Hannock

thanks for the post, i would've missed it otherwise. Jim hemby mentioned he was going to be at the green top booth this weekend but he didnt say for what. Hopefully I can find time to trek down there this weekend.

Buddy sent me this today from the Rappahannock around Fredericksburg

Listening to the "peepers" chirp at the moment. I always heard "When the dogwoods are in bloom, the bass are on their beds."

Unfamiliar with Mr. Russel. BR user? Got a link to the darts?

Sam, Thank you for responding. While typing the OP, I was secretly hoping to read a response from you. We've chatted about LW and the Inn in the past (2 years maybe??). My gf is the expediter in the kitchen, so if you eat there and something is wrong with your dish its her fault!! (not likely but she's human) We live a block away too so if anyone does come through, decides to take a walk through town and sees a car driving by with a german shepherd sticking his head out the roof - that's us! Aqua Creek it is by far and away my favorite place to fish. I grew up in Stafford and know that creek well. The launch fees are astronomical. I feel bad for who ever puts in at Hope Springs. $20 to launch is robbery. A mile before Hope Springs there is willow landing. Though not much better at $15, its better than $20 at least. I'm extremely fortunate to have a friend let me use their pass at Aquia Harbor ($40 for non-residents! ) As for the weirdos and whackos, they only come out on the weekends. A lot of people with big money and big boats just flying by fisherman in their boats and kayaks without a care.. I have a few recordings on my gopro of boat after boat roaring by creating big wakes. The shad have to be coming through right about now. In the back of Aquia there were small schools already spawning creating a huge ruckus on the shorelines.

*edit: im having a hell of a time with this new site layout. First post in almost a year and already ran into 3-4 bugs. I want to take my gf shad fishing so she knows what it feels like to have sore arms from catching so many fish. Are the shad running through yet? Mainly speaking, Rappahannock R./Fredericksburg area. Was at Aquia 2 weeks ago and small groups were splashing along the banks. Un-related, but I caught a real nice bass last week at Anna! First of the year. Felt glorious. However, I'm ready for it to get warm so I can start targeting my species of choice - snakehead

I see. Thanks for the tip, cuz I totally wanted to use 2 of these rods before I learned that they were surf rods.. I couldn't tell from the picture and the guy didn't know anything about them. I may hold onto this montague though. It's a beauty.

I recently acquired some vintage rods. Is there a market for them? They're in extremely good condition. Two 9-10 ft deep sea rods, 2 6'6" heavy action surf rods, and a two piece (I'm hoping it's supposed to be two and not missing the middle section) montague fly rod. They need a little cleaning and one of the deep sea rods need a new eyelet. I figured it'd be a fun restoration project but I was curious if it'd be worth it to fix up and resell. I took some pictures but I was in a rush and they're not the best quality. I'll work on a better set tomorrow.

Im assuming that the retailers are dumping the vigilante and vengeance models bc theyre dirt cheap right now. I picked up an extra vigilante rod from walmart bc 1. its surprisingly my favorite rod I own and 2. they were on sale for $25 (orig. $36). When I got to the register it rang up for $9. It was the only one left or I wouldve purchased their whole stock. After searching online I saw that cabela's was selling the vengeance rods for $24.99 (orig. $49) but theyre sold out now. My guess is that their dumping the older models to make room for newer ones. Thoughts?

The weather has been relentless! I use myradar app (iPhone) and its pretty good. For kayaking especially i use it because there's a setting to show the wind currents and speeds. This week is looking beautiful. I'm going to my spots on the Aquia Creek (Potomac tributary) on Tuesday/Wednesday.

Thanks for the kind words, all. A day on the water is better than a day at home (or work for that matter). Even on the days where I knew the weather wasn't in my favor, I still went out bc I knew I'd rather be fishing. The season is young, just working through a slow start.

I've only been able to get the lines wet about 5 times this year but I've been skunked on every outing. I think I'm starting to smell like a skunk. I did catch a 16" Striper at Lake Anna, however it was after I had given up and threw a fluke overboard to troll in my kayak so I'm not really counting that one. Another factor against my favor is that I primarily target snakehead. The SH season has only just begun but I consider March/April the green flags to start targeting them. The other day I took my boat out, casted my arm off for 6 hours and only had a single go at my frog. My confidence is low. I feel like I should be slaying them, but right now I question every bait in my arsenal. My buddy that I go out with occasionally has caught two already (and several LMB) and I've seen multiple people post their catches via Facebook and Reddit. It hard for me to get out at the "optimal times" of early morning/evening because I drive an hour to my location and it seems on my two days off its either 15mph winds, rainy or a cold front passed through the night or two before. Just venting that's all. Thanks for reading. Best of luck out there! ?

Looks like it's intentended because it looks like a bass chasing a fly. Not sure how effective it would be - if it really makes a difference. I don't think fish process it as a "two for one" meal. Honestly I would take the hooks off and make a real cool keychain out of it.

I like to sometimes take a peek at Amazon. I just bought a Abu Pro Max3-L from the official Abu retailer though amazon and saved about $10-15. Plus, I have amazon prime so that 2 day free shipping is such a nice perk that other online retailers don't offer.

Gander Mountains First Cast online sale is ending Saturday and I just wanted to share my recent purchase. I felt like this was a deal I couldn't pass up. They're offering the Abu Garcia villian rod, originally $179 for $89. With that you get a $30 gift card and get a rebate for the hoodie. On top of that I had x2 $20 gift cards because I have their rewards credit card. So I only spent $50 on it with a $30 gift card soon to follow. I felt pretty excited about my purchase. With that.. Does anyone have the villian rod and what's your experience with it? I bought the M/L one.

I've had to return 2 reels to Gander Mt after having issues with them (negligence on my part) and they let me exchange with no fuss.

How are their prices? I live about an hour away in Sperryville and wonder if it'd be worth the trip. I've been into some smaller bait shops and they carry most of the same stuff but the prices are $1-2 more than in the super stores. However, they do tend to carry more variety.

Willow is where I normally put in at. Thanks for the contact. I haven't been out since early fall and I'm starting to get antsy. Will be out there in the next coming weeks

I normally target snakehead but I'm hearing some buzz around chain pickerel. Has anyone caught any in or around Aquia Creek? I think I caught a small one a loooong time ago at Abel Lake.

Has anyone in the MD/DC/VA Potomac River network caught a snakehead this winter? They're typically submerged deep and stay relatively dormant during the cold weather months, but since it's been so nice out I'd like to get my lines wet. Was just curious if anyone had caught one even if it was by accident.

My buddy caught a tagged snaked a couple years ago out of Aquia Creek. When he called it in, they said they tagged and released it somewhere in the Potomac River a year prior. It traveled about 50 miles south and grew 6 pounds. They sent him a plaque with his name on it and a hat that said "Snakehead Control"

I'm targeting smaller ones in particular but a rapala will do the trick. I pulled a smaller one up to the boat before he jumped off with a KVD sexy frog. During the hot part of the day, they're chillin on the bottom of the creeks where it's cooler. Jigs, chatterbaits, spinner baits work. I unintentionally caught one on one of those Gary Yamamoto senkos.

I want to take a trip to Thailand and catch the Giants. Unfortunately I haven't been keeping up on my end with updating my findings. I haven't been able to capture my catches on my gopro..

This time of year.. Not really from shore. The hydrilla is super thick so you need a boat/kayak to get away from it.