fishva

I love NASCAR. My son actually got me into it when he was two, because he wanted to watch the races. I never gave the sport a second thought until then, but as I watched more and more races, I started to pick up lots of the little things that make it interesting. He's seven now, and we go to every Richmond race (qualifying, practice, Nationwide, and Sprint) twice a year. Can't wait for the race next month. Camping and fishing are my favorite things to do with him, but as far as quality bonding time goes, going to NASCAR races is a close second for us.

For me, this summer has been search, search, search. The bass are almost never where I think they will be, or should be. Did you see that Seinfeld episode where George finds that he makes great decisions by doing whatever the opposite of his instincts are? That's been this summer for me. Going to where they *shouldn't* be has paid of more than going to where they *should* be. And sometimes, it's just about being lucky and having a line in the water at the right time. A couple weeks ago, I went 3 hours without a bite. Then I caught 3 fish in about 10 minutes, and then nothing else for 2 hours after that. What happened in those 10 minutes to change their mood? I have no idea. But if I'd been moving from one spot to another rather than fishing, I would have been skunked for the day.

I went fishing yesterday on my kayak. I hit up a local state park. The ramp was pretty busy, so I ignored the main waters in favor of the creek system that's inaccessible to boats with motors. The majority of the creek was really muddy, with visibility of 6 inches or so, and surface temps of 78-79 degrees. I had absolutely zero luck fishing in this part of the creek (where I've always found fish in the past), and kept going deeper. The further I went, the cooler the water became and the lower the water temperature. Eventually, I found a section of the creek where the water was basically bathtub clear (I could see the bottom in 6 feet of water), and the water temperature dropped to 74-75 degrees. Back there, the bass were biting really well -- I had 5 bites and 3 fish in less than 30 minutes. All I know is: the bass weren't biting where the water was warm and muddy. They were biting where it was cool and clear. The relative depths, cover, and structure were near identical. I know it's always hard to say, but why would you guess this was? The clarity? The temperature? The combination of the two? Given the choice, would you always seek out clearer water with cooler temperatures? Just wondering if this could be a pattern for other outings.

12lb flouro.

I fish in a place with tons of underwater trees, stumps, and branches. The last three big bass I've had have snapped my line by diving through the trees and snapping my line. I'm tired of it:) I'm going to switch to braid on a casting rod. My rod is rated for 10-17lb test. Do I still need to stay in that range for braid, or can I go higher?

I'm pretty sure most waters we fish have had to fight off many worse things than some cow poo (gasoline comes to mind).

Wow, thanks guys. Wasn't expecting so many quality responses so quickly. This helps a ton.

My son is 7, and he's getting tired of fishing with nightcrawlers. He wants to do more with his rod and reel and make more casts, as he sees me do. I'm slightly hesitant to move him to artificials, as he loves reeling in a lot of fish. So I'm looking to get him started on a simple lure that will attract fish of all types. I also don't want to introduce anything with treble hooks until he has better rod control. Would you recommend a grub? Or something else? Currently, he has a BPS ultralight spinning setup.

Some ponds are just really hard to fish from shore. There's one near me where the bass mostly hang out in areas where the banks are protected (for wildlife conservation). Even though 80% of the shore is fishable, you can't get to 90% of the fish. I don't go there anymore:)

I don't count, but not enough:)

I hear you. As someone who only fishes from shore or a kayak, I'm glad I made the decision to fish electric motor only waters. My enjoyment has gone up so much more.

Great stories, guys. I hope one day (many years from now), my boy will have similar ones to tell about our times together.

I fished under similar conditions last week. I had luck fishing dropoffs near shallows, or any types of transition areas you can find.

I haven't fished the area a ton, but when I do, I look for the boulders. Fishing the current-protected side of boulders (potential ambush points) with soft plastics and crankbaits has given me at least one bass each time I've gone out.

When I'm fishing I spend a lot of time thinking. And this is what I think: Most fish don't think in terms of spots. The idea of a fishing spot is applying human reasoning to a creature that doesn't have the capability to reason. We mostly move from spot to spot because it makes us feel productive, or because it tickles the part of our brain that gets satisfaction from exploring or seeing what is ahead. Fish are like nomadic man. We didn't move for the fun of it, we moved because we were chasing resources. Fish are like that. Always chasing resources that have moved or replacing ones that have been killed off or depleted. Just because a fish is or isn't there at any given moment doesn't mean it wasn't there the moment before or won't be there the moment after. So basically, have fun, stick with a spot as long as you can take it, and move when you feel like it. That's the best way to have a fun (and productive) day of fishing.

I accidentally slapped my friend in the face with a crappie once. Oh wait, you said worst things. Wrong thread:)

First, make sure there's actually a population of large fish where you're fishing. Even though it's often outdated, DNR information can be really helpful if they cover the waters you're fishing. Second, find structure that looks like it would give a bass a nice advantage over its prey. The bigger bass get the best spots. For example, I caught a 5.5lber last week in a lake that mostly holds smaller fish by finding a *tiny* little channel that likely offered protection from the currents above, making it a nice ambush point.

When I was a kid, I fished a decent amount but had no idea what I was doing. My dad also knew nothing about fishing, we still fished. Between us, we had maybe 10 lures of various types. Sometimes, we'd go out on his boat (bought mainly for tubing / skiing) and fish. Since we knew nothing, we'd just take it out to the middle of the lake to the deepest water we could find (thinking the biggest fish must be in the biggest water), anchor down, and fish for a couple hours. Most of the time, I threw my jitterbug, because it looked the coolest, and I usually caught at least one bass per trip out in that open water. My dad usually caught at least one too, but he always used pre-rigged plastic worms with a bullet sinker. So it's definitely possible, if us two idiots could do it regularly haha.

I'd highly recommend consulting with a fish management company. My dad hired one to help him stock his pond once, and they said so many things that we never would have even thought about.

I tried fishing it like a lipless crank bait once, just reeling it in and letting it fall. Didn't get a bite, but I also didn't give it much of a chance.

Whoever happened to put out the last educational video I watched without pitching a product.

Not my Walmart. That place is filthy, and the staff are mean. Only thing close to sacred about the experience is the fresh air & natural light when you walk out the door.

They don't sleep like you sleep. Think of it as a period of inactivity designed to conserve energy. If you've ever had a goldfish, you probably noticed periods where they were completely inactive, just relatively motionless near the bottom of their bowl. That's when they were resting. Bass are very similar.

I fished from the banks all my life, until recently. This is by far the single most helpful thing I've learned: Find a local pond or lake you want to fish. Then, download Google Earth (the web app doesn't have the features you need), and use historical view. Look for some periods in the past where the water was really low. This will expose some structure (like brush piles, contours, or fallen trees) that may have taken you a long time to find without electronics. Then, get out there and throw some soft plastics, grubs, crankbaits, or spinnerbaits and see if you can catch anything around that structure you discovered.

I picked up my first kayak a couple weeks ago. So far, I've been out to the Powhatan Lakes & Pocahontas Park a couple times each. Those were good for me, because I'm still learning how to best position the kayak and fish out of it. I'm planning to head out to Bear Creek Lake next week. Do you know of any other good places in the area for a beginner? I'm trying to avoid large bodies of water where gas boats might be, as well as fast moving waters like the James until I get more comfortable with the basics.