Steveo-1969

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Where are my beloved Chicago Bears? Surely they are in the potential bottom 5 for next season!

I opened this thread because I thought you were going to give a fishing tip about using the "Slonezp Rig"...

I only fish a big worm one week out of the year on my annual vacation at Kentucky Lake. My worm of choice is a 10.5" Zoom Ol' Monster in plum.

Nice, can't go wrong with those choices. I'm seriously addicted to catching river (creek, stream) smallmouth with a finesse jig and the SK Bitsy Bug is my jig of choice because of the price. I lose a lot of them and it hurts a little bit less every time I snag and have to break off.

Welcome to Bass Resource Joseph from a fellow Eastern Panhandler. I'm up near Martinsburg and fish the Potomac the majority of the time but also fish the Shenandoah occasionally. Lots of fish in both rivers, good luck to you and your son!

Welcome to Bass Resource! You are already light-years ahead of me when I got back into the sport 7 years ago. And you are in the right place to continue learning and educate others. BEAR DOWN!!!!!!!

Hmmm, I fish in a very rocky river also and it's very rare for me to have a fish get hung up in the rocks. Are you sure it's not just your bait getting hung up?

What Scott F said. But I'm addicted to jig fishing so I usually have a small skirted finesse jig tied on.

I live near Martinsburg way up in the Eastern Panhandle, Berkeley County and fish the Upper Potomac River 99% of the time and the Shenandoah River the other 1%. No boat for me either so I'm wading if the water level safely allows it, otherwise I'm bank fishing. I catch lots of small fish but for me there's nothing like a river smallmouth!!

Welcome to BR Devin and thank you for your service from a fellow West "By God" Virginian. Great smallie!!!!

True, but... while I can browse on TW's website for hours just like I browse through a BPS store for hours, there is something special about being able to actually see the fishing stuff in person. With that being said I won't drive 2 hours to a BPS to buy something. If I can't find something local I'm ordering it from the internet (usually TW).

Having been to both the Hanover, MD and Harrisburg, PA BPS stores I agree with Pat, I think the Harrisburg store and a little larger fishing section.

I used to back reel when fighting fish but now I use the reel's drag instead. However, if a reel doesn't have an anti-reverse switch I won't buy it. When I reel in my bait and there are weeds or something on it but I don't notice it until bait is near the rod tip, I will flip the switch and back reel until I can reach the bait and clean it off.

To ensure I don't get the CPS Twistlock in my knot, I always thread my plastic bait onto the CPS Twistlock first, THEN tie the hook to my line.

My very unoriginal username is my nickname and the year I was born...

Will do. I don't get over to fish the Shenandoah often because the Potomac is so close to me, but I always seem to catch bigger smallmouth in the 'Doah.

Ah, gotcha. My cheap tennis shoes are left out in the sun to completely dry between uses and don't get mildew. But they do eventually fall apart from the wet/dry, wet/dry, wet/dry, etc. cycle. The material just isn't designed to handle that. But it sounds like Mucks waterproof shoes are your answer.

Thanks Tom, that's the first time I've seen this explanation which is surprising considering this exact thread is started about 17 times per year... BTW: Put me in the "baitcast reel - right hand" and "spinning reel - left hand" club. And I AIN'T CHANGING!!!!!!!!!!

Another that hasn't been mentioned is a Berkley Powerbait Ripple Shad in Firetiger color. 5 different sizes available on TW. I've always had great luck with Ripple Shads on a jig head.

I wade fish and wear cheap Walmart tennis shoes. They last me a year or two (dozens of fishing trips and hundreds of submerged hours) and eventually get replaced with another pair of cheap Walmart tennis shoes. Why do you want to buy a more expensive pair of waterproof shoes?

Welcome to Bass Resource Charlie from a fellow Eastern Panhandler...... I have waded below the Millville Dam a handful of times for smallies.

@ErikmonBillsfon - Thank you for the rigging explanation! I primarily fish Keitech Swing Impact baits on a jig head. I tried supergluing the bait to the head this past weekend with mixed results. I'll give the twistlock hook a try.

I'll send you a message about how to find a rep sample or a used rod. I have an NRX 893c and an NRX MBR 842c and bought both as rep samples for under $400 each. They came brand new with plastic and tags. The 893 is rated 3/16-5/8 and IMO 3/4 ounce would be too heavy. Sounds like an 894 would be better for you.

^^^^^this^^^^^