Kyle S

I also should have mentioned that I have that reel in the 1000 size. Once again, never gave me any troubles! Good deal even at full price.

That reel has served me well over the past year. I've caught quite a few bass on it paired with a medium light lightning rod. Great little reel.

This season was the first that I had my own boat. With that, I had access to all kinds of new fishing opportunities. I fished the Pamunkey river every chance I could and had a blast. I found a creek that seemingly always had fish on it. That creek is where I spent the spring, summer and the better part of this fall. Now that the fish have moved out of the creek, i'm like a fish out of water and can't seem to get on a good consistent bite. I should've gave that creek a rest and explored other areas of the river.

Any and all pies. I don't know if I've ever had a bad slice of pie?

Thats awesome!!!

Setting a trap to catch craws sounds like a fantastic idea to be able to see what color and size are most abundant in my waterways. I had my first experience of 'matching the hatch' this past summer. I was in the middle of moving rocks along the shoreline so that I could launch my boat into a friends pond when I spotted a crayfish that was dark green and had orange claws. Needless to say I tipped a green pumpkin baby rage bug with orange spike it and HAD A BLAST that day. I might just have to try trapping crayfish in the river that I fish to try and get a better idea of what they look like. Thanks @Michigander for stirring my curiosity lol

As @A-Jaysuggested, braid to a leader around rocks is a win. Straight braid around rocks (what my mind immediately assumed)not so good. At least in my short time as a wannabe-fisherman

Personally, I wouldn't recommend fishing braid around rocks. I tried it once and learned my lesson.

That thing is sweet!! Congrats bud

Firstly, thank you all for each and every one of your suggestions. I went out to the Pamunkey River this morning (jig in hand) and was greeted with high, muddy water. Current is usually fairly strong in this river however today, the current and the added 15 mph winds had the boat moving at nearly 6 miles and hour, when I took my foot off of the trolling motor pedal for more than 10 seconds. In my opinion, the main river was too rough to fish. To a wide (wind protected) creek mouth I went! Sadly, no fish were caught during todays outing. Next weekend I'll be back at it and will hopefully have a picture or two of some bass with jigs hanging out of their mouths.

Nicely done sir! Gorgeous fish!

I know I wish I would've gotten a bigger outboard on my boat. Good Luck and make sure you share pics of your new ride when you get it!

I hate to add my .2 cents and not directly answer your question, however I've been throwing my weightless 5" senkos on a MF Daiwa aird x casting outfit. Ive enjoyed the power and action suit a stick bait well. Rod blanks aren't something that I'm very educated in! Good luck.

Thank you all for your suggestions! You hit it on the head @Catt. This simple fact is why I know that I'll have days where I don't catch a thing. Skunk days albeit frustrating, have the potential to teach me that much more about my jig fishing pursuit and bass fishing as a whole. I'll try to embrace that mindset on the days where I come back empty handed. To elaborate and share some background....Throughout my relatively short time fishing of 7ish years, I've fished jigs a fair amount, and am familiar with its qualities both good and bad as a productive lure. Like many of you have, I've had days where all they want is a jig, I've also had the days where they don't want anything to do with it, and I've had many days in between. I've acquired quite a few jigs, capable rods and accessories for jig fishing over the past handful of years. My 'goal' with this endeavor is to further educate myself and strengthen my jig fishing as a whole. I want to work on having the intuition with jigs as @WRB mentioned in his most recent thread. After work today, i'll have to post some pics of a few jig catches and gear that I use for jig fishing. Now, to answer some questions, and ask some of my own... 1. Most of my fishing is done on the tidal Pamunkey, Rappahannock and Chickahominy rivers here in Virginia. How can I find out about crawdad population in these rivers?? is there a specific resource you recommend? 2. Largemouth bass are the more plentiful species in my waters. Smallmouth and Spotted bass are available, just further up river than I typically go on an average trip. Largemouth will be the primary target. 3. I'll certainly be sure to focus heavily and try to capitalize on the heavy feeding periods when they occur in my waters. I do indeed have a boat. A tracker grizzly 1648 all-weld with a 40hp 4 stroke. I purchased a Lowrance elite 9 Ti2 when I bought the boat this past spring. Admittedly, I haven't used many of its features other than the gps. It has side scan and downscale capabilities. So the answer is no, I don't know how to use my unit to its full potential. I have both casting and spinning tackle, and am confident in using both. I'll surely read more of your posts Tom. I was looking forward to your comments. Thanks again to everyone. Finesse jigs have also given me most of my confidence in jig fishing. Absolutely right about them getting more bits. Looking forward to that finesse jig to regular sized jig transition. DO IT!!! Ahhhh yes! Skipping a jig is one the most attractive qualities that draws me to jigs. By no means am a Gerald Swindle jig skipper, but I'm learning. one backlash at a time? 10-4! thanks

"If you want to be a better jig fisherman, leave the rest of your tackle at home and solely throw jigs." I want to take this statement, and put it to the test. Where should I start? What should I do to maximize my success? What variations should I start with. Have 2 different jigs on the deck or have 10 different jigs on the deck? I'm excited I'm committed. I want to report back with all of my results, including the 8hr days I spend throwing a jig and getting skunked. I also want to share the days where I catch a PB as a result of this test... Good idea? or a bad idea? Please, share your thoughts.

Oh how true this is?‍♂️

Like many, I've backlashed my fare share. I've tried undoing it like @Glenn suggests in the video and have had a moderate amount of success. A key part to this technique actually working for me is repeating the step where you crank the reel handle while holding your thumb firmly on the spool, multiple times. Rarely have I had the backlash come out during my first attempt of this technique. After a few attempts, it usually proves successful. When none of my undoing a backlash attempts work....The Gollum in me comes out

Nicely done!

You guys found all of those in one day?!! Thats impressive! I bet if i could put the rod and reel down for two seconds, I could find lures like that at my river. No need for a tackle warehouse sale, just go the lake and get them for free!? That thing is a STUD.....

Another trip to the pamunkey

Love me some Rappahannock Fishing! I plan to fish it more this upcoming summer. Snakeheads and chunky largemouth are going to be the agenda. Good stuff fellas

HECK YEAH! GET SOME

Trip to the Pamunkey River yesterday. A few chunky fish were caught, plus ol' humpback made an appearance and destroyed a hook during his arrival into the boat... Apparently humpback's photo size is too large... working on it.

I'll be on the Pamunkey River at 6am sharp, texas rig rage bug in hand.

I second having the senko as a crutch for quite a while. For the past two years I've honestly gotten away from throwing it and like you, have become successful with various other lures. But...I've relapsed?‍♂️ I'm not strong @12poundbass A jig is what I want to feed the bass....but the bass want me to feed them senko's?‍♂️ to make matters even more basic and depressing...the only color I throw is #297 green pumpkin...