Choporoz

....and when you're not

Welcome, FF! My boating season ends when Fountainhead marina closes - usually around Halloween...maybe a weekend into Nov. I also rent from Lake Ridge, but they shut down even earlier in the year; if they haven't already. But I still try to hit banks and piers anytime except Dec to about mid-Mar. I've seen boats out on the Potomac in January, but not many lol. I've never looked into any clubs, except for some cursory googling. I've said more than once (probably more than once in this thread) that Occoquan reservoir never ceases to intrigue me. I've been fishing it more and more over the past 3-4 years with gradually increasing confidence, but it still kicks me in the teeth all summer long. I've tried to learn as much as I can about every inch that I can cover from Lake Ridge and Fountainhead with a trolling motor. But, I think that I've done myself a disservice. I plan to concentrate on much smaller areas and learn them better.

Thanks, Tom! Great info. Lots I hadn't considered. I'm using 15 lb co-poly on my jigging set-ups and have been happy for most applications. I've ditched flouro altogether. But, I may try lighter hybrid. I only have a couple of old hair jigs (from walleye fishing 20+ years ago), but they probably would have been perfect for what I was trying to do the other day. I also had fairly bulky craw trailers and will work with slimmer tails and experiment. Appreciate your help!

Not sure if it's clearance, but TW prices are dirt cheap for camo green, smoke and ultra-soft green. Clear looks to be normal price at the moment.

Thanks, Mike. For no apparent good reason, I hadn't seen the tungsten jigs on your site - even though that's the first place I looked. My week excuse is that I only get first 48 items when I first open your page and didn't realize there was a page 2. Order incoming. I'm fishing rather steep rocky drops - often from 8 to 30 feet over just a couple/few yards. Can be difficult to maintain bottom contact and enough line tension to feel a bite. I'm thinking football over arky. Thoughts and opinions?

I've been too cheap to pay much attention to tungsten anything in the past. However, yesterday I was trying to get to a smaller jig profile, but frustrated at the drop rate to 20' of my smallets, 1/4 oz. I got to thinking that maybe 1/2 or 3/4 oz tungsten might have offered smaller profile, but gotten to the bottom at a rate I'd have been more comfortable with. However, I haven't seen much discussion about using tungsten in skirted jigs. Am I overthinking this? I guess I could/should have just thinned a skirt and accomplished what I wanted.

Went out from about 2:30 to 6:30 yesterday, trolling out of Fountainhead. Beautiful afternoon, but fairly slow again. I'm pretty committed to becoming a better jig fisherman, so I may be limiting myself and not trying hard enough to find a sweet-spot lure. Caught a three pounder and a couple dinks. Broke one off that I must have hooked beyond or around a branch. Just sat for a bit and then took off and almost immediately snapped my 15# hybrid. I did miss a few really had jig bites, but I'm getting a little more confident each time out. I tossed a blue DT6 and promptly caught a 5# cat. Seems crazy - I had a cat on a DD22 just two weeks ago. Don't think I'd ever caught a catfish on a crankbait before these two.

The oldest that I carry around is a balsa lure that I carved and painted when I was about 10. Never caught anything on it, but I am going to one of these days....I still throw it once in a while. Other than that, I still carry some spoons and Lazy Ikes that are over 40 years old. I don't throw them unless I'm in water that holds pike or walleye, but I suppose I should try them on LMB, too. My grandpa sent me some ancient lures last year. Most are on display in a nice wall cabinet. However, I really wanted to throw one and catch something so I could show my grandfather a pic. First cast with this old wood crank with a metal bill landed this guy. I retired the lure immediately, so I wouldn't risk losing it. Unfortunately, grandpa can't see well enough to see the pic, but he likes hearing me tell him about it.

I was absolutely convinced that my wife's PB was a snag. She felt a tug, set the hook and then nothing for what seemed like 15 seconds. Probably less, but wow. She didn't give any slack, but didn't want to drive the hook into a log, either. I guess the bass finally decided she wasn't going to throw the hook while just laying on the bottom and she took off. Startled both of us. Three, maybe five minutes later, my wife was lipping a 6.3 hawg. Even after years of fishing, I need to be reminded not to give up on any cast (or snag, even.)

Go fishing instead. You'll thank me later. A largemouth won't cry if you call it a striper. It's perfectly respectable to fish with a total stranger. Fish don't mind if you fall asleep in the middle of fishing. Fish don't care how many other fish you caught. Fish are real happy if when you're done you just go home. Your fishing partner will never say, "Not again? We just fished last week - Is fishing all You ever think about!" Nobody expects you to fish with the same partner for the rest of your life. You can catch and release a fish, you don't have to lie, and promise to still be friends after you let it go. It's perfectly acceptable to pay a professional to fish with you once in a while. If your regular fishing partner isn't available, he/she won't object if you fish with someone else. A smart fish knows when to keep it's mouth shut. You can take home more than one fish per night. You feel proud to be seen with a big fat fish. Fish are happy when you throw them back. Fish only have very short memories. You can boast about your fish down the bar. Fish don't talk about your tackle with their friends. They give you a good night’s entertainment and dinner next day. A smart fish knows when to keep it's mouth shut.

I am probably unreasonable (and cheap), but if and when I pay $17 for a lure, I can assure you that I don't expect to have to replace the hooks immediately and then have the finish wear off fairly quickly.

Any reason not to use co-poly? I recently bought a used spinning reel with braid and will need new leader before too long. I am pretty sure I purged all my flouro when I switched to co-poly.

Sounds like you had better luck than I, Huntrava. I had a challenging day Saturday. Trolled up from Fountainhead. One keeper on a deep crank. No other good bites. Fished jigs, cranks, big plastics....worked some shallow cover and probed ledges and flats.....gave in to the heat around 1:30.

I have no idea, really.....though I might have exaggerated once or twice.....lol.... An old FOG on a totally unrelated forum gave me some advice that I've always tried to follow (though, not ALWAYS successfully): "Read more. Post less." I think it does keep me out of trouble some times. Not just for stories, but out of dust-ups, too.

Add me to that short list of those that haven't 'gotten it' yet. I have very little confidence in anything soft that's largely blue, red, pink or purple. The only exceptions are strong red flecking in green plastics....and some limited luck on a dark reddish Rage - not sure if it's California or Falcon. Also one exceptional day last fall using long Zoom Trick worms that were half red, half shiner....they've been dead since, however.

Everything 5+ this year has been from cover in 3-6 feet of water. However, probably 80%+ of my fishing this year has been to cover in 3-6 feet of water.

spying on me? From a boat, most typically, I'll bowstring it once or twice, let some slack out. I will then pick up a second rod and usually on the first cast - sometimes the second, I'll promptly stick another lure into the same cover. Maybe just the tree above it. I'll usually cry uncle after two.....but, I'm fairly certain I've had to get three at once. That's when the Big Ugly Plug Knocker starts really paying for itself.

I fish when I can. Whenever I can. I haven't managed to revolve all the rest of my life around when I think I'll catch bass. Yet. That said, I tend to find that 11AM to 2PM can be painfully slow. I've caught some of my biggest fish in that window, but, for me, numbers aren't generally found there.

and flukes....and the occasional capital

Twice, now

Need nothing. And still, it took me about 2.5 minutes to get $50 in a TW shopping cart.

Yo-Zuri. Until it proves me wrong. I decided this year that hybrid is all I need....for now. I spent some time with P-Line...mainly because the rebates earlier this year made it nearly free. It has been pretty good, but not quite as good as Yo-Zuri. P-Line seems to have a little more memory and slightly more prone to kinking/breaking on the reel. All in all, however, I am very comfortable simplifying my line inventory.

BO, are you towing a boat through the Skyline trail? I've stopped and wet a worm at a few of the ponds along Skyline, but never caught a bite. Anna's big water. Pelham, not so much. Quite a bit different.

^ That doesn't surprise me. Z man plastic doesn't play well with others, either. One incident of melted skirts, collars and other plastics and I stopped carrying them. My reply referred to my bags of mostly Rage, Zoom, NetBait, Big Bite, Havoc and SK KVD stuff.

No worries. Many (most?) of my plastics stay in the car from Apr into Nov. The only thing I'm religious about taking out of the car is JJ's Magic.