James Janousek

The shad run is going full blast right now. Went out on Friday and caught over 100 hickory shad between 2 guys. Mostly big fat hickory females. Only 1 american shad and a couple of small stripers. We put in at Ancarow's, but make sure the tide is right, at low tide people could not get in or out there is so much silt at the ramp. My dad is out there now with the Project Healing Waters guys taking some disabled veterans out. I'll report back with how they did. The key is using a fly rod with sinking line. We had boats all around us but we were just dialed in. They were ticked they couldn't catch them like us, but that's the way it goes sometimes. It was every cast for awhile with at least 10 double headers. We used a green slab daddy crappie jig. You can catch them on spinning gear throwing a small gold spoon, but you need around 1/4-1/2 oz weight above it and a 2-3 foot leader. You have to get it down to the bottom. With a fly rod though, it's an easy 5-1 catch rate over spinning gear. I hit up the pond at U of R yesterday after work and did well. Steady action on the ned rig with 6 total and 2 right at 2.5 lbs. I'm taking the kayak out tomorrow. Either going to try the reservoir or the james.

Many inshore spinning rods have a moderate or mod fast action and they are not intended for cranking. I think they are more for live bait situations and for speckled/sea trout with softer mouths. I've cranked with fast spinning rods, it's not ideal, but it works. I was even using braid to fluoro leader. You could probably go mono with a fast action and mitigate some of the shock.

20lb braid with a 2-5ft 10-20lb flouro leader is my go to for an all around type setup. Once you get used to the zero stretch in braid, it's difficult to go back to full mono or flouro. If you are fishing heavy cover, go heaver on the leader. If the fish are line sensitive, go longer/lighter on the leader. Like MC said above me, braid is easier to knot, fewer backlashes, no memory, etc.

Come to Virginia!!! Avoid northern VA (aka NOVA) as the traffic and cost of living is ridiculous. I'd recommend central to south west VA. You can get multiple acres of land on the cheap and still be within 30-45 mins of Richmond. Within a couple hour drive you have an unbeatable array of species you can target: James River - Largemouth, Smallmouth, Stripers, Blue Catfish (100+ lbs), Walleye (yep), American and Hickory Shad run in the spring Like to fly fish? stocked trout streams in the mountains, muskie in the Shenandoah Inshore fishing - Rappahannock/Piankatank/Chesapeake Bay - redfish, sea trout, striped bass, croaker, cobia! Offshore Fishing - Hampton Roads/Va Beach - tuna, marlin, 50 inch red drum, black drum, tilefish, flounder A dozen public impoundments with great bass fishing - check out Wayne P.'s posts here on Briery and Sandy Creek near Farmville. 50+ fish in a day with multiples over 5lbs common. 10lbers occasionally. Smith Mtn Lake/Lake Gaston/Lake Anna/Lake Chesdin Plus farm ponds everywhere.

Online only.

Sam's Club has a couple of Strike King bundles on sale with free shipping. KVD Perfect Plastics Bundle - $30 normally $50 10 Piece Rage Bundle - $43 normally $60 No choice of colors, but they seem to be fairly normal/popular, not the leftovers that won't sell.

I had the tackle warehouse backpack but returned it. Straps were way too small and uncomfortable. I bought the Cabela's one and it's been great. I use it almost daily and fish from shore wearing it for hours. The waist strap makes a huge difference. Also, can hold a water bladder. If you just need a bag to store your stuff and/or lug it to the pond, there are many options. IMO if you fish from shore a lot, you need a dedicated fishing backpack. Something that can hold a rod or two, and has enough space for all of your gear.

River2Sea made an improvement to the new 110 whopper plopper. The tail section is now convex where it connects to the body, this helps prevent grass from getting in there and fouling up the action.

Stopped by Dicks last night to just kill some time. Lucky Craft was on sale, 2 for $12. Megabass - $5 off. LiveTarget/Yo-Zuri crankbaits - 2/$10 or 3/$15 if I remember correctly. The selection was not very good but seems to be the case at every DSG.

I would recommend an assortment of different hook sizes. 3/0, 4/0, 5/0 EWG, a couple of finesse/drop shot hooks too. Hooks take up no space and weigh nothing. I'd also throw some weights in there, bullet, drop shot, split shot, etc. Just like 2-3 of 1/16, 1/8, 1/4. Again, they take up no space. The bigger issue is your plastics. Flukes, Senkos, worms, creatures, toads, ned rig. Those all take up a large amount of storage space. What I do is have a box full of terminal tackle/hard baits, then I keep a zip lock freezer bag for a plastic assortment with 6-12 bags in it depending on the time of year and body of water I'm going to fish.

My thoughts on why you aren't catching anything: 1. You and/or your friends are making too much noise, thus spooking the fish. 2. You are using the wrong gear. Medium to ML spinning gear with light line (8lb or less) is all you need. 3. You are using way too large of a lure. Small pond = small fish = small bait. 4. The large fish you are seeing might not be bass. They could be carp. Carp love getting in the shallows and are notorious for jumping out of the water for no apparent reason. Not all big fish you see are bass, actually, most aren't. 5. You are fishing too fast. Slow down everything, and when you think you are going slow enough, go slower. Here's what I would try: - Go alone and be as quiet as possible. - Downsize. The majority of bass in there are probably <12" Target those first before thinking about getting anything with some size. - Ned Rig - Green Pumpkin Z-Man T.R.D., 1/10 ounce mushroom head. Or Green Senko, cut in half, 1/8 - 1/16 jig head. Find areas where it won't get hung up in weeds or snagged. Twitch it off the bottom. Alternatively, cast out as far as possible, slow steady retrieve, 1 foot under surface. - Zoom Salty Super Fluke - White Pearl or Watermelon Seed - Regular size but don't sleep on the jr. if you can find it, 4/0 EWG, Texas rig, weightless. Twitch, twitch, pause, jerk, pause, etc. Mix up the retrieve but make sure it's not always up on the surface. It has to look like a wounded baitfish. Weedless and works the top 2 feet of the water column.

I agree with Bluebasser, most people retrieve it too fast. Slower, the better. I really prefer the 130 over the 90. Just got the 110 delivered today from TW, itching to give it a try. Last time I threw the 130 in Bone and stuck with it all day, I had a 3lb, 5lb and a 5.5lb, lost two others that were 3+. The 5 pounder hit it about 15 feet from the kayak and it scared the cr*p out of me, so they will strike at the end of the retrieve too.

I used to live in Stratford Hills and fished the z dam and surrounding areas very often. When the water is low, you can fish it safely, however almost every year people get trapped there due to the hydraulics so wear a life jacket. You have to downsize, light spinning gear and small lures. One of my favorites that always produced was a small floating Rapala minnow, silver and black. Cast into eddies behind rocks or right into the main current. The other thing you can try is a weightless senko, wacky or texas rigged, and fish the deeper water right above the dam. I've seen some big smallmouth come out of there. With all that being said, I would do what Sam recommended.

I live in VA and fish the James often. I would strongly advise you to not bring your boat. There are large rocks everywhere in the river and with the low water levels this time of year, you won't be able to avoid them. Water level is 1 to 2 ft max with "deep" holes being 6 feet. Everyone who fishes that area is in a canoe or kayak and they are scraping rocks constantly. An aluminum boat would get destroyed. Only guys that have aluminum boats run jet outboards and stay way further down river, like just west of Maidens. Closest ramp around there is probably Wingina. Rent or borrow a kayak, launch there and paddle upstream. Or get a tube and a cooler of beer, float and drink. Not sure if there are any guides in that area, but maybe a guided float would be ideal. Hope this helps.

Tackle Warehouse has the 110, it's just the silent version. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/River2Sea_Whopper_Plopper_Silent/descpage-R2SWPS.html