VABasser

Hmm, so did everything seem to be functioning properly. The big thing being were you getting consistent/realistic depth readings? I.E. knowing you are in 4 ft of water but getting readings all over place

Here's a link http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=4724190 hmmmm

I know there was a thread on this a number of months ago but I couldn't find it. Just wondering what some of your guys favorite songs about fishin were. There's got to be alot more out there then I know. My top two would have to be I'm Gonna Miss Her by Brad Paisley and Fisherman by Casey Ashley.

whatever college you are looking at, check out the schools website and look under Clubs/Organizations/ Club Sports/ or Student Activities... if they have a fishing team it will probably be listed... if not see if they maybe have a hunting or fishin club... and if that is the case then email the president of the club and tell he/she that you're interested in joining and then just go to the meetings and if the school you are looking at does not have a team, then try starting one! and i know there are ways you can go about starting a club.. it only takes you and a few other friends to start a club! Yep thats pretty much the way to go about it. I just joined the Virginia Tech bass fishing team this year (I'm a junior). I wish I had done it earlier. Some clubs are better established and set up better than others, its just something you have to check out. I'll tell you what though, if you can place high there are some fine looking cash prizes/prizes in the FLW collegiate series. Not too shabby for doin a little fishin on the side of school

Thanks guys. Acar I'll have to try out what you suggested next time I'm on the water. I played around with the sensitivity some but was still getting the funky depth readings. I'll have to see if I can get rid of the surface clutter. These are things I'll have to play around with some I reckon. Wayne, the problem is most of the time I am nowhere near waves or wakes. The water was smooth as glass many times. And at a slow idle or trolling speed I will get readings anywhere from 3-9 ft when I know in reality the depth is 4-5 ft. That just isn't right. On my older fishfinders, I saw exactly the same things in regards to vegetation as your picture shows. You could see individual clumps, etc. But now if I am in shallow water I just get a screen full of color when I know full well there isn't grass everywhere. :-/ Anybody else got suggestions?

Please don't clutter up this thread with junk posts, trying to mock the original intent. Loosen up its a joke. I got a good laugh out of it. I'd post up mine but I don't have a digital camera with me at college. However last week I found two Chronarch 50 MG's new for about $100 each so I'm feeling pretty good about that deal

My dad installed a Humminbird 798c fishfinder towards the end of this summer. We followed the directions in where to place the transducer, correct distance from the outboard, where to place it, etc. Everything seemed like it was working until we took it on its maiden voyage. The GPS was fine, Side Imaging didn't seem like it had any problems but the graphing image with depth is what is giving us problems. The biggest issue is with depth. We fish the tidal Potomac River so it is a generally shallow body of water. I would know we were in ~4 ft of water but the readings coming back might read 4.3, 4.7, 3.2, 5.1, 4, 7 or something along those lines. Essentially the readings were all over the place. My first thoughts were that something with the settings needed to be changed. I fiddled with all those but nothing got rid of the incorrect readings. Another problem was that in shallower water, maybe 5 ft or less, the entire screen was just a mass of different colors. There is a lot of vegetation in the Potomac but there is no way that accounts for the clutter on the image. The fishfinder we had on previously was an older black and white Lowrance which had none of these problems. When in deeper water, the screen clutter was gone for the most part. However the depth readings are still jumpy. If the boat is in 12 ft of water, the majority of the readings will be close to that, with an occasional one jumping to 19 or 7. So something is still wrong. I'm out of ideas on what could be wrong so hopefully someone here can offer some help. Does the transducer need to be moved up a bit, maybe we got a faulty transducer, is there an obvious thing we're overlooking? Thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer

Maybe one of the good bio guys will help out but I believe they release something (stress signal or something to that affect) that can kill the bite. I have experienced it as well and I will keep as many fish in the well as I'm allowed in order to keep it going when fun fishing. Hmm, I've heard that before but didn't know whether it was true. I hope someone more knowledgeable will enlighten us

Best way would probably to come to our next meeting which should be coming up in the next week or two. PM me if you want more info

That reminds me I could probably get one of my friends to come and bring his boat too if it was after the 17th since he is on the same school schedule as me

Nice looking smallies. Haven't fought a good sized smallmouth in close to 2 years. Man they're fun to catch

Wow thats a big gar, howd it fight? One of my buddies has caught gar on topwater but I've never hooked one.

Hey all, I don't see much talk on the board about SML but I'm lookin for a little help there. I'm on the Virginia Tech bass team and we've got a tournament this Sunday on SML. I've never fished the lake so I was wondering if anybody had some info to offer. I'm not looking for your honey hole, although if you want to provide that I wouldn't complain , but just any general info/patterns that are relevant. I spend the majority of my fishing time on the Potomac so would be happy to help you out there in return. I know fivebasslimit is the resident Smith Mountain expert but I haven't seen him posting much lately, maybe I've just missed his posts. Feel free to PM me. Thanks in advance.

Yeah man, as long as its a day that I'm able to make it you got a spot on my boat since you were the first to call it. I prefer just 2 on the boat, its a 2004 Bass Tracker PT 185, but I have fished 3 off it without too much hassle. I guess it will depend on how many boats we're able to get

Yep got gps in my boat. Sounds good, I've always wanted to try fishing the hotside in the winter but have never had the opportunity. Just a heads up I won't be back in Fredericksburg til Dec 17th I believe. They push exams back later and later it seems every year, ticks me off. So I know you can't schedule it around one person but if its before that then I won't be able to make it, so minus one boat from the boater category...

I wasn't at the Occ with you all but I'd definitely be interested in fishing the hotside in the winter sometime if you would have me. I go to VT so I'm down in Blacksburg alot of the winter but I'll be home for Christmas mid December- mid Jan. I'd be happy to bring my boat. If need be we could fish 3 out of it

Dude I know, we need to try and get out this upcoming season. I've been doing some thinking about the spawn/spring on the Potomac. Alot of the spots I started fishing mid-summer seem like they'd be great spots when the big girls are up shallow so I'm pretty stoked to see if thats true. Are you going to do any fishing over winter?

Well you all didn't slay em but sounds like it was a fun time. By this point in the season I'm happy even being able to get out, catching fish is an added bonus. We will have to organize one in the early spring sometime. Or on Lake Anna hotside as 420 mentioned. Thatd be sick. I'll be home for Christmas break mid Dec to mid Jan so maybe something then. We had a so-so day on the Bay yesterday. Slower than I thought but it was good to be on the water and we had a nice day for it as well. Ended up with 7, one short of our limit. Here's the two biggest of the day, maybe a bit over 2 lbs ;D

Haha, quanjig runs about 150 in it. Sounds like you all are gonna have a fun time and a great day weatherwise. Wish I could make it but its tough turning down the opportunity to possibly catch a 50 lb striper. Good luck and let us know how it goes

I've got to back out. I got invited to do some striper fishing out in the bay on Saturday. Couldn't turn down what is essentially a free guided trip. From what I hear its been pretty hot lately with numerous ~50 lbers. I'm stoked. Shimmy, I'll post up my two biggest fish, what's the winner get?

I didn't bother to read through the whole thread, whats the general consensus looking like? Haven't been on the boards much lately, been swamped with work this semester. But I'll be coming home (F'burg) this Friday so plan on fishing Sat, Sun and Mon depending on how the bite is. Not to sound like a dick but if you all aren't fishing the Potomac count me out. I'm sold on the Potomac, love fishing there. I've got a boat but I would probably have a partner already although not for sure.

Dude I checked out the youtube videos, made a great way to procrastinate work. Beautiful bass and nice footage. If you are going to be in VA for awhile, you need to fish the Potomac. I was lucky enough to get out on the Potomac probably 3 times a week over the summer. First year really fishing the Potomac. Awesome fishery. I can't help you out in the near future since I'm back at college but in the spring and summer if you're still looking to get out shoot me a PM or something. I'm sure you'll be able to get out with some other guys before the cold really sets in this year.

Nice bass Potomac Angler, whatd she weigh? I'm stoked to get out tomorrow. Havent been on the river since mid August. Hopefully I'll have a favorable report

So whats been going on with the Potomac? Are people still getting out, haven't seen many reports lately. This upcoming weekend is free for me so I'm going to be making the trip from Blacksburg back to Fburg. Skipping classes Friday so I can leave Thurs and be on the water all day Fri and Sat. Gauging from the guide reports it looks like a lot of the fish are back up in the creeks. I've got a couple ideas on places to try but it'd be great if anybody who's been out could fill me in on what they've been seeing. I've only got a weekend so I don't want to be wasting time. In return I'll gladly give you a report back on how I do. Feel free to PM me

Dude I dont know if I can go this week or the next, work schedule isn't giving me many free days, but a couple weeks down the road we should get together and fish. I've been meaning to PM you for awhile and let you know how I've been doing further south but haven't got around to it. We could take out your boat or mine, doesn't matter. Or better yet take yours one day out of Pohick and mine another further south. Wednesday this week is the only one I could possibly go. Were you thinking about heading out then?