burleytog

When we have our outdoors show every year in Augusta Co, it is called the Western Virginia Sports and Big Game Show. It is held 10 mins east of my home town. Augusta Co. = western VA? :-?

20, 17, 15 lb. CXX, 20 lb. Vanish...like 'em all better than braid. What don't I like about it? Needing scissors, the feel of it. The fact that my index finger has several cuts from the line due to hooksets. Don't mind the noise. Hate the lack of abrasion resistance. May be great in grass, but it sucks on rocks and shellbeds. I'll probably keep using it on my scant spinning tackle, but it shall never stain any of my reel seats again.

Wife and I took our annual summer trip to Guntersville. I was glad to be on the lake without cold, snow and rain. Stayed at Guntersville Fisherman's Village . Great place to stay for big parties as the cabins will sleep up to 8 and have two covered boat/car ports. Excellent accomdations and located midlake (within 15 miles of about any ramp). Headed out into the heat Sunday, started off on a spot where I had some luck in March. Luck didn't continue to June, however. Ran out to the river ledge near the mouth of South Sauty Creek and let the wind push us upriver. Working a jig and worm through the grass in 5-8 FOW, got a few bites. Landed this one after a while. Stayed on the ledge for a little longer, then the wind really picked up and forced me to find a sheltered spot. Ran up to North Sauty and found a sheltered area just past the first bridge. Second cast around the bridge resulted in a decent fish. Just kept working along the grass line east of the bridge, boated two more on a jig. Hooked a good 5-6 lb. fish, but it threw the hook. Had been wanting to fish lilly pads for as long as I've been fishing, so we headed across the creek to a pocket and started working a grass line. Eventually picked this one up on the jig. Fished a few more spots, but the heat had killed us. Went through a gallon of Gatorade and a bunch of bottled water, so back to the cabin we went. Got up early Monday morning and put in at Waterfront. Worked the river ledge there and let the wind push us down the lake. Same thing, jig and worm. After about two hours of nothing, we headed down to Mill Creek and worked a few humps with no luck. Ran up to the bridge in South Sauty and tried a jig and crank with no luck. At my wit's end, I called a few guides and booked a trip for Tuesday. Thinking it couldn't hurt, I ran back up to N. Sauty to try the grass lines again. First line didn't produce. Went over to the other grassy point and worked a little deeper. Got a surprise with this one as I never felt a thing. Just got heavy. We worked the area for about an hour, but that was all it was going to give up. Went back to the cabin for lunch and a nap. Decided to try new water, so we drove down to the state park and put in. I wanted to fish something closer to what I fish around home, so I stopped at the first bluff wall I saw and started working with the jig and deep crank. Got a good spot on the jig within 10 minutes. After 10 more minutes of nothing else on the jig, I picked up the 6XD and had this one on the second cast. After I got another on the 6XD, I handed it to my wife and picked up a Little John DD. They liked it better. Ended up getting six on the crank in about an hour or so. Good mix of spots and LM. This was one bad arse spot. Enjoyed the sunset and headed back home. Had an 8 hour trip booked with JoJo's Guide Service on Tuesday afternoon. Met him at the state park at 12 and headed out. He had been having good luck offshore on a shell bed, so we hit that first. He got one within three casts and I got one on my second cast. After that, my bite dried up and he and my wife started catching them. We stayed there for about three hours, bite got really slow due to a lack of current. We headed back to the ramp for a bit to cool off, then tried a few more of his spots. Bite wasn't all that good, but we caught a few here and there. Learned a lot about what he looks for when finding spots and how to fish them. He did a great job with my wife. She's been fishing for a month or so and struggled with casting, bite detection and hooksetting. He gave her several great lessons and by the end of the day she was 100x better in all aspects. We ended the day cranking a few offshore humps. Wife loves throwing crankbaits, so she was happy. We hammered them for about 30 minutes. Ended up catching at least 10-15 on the crank. All in all a good day and well worth the time. Headed home yesterday, wishing we could spend another day. With the weather that pushed through, it was just as well. Was glad to exact a little revenge on the G as on my previous two trips I had caught a total of three fish. Learned a lot for my next trip.

Just as well, it sucked anyway.

Since when is Staunton considered western VA? I know VA stops at Roanoke, but....

Save longer. BPS/Tracker Marine is tricky. People see a boat and see a nice 'low' price and think , 'Wow, that's cheap!'. They buy, get on the water and wonder why their boat won't perform for crap. And this is coming from someone with a Tracker powered by less than max HP.

Crankbait, spinnerbait, jig.

This is why you never buy a boat from BPS/Tracker Marine and not max out the motor.

Really? 7"

Been using 20 lb. Power Pro on a spinning reel for about two months, don't mind it so much in that application. No more twist is nice. Spent the last three days using 50 lb. Power Pro on various casting rigs and once again I hated it. Thank God I won't be fishing anymore grass this year.

Don't understand the fuss. On Tuesday I spent 8 hours throwing a 3/16 oz. shakey head using a H-XF rod and 50 lb. braid. My guide was using a H-XF Powell and 15 lb. Big Game. Rod wasn't even loading and still getting ample casting distance.

Hmmm, Bass Pro reel for $100 or Shimano/Daiwa for $20-$30 more. The choice is quite obvious.

A must for worm & jig fishing.

When they make one that will touch bottom in 30 feet, I may think about buying one.

Adjust the shoe inside the trailer's coupler. There's a nut in there that needs to be tightened.

God I wish someone would have called me when you posted this. Just woke up my wife laughing...

I would suggest you think about decreasing your line size. PLine CXX 8 or 10 lb max. Line diameter plays a huge part in dive depth. I've been using 12 lb CXX this week and I'm losing at least 3' of dive depth. If you're using 12-17 lb fluoro, you'd might as well be throwing a medium crank.

Curado is more than worth it. Can sometimes find for $150 or less online. Citica is the best choice at $120 or less. Both are the best at their price point. Horrible anti-reverse? Geez, not that tired crap again. Surprised you didn't mention the lame drag junk too.

Every type of line has enormous value if you have got enough savvy to know when and where to use it. I'm sure it does. But fishing for an 8lb fish on 30llb test = boring I wish we had an emoticon that pictured a plane flying over someone's head. It would be perfect for the above statement.

If you're concerned about causing pain to a fish, find another hobby.

Zebco Omega or a Shimano Sonora mated with a 5-6' pole.

Yep, and I rate the Wright & McGill Tessera rods as slightly better than the Loomis GLX. Equipment reviews...what a racket.

Stir that pot Burley!! Heating the oil? :-/

The ramp at Goose Pond is pretty good. $5 fee to launch there. Very secure location. The ramp on Mink Creek is a nice one as well. Waterfront looks good, but I haven't put in there yet. I don't even a 1/10th of the lake, but the only pad stems I saw on my last trip there (early March) were up the river at the big bridge. There is a ramp on the east side of the bridge, but I have heard a few reports of theft there. You really can't go wrong spending time in North Sauty Creek (Goose Pond) or Mink Creek. That said, all of my G experience is early in the year. Hearing reports that the fish are very deep right now. Good luck!

Hope the Eyerish take it in four.