everythingthatswims

If you fish with the stuff that deep caught his avatar fish on, you better get it right on the first cast

Got one of the skeet reese a-rig rods (lets not hate on the rod, it was on sale for $50) that I will be using to throw small swimbaits like the s-waver 168s, 6" BBZ, and my hardgill. Santa got a 9" storm swimshad for me as well but I don't think he understands the difference between that and a Hudd. Either way it will see use on the Chesapeake Bay tomorrow

The Christmas bass here aren't waiting for anything besides warmer temps

x7

That brown come from the Gunpowder?

There are times when a fly rod will outfish a spinning rod, and vice-versa, it is nice to know how to do both, but you need to be skilled at both to get the job done, mediocre fly fishing wont do you any good if you are best with a spinning rod. If you fish mainly wild trout, fly fishing can be very good during the warmer months when the trout feed higher in the water column and flows are lower (when it's cold you end up using heavy nymphs/streamers and lots of split shot, I think this is very stupid and not interesting). If you mainly fish stocked trout, spinning gear is usually best unless you are dealing with very pressured fish where a #16-#20 fly will work since it is something they haven't seen. Also, stocked trout that have been in the creek for a while will start to feed on insects like a wild fish would, in which case a fly rod is a good tool since the trout get very accustomed to seeing dough baits, spinners, small jigs, etc. and those baits will become less effective.

How long do you let it sit? I was just picking it up about a second after it hit bottom, and do you have many pick it up while it sits?

The bones dissolve if you fry them if the fish are under 18" (just make sure you cut the rib cage out)

Jerkbait

Time to go high stick some nymphs

Or just use the wheaties for bait. My #2 species would be trout, because I understand them really well and they are active when it's COLD.

Just hopping it about 6-8" off the bottom and letting it fall. I was using a tiny 3/16oz johnson thinfisher

I would have caught a 12"er if I took a scale. I swear there is some correlation between a set of scales in possession and fish caught. If I didn't take a phone/camera I would have caught every fish in the pond!

I did some pond hopping this afternoon, I wanted to see how a blade bait would work since they are normally known as deep water bait, and the ponds I fish are almost always 8' deep or less. I only landed one fish, but it was a good one, she measured just over 19" probably somewhere in the ballpark of 4lbs (I deliberately left the scales at home and it payed off ). On a light action rod with 6lb test it was a fun fight. I also lost one on a jerkbait that was significantly bigger, I didn't get a good look at her but 6-7lbs is my guess...gonna be losing sleep over that one!

Sometimes it's best not to let the "real taste" of a stocked trout come out. But stripers, triggerfish, mahi, flounder, and seabass are my favorites to sautee/grill with light seasoning. Fish from the ocean can really put a freshwater fish to shame on the dinner table.

Put it in free spool when you cross the continental shelf and go a few miles past the structure before engaging it. Better take advantage of the two speed capability so you don't get fatigued

The 168 definitely counts and it murders them once you learn the bait.

Yep

Throw those swimbaits!

He would have died if he couldn't swallow it, I have had it happen to pet fish before and I know people have posted photos and videos of fish that have either died or been rescued from trying to eat a fish too big for its mouth.

We said, there are no rules when the water is hovering around a temperature that the bass are supposed to spawn in!

For those who don't know, the hot side of Lake Anna is a series of 3 cooling pools from the power plant totaling to somewhere in the ballpark of 3,000 acres I think. I went kayak fishing there yesterday with my brother and two of my friends, this was our first time taking a fishing trip there. We launched at dike 3, the water there was 55 degrees and I had caught a 12"er on a jerkbait before we even got all the kayaks in the water, my friend caught a 15"er on a shakyhead shortly after that, and my little brother landed two on a 3XD---All within 30 minutes of launching, a very good sign. We decided to explore some so we paddled about 2 miles before stopping to fish, the water was up to 58 degrees at this point (getting closer to the plant). My brother and my friend Kevin stopped to fish a school they marked on the bottom on a drop off that went from 18' to 30', and my brother caught a nice chunky 4 pounder vertical jigging a 1/2oz redeye shad. My friend Ethan and I fished a couple of docks, and found a good school of dinks that were eating drop shots pretty well, we caught about 6 of them before heading on. From that point we paddled all the way to dike 2, only stopping once to fish a school we marked in 40 FOW, we landed 3 catfish and assumed that was all that was down there, but then I landed a little largemouth, by far my deepest bass ever. The water at dike 2 (a very long riprap bank) was 64 degrees and the dinks were schooled up cruising the bank.We fished weightless plastics, drop shots, and shakyheads, landing a bunch of them in the hour and a half we spent there. After that bite started shutting down, we went to fishing drop shots and shakeyheads in about 12-15 FOW parallel to the riprap, we caught some more of the usual 12-13" bass, I got one that was 15". So overall we didn't catch anything of size besides the 4lber, but to crush the dinks in the middle of December was something I needed BADLY. Next time we go I think we will try to work on those offshore fish some more, this was my first time catching offshore bass successfully. This would be the average size, but in December I don't care how big they are! Here was the little one I caught 40 feet deep

We catch a bunch when we set mini trot lines in the small river near my house. They can hide really well during the day, it's amazing to catch 3' long eels in a tiny, crystal clear river that doesn't look like it could hold anything. Very good eating as well. The really crazy ones are the huge sea lampreys that come up the river in the spring to spawn. Looks like they came straight out of a horror movie...with a smell to match.

Looks like a new species was discovered recently, a new species of "Snailfish". Also set the record for deepest fish recorded, spotted at over 26,000 feet deep! I thought this was really cool, also makes me wonder what other stuff is out there in the ocean that we don't know about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRm8wr08xsU#t=50

I like the power swivels, we use them a lot for saltwater stuff. No issues with them.