PotomacBassin

This may be a stupid question, but I was wondering if you all put your livewell drain plug in the drain hole of the livewell when you're not using the livewell. The reason I ask is that in my Tracker 190, a little bit of water comes up into the livewell if I don't plug it when it's in the water. It's about a half inch of water and I think it is just the level of the water line outside of the boat. I fish fairly muddy water so it tends to get nasty over time. Also, I always get a little bit of water in my bilge. After a long day it's typically only a little bit. I've heard other people say their's stays completely dry but was wondering if anyone else's gets a little water. One day after a really rough day of huge swells I had a good bit of water in the bilge but I assumed it was coming over the back or in through the pumpout hole.

Have you every used a BPS Pro Qualifier reel? That's all that I use and from what I understand, everyone loves them. They're cheaper than the JM reels, too.

Leesylvania is pretty popular but may be a little 'dicey' for jon boats on windy days. This is why I upgraded from my 14 foot jon to a 19 foot tracker. I would bust a$$ up to Neabsco in my little jon hoping the waves wouldn't be worse on the way back.

I was wondering if anyone else uses topo maps on their phone. Since this is cheaper than buying new electronics for my boat with a GPS, I use an ap by navionics on my iphone which isn't too bad. There are a few smaller lakes that it doesn't have details on, but for the most part it's pretty good. I'm also wondering if you can purchase fairly inexpensive topo maps for 'car gps' units such as a garmin that I could 'strap' onto my boat. It may not be as pretty as a GPS depthfinder, but it may be practical.

This is a fairly long thread, and since I haven't read all of it I just wanted to ask... is Pohick where this is definitely going out of? I'm about 4 miles from the Potomac so this is a definite possiblity for me.

I use my Bass Tracker 190 with a 115 in our local tournaments. Does just fine and I can keep up with some of the glass boats, although they may be only going half throttle. For the pros... it might have been last year's Bass Master's Classic where the one guy was talking how he wasn't sure if he was going to use his aluminum hull again today so he could get to where the other guys couldn't. Not sure about FLW though.

My indoor rig includes an 1/8 bullet wait tied onto a paper clip. I add a plastic worm (for show I guess and a little extra weight) from a bag that I'll never use fishing.

Do you guys use the regular rage craws or the baby craw more? I tend to use the baby craws more than the regulars so I can catch more fish since typically a larger trailer will catch bigger fish. For pleasure fishing I would use the smaller baby craws while if I'm in a tournament with my limit in the livewell I would use larger baits such as the regular Rage craw. Thoughts?

Well it's that time of year. Everyone's making their new year resolutions. At the end of each fishing year, I write down some "resolutions' in my fishing log on things I should work on. For 2013, mine was setting aside a lot of time to work on my jig fishing. I have always intended to do so, but always find myself fishing my cranks and senkos. I was wondering if anyone else has any new year resolutions they are determined to work on in the new year.

Evaluate any changes in conditions and figure out where I went wrong. Sometimes I can figure it out, other times I can't... like in our last tournament where we caught one keeper in 30 mph winds and 2.5 foot swells.

I use old small Bass Pro/ Orvis boxes that I receive from all the stuff I order from there. They're perfect for practicing my pitching inside.

Not sure if anyone ever tried the Field & Stream lens' that you can get anywhere like Dick's, but for $25 you can't beat them. I have the iridescent colored lens and they work pretty well for the money. I know you get what you pay for, but by saving money on glasses, I'm able to spend more on other things like rods and baits.

When you feel the need to post on "You know you're a die-hard bass fisherman when..."

Thanks for the advice. We will definitely look into a guide for the first day. It looks like a lot of water so it will be good to know where to start. It may be best for us to just go straight there and fish for the week. If we break up the time with more stops then it'll be more packing/unpacking and setting up time which equals less fishing time. Based on the video it looks like the typical lures being used, but is anyone willing to offer any deadly lures. I fish a lot of cranks, soft plastics, and spinnerbaits in that order.

Ok. So I just found out my wife's friend got engaged who lives in Huntsville, AL. After my initial thought (another wedding to go to), I did a quick Google maps search for the closest bodies of water and instantly fixed my eyes on Lake Guntersville (about an hour drive from Huntsville). I've been to Huntsville before and had no idea it was this close. I have no idea when the wedding is yet but I'm assuming sometime during the summer of 2013, possibly in the fall. But I wanted to plan our road trip (with our boat) and make a few stops along the way from Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. I primarily fish the Potomac River but I've been dying to do some fishing further south for some big southern hogs. This is finally a perfect excuse for me to have a week long fishing trip. Keep in mind I'll be bringing the wife. But she already said she's onboard for a fishing trip. So I already have my directions from Virginia which is pretty much a straight shot down 81/40/75/etc. I have a few options that I can think of doing but I know some people on here either live around these areas or have at least fish these areas. I need all of your advice. I have a list of some lakes along the way. Some that are relatively close to the highway are: Smith Mountain Lake Cherokee Lake, TN Watts Bar Lake, TN Chickamauga Lake, TN Lake Guntersville, AL Wheeler Lake, AL I can either go straight to Huntsville and fish Lake Guntersville and/or Wheeler Lake for the entire week with the wife or I can drive a couple hours each day and make 2 or 3 stops along the way. Also is Guntersville or Wheeler any better? I'm definitely fishing Guntersville, but I just need to know if that's the only place I'll fish or if I should spread my week out. I'm asking for any input on any or all of these lakes and if I'm missing any obvious ones along the way, please let me know. Any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks and maybe I'll run into some of you there.

Wish I would have seen these posts sooner. I've been dying to try out Lake Anna. I'm in Woodbridge so it's not too far of a hike. I'm a boater, 19 foot Bass tracker with 115. Maybe next year I guess.

Sorry I missed your post. I ended up not being able to make it, but I may have had a better argument with the boss (a.k.a wife) if I told her I had a partner. I sent you a PM just to let you know that I may need partners next year. I think this was the last tournament for the Potomac Teams circuit for the year.

I'm not sure how many people link up for tournaments on this site or if I'll have any luck... but my usual partner can't make a tournament on Oct 20 from Leesylvania State Park. It's the Potomac Teams circuit which you can find online. It's a smaller tournament compared to what normally goes out from this launch, but it's fun and you can win some money. Entry fee is $60 for your first tournament and $50 after your first. So for our team the entry fee would be $110 (my $50 and your $60). We would be fishing off a 19 foot bass tracker with a 115. Please let me know if you are interested and we can discuss.

I'm not sure how many people link up for tournaments on this site or if I'll have any luck... but my usual partner can't make a tournament on Oct 20 from Leesylvania State Park. It's the Potomac Teams circuit which you can find online. It's a smaller tournament compared to what normally goes out from this launch, but it's fun and you can win some money. Entry fee is $60 for your first tournament and $50 after your first. So for our team the entry fee would be $110 (my $50 and your $60). We would be fishing off a 19 foot bass tracker with a 115. Please let me know if you are interested and we can discuss.