Kris2016

5 years active duty with the US Army, Vietnam Vet, VA Hospital attendee

It was my Mother who taught me how to fish after she was taught by a co-worker. That was mostly for perch in rivers off the Chesapeake Bay. As time went on I fished a local river, Patapsco, with Friends or by myself once in a while. In those days we caught anything that would eat a nightcrawler. Fast forward to after the Military and I started fishing for bass since I got a couple chances while on active duty. A neighbor had a boat and fished local reservoirs, that lit the fire again. From that point to now is ancient history.

I imagine the Salisbury, MD store will stay open. It seems to be busier that most of the other GM stores I have visited. The closest one to me, York, PA, looks to be staying open above.

You had a really good day there Brian. I assume my day was a matter of spawn and weather for so many of us to have one or none. There are some very good sticks in this club with lots of experience on Little Seneca. I am willing to bet that our next trip there will not have the same outcome.

Sorry I am late getting back to you on this. I think I truly threw everything but the kitchen sink because I couldn't understand what was going on. I have had days catching only three but Never just one. I threw: Wacky Worm - Green w/black flake TR worm - Several colors with blue, green and junebug Swimming worm - blue fleck Mega Shake Jig in white 1.5 size crankbait in kinda bluegill color, shallow diver Little larger crankbait in sexy shad, medium diver Livingston Stickmaster in clear with clown colors Kinda frog color swim jig Carolina rigged floating wacky worm Small spinnerbait in firetiger The one I caught was on the green w/black flake wacky worm. Around wood seemed to be the ticket for most everyone. The one guy with a limit was swimming a blue fleck worm. I fished the blowdowns on the shore to the right as you leave the ramp. Spent a little time in blowdown rich areas. Down around the bridge. Back across the lake and up the shore to the next creek arm. Back in the creek arm to almost the standing timber. Fished my way out of there to the main lake and back to the launch ramp. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Fished Little Seneca Lake on Thursday with a Club Friend. Overcast and light rain before we launched but rest of the day was ok. We figured that the crazy weather we have been having and the spawn would probably have some effect on our fishing. We threw everything we could think of and then some. He caught one undersize and had a couple of LDRs (Long Distance Release)of a couple that probably would not have met the minimum either. Saturday was our Club Tournament and there was a weather change, it rained all day. Again threw the same as I had on Thursday plus. Partner this time caught three, all smaller than minimum and I caught one 13 1/4 on my favorite wacky worm. One Club Member had a five fish limit with some nice catches. Weather here has been crazy for a while and the spawn seems to be going on. I am figuring that has the biggest effect on the fishing this week.

I don't have any red shad anything in my collection. I have not heard anyone having that as a producer in my circle of Friends here in Maryland. My favorite and best senko-style producer for me is green with black flake. Many of the guys in my Old Guys Club have depended on Berkley blue fleck worms for many years. Guess I might have to try a pack of them sometime.

Way to go Granddad! With that smile it won't take much to keep her interested.

Congratulations on the new Personal Best!

Finally got out on my first trip of 2017 with a Club Member Friend. We didn't get in the water until 11:30 or so. We fished until around 3:30 and called it a day. Boat control was a little hard because of wind gusts around 20 mph on the main lake and even some creek arms. Water temps were in the mid-50s in the creek arms and a couple of degrees colder on the main lake. Once we got into some creek arms where the wind was slowed we had a much better time but still didn't catch fish at first. We finally moved into my favorite creek arm and didn't catch anything for awhile. Then in one 15 yard section of the shoreline I caught three and my partner caught two. We both lost two fish. His line broke on one, both of us had the fish spit the hook and I had a Trilene knot fail, not sure why. All in all a good day for the first trip of the year. No fish to waste a picture on but they all were keepers. The boat performed perfectly and I got to try out my new Dobyns Rods and Daiwa Reels. Now I can't wait for the Club Tournament on Saturday.

Up until a month ago I owned two Berkley LR Shock rods, one spinning and one baitcaster. Both of them worked fine for several years. I sold them off at a local bass club flea market so I could replace them with better rods. While working my last job I was on the road everyday in a large territory that stretched from Lower Delaware, through the Eastern half of Maryland and down through Virginia to the NC State line. Most of my rods came from Walmart Clearance Sections in three States. I had a Falcon Bucoo Micro M ($40) that I used for Lipless Crankbaits, the two LR Shock rods and a Skeet Reese Worm/Jig rod for $25. Bottom Line, you can find some really nice little deals there but look the rods over before purchase. They do tend to get handled a lot by many people and some are not careful. I have sold off most of my Walmart arsenal in favor of fewer Dobyns rods now that I am retired. I still have the Skeet Reese, one Bass Pro Extreme and two Gator rods. One Gator I have owned since the early 90s that I had retied and one given to me by a Friend. I have gone from 14 baitcasters to 7 and 3 spinning rods to 2.

I used to spray WD-40 on my plastics during the Winter to keep them soft. This was years ago and I am not sure if they have changed the way they are made. I have recently tried it on some older, slightly hardened worms that a Friend gave me but that is inconclusive at the moment. I have used it years ago to spray inside wet distributor caps on boats to get them started. I believe that WD-40 is Water Dispersant - Mix 40. But don't quote me on that.

Luckily most of the places we have stayed over the years offer outside electrical outlets and we charge the batteries with thier permission. A lot of places close to large lakes have them IF you ask.

2017 will be a pretty big change for me and my fishing. I have sold off a lot of my fishing rods and reels to downsize my arsenal. I have purchased what I consider better quality rods and reels to get me started. I have changed my single line supplier to multiple suppliers and added a bunch of new lures, soft plastics and cranks. I have several things to add to my boat this Season. A dv unit for the co-angler and so I can see how much water I have for the outboard/transom mount trolling motor. I also will be adding two more batteries further up front for the bow trolling motor and start replacing the batteries. I plan on becoming a more versatile fisherman starting this Season. I am usually a pretty staunch soft plastics user so I plan on doing more crankbaits and spinnerbaits among other things. I have a couple of other ideas on things to try and will get them going after April 1st.

Kris2016 from Maryland asks............."If you are scheduled to fish a lake/river that you have not had the chance to pre-fish or haven't fished in a long time, what are the three most important things you look at?"