Logan S

Tough call even for short run to Chickamuxin...You're still looking at crossing about 3 miles of unprotected water. The worst part will be from the mouth of Mattawoman to where the main river bank turns south, that area is always churned up like a washing machine when the wind blows. I guess it comes down to the size of your boat and your experience in the rough stuff. I fish all over Anna, we launch from High Point Marina usually. I like mid and down lake, but I'll venture up the rivers occasionally too. I'll give you a call tomorrow .

I wouldn't be planning on venturing out on the main river with NW winds @ 20-30 mph that's for sure. Strong NW winds usually mean low water too, high tide probably won't be 'high' if it even moves at all. I'd try to grind it out in Mattawoman, assuming you're launching there. All the usual stuff will hold bass right now...Might also be worth it to head into the no-wake zone if you do it early, it'll get crowded since no one will be leaving the creek. The first guy to flip/fish a lot of that hard cover is usually rewarded with some fish. I've got a tournament on Anna on Saturday and all I could think looking at the forecast was "At least I won't be on the River!" Hoping the forecast changes in our favor, but it's been pretty steady the past couple days . As someone that's run the river on days like that, I can tell you it ain't worth it....Stay local and fish the creek hard. Good luck!

Hey Blue, this is my setup...It's caught tons of fish for me from Florida to Ontario and almost everywhere in between . I fish with a braid mainline probably 90% of the time. For me, dropshot is a technique where you almost always have tension on the line so the 'slack-line' advantage to flouro is negated somewhat. Plus you don't have to deal with the line-twist headaches. I do keep a spare spool of 6 or 8 lb flouro in case I want to make the switch, for some reason it seems to make a difference every now and then...A quick spool change is an easy way to be prepared. I fish it vertically over open/deep water, cast it, make short pitches to docks/cover, and almost any other way you can think of...There's no wrong way to fish it IMO. One really effective area for it (and one of my favorite ways to fish it) is steep rip-rap like you normally find around bridges, 'walking' it down the drop. If you want to build some confidence, start at a place like this. ML/XF Spinning rod 2000 size spinning reel - main spool with 10 lb braid, back up spool with 6 or 8 lb flouro 6-10 lb Flouro leader for braid, depending on conditions - Alberto knot #2 Owner Mosquito hook - palomar knot, oriented with hook point up (after a few tries, you'll figure out how to tie it like this) 3/16 drop shot weight nearly all the time...Except on Erie where I use 3/8 to 3/4 depending on depth/current/wind/waves Nose hooked plastic of your choice - I use a Zoom Finesse most of the time It's not something I try to cover a ton water with, although I'm sure some will/can...Go throw it next to bridge pilings or rip-rap, docks, or some other target you know fish will hang around...You'll catch 'em, then expand it from there .

I agree that a jig is a year-round producer.....But he could have been talking about a pattern for that specific lake. Every body of water has it's productive patterns, he could have simply been trying to help you by stating there were more effective techniques at that time on that lake. We have a lake here where you can catch them on a jig year-round for sure, but there is a 2-month window where it's the #1 technique as opposed to #2 or #3 .

Option 2 will probably allow club tournaments when all the dust settles. It's essentially putting things that most anglers do already in writing. Don't keep fish out of the water excessively, water filled bags, non-puncturing culling tags, etc....Some of the clarifications I've read will allow anglers to release their own fish without a release boat or the 100 gallon tanks. IMO the only reason they made an 'Option 2' and kept 'Option 1' is to save face since they got their hand slapped....My prediction is that literally no one is going to use Option 1 when it's all said and done. It's also BS that they just keep letting info out here and there...If you're going to regulate the river, put in the time and effort to actually regulate it. They actually admitted to not wanting to go through the long formal regulation process. These are the kinds of things that make many MD anglers believe there are ulterior motives or outside players at play. If you think about it logically, they screwed up either way. On one hand, if the regulations were the result of outside influence as many suspected....They essentially got caught and changing the rule is their admission. On the other hand, if they truly did research the problem and determined the rule was necessary to save the fishery...They just caved to the large outside tournament money. Neither of those scenarios are what anyone would consider good management of the fishery. Most of us are just going to go out of VA on the Potomac anyway, but this is good news for the Upper Bay.

Crash course...There are some pre-requisites as well. You need to be a skilled caster in the first place. You also need to be pretty darn accurate already...The 'landing window' to get a successful skip in the place you want the bait is a relatively small area. Equipment is low on the list of importance, but shorter rods are generally easier to work with. I wouldn't go over 7'. Don't get too close to the dock/tree/target. If you're too close the angle will be steeper and make things harder on you. I like to stay at least 2 rod lengths away (approximately). Leave the brakes at a normal setting, but tighten the spool tension just a little. The proper skip doesn't require as much thumb as many would think. Choose a skip friendly bait, but make sure it's not too light. If using a jig, use a wide trailer like a beaver style bait. As you get better you'll notice that the bait type starts to matter less and less. Fluid motions. You need the wind up, the release, and the follow through to be one motion...Just like a golf swing or pitching a baseball, the entire process is important. Practice, practice, practice. Spinning tackle is a good way to learn the angles, follow through, etc...It's also obviously a better fit when using the smaller/lighter stuff. But for jigs, swimbaits, frogs, etc...you want casting gear for all the same reasons you'd want it when not skipping . I use both all the time, sometimes even on the same dock.

I prefer flouro for the simple fact that it's more sensitive than mono. Both stretch to some extent. Line diameter has more of an effect of running depth than the floating/sinking properties. Visibility is the same with both and I'm not convinced it even makes a difference anyway. Plenty of people use mono with success, but I find that the extra sensitivity helps me detect more strikes and feel cover/bottom better...Believe it or not, there can be some very subtle crankbait hits. 10 lb for anything I want to get depth out of, 12 lb or 15 lb for banging around cover.

There are 2 types of gear snobs...The 1st is the guy that has to have the latest and greatest and assures you that he's got the advantage because of his high-tech gear. The 2nd is 'old school' and thinks anything made after 1995 is just 'new-fangled marketing hype', he assures you that he can catch as many fish with his old gear as anyone else. Believe it or not, both are right in certain ways. There IS a fair amount of marketing hype to sell the latest and greatest stuff. On the flip side, advances in rod/reel/lure tech CAN make an already competent fisherman more efficient/effective/capable. At the end of the day, fishing success is mostly determined by the person holding rod...Whether it's the latest and greatest or an old classic is of little importance. This post was made in good fun...Not taking shots at anyone

...must have missed this part of my post... Before I'm branded as a bass fisherman with a death wish....This tournament happened 3 years ago and this argument was had back then too. He screwed up, no question. The conditions changed and he wasn't ready for it. There were several others that made it up and back without incident, but since they didn't rack their boats across the rocks they didn't make the headlines. Some of those guys take big risks, all I said was that I understand why. This kind of thing is not an isolated incident. At the Sabine tournament McClelland and Kriet made a 250 mile round trip run all the way to Houston each day, which included a trip across Galveston Bay. McClelland almost won, Kriet got knocked out by a tanker wave in Galveston Bay and ended up bombing because he missed weigh in. At the last Classic on the Louisiana Delta there were guys running 70+ miles in fog so thick they couldn't see past the bow of the boat, going solely on GPS. Any tournament on the Great Lakes has the potential to be dangerous. There are plenty more examples.... Some of those guys push the envelope. Always have and probably always will. I don't willingly put myself, my co-anglers, or my boat in danger...

99% of those guys aren't handed a boat...It's one of the myths of pro fishing. I've heard a few different types of deals that the pros have for their boats, but they are paying for them one way or the other. That little ride he took cost him some money for sure. That particular tournament had very high river levels, such that you could make the run to the dam in a glass boat. Many fisherman took the risk of running up in hopes of doing well and making some money. As the river dropped, it got harder and harder to get up and back. Miller did well in that tournament, might have even made the top 12 cut if I remember correctly...Probably one of his best finishes. Not saying I would have done it, but I can understand why he and others did.

With the exchange rate, it can be significantly cheaper to buy from Japan...Especially on the higher end stuff. Plus there is the 'cool' factor of having something not many others have. The Japanese retailers have excellent shipping service, packages via EMS are typically at your door in 3 or 4 days at the most. Some sites offer that shipping for free, others charge anywhere from $12-$20 depending on what you buy. Look at the price of a Metanium or other high end reel on TW and then look at the price on Digitaka or Japan Lure Shop....Easy to see why many are going the Japan route.

Just because the retail price is the same doesn't mean the value is the same. Your rod is a discontinued model and while it certainly has value, it has essentially zero value to Dobyns now that they have moved on to the new model. If there even is a way for them to re-sell the rod it will be at a far lower price than retail. It's a near-certainty that Dobyns would be losing money on this deal they proposed to you, but they offered it anyway...That's darn good customer service IMO. Not trying to pile on to you personally, but it seems like a pretty nice deal they were offering...

The normal open-hook models are pretty good at getting through grass on their own, this new style looks to be a way to fish the bait through laydowns, brush, wood/docks, or anything else that would grab an open hook...Not just grass My take on it anyway.

They won't adapt becasue they don't need to, they will just go somewhere else..Or better yet, simply launch from VA. Would not be surprised to see Leesylvania welcome large events with open arms, they have the space and facilities to do it already. BTW, there are slot limits that do work with tournaments. Lakes like Smith Mountain and Gaston have slot regulations that you can still fish a tournament with easily.

You are on the right track . I agree the river gets pounded, but when the grass was at full capacity it could handle it IMO. Without the grass you have miles and miles of mud flats where no bass will/can live...With grass you have miles and miles of prime bass and baitfish habitat. DC controls a very small part of the tidal Potomac, but they have tried planting grasses in their section and it appears to be working. MD 'owns' the vast majority of the river, but I haven't seen any projects like this proposed. I don't know what the right answer is, but what DNR has currently proposed ain't it...And unfortunately no tournament angler is ever going to trust the decisions from DNR moving forward given how they've handled it so far. The grass IS coming back slowly, so hopefully we will see a rebound in the next few seasons. The other part of this is that this rule applies to the Upper Bay too and there are no out of state launches there...So tournament fishing on that extremely productive and popular fishery is going to be cut back significantly.

The Elites or any other 100+ boat tournament trail won't be implementing MLF style rules anytime soon for full-field events. I really enjoy MLF also...But it's a made-for-TV product and the issues that could potentially arise from 100+ scales to calibrate, 100+ officials, 100+ other things are going to make it hard for the top level tours to adopt it. Back to the Potomac: This new slot 'rule' is not a regulation at all, it's a stipulation on a tournament permit. Permits have been required for the past few years for any tournament in MD and they attached this 'rule' to the permit application. So if you are not in a tournament you are still free to catch and kill/eat 5 bass over 15". The reason DNR did it this way is because they didn't want to go through the long and potentially difficult process of actually changing or creating a new regulation...And because they likely knew it wouldn't hold up to scrutiny (my assumption), since VA and DC are not on board with it. Joe Love confirmed to our club that it can not and will not be enforced at VA or DC ramps. There is a local guide outfit that has a long history on the river, in the last 8-10 years or so they have become increasingly anti-tournament. It's to the point where they openly chastise tournaments and tournament anglers on their weekly fishing reports. One member of that organization was put in a high position with the MD DNR Tidal Bass management program in mid-February. IMO that's a pretty obvious conflict of interest given the long history of anti-tournament behavior. Since that time we've had the C&R only zones and now this slot rule, both directly targeting tournament anglers (one explicitly, one implied). I'm not blind enough to think that tournaments have zero effect on the bass fishery. Especially in the last few years where the amount of fishable water has been significantly reduced due to the lack of grass...Areas are getting fished harder. But I don't believe it to be the primary cause or even a significant part of the issue. Something or multiple somethings happened to kill off a large percentage of the grass...Not talking about a few acres either, there are many MILES of grassbeds that are gone. But as of right now, I've seen ZERO official explanation or effort to address this issue. There are also commercial fishing operations that are having an effect on the river. To their credit, the same guide outfit that is opposed to tournaments is also very vocal against these practices...So I do share that concern with them. None of these other issues have made it to the chopping block, only tournaments... I'm not a biologist or a policy maker, just a guy that's spent an awful lot of time on the tidal Potomac over the past 15 years.

In about 200 or so total events my check percentage is probably around 50% or 60% I'd guess...Since about 2009/2010 its probably closer to 75% which makes up for the first few years of struggling . The vast majority of my tournaments are local club events where we average 15-20 boats, with larger stuff sprinkled in here and there. At the club/local level you can't be in it to make money, because you won't...Even when I win tournaments, I'm only breaking even with expenses many times. It's all about the love of tournament fishing and competition...One day I'll try my hand at the bigger stuff, but until then I view what I do as 'practice' .

There is literally nothing anyone can do about the snakeheads in the Potomac now...The habitat suits them perfectly and they exploded once introduced. The tidal Potomac bass fishery is 60+ miles long with dozens of tributaries, most of which are large fisheries themselves...It's way too large and the snakeheads are too well established for anything to be done. You also need to essentially chop their head completely off to kill them, they are tough SOB's...and I'm not chopping up fish in my bass boat for a lost cause, sorry. Unfortunately, by the time there were enough in the river to notice it was already too late. If you want to catch some, any area of the tidal Potomac or it's tributaries will have plenty. In the warmer months they like very shallow and grassy areas, you can often sight fish for them if you get in the right spots. I don't target them, but I catch them while bass fishing...Most often on frogs.

I've got the Silver Mirror and Green Mirror 580G's, both are excellent. There's no wrong choice. They are both very versatile. Silver mirror really shines on those weird days where it's overcast but still relatively bright. Silver is also a little better early/late in the day. Green has more contrast and is really good for sight fishing on lakes where the fish bed in/around grass or water willow.

I catch more fish on this color than anything else - clear, muddy, shallow, deep...Doesn't matter . Most companies don't make black/green so I just put my own skirts together. This is on a Siebert dock rocker head. Most of my 'standard' color jigs are Siebert's these days...But this is still my #1 jig, not really custom though since I'm only doing the skirt.

I never have a seat on the front deck, I prefer to stand. I also like having the deck open to move around. Only exception is Lake Erie, I will put the butt seat in then. First time I fished Erie I never even thought about it, ended up feeling like I was surfing all day since there was a breeze and I was fishing offshore.

What a great Classic! Evers is my favorite pro so I was happy to see him pull out that amazing final day victory. Can't help but laugh at those who think KVD is washed up, won't win anything but prespawn events, or is a 1-trick pony....KVD can put the beat down on the Elite field with any technique. As recently as last year he got 2nd at Bassfest on KY Lake where he caught half his fish on a texas-rigged worm in a post-spawn/summer event. The previous Bassfest on Chickamauga he also got 2nd, where he caught most of his fish on either a 3/4 oz jig or a texas rigged worm...Also post-spawn/summetime. He won on Smith Moutain Lake using primarily a shakey head and tube. He got 2nd (and probably would have won if not for boat trouble on one day) at Dardanelle by flipping the entire tournament. He won the 2001 Classic by primarily flipping a jig, but also used a creature bait. I'm sure there are tons of other examples but those are the ones I remember clearly. The guy can do it all. It was a big deal that he missed the 2015 Classic, but don't forget that IF the first Bassfest event counted for points (like it did this year) he likely would have made it in with that 2nd place finish...I don't think we'd be talking about his slump nearly as much if that happened.

You probably shouldn't target fish on beds then.... I have a different opinion and view it as simply another viable pattern/method to catch fish...And it's fun. Just remember that if you fish at all during the spawn, you are going to catch fish from spawning beds whether you target them or not.

Did mine last winter...Hardest part is the prep work IMO. Removing all the compartments, hardware, old carpet, glue, etc...Once I got to actually putting the new carpet on it was easy. I'd heard horror stories about how it was such a pain, but I laid out a plan and went step by step and it really wasn't that bad. Labor-intensive, but not very difficult. It took 4 full days to do my 20' boat, but I used a methodical approach and didn't try to power though it. I made the mistake Way2Slow talked about with the carpet grain, thankfully it was both livewell lids so the pattern was at least symmetrical. After a full season of fishing you can barely tell now.

GP Pro Blue & French Pearl OB are sort of the standards, if you're new to MB 110's these are the ones to get first...Both are proven producers all over the country. After that, you better lock up your wallet....Because hunting down colors can get addicting . I use those quite a bit, but I typically pick my color based on the conditions. MB has so many options that you can really fine-tune what you want to throw if you are inclined to do so....You just need to fork over the cash to have all those colors .