Hannock

I went shopping for my first baitcaster a few years back. I'm not sure if you have a Gander Mountain store near you, but their "Gander Mountain" brand rods are actually pretty good. I frog with a 7" MH casting rod and love it. I was skeptical at first using store brand product, but I asked the salesman what rod he would suggest and he said the Gander Mtn one. Priced competitively and the quality is very good. http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Gander-Mountain-Advantage-Casting-Rod-56-Medium-Power&i=401239&aID=504AB2&merchID=4006

^ yes. The shad run through Old Mill park is a blast! I heard the striper are chasing them up the river now. Get 'em while its hot. The spawning is probably getting close to done for them, I think?

Bought an old kayak 2 weeks ago from an antique shop and its does everything I had hoped for. Only problem is any sort of wind and i spend more time paddling than casting and my rods sometimes get tangled up within each other.. need to look into some custom rod holders or something.

Wow, honestly surprised it broke off 50lb test. Like posted above, I would stay with it. It may just be tough luck but still, 50 lb braided is no joke. I've pulled out fallen trees with stuff that heavy. If youre skeptical about the line breaking, I would suggest PowerPro. The stuff works. Its hard to keep the adrenaline from flowing when youre hooked into a monster, but try not to horse the fish. Just keep your line taught and reel in when you feel it tiring. You have to battle the fish. As they jerk this way and that, you just have to keep your line taught and the rod high.

Is it a rule of thumb to only put this stuff on soft plastics? Seems like a dumb question and I probably just answered it myself in my head, but how do scent enhancers work? Does it infuse with the soft plastics or just stick to it better? If I put it on a rattletrap, per say, would it just slide off?

Hey man, grew up in Stafford and fished the 'hannock growing up. This time of year the shad are running through Old Mill Park. You could probably throw a bare hook out and snag a few, but the Fredericksburg area is very heavily fished. If you have a boat you can put in at City Dock and head down river and fish all the old piers along the banks. There's a lot of good cover that fish could spawn around this time of year. On foot I would say head north of the Rt. 1 or even I-95 bridge. There should be a lot of bass hanging out behind rocks snatching up bait coming through the rapids. On a warm day I'd suggest going to where they blew up the old dam years ago. Its really pretty out there and you could wade out in the water and fish some deep spots. In my opinion though, ditch the rappahanock and fish the aquia creek. We slayed the bass last year. Government Island closer to Stafford is becoming a hotspot. My buddy would kill me for giving out this information...

I'm actually a little embarrassed that I did a google search for this.......... *facepalm*

Irrelevant story to go along with this but I have to vent: Purchased my boat a couple days ago and got off from work today to find my kayak missing. I live in an old "Washington school house" that was converted into an apartment complex. The building is switching owners and the current owners held a yard sale to clean out the storage. I had stowed my boat around back as temporary storage until I found a more permanent location. Apparently someone offered $30 for my boat and took off with it. I called the landlord and straightened it out. There is another kayak ($1500 one in the basement) that the landlord thought the buyers were talking about and never knew my kayak was hidden around back. She told the buyers to test it out and bring it back tomorrow to settle a price. She gave me the names and number of the buyers and luckily they were understanding. Drove 30 minutes to their front doorstep to pick up my boat.. At least they gave me a beer for the trouble...

We know what and where they like to eat and I know I need some heavy duty braided to reel 'em in.. so I guess we're doing our part

I second this, if anything the bass fishing has been phenomenally better. Maybe because of more competition for food, but I have caught more and bigger bass than ever since the snakehead have been introduced.

I live in Virginia and we just had a pretty nice storm that brought a cold front through. Temps are dropping to ~30-40 degrees at night. My question is would that effect the bite? It was in the 90's last week and im thinking the sudden drop in temp would turn the bite off. My days off work are limited and I wanted to hit up my fishing hole around 4-6 am Sunday. I'm going after snakehead before the sun rises and then throwing a spinner/crankbait after the sun rises if I dont get a bite. Thoughts?

Hey I grew up in Stafford...I know the waters... weird stuff happens there man... weird stuff..

In order to paint a canoe/kayak, I need to sand the thing. Do I just need to rough up the gel coating so the paint would stick or do I need to sand it off completely and then re-apply the coating?

Bought this kayak today from an antique store across the street from where I work. The seats need replaced and I'm thinking of installing seats with backs to them. I'm considering removing the front seat all together and making space for a cooler or whatever. I want to turn it into a badass fishing boat with some rod holders along the side. Any ideas to be able to fasten rods horizontally along the boat? PVC pipe would look tacky in my opinion and would get in the way of casting. Thoughts? Also, thinking about a possible paint job. Maybe a dark green or even camo? Its fiberglass I think. Lightweight and no holes or major gashes on the hull. Got it for $240 with two life floaties and 3 paddles (3 different sizes). I think I did good.. What do y'all think? I think restoring it will be fun!

Gonna hit up Aquia today. But looking at the tide charts, I missed high tide this morning. By the time I can get on the water it will be low tide until 10pm. May still have some luck. We'll see.

Thanks man, I appreciate it. Trust me, I know the regulations! My buddy and I caught some tagged ones last year and turned them in for our "Snakehead Control" hats! They sent us a lot of information about the species in general. But I love catching them! But I think I enjoy eating them more than catching them!

My girlfriend works there so I eat good every night

Hey everyone, New here and wanted to introduce myself. My current home place is Little Washington, VA out in the Shennendoah Mountains. I work at Copper Fox Distillery and on my days off I'm constantly looking for new hunting holes. I grew up in Stafford, VA and know many "honey holes" in that area. Last year we tore up the bass... but then we got "hooked" on snakehead. Im addicted to catching these guys. They fight hard and make a real good meal. I'm thinking of starting a topic to discuss snakehead. Where to find them, how to catch them and posting pics. Thanks and hope to learn from y'all and share my experiences! Alex

If you are interested in snakehead fishing, go out to your local Walmart and pick up a KEVIN VANDAM SEXY FROG! Snakeheads HATE these things with a passion. They run about ~$8, which I think is kind of pricey but it is well worth it if youre serious about snakehead fishing. The benefit of these frogs is that they float and are weedless. I like to find the thickest patch of lilly pads and cast right in the middle of them. Fish this guy as slow as possible and "pop" it across the top to create a ruckus on the surface. My buddy and I caught over 20 snakeheads on the Aquia Creek last year and each got our "Snakehead Control" hats by catching tagged hogs. Right now the creek needs a couple more weeks to get some vegetation growing but I heard the "chirpers" out the other night and you know its about time for the hunt to begin!