to check for rods and reels. Tackle Express on the south side of Midlothian Turnpike near Robious Road - Check with Craig and see what deals he has. Castaways - Jeff Davis Highway south of Route 288 - they have some rods and reels but their speciality is Zoom plastics. Peckers - The Stony Point Fashion Park store always seems to have combos on sale while I have not noticed many combos on sale at their Chesterfield Towne Center store. If you are in the Innsbrook area you can check their store at the Short Pump mall. Green Top - Check with Ron or Billy, if you can find them, and they have excellent rod and reel selections and they can create a combo for you. Anyone in the fishing department can help you with your selection at Green Top but try to see Ron. Wal-Mart - Always check them out for their combos and the Shimano reels. You have a number to visit in the area. The store on Forest Hill off Chippenham has had a good selection. Dance's - May have some rods on sale but I have not noticed any sale items other than lures. They do have a good selection of Ugly Sticks. Gander Mountain - No telling what they have on sale as their sale items change from week to week. And remember the upcoming Labor Day sales the last weekend in August. Let us know what you selected.

Unbelievable! The power of the Forum! This is super.

Hey George, No, I read it but I know of no one who can take him out for free and I thought it would be to his advantage to have the names of the Potomac guides in case he wants to make a financial investment in learning the river from a professional. But thanks for pointing that out. We had lots of heavy thunderstorms last night so the waters will be muddy for a few days and it will slow down fishing in these parts. I guess I will work in the office all day. Have a great day and catch a lunker for me.

Google: Teddy Carr's Outdoor Action, www.fishingwithteddy.com, 540.854.4271 Ken Penrod's Life OUtdoors Unlimited, 301.937.0010 Reel Bass Adventures, 301.839.2858 Teddy Carr is excellent; Ken Penrod is great; no info ot Reel Bass Adventures but contact them, too. Good luck and have fun. Be sure to PM me with all the secret honey holes they show you. ;D ;D ;D

Why take off the rust? Just fish them.

Daiwa, Chaddy is correct. Please contact *** and you will not be disappointed. As for other baits, who knows? What are you comfortable fishing? Plastics? Moving baits? Topwaters? Bottom presentations? As Catt has said in his past posts, you need baits to cover the top, middle and bottom of the water column. So what to get? Well, where and how do you fish? Rivers? Lakes? Ponds? Deep? Shallow? Grass and pads? Lots of wood and cover? Structure on the bottom? Fast? Slow? Moving baits? Wacky? Drop Shot? Split Shot? Shaky Head? Flipping and Pitching? Texas? Carolina? And when do you do most of your fishing? This will help you when you think of the water temperature; water clarity; current; rain; thunderstorms; snow and ice; winds; etc. What makes fishing great is that one day a firetiger crankbait will kill them and the next day they won't touch it so you have to throw a silver Shad Rap and then the next day throw a jig and pig or a plastic. I really wish I could help you by suggesting the magic baits but as you know each day fishing is totally different than the previous day fishing. All I can add is to support what Catt suggests and get some topwaters, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, Chatterbaits and plastics of all kinds and colors, including the dreaded Senkos, tubes and as Roadwarrior will suggest, Ikas. I will suggest weedless hooks and if you want to spoil yourself consider getting some tungston bullet weights for plastics and Carolina rigs. Just start out getting what you are comfortable with and the Bait Monkey will be joining you soon enough. ;D P.S. If you can wait for the Labor Day sales you can stretch your bucks.

JHawk hit it on the head. Try those baits, especially small bream or bluegills.

I love my Curado 7:0:1. I use it for topwaters, crankbaits and spinnerbaits as you can slow it down and not tire out your hand and arm from reeling fast. I am sure you will love your high speed reel.

Good going. My wife has no idea of what I have or what it cost. She has bought me fishing stuff for my birthday and Christmas but that's all. You did good. Now, how about a Shimano CORE on your next visit to the tackle shop?

After that report I just have to get some and give them a try. Hope I can do as well. Thanks for the info.

Yikes! Oyster shooters. Once upon a time...... Not anymore. In fact, I do not visit the French Quarter when I go home. Been there and have done almost all they do in the French Quarter. That's almost!!! ;D Bsbllboss is going to U-La-La on a baseball scholarship and I sent him a PM wishing all the best. You know how those people in Louisiana are, they will take you in like a long, lost relative and feed you the best food in the nation. I told him to remember to say "Go Tigers" and he can fishing free anytime he wants.

Mike, Go with a longer rod, like a 7 footer if possible. A 6'6" at the very least. Read how to flip and pitch on this site and also check out what Denny Brauer says in his book, "Denny Brauer's Jig Fishing Secrets" published by Outdoor World Press, Inc., PO Box 278, Humansville, Missouri 65674 or the video, "Denny Brauer's Advanced Flipping, Pitching and Jigging" by Strike King and produced and directed by Jud Bender of Getaway Productions. The video is excellent and the book is outstanding. Goggle pitching and flipping and see what the pros' websites have to offer, too. When pitching, always be sure that the rod tip is facing down towards the water and then sweep the rod in an upward arc (make it short) so the lure travels above the water to your target. Flip or pitch your bait beyond your target and then move it back towards you by, on or in contact with your target. And here is a pro's tip when flipping...pull the line that is between the first and second line guides on the rod. By doing this you will gain one, two or three extra feet to your cast. But keep this a secret between us. ;D

You must not be married. If I did have a pool and suggested that idea to my wife I think she would not be in favor of it, to put it midley. However, since you have the pool all I can think about is having the correct water delivered and then keeping the oxygen level and the pH content correct. Then you can stock it with the bass, bluegills, minnows and crawfish and put all types of mud on the bottom and different grasses and pads and rocks have some fun. Go for it and let us know what happens. Should be interesting, especially when you go to sell your house

Alabamabassmaster, Please consider using a "filler" line and tie the more expensive line to it on your spool. You can therefore use the higher price line to fish while the lower price line acts as a filler. Try to get the lines the same diameter and tie them together with a Uni-Knot. So how much expensive line do you put on the reel? Take the set up into your yard and put a bait on it and cast it as far as possible. Then add 10 more yards and you are set. Works with both baitcasters and spinning reels. And with 12 pound test, I would suggest spooling your baitcaster first.

Super pics and fish. Glad you have returned from baseball.

Beautiful. Keep pulling them in.

Woo Daves introduced me to the Carolina Keepers and they not only work but as stated above, no more swivels or three knots on your line or having to totally rerig to get deep or shallower. Just keep this to yourselves as we do not want the guys to know our little secret. ;D

Yes. So much so that I now use a gym bag. I also use a carpenter's tool box when pond fishing. My tackle boxes and bags are in the attic. ;D

Le's assume it is 14 inches. 17 x 17 x 14 divided by 1200 = 3.37 pounds. But this is a guess. Remember this formula and you can figure out the weight - LENGTH x LENGTH x GRITH = POUNDS 1200 Give it a try.

Excellent deal. Grab it and run or go out and buy an Ugly Stick. ;D ;D ;D

Suggestions in addition to what has already been offered" 1. Get a 12 foot pole or use your paddle and make a few holes in the grass. Go to the bottom if necessary, otherwise just make those holes as deep as possible. Wait about two or three hours, or the next day, and fish the holes. 2. Ike has a technique that you may want to employ. You set up your rig like you are drop shotting but you drop it into the grass so that the weight gets down to the plant's roots and then you jiggle your worm using a weedless hook or a Texas Rig set-up. Use a heavy bait to get through the grass and to bring the bait as deep as possible and to get into the root system. I have not tried this to date but I am going to be fishing the Chickahominy River later this month and may do so just to see how it works and how many baits, hooks and sinkers I can lose. So give it a try. 3. Here is what Ike says on his website about fishing grass: "THICK MATTED GRASS - the tunnel effect. This occurs when vegetation mats together. It is most often seen in reference to vegetation such as hydrilla and milfoil. The obvious targets are the outside or inside edges or bringing a weedless bait over top. The tunnel effect means that at the bottom of this matted vegetation lies a series of tunnel and canals. By taking an extra heavy lure, such as a ¾ or 1 oz. Jig or plastic craw, you can penetrate the mat to get inside the tunnels. It is often the case that you will only be able to achieve that initial fall, but that is enough. The flipping technique caters to tunnel fishing. Most of the time you don't have to worry about silent entry. In fact sometimes letting the bait crash down will help penetrate the mat." 4. As stated previously, an unweighted worm on a light hook or using a 1/4 ounce bullet weight dragged over the grass can produce strikes. 5. A pink or white trick worm can produce strikes. 6. And all of the above posts!!! ;D Just give it a try but be ready to lose some baits and tackle. Please let us know what you do and if it works.

In Virginia we are very fortunate that we have GMCO, a mapping company that has excellent maps of the various lakes and rivers. You can check out their web site by searching GMCO Maps or give them a call, 888.420.6277. I have no idea of what other states they have maps but you can give them a try. Otherwise, the guys have it right...Bass Pro Shops or local tackle shops will have local maps.

Go out in the early AM before sunrise and throw a topwater like a buzzbait, Pop-R, Spook, frog or a rat. Go out in the late PM at or after sunset and throw a topwater like a buzzbait, Pop-R, Spook, frog or a rat. Tried a pink or white trick worm? They are fun to fish and you can see the bass inhale them. Use a weedless hook. Then keep throwing those Senkos but scale down to the four (4) inch size and fish it wacky and the finesse worms with a light bullet weight. Ever heard of "dead sticking"? This is a technique where you throw out the plastic and just let it sit for one or two minutes before you move it. Give this a try, too. For the larger bass, try a 10-inch blue neon worm with a 1/4 ounce sinker rigged Texas style using a weedless hook and bounce it in and around the grass. Larger plastics attract larger bass. Don't know if you can throw a jig and pig but if so, give that a shot. Same with a tube. For smaller bass try a Roostertail or a small one or two-inch white grub on a light jig head, like 1/64 ounce. All bass, crappie and bluegills will hit these lures. A 1/4 ounce chrome with blue back (sunny) or black back (cloudy) Rat-L-Trap may produce strikes if they like moving baits. If the bass are holding deep go with a split-shot rig with a small, jiggly worm in watermealon or if the water is stained, pumpkinseed. Black flake in either may not be a bad idea. You may have to scale down your bait size, too, to entice more strikes. Experimentation is the name of the game and finding the "honey hole" in the pond will also be of importance. Be sure to fish the deep end, that is where either the dam or drain is located. You can also throw spinnerbaits and crankbaits. The Mann's Minus One is a good choice for topwater action. And if you can, this Christmas season take a few old Christmas trees and sink them in the pond in a spot that only you know. Then come back in the spring and summer and have some fun.