JCrzy4Bass

Fished them once two weekends ago as a topwater search bait early am on a very pressured lake. I managed one keeper at 1lb 5ozs and had another MASSIVE blowup by the boat but was so surprised I was unable to hook up. I agree with big O. Once the fish that slammed my bait went under with the bait I had no issues getting a solid hookset with a 4/0 EWG heavy line hook. I can't wait to try these out again at a local pond this weekend in my dad's canoe. This place has trophy fish and is virtually unfished. Cannot wait to see if I can get a pig to attack it. I also agree with Brad, this thing fished around grass is probably just as good as a frog (except for the fact that you obviously have to fish it a lot quicker as the action is not as great under water). The keeper from last weekend (nothing special, but a start... and it makes me a believer). It came off a main lake shallow grass point in about 2.5' of water:

Hey guys, My dad and I are taking the canoe out to a local pond on the marine base on Saturday and then to Chopawamsic Creek as well. Anybody been fishing on base lately? If so how is the pond action and or action on the Potomac portion of the base? If no one has been on base, how have you guys in Nova been doing at the ponds around town lately? What seems to be gettin em'? I know frogs in the grass have been well for a lot of guys early in the am and Mann's Minus Ones have seemed to be a can't beat lure this year around here from spring up until now. What about later in the day when the fish head deeper? What are you guys throwing at the ponds around this time? I was thinking of using my A-Jigs, Boo Jigs, Pigskin Jigs (all tipped with Yum Craw Chunks), and my 7" Zoom Trick worms on a shakey head later in the day. Any other suggestions?

Hey Susky, where abouts do you guide? Do you have a web site I can check out? If so please pm me the link. I know there are some nice smallies and you can have a great day out there on that river if you go with someone knowledgeable and my father and I haven't fished it yet. But we love smallies and are looking for a good way to start our trek in exploring some parts of the river now that we have tried the james and rapp wading wise. I'd appreciate any info you could send me. Prices would be good too. How does the guest house work? How many can go in the boat, etc? Ps: That is a nice fat bronzeback you got there!

Lot of factors come in to play. Depends on what kind of cover you have in your lake. Is it primarily rocky areas, rip rap, fallen timber, etc. In summer most of the bigger bass are found deep (subjective depending on the type of lake, reservoir, pond, etc) and a good way to work them during the day is to use a finesse worm on a jig head (larger size worm for bigger fish unless they are very pressured on that particular lake). 7" - 10" is normally a good size to start with if targeting larger bass. Some bass live shallow year round, it's just part of their nature. You can fish for these fish using topwater poppers/plugs early in the am, frogs, spooks, etc. Later in the day fish on the shady side of the banks and use jigs and or worms and depending on how aggressive fish are spinners around timber, lay downs, etc. These are typically good summer patterns. If you have a lot of grass on your lake work that with the same baits during the day. There should be an article on the main bass resource site about summer bass fishing. Give it a look, it's bound to help you out. Bait ideas: -Zoom Finesse Worm -Zoom Trick Worm -Senkos and or swimming senkos -Boo Yah Baby Boo jigs with Yum Chunk Trailers or Uncle Josh Pork Trailers -*** Stick Baits Weigh down worms texas style with tungsten weights or carolina rig them. Lizards can produce well on carolina rigs as well.

George as always I *** your persistence, wealth of knowledge and ability to always put together some kind of pattern to find nice sized fish. My dad and I will make it down there one day to fish Stick Marsh. It's definately on my list of places to visit and fish with a guide. Thanks for the pictures. Keep catching buddy.

I just bought one of these, 3/8oz white and red cavitron at dicks Friday night when my dad picked up his new canoe. I also got a rapala subwalk in a sunrise color type pattern (orange/chartreuse) etc. I'm excited about the cavitron mostly because I am used to power fishing so fast in the morning with search baits and so forth and quicker buzzbaits like the boo yah and strike king models. Now I can slow down and get those less aggressive fish and more reaction strikes as the bait is gonna have longer to sit in that strike zone. Will be trying it out Saturday morning. I'll let you guys know how I do with it.

Dude... I am envious. Did you say "a week" at Lake Erie?!?!?!? I would love even one day in a boat, heck I'd fish from shore. Man those fish get me stoked and ready for smallie action just looking at em' man. Nice fish, glad to see your first smallie outing was one you will always remember. Someday.... someday I will make it up there. Good job bud!

Nice bass dad. Need to get there early one morning when the path is open and try a buzzbait and or rage tail. It would be sweet to nab one of the trophies from there on topwater. Bass look healthy. Good job out there, can't wait til' I get a chance to get back on base and fish some of the ponds.

In other words: If a lake has been productive for a couple of days it can all of a sudden go dead when a rain and or front moves through. If the bass aren't biting well on a particular body of water you've been fishing for a while, sometimes the rain and or front pushing through (during the actual rain) can turn the bite on for a brief period of time. It can go either way. So in other words, why not give a lake a try during the rain to check and see if the later is not true? Sorry if the first post was not clear.

Thanks Catt, I'll look for those next time I use em. Or I may just take rws advice and put my smaller jigs in the bottle with em' lol. My bigger jigs may not fit (1/2oz, etc) but we will see. Thanks for all the methods guys. I'm gonna save this thread and try some of em' out and let you know what works.

Haha, Paul Naj and I were pitching into the dam between those posts and stuff one day last week. I got one bite on my senko but missed the hook. We thought it looked "fishy" lol. We tried the shoreline to the left of it on our way out but we were trolling fast and fishing shallower pitching to overhanging shade and stuff. Now that I know I will definately give that a try man. Thanks a lot dude.

Hey Matt if you launch at fountainhead, how long is the ride with a 9.9? Which direction do you head and how far up is it? I may try that out next time I go.

If you want fish after the rain, go to Burke. I never do well there, but right before and or after a good front moves through that place surprisngly can be killer (now more so since the sun will be going down soon). I normally have a lot of success fishing plastics on the outside edge of the cove to the left of the launch ramp right where the deeper water starts. Curly tailed worms have been good producers when I do this. Rain can kick start a feeding frenzy just like a bit of wind. However, it can kill a lake that has been productive for a while too. Normally this is also a good time to take a look at the top of the water and keep your eyes open for any feeding activity, the water is normally much calmer unless the front brought winds with it. It is a perfect time to really take notice of whats going on and take advantage of stuff like that. Spinners are good for this as well as quick working jerk baits (especially if the rain was a cooler one).

Cool, let me know how the new depth finder works out. My dad just upgraded his hummingbird as well and got a garmin on sale. We are still getting the hang of it. Wasn't downgrading your ability at all. I know you guys can fish. I read your reports whenever you post on the rez. Good luck next time out. I'm gonna try fishing deeper next time out with jigs, weighted plastics, and deep diving cranks. Gonna work at finding some of those points. Just gonna take time, that place is HUGE.

I was just curious what other guys throw these in here. I know they are a quality bait and I have caught quite a few bass on them but I never seem to find an ideal condition for using them and or any other type of mid depth to deep diving crankbait. I guess its because I find myself using lipless cranks so often I sometimes underestimate the potential of these shad type baits. I fish the Potomac River a lot and I know that shad is a primary baitfish just as well as the well known lake to the south of northern virginia, Lake Anna. What is the best time of day, best type of structure, best type of water depth to cast these into and pull out bass? I'd like to get them more work instead of letting em' sleep in my tackle box.

Hey LAB, you gotta let my dad and I in on how you fish that place one day if we can make it down. How much are the tourney fees? Maybe it would be worth doing one day to see what other guys are doing down there to catch consistent limits like that. Anna is always one or two fish anna for me. The most weight I've pulled in a day is my pb lol. Good job man. I'm gonna have to check out some of those *** as my best friend Andy lives by them. It seems since they are different in nature than a lot of other plastics that they may be just the ticket for over pressured Lake Anna. My dad and I normally launch at Sturgeon or Dukes and fish lower lake. We have almost no experience upper lake. Are most of your summer fish caught off main lakes or in large branches/coves outside of the channel and on tapering and or sharp drops?

I'm assuming that lunch money has bought a quality depth finder lol. Either that or it's just the fact that I've seen that these guys fish this place week in and week out and have tons of experience out there. I need to learn fountainhead like all these reservoir junkies. I get all caught up on all the fallen timber and brush and grasslines out there and fish visually. I need to get out of that habit and probe for deeper structure/cover. Problem is I don't have a depth finder or "fish finder" to take with me. An investment I need to look into obviously.

There are miles and miles of unpreserved shoreline on the upper potomac where people can walk through woods to get to any secluded spot, catch as many as they want and bring them home. Game wardens are becoming more strict on both rivers and lakes (that I've noticed this year). My dad have seen them a lot more and even got asked to go through the checklist once at a local lake. You need to tell whoever the park rangers/office workers are at the launch that youw ould like to speak to the local game warden or be given a phone number where you can report the info. Take note of the stringer if you get a chance. If the fish are within limits there is nothing that can be done (hence why these are put into place). You have a long journey ahead of you, those don't change unless populations deem neccessary per the river/area biologists, etc. My dad and I always report people if we know they have fish outside of the limit. Catch and release unless your within the guidelines and or fishing for trout/panfish/etc.

No, just makes them really greasy. Word of advice... do not wipe your forehead if you are sweating because of the heat. Did that today and then went to work... I smelled lovely! Lol. Good times.

Hey Bk I keep a pocket knife in my bag and I didn't even think of that. I will see if it's still sharp tommorrow and if so I'll give that a try. Thanks for the idea buddy.

Do you guys trim the skirt on the A-Jig? I saw how long the skirts are and decided to try trimming mine a little so the action of my trailer is not negated. Just curious as to if you guys are doing the same or if you find the longer skirt works well and you just need a larger trailer chunk like a zoom chunk. I love the 1/2oz version of the A-Jig so far. Boo Yah Boo Jigs were my prime jigs up til' now but I think I may add a couple of these to my tackle box since they are a bit more expensive at 3.50 a pop. Caught my first fish on it today on my first cast with it. Small, but felt good.

Ok so the mini frog pork trailers are REALLY hard to get onto my jig hooks. Anybody have an easier way of getting em' on here or softening them up a bit to get em' on? The action is unbelievable on these trailers and I've caught a few fish in just a couple of outings but it takes 10 minutes to get the trailer setup on my boo yah jigs. I also use Yum Chunk trailers and Yum Wooly Bug trailers but I'm limited on those right now and I've had more luck with Uncle Josh lately. Just trying to see if there is an easier way. Thanks in advance guys.

Hey Paul glad to hear you at least got one nice sized one. Least your catching keepers lately lol. I haven't been catching many. Even using jigs I'm still catching small fish. And these are big boo yah jigs w/ large trailers. The Occoquan out of Bull Run can be fun. I love fishing that bridge at the launch. My dad and I have caught a lot there. I'll let you know where and how we've had luck through pm. We gotta get out again soon man. Last time was a blast.

Nitro, I'll send you a pm tommorrow after I check my work schedule. Thanks dude.

Nitro, let me know where the private lake is and I'm down dude. I love private farm ponds/lakes. I'm at my best there ( like most).