TOXIC

Now that I am in the non ethanol camp for the boat I use a site to check. Www.puregas.org

It’s been 3 years since we put our weim down. Still hurts. They give us their all. Sorry for your loss.

Sorry, my bad. I read that completely wrong. My apologies. I get a little touchy with Senko misinformation. It’s fine to call all stick baits Senkos but if you are going to criticize, you need to be brand specific since there are differences. Again, sorry.

My fishing partners 2023 Ranger 520 is “”Wind Pig” And my old 2005 Ranger Z21 is “The Black Pearl”.

As I have always said, there’s usually 1 bait that excels on our trip to lake St Clair every year. One year it was a Staycee jerkbait in just 1 special color. We caught fish all day, every day for a week on that bait and luckily didn’t lose the only 2 we had to toothy critters. As for the Smithwicks, I used them trolling in the guide service for stripers. Went with a group to lake Champlain years and years ago. One of my first introductions to smallmouth. This was a very competitive group and the non boaters rotated through the different boaters. I went out with one of the better anglers and when we stopped, I grabbed my rod that had one of my trusty Rogues on it. He laughed and said they never throw jerkbaits for smallmouth. 4 casts and 4 smallmouth later, he made me swear not to tell anyone else. 😂

It seems that you are “that guy” who makes misleading statements and doesn’t like being corrected. I am actually correcting misinformation.

Was the plug out?

Careful with the broad brush statements. I know everyone calls stick baits “Senkos” but I know for a fact that original Yamamoto Senkos do not swell up like the knockoffs. That’s in no way saying they are any better for a fish if ingested but there’s a better chance of passing it if it doesn’t swell. I’ve always saved used baits and thrown them away on land after a day of fishing. I’ve also seen a fish pass a hook with 3 inches of mono attached to it. This last trip to Headwaters in Florida I caught a smaller bass and he puked this up.

I’d be hesitant to put any kind of locked structure. That just implies there’s something worth stealing inside. If you are looking to cover your v-tin I would be more inclined to put up an open fronted structure and chain the boat to a post. I have a buddy who has a cabin in the woods in Vermont, very isolated, and it still got broken into. Luckily he had cameras and the perps were caught. They stole booze and ate his food. Bottom line, it’s like the saying that soft to jeep owners have….”Don’t put anything in a soft top jeep you aren’t willing to lose.” Same with isolated sheds IMHO.

Seems to be all too common nowadays. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjN5L6L6LKEAxXtGVkFHUyaCX0QFnoECBEQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.outdoorlife.com%2Ffishing%2Fdisqualified-kansas-record-crappie-stuffed-with-ball-bearings%2F&usg=AOvVaw3A4w6fmysr2uTIV-NukMqu&opi=89978449

We got a mere dusting. Quite a difference from the 5 to 8 inches predicted. It’s going to be enjoyable to listen to all of the weathercasters backtrack after upping their predictions at the last minute before the storm.

We also drove right by Garcia on our way to Headwaters from Blue Cypress.

That’s funny because we have stayed the last 2 years on a canal on Blue Cypress. Rooms back up to a canal we could tie up on. We were always told Blue Cypress was a lot tougher and shallower. Next year I found a studio apartment on a private horse farm 2 miles from the access road.

@txchaser I threw the fat Senko weightless on 8lb mono when the wind was not blowing hard but was still blowing. If it was gusting I would throw the regular 5” Senko with a screw in nose weight (fast fall, thin profile). The Fat Senko gives more bulk and a faster fall than a regular 5” weightless, without the bulk of a 6” weightless. Kind of what I call the Goldilocks process…too big, too small, just right. I did throw all three at times. All of them were thrown on spinning gear so excessive “line bow” was a major problem.

So is Kenansville worth a day the next time we go down? One of the years we went to Kissimmee, there was an Elite Series tournament or at least practice week and one of the pros (I can’t remember who), invited us to follow them over to that lake. S aid the bite was on fire while Kissimmee was fishing tough.

Not so fast…😂 AlertFauquier! Winter Weather Advisory issued February 16 at 3:24AM EST until February 17 at 8:00AM EST by NWS Baltimore MD/Washington DC * WHAT...Snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 2 to 4 inches, with localized totals up to 5 inches possible. * WHERE...Portions of central and northern Maryland, The District of Columbia and northern and northwest Virginia. * WHEN...From 10 PM this evening to 8 AM EST Saturday. * IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour are possible for a few hours tonight under the heaviest snow bands. Visibility may be reduced to less than one half mile at times. Slow down and use caution while traveling.

When I wade fished the Shenandoah River, I had a lady I worked with that had 3 acres of riverfront. She got it in a divorce and her ex got the cabin about 1/4 mile down the road. They were always planning on building on the 3 acre plot but never did. In exchange for us grooming the shoreline and trimming the trees we got unlimited access which is like gold on that river. Law is as long as you stay in the river you can wade anywhere. I knew about 3 miles of that stretch like the back of my hand. We camped many weekends up there. She sold it to a deputy sheriff who always said we could fish anytime but he built there and it was awkward. Enjoy your purchase!

Because it becomes apparent to anyone who fishes that if all of your posts were nothing but stellar, you are probably not being 100% honest. I used to tell my guide clients, “ I can take you to the fish but I can’t catch them for you”.

So sorry.

@ol'cricketysometimes the harder it is, the more rewarding it is. 😉

To me it’s a “Hallmark Holiday” and if I have to reassure my wife I still care for her then I’m doing something wrong. That being said, we will be going out to a fancy farm to table restaurant tonight. It’s a good excuse to drop a few bills on a meal. Sometimes we need to be pushed into splurging.

A lot of my buddies are investing in EPIRB’s. Especially after the incident on Okeechobee a few years ago.

And just to add there’s a proposal on the table to pave the access road that is currently 4 miles of bone jarring, trailer and truck destroying washboard powder dust. That’ll open the door for even more traffic. Also, isn’t the ramp privately owned or on private property? If the rules don’t get obeyed like no parking on the grass areas (even if you have a wrapped truck and boat) and trash all over the lot, then what? Close the ramp? Make it a pay lake? The bathroom was over the top disgusting when we were there with 5 or 6 bags of garbage inside along with fecal matter spread all over the place. It was not pleasant. You are right, the guides are making a killing right now but for how long? I told one of my local friends that we fish with that they need to set up a citizens group to help with all of these issues.

When we go to St Clair in May the target is smallmouth. Lots of em and bigguns. Largemouth, Goggleye, Pike Musky, White bass, etc., are all by catches. We may make a day for Walleye. At home here in Virginia on the upper Rappahonock River, Largemouth are the target and Smallmouth, snakehead, catfish and panfish are all afterthoughts.

@casts_by_fly you could be right and that would explain why the basket we found was so smashed up. The baskets were plastic mesh also. Here’s my problems with what could arguably be the best bass lake in the country. First, the guides have reportedly been getting more and more aggressive with tourists and other fishermen. Claiming “spots” as their own. I’ve heard reports of law enforcement being called because of firearms being pulled. Personal note we have never run into this problem in the 2 weeks we have spent on the lake. Second, the guides all go to the same spots and I personally read a report from a guide who caught a largemouth with 3 circle hooks in its mouth. Lake rule is that if you shiner fish, you must use circle hooks. It finally hit me this trip that the guides are recycling a lot of the same fish. Look at it this way, if a bass gets caught on Monday with live bait, gets released and then sees another live bait Tuesday, is he/she gonna eat it? Sure they are. While they may get conditioned to artificials, they will never turn down live bait and in their peanut brains, they’re getting fed in the process assuming they get the shiner. Finally, the rules on netting shiners have been updated and the FWC survey taker at the ramp told us that while netting is allowed, bait poles are not and we personally witnessed a shiner netter with bags of hog feed on his deck, launch to go net shiners that he will eventually sell to the local tackle shop and then they get retailed for $25-30 a dozen. Some guides go through astonishing amounts of shiners in a day. Third, plain crowds. When you get people from all over the country coming to a very crowded and small launch, there are a lot of incidents of just plain bad launch etiquette, this we have encountered. It gets even more testy when one of the launch lanes gets socked in from floating vegetation and everyone has to launch and retrieve from just 1 ramp lane. I have parked in the overflow grass field across from the launch a few times to avoid the crowd and possibly damaged trailer from inexperienced boaters. I will say we have been very comfortable out on the water and not being pressured by crowds. Finally, if your not a tourist and booked with a guide for a day trip and you are like us where we go for a week straight, lodging is a real issue. I’m not keen on staying in a hotel off interstate 95. It’s only a matter of time before the hotels popular with boaters start experiencing thefts and vandalism. It’s unavoidable. The last 2 years we have stayed in a set of 4 rooms on Blue Cypress lake. They are in the middle of nowhere and are very secure even though parking is an issue and it’s a fairly long drive to Headwaters from there. Next year I found a studio apartment on a horse farm 2 miles from the access road. Gated, totally secure and close. I can see lodging being an issue for fishermen in the future. At this point, the pluses outweigh the minuses so we will continue to go all the while keeping my finger on the pulse of what’s going on. Pics of launch line and remote parking.