Logan S

IMO, a lot of the articles, videos, seminars, advice, etc are geared toward 'idealistic' bass waters since it would take way too much time to go into the specific details for all the types of bass waters out there. Need to take that stuff with a grain of salt and realize that while the core info is probably accurate, it's also sort of a generalization and might not be directly applicable to your waters.

Check along the C&O Canal, several different lock areas have access. These would be in MD along the upper Potomac. Don't know how far outside of DC you want to go, but many locks have parking areas and bass fishing in the canal and/or main river. I used to bank/wade fish from Violets Lock quite a bit.

You definitely need DC + others, since DC doesn't reciprocate with anyone . As for the others, it depends on where you think you'll spend the most time outside of DC. In MD, non-tidal waters are all covered on the MD Non-Tidal license...But all tidal waters, including the Potomac below DC are on a different license called the Bay & Coastal Sport (there's a couple small areas in VA not covered, but 99% of the tidal Potomac is covered on this). This is annoying if you fish the tidal Potomac and Bay for bass like almost everyone around here does plus the non-tidal stuff like the upper Potomac and lakes. If you're a bass fisherman in MD, chances are high that you need to have both. In VA, a VA Freshwater license will cover the Potomac downstream to the 301 bridge...Including MD waters. Plus all the lakes/rivers in VA. There's also a PRFC License that covers the Bay and ALL tributaries in MD and VA (except DC waters). This would be Upper Bay, Potomac, James/Chick, Rapp, etc for bass fishing too. Does not cover anything non-tidal in either state though. Most people also need one of the MD or VA licenses that cover these waters anyway though, so not much reason to get this one. It sucks, you can stay within like a 10 mile radius of DC and still need 4 different licenses. Don't worry about the kayak, hop on a bassboat!

Could be same fish, though if I were you I'd hope it wasn't...Since three different 7lbers in the area is nice! I caught a 6-3 in a catch-weigh-release (MLF-style) tournament and another competitor also caught the same fish just a couple hours after me. We found out because we both tied for lunker at 6-3, got to talking...Fish had large black spot and was easily recognizable. Both caught in the same spot, long point in 18' of water. I caught it on a 1/2 oz black/purple jig and he used a 1/2oz black/green jig. I caught it around 11AM and he caught it around 2PM. It's one of the big 'plot-twists' for MLF-style tournaments, since in a normal event I'd have that fish in my well and he wouldn't have been able to catch it .

Yes, exactly. Back it in so it's a step away from the dock. Key is to do it slow so the boat drifts off slow. Once it's clear of the trailer, drop the poles with your remote and go park. Sometimes it's more of hop than a step if the boat drifts a bit . If you have a keel guard you can also just pull the boat up on the ramp itself (or beach nearby) and pole down.

"As light as I can get away with" is my general method for finesse presentations like shakeyheads and similar. Slow or drift-like movement is natural and/or neutral which what you're trying to accomplish with finesse-y type stuff usually...So the lighter the better if that's the goal. Some exceptions, but that's sort of my default. Everything else is variable based on conditions and what I'm doing. Moving baits like spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, swimjigs are all dependent on the depth and speed I'm looking for. On a spinnerbait, blade size can effect the lift and how easily it rolls, so that is also a factor in the weight I want sometimes. Jigs are all over the place...A football jig I usually want planted on the bottom so the weights are heavier than you might otherwise expect. A casting jig could be light or very heavy depending on if I want it drift down slowly to entice a fish or if I want it to smash a fish on the head to get it eating out of pure reaction...Usually one of these methods works when the other doesn't . You can up the weight on skipping jigs to give you more momentum, might result in a couple extra feet under the dock if you do your part right...Can also go lighter while skipping if the water is shallow so it's not always pinned to the bottom or if the fish are right up on the surface underneath a dock. Flipping wise, if there's heavy cover I need to get through obviously I'll use heavier weights. Sometimes though, there's heavy cover I want to stay out of while flipping....Like a lake with a bottom covered in decades of wood debris, you want to flip the laydown or stump or whatever but stay out of the trash on the very bottom. I'll flip pretty light weights in those situations. Then for all baits there is the wind and/or current factor...May need to go heavier to compensate. So the answer is, all of the above.

I think they are hoping it will become one of those novelty-type popular shows like Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers, etc....Something you wouldn't think would be popular, but somehow catches on. They know they have the bass fishing audience, we already follow it....Even guys like me that don't like the MLF/BPT format or presentation at all are still going to follow - How can we not when 90% of the top fisherman are fishing it? They are hoping to tap into that 'Deadliest Catch Audience' that will follow along despite not really caring about bass fishing. I don't care if those people watch or even know bass fishing exists, but their views turn into money for the MLF owners - Which includes many of the anglers that left the other tours. Not hard to see why so many left, it's a potential cash cow. Even if it flops the big names will still be big and can go back to the other tours. Not much to lose for the big guns.

The 'joke' is that a lot of guys with poles sort of complain that they only use them for docking or taking a break and not so much actually fishing..."Picnic Poles". I use them way more than that, but I do find the docking/beaching/lunch benefits to be a big selling point too .

It depends on how often you are in shallow water. Around here on the Potomac and Bay I might go an entire day without fishing in water deeper than 4'. I do fish deep water frequently on the lakes, but between the tidal rivers and springtime on the lakes...Poles made more sense for me. I wish I had an Ultrex in addition to poles, but I'm happy with my decision given my style. The other aspect of poles/talons that often gets joked about is launching, docking, or beaching...I find them to be super useful in those situations. I often launch alone and with my remote I can launch, let it slide off trailer, pole down next to the dock, and park. Never have to get out of the truck or tie up and go step right into the boat. I only do this when the ramp is uncrowded and weather is warmer - Just in case things go awry ...But it's mega-convenient when alone. I'd look at your fishing style objectively and determine where you spend the most time. Unless you come up with a fairly even split between shallow and deep, the choice should be sort of obvious.

Wasn't really anything secret or special, just found it up for sale and was lucky enough to be first to claim it . I've played with an FMJ but don't own one. My guess is that they'd feel different though since this rod has extra length. Honestly, the FMJ felt pretty close (but better) than the XX TV's to me...I love the TV as a jig rod so I haven't been pressured into an FMJ yet.

Our normal tournaments at BH are usually 18-20+ boats, but I'm expecting these to be smaller. We are thinking that if we can get 10 boats or so it'd be a good turnout.

It's accurate, we are going to try for a weekday event...It's contingent on interest though. We may move it to a weekend if the interest isn't there. This change would happen early, not like the week-of. I think it will probably be moved, but it's ultimately up to the Tournament Director that's organizing it.

Latest addition Assuming it's a prototype model that never made the final production cut...Looking forward to getting it on the water soon. Seems to be very similar taper to the EMTF, just 1 power heavier.

FOBA is going to host 4 semi-open events this year. These are 'semi' open because we'd like one participant per boat to be a member, but that's not a 100% hard rule...If you want in, PM me and I can probably make it happen (I'm the President ). These are fundraisers for FOBA so a portion of all entries go toward club operations. (3) Boater/Co-Angler format tournaments at Black Hill (Little Seneca Lake) $25 per angler ($20 to pot, $5 to FOBA) Pays 2 places, 80% to 1st, 20% to 2nd...For each division Catch-Weigh-Release format (MLF style), identical and calibrated scales provided by FOBA 5 bass limit, 12" minimum size Likely to be slightly shorter than normal tournament day (~7 hours) Dates: March 16th** - May 8th - August 24th **March date subject to change due to causeway construction...will be rescheduled if needed (1) Team Tournament on the Potomac River (Pohick Bay Regional Park) August 10th $100 per boat ($80 to pot, $20 to FOBA) 5 bass limit per team, 12" minimum size (traditional weigh in, boats must have livewells) 6:00AM to 3:00PM I'm personally leaving the back deck of my boat open for non-FOBA members for these tournaments and I know some other boaters are as well. If anyone is interested feel free to post or PM me...The only reason these aren't 100% open is that we don't want them to get bigger than we can manage - We want non-members to have some connection, people here are BR can be 'connected' via me (within reason). Eventually we are hoping to host some bigger true open tournaments, so this is sort of a trial run into that arena.

Lol...I spam FOBA enough here so I don't want to turn this thread into something about it, so no more FOBA-talk in here. If this gets off the ground I'll try to attend, between tournaments and kids tough to commit early though. Can take one or two guys in my boat and I'll leave spots open for BR guys since it's a BR thing.

It was one of these two, they were nearly identical in size...Don't know the weights since I didn't weigh them, both were practice days and I don't keep a scale in the boat. I weighed a few upper-5's in this year, but both of these were a little bigger than any of those. (Yes, that tattoo'd up one is also my profile pic, just the other side) Both were actually caught on the same bait, but different bodies of water and different times. 3/8 OG Phenix chatter. Some might be influenced by location, where such a fish is not quite as noteworthy...But much of it is just good humble-bragging .

There is no 'qualification' needed, just go fish . Make your gear compact and transportable and have a good PFD and rain gear and you'll be ready to go. This is good advice also, the first ride in a bass boat can be a bit surprising....Depending on the boat/boater you draw.

For a traditional fishing paper map, GMCO makes them and you can buy at BPS in Hanover (other places too and online I'm sure) NOAA charts 12288 and 12289 also cover the bass fishing section of the Potomac (DC to 301 bridge). http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/12289.shtml http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/12288.shtml Navionics also has the Potomac on their online chart viewer.

That's not really a good argument...The public bus runs the same route whether you get on it or not, but no one expects to ride for free becasue of that. Probably a terrible analogy, but whatever...It should get the point across. ...And $20 is the ramp fee for some places around here, so you're not even into gas at that point ?. The actual amount of money is meaningless to me, it costs money to operate the boat and I'm fine with that. My time is worth more than the gas we burn IMO .

This is not true with all models. For HB only Onix/Solix share maps over ethernet. Lowrance shares mapping over ethernet, but only the HDS models have ethernet capability. The new Ti-2's might be able to share maps wirelessly, but I haven't seen too much about them in use yet. Just FYI. I've had and used both brands thoroughly, there are things I like and dislike about each...But overall either is a good choice.

Artificial lures for bass and other gamefish have been around for well over 100 years...Pretty much everything has been done or invented by now in a general sense. There have been periodic improvements as technology and manufacturing improves over time. Many of the the 'new' techniques/baits we've seen lately are not literally new...Just newly adapted to bass fishing, 'rediscovered', or variations of exiting stuff. Doesn't make it any less innovative or successful.

I'm lucky, I've already spent a day on the water with my #1 choice in the fishing world . In the real world, I'd love to take my dad out fishing even though he's not a 'serious' fisherman like I am...He taught me how to fish, but being a Navy Pilot on many deployments, he was unfortunately not able to continue fishing with me a whole lot growing up. We both fall victim to "things are soooo busy" these days so we never get out on the water when we see each other. Going to be a new year's resolution for me I think.

"Co-angler" implies its a draw-tournament scenario...Not 2 buddies out fishing for fun (or family, neighbors, etc). You shouldn't really compare the two situations or act like they are the same. This seems to be a big misconception in the thread. In a tournament where a co-angler is paired with a boater it is customary and commonplace for that co-angler to kick in some cash to their boater. It's very different from hitting the lake with a good friend, family member, kid, neighbor, etc for a fun day on the water...Where such a thing is usually not expected.

@Junger Don't plan anything around me and/or FOBA....It's far enough out now that I wouldn't be able to commit to anything yet and I'd hate to have anything based on me given that. Although....A few people in here have expressed interest this year so if you guys all end up in FOBA - Well then it might make more sense to plan around it .... Whether I make it or not I can offer this advice...While both are pretty good year round, BH fishes better overall May through June and Piney is a better mid to late summer lake.

If it's not a tournament weekend for me I'd probably be in...BH is only 20 mins from me and Piney is always a fun time.