JCrzy4Bass

Better than my dad and I fared out there on Saturday man. Nitro knows that lake like no other. You got out with the right person. Good job on snagging so many keepers. We only managed two keepers but missed a couple others out there this past weekend. Where are the lunkers?!?!? I see the pictures on their website, but then I hear a lot of the bigguns are caught on live bait! Bleh! Lol. Good job again man. If your free Thursday we got a couple people hitting Mercer for the big ladies! Let me know.

Hey Novacat! Welcome to the forums dude The south east section is rocking with guys ready to trade info back and forth and join you on the water even. Lots of good info here. Look foward to hearing more from you. Hey onthereel, did you end up fishing anywhere else on Monday? We got a thread up about Thursday if you are free and wanna hit up Lake Mercer with us. Let me know.

Nitro, we boated 8. Only got 2 keepers out of the bunch, both early morning. Your topwater advice paid off as far as where to fish. We focused a lot of time on grass lines and ledges, some submerged grass but it was difficult to fish. We found the quick drop you spoke of but couldn't buy any there. The first cove to the right of the dam was best as we caught both keepers here, I lost another here and we probably would have caught more had we started our efforts here. Anyway I didn't try out the lizards at all so that's one thing I would have done if I could go back and try again. Other than that we saw some guys on that spot by the chair you spoke of, mostly pulling up dinks. Weren't having luck catching keepers either. This lake is not the easiest place to fish. It got up to 96 degrees without the heat index and the water in the afternoon was 84. Whew! Talk about uncomfortable. I'm surprised we had as much luck as we did. Thanks for the info man. My blogs will be up by the end of the evening (linked in profile). Check em' out if you get the chance. I'll have specifics there. Blog is finally up, sorry for the delay. Work has been crazy. Will have pictures up in a couple of hours as well as a report on Lake Mercer from yesterday.

Hey Paul. Check out my bitsy jig thread (tackle section). I actually caught THREE on a jig this weekend. I haven't caught but only one in the past year up until this weekend. So that pitching you showed me has already payed off. The fluke is a seperate issue but I think it's cause I have the wrong hooks and or wrong Zoom bait (as some pointed out in the super fluke thread I started in the tackle section). I am working on that. I did lose one on it but it was a reaction strike and it threw the hook on the first jump as I did a half hearted hook set because I wasn't sure on the bite. It was rigged up on a split shot/sliding sinker rig (1/8oz tungsten weight). But they ran funny like this. I'm working on the fluke thing but I think it's just gonna take time and I'm gonna have to find the right situations to try it. Check the threads and respond there if your up for it man. I'll have reports on both lakes I hit this weekend on my blog site by the end of the evening (linked in my profile).

Got my camera in my car but I will grab it during lunch and get pics of the nicer fish on here then around four o' clock or so. I will have a report for both Germantown and Lake Mercer up on my blog site (linked in my profile) before the end of the night if anyone is interested in what the fish are doing at these lakes. I put together a good pattern at Mercer today though I only landed one keeper along with four dinks. I also had a couple flash on a certain bait as well so I just need to experiment with colors and retrieves there. I'm gonna try the same pattern at a different area of the lake (where the bigger fish are known to be) on Thursday and see if it all works out. If so I'm hoping to have some bigger bucketmouths on my hook by the end of the day. I have another thread open about Thursday in this section. If you wanna join me respond there.

Thanks for the info on Royal Mud, I appreciate that. I am actually gonna fish Mercer (decided today after pre fishing it for a few hours). I managed five fish this morning in just four and a half hours or so. All were decent but only one that was well over keeper size at 1lb 4oz. I was catching them on a lot of different baits so I know I was just in the wrong location for the big fish today. I think I have an idea of where I have to be when I go on Thursday based off where I found fish today and how they were positioned. I put together some decent patterns in a short time and I'll have all day to fish with one of my buddies Thursday and pick them apart. I may hit Royal on one of my nights next week to check it out since I haven't been in a while but I know Mercer holds big fish and I am due to catch one of them with the way I've been catching lately. If you wanna tag along or find a way, let me know. If not maybe we can hook up some other time at one of the other local lakes. P:s: Accotink isn't known for big fish but there are some great spots on that lake where you can pull multiple fish off of a solo piece of cover. They really are much more present on the side of the lake by the dam. If you want more info on where to find them shot me a pm and I'll throw you some spots. I haven't caught anything over a lb and a half there but there are a lot of 10 - 12" fish to be had. If anyone else wants to join me and Andy and catch some fish on Thursday shoot me a pm or let me know here and I can tell you where we will be meeting up. Report for yesterday is found on my blog (linked in profile) if anyone decides to join us and wants to getr an idea of baits, locations, so forth. Later guys.

Good stuff guys. Guess what? Over one year fishing a jig, one fish to show. This weekend Saturday - Today I had two outings. Caught three bass on jigs. I think my whole problem was lousy and small trailers that weren't drawing the fish in. Two of these fish were caught off of a Booyah Baby Boo Jig in green pumpkin with a Yum Wooly Bug Trailer in Pumpkin color. The other fish was caught on a Strike King Bitsy Bug Jig in Cajun Craw with an Uncle Josh Pork Trailer in brown color. The first fish came on Saturday by pitching under an overhanging brush on a tapering ledge going into submerged grass. After the pitch I let it sink down and hopped it twice through the top of the submerged grass and I got two solid tugs. I landed a small fish at about 3/4lb. The second two came using a quick hopping, swimming method on the bottom. I was basically letting it sink and then hopping it along rocks and away from timber I was tossing too very quickly. The first fish came as I approached a lay down I was standing next to and went for about the same as the first fish. The other fish was a small keeper caught off of a fallen log at the end of a cove and went for 1lb 4oz. Hit after the third hop away from the log. So I think I'm developing a certain style of jig fishing that works for me. While I can make the presentation (working on accuracy) as far as pitching to overhangs, brush, so forth... I can also swim/hop a jig fairly quickly away from cover and nab some fish using my run and gun appraoch. So I'm pretty excited to add this to my arsenal and needless to say will be picking up some more Boo Yah jigs and Wooly Bug trailers to use in the future. The action on those trailers and Uncle Josh Pork is so natural and it adds bulk to the jig allowing for a slower fall and a more enticing action. Thanks to all those who helped me with my jig problem and got me on track. This pitching method and the action I have added to some of my jigs have helped me add another powerful and different presentation to my fishing.

Nitro, thanks dude. I'm printing this thread and throwing it in my tackel box as you've provided some great info. I'll let you know how we do and thanks for the pointers in the pm. Sounds like we have a lot of options aside from what we already had planned. I appreciate it buddy.

Hey guys, I don't have the boat nor will I have money for a rental on this day so I'm primarily looking to shore fish here in NOVA. Right now I got some ideas but I'm not sold on anything up to this point. I would really like to do a lake in the area. Ideas I have are Lake Royal, Lake Mercer, and/or some ponds around my area. The lakes all have ample shore room without having to walk through a ton of grass if you don't want. I don't want to be tick infested with the amount we have out right now. So if anyone wants to join me I'll probably pre fish a couple of these areas on my night next night (Monday) to see which I may be more interested in. If anyone has fished any of these spots (Mercer or Royal) lately and had any luck please let me know so I can better prepare to have a good day.

Mark sounds like a good idea but let's wait and get some others interested to see if we have guys that have boats or are ok with renting. But so far this sounds like a good idea. With you on board that makes a total of six. Myself, you, Pete, Joe, Simon and Andrew. So far a couple of schools represented: GMU, Shepherd U, UVA and VCU. So far looks like Mid July is best bet... I'm thinking the 12, 13 or 20. All days I have open and seems like others may be able to do. My other ideas for lakes if we want to add to the list are: Germantown Lake in Fauquier County, The Occoquan Reservoir out of Fountainhead Regional Park, and or Lake Orange. All of these places have boat rentals and potential for big fish. But I have no problems with Lake Anna if others can agree as well. Let's get some more dedicated people folks. Ideas thus far are Lake Anna and Potomac River, however no rentals out of the Potomac making it harder unless we get quite a few more boaters. Mark let me know if you find any recruits. Try to find them from as many schools as possible if you can. And if they have a boat or can rent it's a plus. Keep in touch with me via pm. I'll make you my other organizer on this if your up for helping get it together.

That Paul Pierce jersey is looking more and more tempting each basket he makes. Though I doubt I'd be able to find it around here with the surge they've had lately. How bout' my boy Ray Allen finally stepping up in the clutch though? That's a comeback. Looks like the lakers D just gave up. Proud to be a Boston fan in times like these. I'll stay with the Boston in six theory. I think the Lakers take one more game... maybe. If that energy carries over into game five the Lakers can kiss that ring goodbye. And for once the critics at the beginning of the year were right, KG and Allen have proven themselves in Boston and added to the perimeter and draw the double team away from Pierce (not that he couldn't handle it anyway). Just hope Ray has a couple more years left in him.

Catt, thanks for the tips man. I'm just learning pitching and flipping now and practicing like crazy. I practice in my sleep. I fish a lot of grass so this is gonna come in very helpful when I'm out on the water tommorrow. Thanks a lot bud.

Hey Nitro, how and where do you throw your lizards at Germanton? Do you throw them on a carolina rig, split shot rig, texas rig, etc? Do you work mostly the grass in that upper area of the lake after you pass the docks? How has your luck been fishing the grass at this lake? Or do you normally look for different types of cove like timber, the few stickups available, shoreline structure, etc? Last time out I crushed the dinks on a Sexy Shad Lipless crank which I may throw a bit early morning as a search bait in the deeper water outside the grass lines or over submerged deeper grass, but after my topwater. I've had luck with a spinnerbait lately so that may be my go to search bait tommorrow. As far as topwater what do you find that works best for post spawn fish here? Just curious. I was planning on tossing a Shad Rage Tail and a Zara Puppy. Think that's a good start? Buzzbaits haven't done anything for me this year. Any other posters who have fished here lately can respond as well. I'd like as much info as possible.

Another guy who has been fishing a LONG LONG time and gets to some of the more known waters that hold LARGE bass is Wayne P. He may be able to offer some insight on a lot of stuff. Seems to catch fish beyond belief man. Dude is awesome from what I hear as far as other guys on here. From his posts it seems like he fishes more lakes and reservoirs. I second Sam for the Richmond area. The man has some great advice. But as Rondef pointed out everyone on here has some great information they could give you in one aspect or another. If you really want to go pond hopping and find some nice fish use google maps and look over the Herndon/Chantilly/Centreville area. There are some gold mines around this area. Ponds at almost every intersection in some places. Some are private but you can find some fishable ones that have soem nice fish in them. One thing some guys do is take a print screen and then circle the ponds of interest and come back on here and post to ask questions about em'. Someone always seems to have fished it at one point or another.

Brian, thanks for the in depth info. I will give it a shot tommorrow and let you know how it works out. I bought a few bitsy bugs the other week too so I will give them a try. What trailers do you like for the bugs?

Thanks again guys, all these responses get my geared up. I will always be happy catching bass no matter how small. Just ask my buds on here and my dad how excited I get when I hook into a bass. I may not be Ike but I get pumped. I will never let size deter me from getting out there. I love bass fishing and with my determination and willingness to learn I know it will eventually come. Dad, I think this weekend is it. I'm feeling good about tommorrow morning! Pb time baby!

Thanks for the replies guys they all make good sense. Fishin' man that post was really cool to read dude. Thanks for the support and confidence buddy! Glad to hear you're having a great year and hopefully I'll be in that boat soon. I am going to start fishing the bigger fish waters more often when I get the chance. Alot of the places I fish though (lake wise) do have plenty of 4's and 5's in them as I've seen a lot of pictures and witnessed a lot of catches. But I think now that I have confidence I'm gonna can the small fish waters.

Hey Peasey, where is Abingdon in relation to Northern Va, say like Woodbridge/Manassas? Where did you catch that hog in your avatar dude? That's a nice fish! On a jig?!?!? That's my philosophy too Peasey, swings are free. Do it all the time with spinners and or other single hook lures.

How can we not call ourselves a family here? I've never seen a forum, discussion board, blog site, etc where any group of people relate as much as we do. Fishstick, that was a real cool thing for you to do man. Shows how much of a class A type guy you are man. That's exactly what makes this place what it is. This place brought my dad and I closer, got me some great long time friends, and showed me that there are definately some great people left in this world just as basschump stated in the first post. You guys rock. Keep truckin' bass chump. And when you catch that pig, make sure we are the first to know.

Hey guys, I just wanted to put this out there for all guys in my situation. I have been bass fishing for over a year now (though fishing longer). In this time I've learned and feel comfortable with a variety of baits making myself as versatile as I feel I am capable of up to this point. I catch bass on multiple baits on most days out and I am fine and happy with my results. However in a year's worth of fishing I have only pulled in a handful of bass at or above three pounds. My personal best is 3lbs 8ozs out of Lake Anna, Va. I am mighty proud of this fish. However, sometimes I get down on myself for not producing larger because people around me who have been fishing less time or just starting have caught 5 and 6 lbers out of the same places I fish and work on every time out. It's great to see others have success but it sucks not being able to produce fish like that as well. I know I have myself to blame since I was probably not throwing in the right places or the right baits (or large enough baits) for the situation to get a big fish. But you would still expect to stumble upon a 4 or 5 pounder somewhere as much as I get out. I have taken it upon myself to aim for bigger fish after catching my limits now. My friend who has been fishing a long time (member of this site I met not too long ago) taught me how to pitch and present my larger plastics and jigs better this week. I am working on this as well as walking the dog (he showed me this as well) and swimbaits (Lake Fork Magic Shads, Flukes, etc) to try and coax bigger fish. I would just like to know how many other guys find themselves in my boat? If you have fished for over a year and are still chasing your 4 pounder let me hear from you. I am happy catching the 150 plus fish (dinks, fish between 1-2.5 lbs) I have caught over this time but now that I am fairly consistent I want to work on fishing stronger, being sure I get that limit and then sticking it to the pig! I'm ready and I'm pumped and dang on it, I am TELLING myself I am going to make this happen soon. This is now a confidence building thread. So you guys that are struggling to rip big berthas lips chime in and give yourself a confidence building push to achieve more and chase what you've been after. I feel semi better already now that I got this out and admitted my guilt to being the "captain of the dinks"!!!

Leave it to me to be cheesy in saying that "the only dumb question is the question that is never asked at all". But this is so true. This place provides an extensive library of articles, posts, topics, and ideas that will always have you in the know. You can never learn too much thanks to this place. Thank you as well to all on bassresource for your words of wisdom and explanation of techniques, baits, and general fishing knowledge.

Nice carp dude. Yeah spawn is longer over now by a couple weeks here but have been focusing more on bass lately so haven't got a chance to get out for em' but once or twice missing a couple both times. A lot different than bass fishing lol. But I will prob give it a go one day in the upcoming weeks. Hopefully I can land one like that. Good job again man.

Hey guys. I've been using these jigs exclusively alongside of jig-x jigs (which I can no longer afford right now, at least in bulk). I throw them with either Yum Chunks or Jig X Trailers. However I really have a below par jig game and have only caught one fish off of them. The rod I'm using and line (Suffix High Performance 30lb) has excellent feel and is awesome for plastics so I have decided to try throwing jigs again and really dedicating some time to learning them. My buddy a couple days ago was kind enough to teach me the pitching and flipping technique which honestly doesn't seem too terribly difficult. However I'm sure it's gonna take years of practice to get pin point accuracy. But I was successfully pitching worms and other plastics the other day under overhanging tree branches full of leaves, under some cut banks that were quite elevated (not tough ones), and next to some laydowns. My question to you is I'm gonna spend an hour or two Saturday on the water working on this technique. The lake I'm going to has a couple isolated docks that we are going to try, some stickups, a couple nice drop banks, a TON of grass, and some overhangs that I can remember. What would be the best area and or spot to start working the jig for a beginning pitcher? Of course I will be going to it later in the day after the topwater is over, I try location baits and reaction type baits. The other question is my buddy also said if you don't get a bite after the fall and or after popping or hopping it a couple times in that spot, reel in and try another spot (at least that's his style). How long do you recommend working the jig on each particular cast and how hard/soft do you recommend popping it and so forth? Lastly, when working grass how do I differentiate bites from just movement through the grass?

Not really awesome at all. Just fish some particular spots of the Potomac very often. Typically what works for my dad and I as we often catch our limit during the summer following things like this. If you can locate the channel bends inside of the larger creeks like Mattawoman and use the topographic maps provided on the USGS website with your electronics to guide you they are not too difficult to find. I think you have to pay for the maps online now but if you go to the Potomac Bass website you can actually get em' for free still as they have them posted there. Might be worth it to just purchase though. It's come in handy for my dad and I as we have been learning as we go and doing a lot of reading when we aren't on the water so we are more and more prepared each time out. As far as fishing deeper it's general rule of thumb during an outgoing tide on most tidal waters. That's not to say you can't catch them shallow during this time as we've caught shallow and deep. Just normally as the tide recedes the fish generally move out with the bait into cover that is a bit deeper. Just my two cents though. I'm no "pro".

Haven't ever really been a fan of the brush hog (so I don't carry them anymore) and my jig game is way sub par so I didn't really want to focus on weaknesses my first time out here. After working on my jig game a bit more and my pitching throughout this month and next month I may slowly start working the jig back into the arsenal. I have plenty of them and trailers in my tackle box. Anyone have any good ideas for jig trailers that work on the rez well? I normally throw the jig x trailers, double tail grubs (for more of a swimming popping action), and or Yum Chunks. I normally use either a brown/pumpkin type color jig sometimes with greens mixed in or a blue/black jig with matching trailer. Like I said not an expert with jigs though I've thrown them for over 50 hours plus, but I think I may have been throwing them the wrong way the whole time so, after yesterday I plan on trying to use them with pitching and getting them into better spots and so forth. Paul gave me a few pointers yesterday so I may try them after I try and get my limit this weekend and then see if I can't hook into a bigger fish with one. Either will be at Germantown Lake, Lake Lunga, or Lake Anna. Haven't decided yet but will tonight. Ps: Stickum, we went up to the right once we launched.