Fried Lemons

You may have just had a bad spool. I had one spool of 20lb that would randomly break off and was garbage. I regularly use the 6lb and 8lb without issues.

I will occasionally bring a friend or family member along but the trip becomes more about me trying to make sure they have a good time than about fishing. It's not that I prefer to fish alone but I don't know anyone who is serious enough about fishing that I don't have to divide my concentration worrying about them and feeling pressured to produce something. I've actually tried getting a good friend of mine into the sport but he just doesn't have it in him. I'd enjoy fishing with other self motivated people but unfortunately I don't know any.

It depends on your goals. This topic is relevant to almost any discipline out there. Most of the information out there is the same basic stuff that has been repeated thousands of times. It gets you to a point of basic competence. From that point on you need to dive deeper into the details if you want to separate yourself from the pack. The more advanced you get, the more minutiae matter. The fact that you're seeking out information says that you are not satisfied with your current level of success and want to improve. If you want to become more consistent then dry topics like weather, pressure, water temp, lure modifications etc. become important.

Took an evening trip to Swains Lock. I hadn't been there in a while and the amount of grass growth threw me off a bit. The lures I brought were treble hooked so I went with the wake bait. I was steering it through some gaps in the grass when this bass struck with a vengeance. Feeling adventurous, I made my way to the river hoping to find a topwater bite. When I got to my spot I could see and hear fish busting through a foam mat. After a few casts I felt my wake get bumped, then nothing. I spent the next half hour making the same cast getting bumped and blown up on without hooking into a fish. Many casts and even more mosquito bites later, I get a huge blowup followed by a heavy weight. Felt like a nice striper but alas it was my old nemesis. Overall not a bad night. I think I could have done some real damage if I had brought frogs.

Amazing how his reputation seems to have been built entirely on lies. And like all liars he had to perpetuate the lies to maintain the fake persona he built for himself. Even if it made him rich and famous, I don't understand how someone could live this way, in constant fear of being exposed. His behavior in the article seems like borderline sociopathy.

Very nice combo, I have been fishing the same reel with a similar rod as of this year. It's quickly becoming my favorite reel.

I was fishing a canal below one of the locks. There was a good amount of water flowing over a mixture of gravel and large boulders. I knew the bass were post spawn and were stacked up feeding in the outflow. In a previous trip I had caught several 3's and two 5's but on this particular day I only had a 3. I moved slightly downstream where I could just barely see the top of a large solitary boulder. I cast out a flat sided squarebill upstream and allowed it to float past the boulder before starting the retrieve. Just as my crankbait dove from sight I felt a heavy, unmoving weight on the end. This was a very snaggy spot so I assumed I was caught on a log or a rock. I gave the bait some slack hoping it would float free. That was when the snag started to move and I knew I had something big. It was the first bass I'd ever felt pulling drag. When I brought it close and it first broke the surface I couldn't believe the size of the head and mouth. My previous long standing PB was a 5lber which this one shattered at 7-4. This was four years ago and I still play it through my head sometimes.

Ha yeah it takes some rock climbing and maybe a wade depending on the water levels. Swains has like 1/4 mile of fishable water but you need to walk for about 10 minutes to get there. I spotted a bass around 3lb following in a crappie I was reeling so there are some decent ones still in there. Widewater is also down another 1.5ft or so. You can actually see some of the offshore structure which would be cool to fish once they fill it back up. I need to get a kayak or something maybe next year.

Some Potomac Gorge fish. Caught on jerkbaits and paddletails. I'll get out again soon and throw a glide. Seems like a good time.

Braid has no stretch and poor abrasion resistance. It is prone to snapping from sudden shocks which tend to happen as the fish gets closer and there is less line out to absorb any sudden movements. I would either step up to a thicker braid such as 50-80lb or switch to something like 20lb mono. I personally like the forgiveness of mono in this application.

Nice report sounds like a good time. Those catfish are everywhere on the Potomac, I cannot seem to avoid them no matter what I throw. I went to Little Seneca for a short session. Air temps were pleasant for June at around 70 with overcast skies and a light drizzle. I started off Clarksburg Road and fished the surrounding coves. Shore access was kind of sketchy with thorns, poison ivy and tall grass to contend with. I noticed the occasional fish breaking around a cove. Figuring there would be a topwater bite I tied on a wake bait and slowly dragged it across. This fish hit just as the bait was nearing some wood. Shortly after I had another hit by a beaver dam but didn't connect. The rain was coming down pretty fast at this point and I was getting soaked so I called it a day.

Glide Jack 180. Fished like a glide bait or waked on top. Haven't caught anything big on it but I catch numbers like a crankbait.

I used to wear a backpack with two planos and at least two rods. Over time I realized I don't use 90% of what I pack and putting down/picking up extra rods really slows me down. Now I wear a small sling that holds a few bags of plastics and hooks or a few swimbaits and some accessories and never bring more than one rod. If I'm wading I will bring a single bag of plastics in my pocket so I can dunk myself without worry.

First fish I ever caught on the megadog.

I fished the refilled section of canal above lock 22 over the weekend. It was less than ideal as there were people paddling up and down the stretch but I managed to stick a 3lb largemouth on a frog in the flooded grass. The main difficulty aside from water traffic was the amount of flooded grass made it difficult to locate the fish which have spread out. Later I hit widewater in the evening. Caught 3 skinny fish on a glide jack off shallow rock piles. Fished a point and had a bigger one blow up on me three times without hooking up.

Thanks everyone. Will definitely try the dowel thing next time. Took the reel home and dug through it and turns out there was a small loop which must have cut through the line as I was pulling. Lesson learned.

Just when I thought I had baitcasters figured out this happens. Hung up a lure with heavy braid to a tree and have to choice but to pull and break the line. I hear the loud snap of the line breaking but can’t find the tag. It’s buried somewhere in the spool which is tightly wound up from pulling on the snag. Any ideas?

I often throw big baits as I find it more enjoyable than fishing with conventional sized lures. I have little to no interest in the smaller bass I see cruising around and I willingly give up bites to improve my odds of catching the big bass. If I get tired of being skunked there are plenty of of other species in my area I find more fun to catch than small to average bass.

In addition to what has already been mentioned, Evergreens are an outstanding but expensive JDM option. While not as flashy as Megabass, build quality and performance are among the best in the industry. There are also higher tier versions of USDM rods like the Shimano Poison Glorious/Ultima series rods and the Daiwa Steez Racing Designs. There are many other high end JDM options that will open your eyes to a different level of quality, but be warned that is a deep rabbit hole.

S waver 168s. Probably the best bang for your buck for hard baits. Soft baits you have more options like 3:16, keitechs, basstrix.

Tie between keitech noise flapper and stanley ribbit here. Flapper is bigger and seems to run upright better than the ribbit but is not as noisy. I prefer to rig them on the Stanley double take hooks. Skips and casts amazingly well on a heavy rod. Ribbit tends to tear and slide down the hook after a single catch but I put up with it because it gets bit. It’s my go to sight fishing lure. Snakeheads love these things. Definitely get mend it though. I have not found color to matter. I’ve caught equally well on natural bullfrog, black, white and pink.

For those frequenting the canal they seem to have completed maintenance and the water is up again. This should revitalize the sections above widewater. Lots of flooded cover looks very fishy. Anyone want to meet and hit these spots let me know.

In my view line choice has more to do with hook penetration and lure weights than the fight of the fish. Braid in the 30lb+ sizes often used bass fishing is strong enough for hard running saltwater species. On a fight basis I don't think any bass warrants more than 6lb test but all of my reels have heavier line.

Fished the tidal potomac on a high tide. With the recent rains the limbs of many overhanging trees were underwater. This combined with thick mats of floating debris made for difficult fishing. Once the water began to ebb I was able to skip baits into the trees. Stealthy approach and soft entry were important.

I fish a 1000 size shimano with a shallow spool and 26 ipt. I use ultra thin 2lb fluoro so I would have a hard time filling a regular spool with the stuff. If your cast distance is suffering with spinning gear chances are your reel is not the problem. I recommend switching to mono in 2-4lb test. Braid does not cast as well as mono in equivalent diameters. Never tried Nanofil so can't comment on that. Rod is also important. Most ultralight rods have a noodly action. Try and find one with a fast responsive tip and I think you'll appreciate the difference.