Vorlin

This is a bit unusual but I need to gauge interest in a project and gather the needed people and organizations in order to begin. It's an idea for a fishing TV show that I ran by a gentleman who already has his own local fishing show and he likes the idea. We feel that it could become quite popular. However, it requires resources and in this case that means people much more so than cash. The show would need 3-5 pro's or tournament veterans per episode and would mostly be showing the pros taking someone out on a boat, 1:1, and teaching them various things. The end portion of the show would have the pros critiquing the person whom they taught. The appeal of the show is that everything is recorded in a way that the home viewer gets a lesson... one detailed enough that they can repeat it on their own. Here's the catch... we don't have the budget to hire so many pros! However, my old mentor always said that the barter system is alive and well so I'm wondering if various sponsors could ask their sponsored pros to do an episode here and there while ensuring that the sponsors logos and products get lots and lots of camera time. Paid promotional blurbs are in one ear and out the other in a second or two... a logo that keeps appearing in and out of the camera shots for 30 minutes and someone talking about, rigging and using your stuff gives a much more lasting impression. And you're already paying these folks to do some promo stuff anyway. At the moment, we need to gauge interest and see what it will cost us to get started. Any and everything that could be loaned to the show in exchange for exposure is negotiable. This includes baits, boats, tackle, locations to fish, you name it. Vorlin

Grass carp have been taking my bait that was meant for other fish. Small grass carp seem to line Fishin' Strips bloodworm... but it's kind of expensive. If corn and bread aren't able to do it for you, you can try that. Vorlin

Well heck, if it's only a green or chartruese light then why even spend $20? You can get single use chem lights in a similar color that should do ok. Personally, I feel that it can't be cheating if you aren't using it in competition. If you're just trying to fill a cooler with crappie or other fish so you can have a cookout with fish for 20 people then there is no such thing as cheating. You either have enough fish for everyone to eat or you don't. Just don't try to use something like that in a tourney. Vorlin

Nice fish! Though I suggest that you go fishing for stripers and leve fishing for strippers to us single guys! ;D Vorlin

I too am curious where these showed up... and am not sure that it's a good thing. Could they overrun the ecosystem? This is the only thing wrong with snakeheads, which are actually an awesome game fish that's hard fighting and great eating.... but they take over an area and ruin the ecological balance. I know that peacock bass are native to Brazil, but had never heard of them on this continent. What area are you finding them in? Vorlin

As I look at all this, I see two out of three categories addressed within the whole thread: 1) Conditions and affect on appetite This includes: -Water temp -Seasonal pattern -Spawning -Barometer changes -etc. 2) Qualities of the bait that allow it to be sensed by the fish. These include: -Vibration -Color -depth fished (bottom jigs vs. topwater, etc.) -Size -etc. What I don't see addressed is what I call "Catalysts". Catalysts specifically play to the fish's conditioning and reactions... think of it as psychology. When dealing with a Coyote, you know some things about how he'll react if you understand his psychology. He'll pick at trash, hunt in packs, run from any 1:1 confrontation and if you charge into a pack of them sceraming at the top of your lungs then you know they'll scatter and run. When dealing with Wolves you know that they'll take down live prey, take advantage of anything sickly, work in packs to cut a victim from a herd and, during mating season, will seek out 1:1 fights. They will also challange any and all others in their "family" once a year in a ritual designed to establish the dominant pecking order within the pack. This is why they don't make good pets for families... everyone in the family literally has to beat the wolf's rear end once a year to avoid being bitten or nipped at all year because you let him get dominant on you. So, how does this apply to fish? A) They love to hit something that is tunnel visioned as it chases something else. If a medium sized crawdad is pouncing on a minnow, a bass is going to be in heaven because it will hit the crawdad while it's tunel visioned and not watching it's back. They love to ambush prey. They wait where there are edges, corners and other transitions where they can pounce upon an unsuspecting victim as it turns the corner. C) They can be goaded by making them think that they're about to miss out on something good. Just like a small child who never wants a toy unless another child reaches for it, a bass may not be all that interested in a lure that you're dangling in his face... but yank it away just a foot or so and watch him snap at it. He hits what he thinks he's about to loose, not what looks as if it'll be available all day long. This is why many guys cast a spinner bait and then let it sink for 3-5 seconds before yanking the guts out of it, pausing and then doing a hook set. The fish watches the drop and doesn't react... but when the bait darts away as if it's running away, WHAM! I've also used C above when bobber fishing with cut bait. The fish nibble and nibble... stealing the bait a little at a time. So, I move the bobber about 5-6 inches. 2 seconds later, it disappears into the water with a plopping sound. Take it away to make them want it. Post spawn, you can catch fish that guard their fry by using a medium-large lure and making it run at the fry. This is what they do in Thailand to catch snakeheads. The fish thinks that the lure is a threat to the fry, and so nails it. There's so much more involved than if they can detect the lure or like it's color.... the conditions tell you if they probably do or probably don't have an appetite. You can use that info to select a good strategy. IF they may bite to eat, then match the hatch or whatever else is on the local menu. If they aren't likely to feed, then use some other tactic to make them nip at your lure (mentioned above as ticking them off). Some fish are territorial and you can catch them by being the invader that has to be run off. Ask yourself WHY the fish is likely to bite something.... and biting is different than feeding. If you can't get them to feed on your lure, maybe you can get them to kick it's butt. Either way, the hook ends up in their mouth and you end up with the fish. Vorlin

I was fishing for about 90 minutes today (I worked 12 hours too). I had 3 good hits but I've become so ancy that I took it away from them too fast. That's one big problem with slumps... you start trying to do a lot of thing differently in an attempt to break the slump and when you do start to get fish then you mess things up! I'm not big on catfish but that may be an idea. I'm also considering live bait and going for *anyting* that will hit it.... sunnys and cats included. Any sort of action at all can build into momentum and then I can worry about trying for a specific species after I'm getting action. Someone in a similar thread talked about excuses... and I could see that if it weren't for the fact that over a dozen people in the mid-atlantic area have hit the same sort of slump at the same time. And I am out there with a line in the water, even during my lunch breaks. I do appliance repair and keep my gear in the van. I fish on breaks and on the way home from work. Vorlin / Scott

To the person who is in a slump on the Maryland Chesapeke tributaries: I'm in VA working the Potomac and Rappahannock tributaries (of the Chesapeke) and having the same sort of luck... but this may change soon. Read on... I've been looking into keeping and using live crawfish for bait and one thing I learned is that there is no such thing as a guarantee when it comes to fishing, even with live bait. The fact is that most of our lures are just fine, if fish hit them sometimes and not others, the problem isn't the lure because it's proved to be effective. The most significant advice I've ever seen came from a website for a bait manufacturer, it was Fishin' Strips. They weren't even giving advice. Rather, they were talking about the fact that their bait was as good as natural cut bait but they didn't want people to have unrealistic expectations so they had a few disclaimers. This was their #1: "#1) To catch fish you MUST put the bait where the fish are... and 6 feet DOES make a difference." It's one of those things in life that struck me as being so true that I memorized it instantly... and I beleive that this is more responsible than other factors when it comes to why many of us, yours truly included, are not catching right now even though we were hammering out full stringers a few weeks ago. Live bait, cut bait, Fishin' Strips, tubes, plastics, cranks, spinners and all other baits will FAIL MISERABLY is we don't put them where the fish are feeding... and they've moved!!!!!!! The only person I know who is still catching consistently is a crappie fisherman at my workplace. I spoke to him at length about this slump yesterday and this is what he recommended: A small (1/16th of an ounce) tube jig on a bobber is what he uses for crappie. It's suspended off the bottom but still kept rather deep. The surface disturbances cause the bobber to "bob", which gives the bait it's action. His opinion is that bass keep interrupting his crappie fishing and he finds them to be annoying. Then it hit me: He's jigging at the depth that the bass are schooling for shad and they're eathing his bait because it's in their path!!!!!!!!! Hey, call the crappie a bonus and give it a shot. Nothing else seems to be working worth anything for us lately so there's nothing to loose by trying! Scott / Vorlin

I think that the thread about the fish being in transition hit the nail on the head. The entire middle and south east coast is messed up right now but, hopefully, it will pass within the next week or two. Vorlin

I've been trying, even clear tube jigs with silver sparkles are passed up. The only thing they even seemed to notice was when small bass would follow a tiny red-devil spoon in chrome but they only followed it and no amount of stop/go or playing with it would entice a bite. Fishing spots that went dry include: Rappahannock around the Rt. 1 bridge (just upstream of it)... Lake of the Woods main dock... Abel Reservoir (Stafford Co., I understand that it's *always* tough there)... Several small ponds including some off the Ni river and a few in Massapannox... "Preddy's Camp", a local name for the area of the Rappahannock west of Bragg Rd. but East of Motts landing (the roadside pull off point on River Rd.). Someone who fishes this area a lot said that he never has noticed any good fishing in the fall... it's as if the bass just go straight from the summer bite to hunkered down for winter but that can't possibly be true. One thing is for sure, they're off the summer pattern. Question is, what are they eating now and where did they go? From the posts on the General forum, it looks as if I'm not the only one who has seen his fishing dry up over the past 3 weeks. It must be some reaction to the weather pattern but fish have to eat at some point and they didn't disappear into thin air so they have to be somewhere. Thanks guys, any tips are appreciated. Vorlin / Scott

I'm in one now that's been going on for 3 weeks... trouble is that I've tried at least 6 different bodies of water, different lures and gone back to basics. Even the pan fish aren't hitting things that they normally NEVER pass up... Worse, I'm not the only one. Every time I see anyone fishing, I ask how it's going and they all say the same things. They either say "Nothing at all" or "only a few tiny ones all day". I've asked at least ten people. The only ones reporting any luck are all using live bait. Either minnows, which they use in specific fishing holes, or worms. Word is that green night crawlers are still producing but I haven't tried that so I can't confirm it. One person even said that they thought the reservoir they were in today had no fish... despite the fact that I looked out and saw half a dozen spots that fry were swarming around at any given time. There are LOTS of tiny fry all over the area, in all bodies of water. Might this be a clue? I'm too re-new at fishing to know. (I used to fish 25 years ago and just picked it back up again). Vorlin

I'm almost evenly split between river, small man made lake and small man made pond. However, the river is where I'll do an all day trip while the others are only a few hours each. How about a pole on water type? Still (lake or pond) and murky with heavy vegitation Still (lake or pond) and murky with light vegitation Still and clear with heavy vegitation Still and clear with light vegitation Slow and murky Fast and murky Slow and clear Fast and clear Brakish river Tidal I think that may have a lot more to do with choices in tactics because of the way the sun affects each differently, current breaks, visibility, staying downstream of the target, etc.... Vorlin / Scott

Sort of on-topic... dollar for dollar, this is the best info I've ever found. It's a collection of real tips, not ads for new stuff to buy, and they were collected from all over the world and then tested before being allowed in the book: http://www.amazon.com/Fishing-Tips-Tricks-Guide-Tested-Freshwater/dp/0865730334/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_a/104-5926543-8334308?ie=UTF8 Some really cool tricks on everything from preventing bird's nests to keeping minnows alive longer and from tips on fish by species to boat handling and even recipies. It's not Bassmaster-U but it's within reach of everyone and as close as the local book store. Scott / Vorlin

They added a Meta Refresh... I examined the code to be sure. In Mickeysoft Internet Exploder you can set it to not allow Meta Refresh, that's what I had to do. Vorlin / Scott

Ooooofph!! Ok, then it's about as wide as the Rappahannock... which varies from 80 ft or so to 300 or 400 in the wider, slower flats. However, in areas that look similar to the pic, it's around 200 ft wide. Trivia: The Rappahannock is the river that the Northern Army got shot to pieces over while trying to cross at the battle or Fredericksburg. George Washington grew up right in the area and the area that he would have fished in his childhood is still some of the best catfish fishing around. I'm not sure what period in his life he was supposed to have thrown the silver dollar across the river, but if it was his childhood then it had to have been this river. Knowing the river, just about any high school first string pitcher or QB could make that throw, though second stringers might not make it. Vorlin / Scott

Nice spot!!! The ones here are similar except they're about 4-5 times wider and I don't have the nice waterfall! Vorlin / Scott

LOL In all honesty, I've often wondered if the best "scent" might just be a few crayfish and the scraps left over from a filet or two. Toss it all together in a blender, put the results in a zip-lock and dip your lure in it every 3-5 casts or so. Vorlin

Arkie Salty Crawlin' Grub... usually only available online but Wal-Mart occasionally gets them in. You'll probably be going deep so don't foo-foo around with colors that can't be seen in the low light of the deep anyway. Watermelon with Black Flake seems to be a great choice all-around... it's simple and should show up enough in low light. http://www.arkiejigs.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AJ&Product_Code=CG&Category_Code=CG Use a stand up jig and DON'T be gentle when working this thing... you can't be gentle and move it. It's big enough on it's own to nearly make your drag tick! It's also a fragile bait, unfortunately, but there are several around here who catch Citation fish with it, one guy got 2 Citations in one day using it, plus dozens of smaller ones. As far as aggressiveness goes, I think those guys are trying to point you in the right direction. I've used similar thinking in a slightly different way to take advantage of that aggressiveness: Look at your fishing area carefully... if you wanted the best spot where you could relax, out of the current, and have that current bring you food in water that was a comfy temperature and had just the right amount of shade, where would you be? It's almost a certainty that the biggest, meanest fish in the hole decides that this will be HIS spot and kicks the snot out of any other fish that tries to hang there. Pattern that area with the Arkie and make it look like a Crayfish... you should do well. Vorlin

Moving back to the subject of catching in murky water, it was my understanding that bass are sensitive in the lateral lines and that this is what we're playing to by using rattles, Carolina rigs, Rattle Traps, Super Spot and the like. As far as scents go, the info I had read said that "fish" can detect 1/200th of a drop of a substance, but I do of course realize that "fish" does not equal bass. If advertisers could say that bass could detect that little you can be sure that they'd be putting that line in big print on their bottles of liquid scent! They're not doing that though... But "attractants", for lack of a better term, do seem to work on various levels. First and foremost is that they mask the human, cigarette and beer smells that get onto the bait so that the fish aren't repelled by them. This in itself could make a good bottle of scent worth the price. Next, fish of all sorts seem to hold the bait in their mouths a bit longer rather than rejecting it... a big plus since bass often take a worm and drag it off to some little corner to eat it, much like a dog. (See the post about a guaranteed way to catch fish for more on catching fish with an open bail, while drinking your coffee.) Do they really attract fish, especially bass? I don't know about liquid scents, but Fishin' Strips artificial bloodworm seems to do just that. It's a slab of goo on a hook, and I've watched panfish and smallmouth come running for it from over 20 feet away, and they aren't doing that on the drop for a dry bait. Once the strip has 30 seconds or so to get wet and soften, that's when the fun starts and you can watch the fish come running like someone rang a dinner bell. But would it work with larger fish? That I'm not sure about yet... so far the ones that come running are all under 9" but the species include grass carp, bludgill, sunnys and little smallmouth. Constructive feedback and debate is most welcome... Vorlin

Good deal... casting parallel to the bank with a cast somewhere in the 30-45 foot range. The only thing you didn't specify was about how far off shore or how deep the water should be but I figure 2-6 feet is simple enough and should produce good results... but I do have one question: Ok, the bait is on the bottom after 30 seconds and it's been there long enough for a tentative fish to have picked it up after watching the fall, got that part. What I have a hard time imagining is that a slow horizontal sweep of 6-12" isn't going to come close to picking the bait up off the bottom, which is not a problem. What confuses me is how is a bait that hasn't left the bottom going to fall on slack line? Or do you mean give it a little slack after moving 6-12" so that a bass has some slack to pick it up and start to take it off somewhere to eat it? My point being, it sounds as if the bait never leaves the bottom, which is fine. It's just that combining that with the word "fall" caused a facial tick as I tried to imagine it in my mind Great advice though and I notice many of the things that have helped me to catch bass on plastics... but your approach is more fine tuned than mine. I'll be trying it before the weekend is out! Thanks, Vorlin

Ok, I missed a comma. I blame it on the dog trying to be in my lap as I typed! In muddier water, they rely more on their senses of smell and vibration / hearing. After all, a wobbly crank down't make "noise" the way a rattle trap does but bass can feel the pressure waves from it's vibration just the same. Vorlin

Back to the question at hand... I'm trying to learn as fast as I can because I've had a 25 year period of no fishing in my life... so I have a lot of learning to catch up on. Because of teh radical changes in water condition around my favorite river, I've had to research a lot about water conditions. Remember, bass are primarily visual *when they can see*. When they can't they use their ability to sense vibration in the water and their keen sense of smell as well. If the water's that muddy, then think about what you'd need to do in order to be able to catch a blind bass. Rattle trap or Super spot, scents and other such things immediately come to mind. So, after you figure out what they're eating at the moment (shad, crayfish, etc.) you also need to ask yourself how is it that they're able to locate these things? And there is where you'll find your answer. No one can really hand you an answer to this because we don't know those waters the way you do... all we can do is get you thinking about things in a different way and, hopefully, that combined with your knowledge of the area will get you looking in the right direction. Good luck! Vorlin

Now that it's here, bring it on down to Fredericksburg this Sunday and, hopefully, a group of us can take it out wading in the Rappahannock and really fill it up! Anyone interested in this outing can get hooked up on the organizational thread in the Southeast Forum. Wading in 1-4 feet of fast, clear water that's loaded with smallmouth and crappie. Incredible scenery, good fishing and NO BOAT TRAFFIC! (Boats can't get there without being destroyed... well, except the occasional canoe or kayak). Vorlin

Ahhhh but young grasshopper has much to learn from decrepitus fartamous.... "You gotta spend money to make money..." "What goes around comes around..." "The wheel of Karma..." The very act of trying to give someone else good luck often leads to those efforts producing luck for the one who works for the sake of another. The more you try to put in, the more you end up with yourself... think of it as "spillage" from the act of trying to fill the "bottle". Vorlin

Umm, guys? I'm not that dumb LOL. There are dozens of great holding areas and I never take more fish than I can eat in the next 48 hours. I have only 2 fillets in my freezer and I have never taken home a limit, except from a charter boat outing on the Chesapeke Bay. In fact, the only time I took home more than 2 fish they were catfish... which are over-running certain areas around here. Everything else is C&R. When I say that the holding areas aren't producing fish, I'm not talking about the same 20 square feet of water. If you have 5 boulders and 3 downed trees spread out over an area the size of a football field, and you take home one fish from one boulder this week, when you go back the following week you should be able to find at least a fish or two in the other 7 holding areas even if it is only a little C&R 2 lb fish that needs to grow up. I mean that there is NOTHING biting, regardless of size, in any of those areas. Vorlin