TOXIC

As I said it's a crime....consequences of the crime are depriving others from catching the fish, just like in your example keeping someone from legally purchasing the car. If there were no consequences, it wouldn't be a crime.

Also have him show you how the lights/bilge/livewell work. Keep track of how everything is wired just in case you have to do any reworking in the future. A question would be is the bilge an automatic or manual? How to fill and empty the livewell and a rundown of all the switches. My only concerns would be that it is structurally sound. I think you've asked the right questions.

Here's my experience with Oakleys. I started out with dark grey and a blue mirror tint. Good glasses for all around use. My glasses are Rx Oakleys. As the old saying goes, "A jack of all trades is a master of none." I found they were great for driving and all around use in the boat but when it came to bed fishing they were lacking. I just got new ones after 4 years and this time I went with copper lenses. Dark enough for all around use but better suited for bed fishing and water penetration. My big bed fishing trip is May, I'll know if I made the right decision then.

Correct, you need a bilge pump in case you get caught out on the water in a heavy rain or heaven forbid the hull has some sort of breach. My only concern would be if it is a riveted hull, that it is watertight. Rivets have a habit of leaking over time and this is a 1993 model so it would be a concern. Any hull leaks (riveted or welded) need to be addressed. Since your only propulsion is the TM's, proper care of those batteries is a must unless you want to paddle in. Also, have the owner give you a lesson on the electronics, how to hook up and how to operate the unit. It will save you a lot of learning time.

Oh, I'm sure there are others. In the 16 years we have been going Marcel has been out that entire week as well with clients and they always are doing well. I keep up with him before and after we are there as well. I just know that from personal experience he (and his guides) are some of the best and he is one of the few that I would recommend without hesitation or reservation.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to shut out all of the local chatter, sit down and go over a map and use your own logic to put a pattern together. When fishing a new body of water, I put a plan together that hopefully will lead into a pattern that I can replicate quickly. Not saying local knowledge isn't a help but you can't let it get into your head either.

You'll do fine with a guide. They should be keyed in on the fish if they are worth their salt. We are going the 18th-25th of May (our annual trip for the last 16 years). We rent a cottage on Harsens Island. I can only hope you booked with Marcel Veenstra and his guide service.

The flat is usually 2-3ft with a couple of channels that run through and to the outside of it. Normally there is grass. No grass yet this year we both of these fish were caught in 4ft+. May not seem like a lot but in this area, it is.

Looks like a good rig for what you plan to use it for. Make sure you have a quality battery charger that will charge those Optima Blue Tops properly. Go to the Optima website for details. Watch the wind and weather because if you get too far downlake and the weather goes bad, you aren't getting anywhere very fast in that rig. Does it have bilge pump(s)?

If I'm not mistaken, that's a swim jig that if you let bounce on the bottom too much will hang up in rocks with that pointed head. I would be more apt to go with a paddletail plastic in a bluegill color and swim it slowly. But that's just me.

Dare I say, "It's all about the Benjamins". Established location with a willing fan base located in the heart of bass fishing with good amenities to support the venue. And I would guess a willing Chamber of Commerce willing to pay to bring them back.

We were fishing a known spawning area but we caught no bucks up shallow and both of these fish were caught on the first drop just outside the spawning flat. No sight fishing, the water was like creamed coffee. IMHO, neither had spawned but you are correct the second fish looked like she was trying. Notice the tails.....

It's a crime. They robbed someone else of the opportunity to catch those fish legally. I know the DNR here in VA doesn't play around with poachers. We don't keep largemouth but do keep Crappie. Many times it's the fishermen who are fishing to provide food for their families that overharvest. It may be customary in their home country if they are not from here or even for sale in some cases. Doesn't make it right.

Need a lot more info. What battery are you running now, what are you running it on, how old is it, how do you charge it.....It's always a safe bet to go bigger .......but........ why is your cranking battery going down? The only thing that should be hooked to that battery is your graphs, pumps and lights.

Oh, we've been doing ok but I'm totally baffled why the spawn is so late from what we've seen. This is from last Saturday, one on a shakeyhead with a Pro Senko and one on a nose weighted Senko.

Pull the prop and look for weeds or fishing line. There's only so many things that can bog your TM down. 1. Low battery (you say it's good) 2. Fouled propshaft 3. Water in head unit 4. Bad control board 5. Bent shaft Have you tried it out of the water to see if it increases with the controls?

Odd, the Potomac has been high and muddy most of this spring and the bite for us has been best on s-l-o-w plastics dragged on the bottom. The fast moving baits have been very effective on Mr. Whiskers.....

Ahhhhhh......Old Glory!!

My favorite color.

I like to stay down South if possible but do run up North if that's where the bite is. The wind was brutal at times. Enough so that we didn't want to make the run from Aquia to Quantico Creek to look for grass. When we saw the mud line from the mouth of Aquia, that sealed the deal. We threw a lot of moving baits as well (chatterbait, rattletraps, Spinnerbaits) but they definitely wanted it slow and on the bottom. The lack of grass in the traditional areas is very concerning but it seems like everything is behind schedule this year.

Went out Saturday in less than perfect conditions. Very windy, super high tide, muddy water and post frontal. Our saying is that your not gonna catch anything from the couch, so off we went!! Rumor had it that the largemouth were on wood but we didn't find that to be true. All of our fish came from open areas of sand bottom. I was totally surprised that we didn't catch any small bucks up shallow. They should be in full spawn mode right now. The big females I caught were still plump with eggs. We launched from Hope Springs in Aquia Creek and worked about 1/2 the creek out to the main river. We watched the mudline coming down the river from DC. Grass is very sparse. Most productive lures for me was a 1/4oz shakeyhead with a 5" Pro Senko and a nose weighted 5" Senko. The wind required a weighted presentation but I could toss a weightless Senko at times or in some coves. Pics are of 2 of my better fish and a shot of just how high the tide was.

You are overpowering the fish.

We were going to make it a wine cellar but we moved before I could start work on it.

I wade fished for many years and I feel your pain. It was in the same type of water you are describing. Good points have been made to this point but I'll add what I did. First, NEVER fish upstream against the current. Guaranteed snag 99% of the time unless you are an expert at bouncing baits while retrieving line. My casts were almost always straight across the current and making my retrieve so that I had minimal contact with the rocks as the current/lure swung to straight downstream. Once there I used a slow retrieve to bounce the lure back towards me. If I snagged, it was easy to just let out a little line and the current would free the lure most of the time. When fishing I would always wade upstream and work my way downstream throughout the stretch I wanted to fish. Resign yourself that you will lose some lures but when wading, you always have the option to go to them to get them freed without breaking off. Here's a little guide tip that will also help. Every once in a while turn over some rocks and send bait flowing downstream, hellgrammites, small craws and other bait that you will be pulling your bait through.

It was an eye opener for me. The house was a builders home so he built it to his standards and was influenced by the events at the time. The oil tanks were strange for 2 reasons. First there were 2 of them. Most homes of that era only had 1 tank and it was outside or buried for easy access. My tanks had filler necks that went through the foundation and exited above ground outside. The tanks were switchable from the inside. Second, he built the house around them in a room in the finished basement. He also built the house over a super deep Artesian well and the well head was inside the house. And finally, I found the bomb shelter totally by accident when I noticed the stairs in an unfinished portion of the basement that led up to the outside, were not nailed in. After I removed some of the steps, I could see a latch. I removed more of the steps and that revealed a door that when opened led down to a solid concrete room that was 40 feet below ground level with air shafts that led to a fake wishing well in the backyard. The room was a good 30'x30' and was reinforced with solid steel I-beams. Interesting place to be sure, I always wondered if there weren't more secrets that I didn't uncover before we moved.