OutKast Actual

Those are some great fish in all those pics (both posters)! Also, it's great to see another person sharing the outdoors with kids! I've been fishing with my son since he's been old enough to walk...he's 14 years old now. One of my greatest fishing memories was when him & I were bluegill fishing in a base pond aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. He was almost, but not quite, 3 years old at the time. Well, we only had one fishing pole...which was one of those small rod/reel combo for kids. We were using canned corn as bait & I was the one casting & catching (hooking) the fish. I would hook the bluegill & then let him real them in. The can of corn was open & sitting on the ground. I was concentrating on a few bluegill that were messing around with the bait, waiting for one of them to take the bait into its mouth. All of a sudden, in a sweet little childs voice I hear, "Ummmm...that's good daddy." When I look down to see what he's talking about, I find my son eating the canned corn by the hands full! LOL Well, 10 years later my now 13 year old son (now 14) gave me another one of my greatest fishing memories when he caught & landed his personal best large mouth, a 4 1/2 pounder. He caught it while fishing topwater (Zoom Horny Toad) in the Meherrin River. He's came a long way from Spongebob, Super Man, Batman, & Dale Earnhardt Jr rod/reel combos. He now uses baitcasters & is pretty good at many types of artificial lure techniques. I've got a fishing partner for life! Keep up the good work with those kids...the memories are worth far more than any fish I've ever caught!

Sorry for the long hiatus...the USMC has had me away for quite a while now...but I'm back & ready to hit the water! We only fished the Lone Star Lakes those 2 times I mentioned before. My wife ended up spoiling me by pushing me to pull the trigger & buying a bass boat. It isn't a new high speed Ranger, Skeeter, Bass Cat, or anything...it is a 1989 Winner Tournament 2000 with a 200 HP Evinrude XP. It shines like its nearly new, the motor is a beast, & it will flat out fly! Anyways, enough gushing over my boat, I spent what time I had fishing down on the Chowan. I launch from Shoup's Landing & mainly went up river & fished in the Meherrin. The furthest south I went was down to/in the Wiccacon. We did pretty good each time we went out, however, I still got a lot to learn about that river system & need to figure out the most & the least productive areas. So far...I LOVE THAT RIVER!!! My son caught his personal best largemouth on a Zoom Horny Toad...it was a 4 1/2 pounder. We're excited to get back out there! Do any of you all know when the bass start pre-spawn on the Chowan & its' tributaries? Plus, can they be caught anywhere on the river during the pre-spawn, spawn, post-spawn or do you have to travel down toward the sound? Thanks in advance for any & all help!

East TN...Knoxville area...Cherokee Lake, Norris Lake, Watts-Bar, Douglas Lake, Clinch River, Loudon Lake, etc... so many places to fish!

I haven't heard of it either, I'm going to look into it though.

Me & my son fished Lone Star this past Saturday (20 April 2013), that was only the 2nd time fishing the lakes there. We were fishing from the bank. Only caught one that was on a bed by sight fishing. I see that Lone Star is your home lakes & that you prefer the Chowan River. How good is the Chowan?

Some sort of Senko type bait or a Zoom Fluke has been my (2) most productive in most types of waters & weather conditions. My all time favorite lure to use though is a Spinner Bait...i just enjoy the spinner bait bite better than all others. As far as baits (live); crawdads & "Grampuss" (Hellgramite).

Thanks everyone for such a warm welcome!!!

OUT-FREAKING-STANDING!!! Thanks for the info!!! I've done research, looked at some pics of catches from the river on Bob's Fishing Hole website & got to say that I've seen some very impressive fish. I plan on making the NW my go to body of water once I'm up there next month. For vacations & extended weekends I'll probably migrate to Kerr/Buggs Island & give it a shot. What's the water clarity in the river? I've heard that it is a dark, tanic type color? Is the darker lure colors the way to go in the river? Just trying to get all the info that I can so that I can come up with a good game plan. I'm not fishing tournaments or anything...however, I have a 12 year old son & also my wife likes to fish & I'm the one who has to put together a pattern so that they can have a good time. To me, ensuring I do all I can to make sure my wife & son have a good time & enjoy our fishing time is far more important to me than a tournament or even me actually catching fish....just as long as they do!!! Thanks in advance both Justin & StinkyBass for any help that y'all can give me!

Good deal, thanks gents! My main concern is being able to safely operate my Suntracker Fishing Barge Pontoon w/a 60hp Mercury on the river. No worried so much about trolloing the banks in shallow water with my trolling motor, more concerned about running depth in the center of the river when I'm running the main/outboard motor. Have you seen bass boats or pontoons running fast on the river? Thanks in advance for the additional help!!!

What is the average water depth down there on the NW River?

Have any of y'all ever fished the North West River? I'm getting stationed in Norfolk (will be living in Suffolk) & have heard some good things about the NW River. Looking to launch out of Bob's Fishing Hole, there's also tournaments on the river & is hosted by Bob's.

I appreciate it!!

Greetings to all; I'm currently stationed on NC but am due for rotation to Norfolk, VA in May. Wanted to introduce myself on this sub-category because I forsee that I'll spend the majority of my "site time" here in the Southeast Bass Fishing category. I fish out of a "Suntracker Fishing Barge" pontoon & have it set up with a trolling motor so that I can bass fish out of it. I've been looking at the area up & around Norfolk...looks like the James, Chickahominy, & Northwest Rivers will be the local waters that I fish. Northwest River seems at the top of the list for me. When I'm ready to take a vacation, Buggs Island will be the lake of choice most likely. Anyone on here have any info on the Northwest River? Such as water clarity and average depth, underwater hazards, etc...? Any help will be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance for any help or replies.

Hell all; new to the site but not new to fishing or fishing forums. I'm currently stationed aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, NC but will be moving to Norfolk, VA (am being stationed there) here shortly. I look forward to talking & learning from you all!