RHuff

Watched my dad miss a giant last year. We were up a branch fishing lilly edges on a slow day right at dark. I was throwing a crankbait and he had resorted to topwater in despiration mode. He threw a Boyd Duckett walking popper opposite direction out of the boat over the middle. It was in about 15-18 foot of water. The giant absolutely murdered it. His whole head came out of the water. It was atleast a 20-22 inch bass. My guess is 5/6 lbs at smallest. He set the hook a hair too early and the fish had it for a split second then when he loaded up on it the bait flew from the bass's mouth over his head over the boat. My heart broke right there. That was probably the bass of the year for either one of us.

I didn't get to take my boat due to the extreme cold. I didn't feel comfortable having it out uncovered with those 10-15 degree nights we had last week. I did get to sight see and scout out some places. I got to see from the launch at the state park cabins all the way to the Jacksonville Launch. I must say, it is a cover fisherman's dream with all of the timber, rip-rap, and laydowns. I will definitely be going back after the weather breaks to fish it this spring. I noticed an area to the left when driving from the lodge to the cabins. Did I see a tunnel that goes under the road connecting the boats. Is that big enough for a bass boat to pass through or is that Kayak only?

Any updates this week?? Was planning to go Fri and Sat but the forecast looks bad..

I put a couple of zipties on but looked in my side mirror one day and saw my plate hangin sideways nearly scraping the pavement. Went to Lowe's and got a couple of locking bolts with the inner plastic ring in the nut that doesn't loosen. Works like a charm.

Why is the water so muddy? We haven't had hardly any rain up until the storms yesterday.

Brush Hogs and Strike King Rodents have worked well for me...

I have both sizes and have probably caught three times as many fish in the 90 as I have on the 130. I have had bass hit the 90 so hard right at dark that they have knocked it straight up in the air.

Anything with chartreuse works well at my local lake. It has dark water most of the year.

Has anyone been on Stonewall Jackson Lake in WV yet in 2017? My wife has a Friday-Saturday conference there on March 17-18. I'm off work those days so I'm thinking of pulling the boat and staying with her and fishing all day both days while she is in the conference. I cannot find any current water temperature for that lake, but I did find a current one for Burnsville Lake, which is in the same region. It is at 48 degrees. The weather outlook between now and then still calls for 50-60s during the day with 40s at night and maybe an occasional night in the 30s here and there. I am hoping the water will hit 50 degrees by then. To coin the famous saying... "Should I stay or should I go??"

I've never been too successful with a chatterbait. It's more than likely the user not the product. I've caught many, many big fish on Spinnerbaits, Buzzbaits, and even Jigs but just no confidence yet in a chatterbait. It's not my first go to bait.

I agree man. Your rig is fine. Fishing skills is where it's at. You catch the fish not your boat. I've seen a guy go out in a 50,000 rig get his arse whipped by a man in a 700 jon boat.

They acted like they were trying to get rid of stuff for the new season but thats premium gear dunno why that would ever been on clearance..

The wife and kids were looking at a few things so I wondered down the fishing isle and to a pleasant surprise they had all of the strike king tackle on clearance. Scored a red eye shad and sexy dawg for $5 each and a pack of Strike King toads for $1.79. I asked the guy working why the had them on clearance and he said he has no idea but wished they'd put Rapalas on too. Great pick up on a day I wasn't even planning on purchasing any tackle...

"That is not a scorable bass"... i'm just kidding! It's amazing the littleist bass out there thinks he's the toughest!

Most of the lakes here in Southern WV are in the 40-45 degree range. Most lakes are usually frozen over this time of year. Maybe it will be an early prespawn.

And THIS is why this website is worth its weight in gold.

If I'm slow rolling one at dusk or night I will often use a trailer hook if I'm burning one I'll use a keitech swingin impact as a trailer. I have found that 90% of my spinner bait strikes with a trailer included is on a paddle tail as opposed to a zoom chunk or craw. I think bass see a spinnerbait blade as a couple of tiny baitfish and the paddle tail swimbait as a trailer gives it more realism.

I know the saying bigger lures catch bigger fish but I've had twice the success on a baby brush hog vs traditional brush hog.

Do they shut the lake down for an event like this?? Do they shut the lake down for an event like this??

This may sound crazy but a few months ago I decided to try something new for this year. I organized a 3 ring binder into sections such as time of year, type of cover, types of baits, etc. and every time I watch an online seminar or instructional video I take notes and put them into the collection. The amount of information I have gained since doing this is mind-boggling.

Not mine but one taken of my local lake a couple of years ago...

Looking at upgrading to a new unit. Must have is down imaging, side imaging, and GPS. Looking to mount beside my dash at the drivers seat. Looking to spend $800 or less. Anyone got any advice on a new state of the art unit I could get for that price that would be user friendly?

That really sucks..

I found it by word of mouth. I was searching dealers with in a 100 mile radius and this boat was in garage no more than 2 miles away from my house.. All i had to do was service it, clean it really good, and replace the cranking and trolling batteries. In one day I had this boat show room ready.

I got my aluminum Triton with a 50hp for $5,200 garage kept and less than 20 hours used. When you see the right deal you will know it!