JCrzy4Bass

Good luck Ed and Maureen. My prayers are with you. Stay calm through the next few days and try and relax, everything will work itself out.

Hey Slomoe I know exactly where you are there. The only thing I've caught in that spot is blue gill and other sunfish on my Rapala lures. I can never seem to get fish to bite on that side of the lake. You catch any bass out there this time out? That's gotta be a fish that was released by somebody in the neighborhood or something, I can't find anything that looks like that. Maybe a rock bass or some type of hybrid perch??? I'm not sure though. I know Mercer has white perch, warmouth, largemouth, pickerel, blue gill, channel catfish, some hybrid sunfish... that's all I can think of that I've seen or heard of being caught. Cool looking fish though... hopefully someone can figure it out.

Report: K guys, not much of a report but just some information about the day and what worked, what didn't, etc. I don't know Mattawoman Creek that well yet and we may have covered about a 200-250 yard area in about 5 hours. Anyway, we fished mostly grass as that's what you expect going over to this creek, but also paid attention to tributary creek mouths and points. The first two fish were caught in about 10 minutes by my dad by throwing a pumpkinseed seed swim senko in grass clumps in the main creek adjacent to the creek channel and deeper water. Both fish went for 1lb 4oz. So we had two in the well while I still hadn't caught anything. Per reports I read on another site I decided to throw a Mann's Minus 1 Crankbait in black and silver about 5-6 feet outside of the clumps near deeper water. To my surprise about five minutes after my dad I had that 1lb striper hit and give me a nice ole fight. Man for you guys who striper fish I can't even imagine a 19-20lb fish because this 1lber gave me a run. A shortwhile later in the same hole my dad caught his two bass I caught a 1lb 4 oz YELLOW PERCH lol. Same bait on the Mann's. So the Mann's didn't manage to get me a bass but two nice size fish. It was my first striper on a artificial and my first citation fish in the yellow perch (by length) that I would later find out after tossing it back without taking a pic by a ruler lol. Anyway... After we hit that first spot we moved out a little ways up into the creek and fished about 100 yards outside of two tiny islands surrounded by mats. These mats had the same look as the previous in the way they were scattered and clumped together. After reading LBH's post on the jitterbug I decided to go buy one last week and I gave it a try this morning. The result? My first topwater bass EVER. Coolest thing. I threw the jitterbug in a nice large hole, three rotations of the reel handle and SPLOOSH! The fish went for 1lb 2oz but fought harder. That was definately cool for me. Nothing else on that bait as topwater died soon thereafter. We tried a couple other spots. One was by some pollen/algae mats near some overhanging trees on the shoreline by the military area front end of the creek. Got skunked here but had a few bites on worms (my dad). The last one we hit the first tributary as you enter the creek (since we were on our way out). I was tossing my chattreuse spinner with a redhead and dual willow leaf blades (gold) and managed to get a nice reaction bite about 2 seconds after it hit the water. I saw my line run a bit felt the pressure, set the hook and landed a smaller 12oz bass. Still nice to get a couple in a new area. I was basically running the bait fairly quick since the water was clear but I ran it parallel to the mats about 2 feet out or so. So two bass for each of us, a striper and a yellow perch to throw in the mix in about 5 hours of work in a new area. First time fishing here but you can bet it won't be our last because it was fun and we could have had a few more fish. I can't wait til' the next time out. Sorry I'm not too informative about the spots but it's a big creek and I'm not too familiar with it. I know some of you know it well and can probably guess where we were for the most part but this place is pretty hot regardless of where you go from what I hear. I know it gets a ton of pressure but if you work it the same as you would other grass areas you can put something together. Hope you guys did well this weekend. Oh, yea... there was a 50 boat tourney launching out Sunday morning out of Lee's and we got out before the guys did and were first up there besides some other rec fishers. We felt like it would be a tough day and there were times when the bite was slow but we put together some ok fish in the short time out. I didn't see many boats pulling a lot up so I guess we did alright.

Thats why you get over draft protection. I don't know about you guys but I don't normally carry cash around (at least that much) with everyplace you go taking cards nowadays and online banking being a huge deal now. I dunno.. I see both sides, but I've had this happen like over 20 times or so and they've never taken the wrong amount out. You could complain to your bank I guess and they could talk to the vendor maybe? I dunno...

I like seein' the Yanks get beat up like that. 12-3... thats a rout! We can take Cleveland... bring it on!!!! I'm feelin' good about Matsuzaka tonight. You better believe when I get off at 5, after I go pick up some new stuff for my tackle box I'll be down in front of that tv organizing my tackle and getting ready for game time. 2-0 series lead after tonight boys. Let's go Red Sox let's go ::stomp stomp:: Hey Avid, you need to get better soon because if that is your idea of a good lookin' lady now you really must not have been out in a while haha. ::shivers:: I'm eating lunch in a hour... but now I'm debating that lol.

I caught a Mo Vaughn home run ball at Camden Yards about 10 years back or so. No glove, bounced on a seat in front of me, came up to my seat I went to grab it, had it IN my hand, and some older guy literally kicks his shoe at me, hits me in the arm, I drop the ball and he grabs it. You better believe all the people in the stands started getting on the guy. Including my dad. We were ticked. Here's this litte leaguer ball in hand all happy and stuff and some guy just about side swipes you and steals it. Dude had to be in his 30's or 40's and told my dad to bug off. Got the security guard but he didn't do crap and I never got the ball. I don't care just going to Camden Yards and seeing the sea of red during Red Sox is unreal. It seems like you don't even have to go to Fenway to be at a "home" game. I love it. All the people I know that go to those games say it's worse now and hardly an Oriole jersey in site when the Sox are in town.

Wawa and Exxon do this all the time in Northern Va and they didn't start to til' sometime last year with me. I never worry about it. Sometimes it can take up to or over a week to clear. If you see the same thing after 5-6 bussiness days then check into it. You should be fine.

Does anyone have any information regarding Lake Royal off of Guinea Rd in the Fairfax/Annandale/Springfield area? I know it's a 38 acre lake and the park entrance is off of Chatsworth Ct, but has anyone actually fished it? I've fished two of the three sister lakes (Mercer and Burke) but haven't yet fished Huntsman either. I was just curious as far as the hours of the park. Are they the typical sunrise to sunset lake or do they permit 24 hours night fishing? Me and a few of my buds in town are looking for a place to night fish other than Burke Lake and were just curious. Also if anyone has fished here what type of cover should you expect and where can you find the fish? I know there's bass in here as flippin4it told me last time he was on the boat with my dad and I. Any info would be appreciated guys. I was hoping to hit this place tommorrow night if night fishing is permitted, if not it may wait til' Saturday morning at sun up.

And that's exactly why certain lakes implement those kinds of slot limits, to help the population shift torwards a correct balance of smaller and larger fish based off of baitfish or feeder fish and the percentage of so called game and predator fish. It also, doesn't help that some people don't care about these rules and break them constantly. I want my kids to have a chance to catch the fish I'm catching now, I'll be taking them to the same places and teaching them the same practice. If you want to fillet a fish thats what there are Crappie, Bluegill, Perch, and sunfish for.

Exactly. Well put Chris. All it takes is one visit to your states website regarding fishing. In Virginia it is the VDGIF and you can find them online. Look up their number, call and ask about harvesting and which lakes are best suited. Around here catch and release is a big problem. WAY too many bass are taken out of Bull Run, Occoquan River, and some of the lakes in the area. I have noticed it is mainly a select group of people but I will not get into that on here as I don't want to offend anybody. Put it this way. There needs to be a balance. The reason why catch and release is practically preached on this site and any other bass forum is because there is always going to be the people in your area who are harvesting fish that should not be harvested. At least here in northern va. If we don't practice catch and release the populations will be affected. Plain and simple. I see way too many 3-4 pounders being pulled off of live bait such as nightcrawlers and stuffed into plastic bags to be taken home for dinner... that just makes me mad. But thats my two cents.

This is exactly why me and my fiancee are keeping seperate bank accounts when we get married next week lol. We are going to have a joint savings that we use for the apartment, moving expenses, etc. You should have said... "oh how cool, the freebies I got from the magazine by ordering a new subscription". Haha. But I do know what look you are talking about. I get it every time I convince mine to go out for the 2nd or 3rd time in the same week. Lol. It's like that cingular commercial with that golfer... Honey, the guys are really wanting me to come back for another year. But you just say the word, say no and I'll tell them no way. Waits.... waits... Hey guys, I'm back! She's so happy she's speechless. Lol. I love it. That's gonna be me someday when I try and sign up for that one last run in a bass tourney league lol.

Because the tide has turned, the Pats used to be the ones who always complained about not getting recognition and not getting the press that they deserve during that first Super Bowl run. After that everyone started jumping on the band wagon and gunning for the new flava quarterback Tom Brady to light it up each season because of his unstoppable line. The Colts got the hype last year though with their run for the undefeated season. It's a toss up between the two teams and it really just depends on what the commentators views are early on, they get on the band wagon and stay there until they see the team falter in some way or another. If Addai can stay healthy with that many carries per game, which right now is questionable... and provide some depth to the offensive attack with a nice running game they will be tougher. It's tough in a one back system because that guy has that much more chance of getting beat up. That's why there's so many two back systems now. The Colts defense does look like it's playing better this year though they lost quite a few guys in the backfield and on the d-line (Harper, Mcfarland, etc), they are coming together. They will be real tough to beat, but I think they are beatable. Shanahan had a great 1st half of play calling, minus a few things... if Denver could have kept composure in the second half that would have been a closer game. I think early on Shanahan should of went for it on the Colts four yard line as much as Henry was banging their d-line and tried to take a big momentum shift early on by getting up by more than just 10 points and opting for the field goal. Their run defense is the best in the league right now but we tore into them and they looked shady in that game. If Henry can do that there are a lot of other backs in the AFC that are better and should be able to take advantage of the holes in that line. Not to mention Cutler is still a young quarterback who will make occassional mistakes, sometimes more than others, the Colts just capitalized off of that and played a good all around game. At home against the Colts you have to get ahead early by more than a touchdown because they own the second half and always come out with a 2nd half game plan that kills the opposition. Gotta have a team with great coaching as well, Dungy has brought that team a long way. But I think if I would rather play a team I would chose the Colts. Manning can check down to running backs and recievers over the middle, but Brady can throw to someone who can have 3 defenders on him and still manage to make the catch. There's a difference between spectacular catch recievers like Harrisson and Wayne, and clutch or all around recievers like Moss who is one of the smartest wide outs in the game.

So... any of you guys happen to see Beckett throw a monster of a game last night? Retiring 19 straight batters in a row. Another post season shut out for my man! Looked like he was pretty much invincible last night. And he's on the mound again for game 4. If there even is a game four... And how bout' BIG PAPI puttin' another one over the wall!?!?! That's my dawg! With Wakefield coming back healthy in the next series and the Indiands taken' care of those Yanks I think we pretty much got the AL sealed up. That's right, you heard it here first. Boston takes the AL. Get excited boys, so much for waiting 80+ years for a repeat eh? Pretty simple.. it all comes down to pitching... and with our pitching staff how can you argue we don't take this? That and the NL never has our bat strength and there certainly isn't a better heart of a lineup than Ortiz and Ramirez. Not to mention a defense with Varitek behind the plate, crisp in CF, Lugo at shortstop and Lowell at third. We have a pretty solid core to back up our guys on the mound. I'm getting excited. I think we finally have a solid franchise and one that can take a few more WS before the vets like Schilling, Varitek, Ramirez and Wakefield are gone. GO SOX!!!

Good post Micro, even though I'm not from the area I'm sure alot of us were unaware of exactly how this process worked. Now we can understand these breaches and droughts a little bit better as we have an example to compare it too. Makes me want to go out and learn exactly how the Occoquan Reservoir operates and the other lakes from the Northern Virginia area. To me that stuff is complicated, and I know a bunch of guys up here get the river confused with the reservoir and such.

Bottom line. Defense wins championships... unless your the Colts! lol. But seriously the reason why the Pats are number one in power standings on NFL.com and ESPN.com is because their offense literally is unstoppable with the protection brady has on his O-line. Randy Moss is obviously undefendable with Brady back there throwing him the ball. Look at these guys on the sideline, have you seen a connection anywhere near this since Moss and Culpepper were together in Minnesotta? And I agree with you guys talking about New England's injuries. Seymour will be back soon as well as Harrisson. Between them, Samuel at the corner, bruschi and vrabel over the middle and the rest of that outstanding defense this team is the team to beat. History speaks for itself. Brady still has Peyton's number. Manning beat them once in the post season... barely. Manning chokes in the big game and he got one good win last year. The Pat's are the proven team to beat with as many bowl wins as they've had in this decade. That team has solid coaching, a solid o-line, great quarterback, depth at running back with maroney and faulk, and a great defense. New England wins it all this year... hands down. I do agree the Boys look good though and I think Romo is really coming along as a qb. Did you guys see St. Louis' defense cave on that over snapped ball? Pathetic. While Romo hasn't seen many good Defenses, neither has New England. I can't wait for that game between those two, it's gonna be awesome! That and the Green Bay/Dallas Game. I can't wait to see Favre vs. Romo.

Haha, so true Chris!!! My fiancee caught a huge carp at Ft Belvoir a few months back got it to the shoreline but it snapped her line when me friend Troy went to net it. Every time she tells the story of it splashing by the shoreline and the 15 minute fight it gains another pound. I mean I know I exaggerate sometimes but I'd say that fish Grimlin just showed is pretty dang close to the one d's friend caught. That fish is a bit over 2 lbs, I'd call 2lbs 5oz or so. Nice fish, but not 6! Ps: Did he end up eating it? Or is he getting a mount...? And oh yea... that pic in my Avatar... 2.5lbs even on my digi.

Ok, where to start.... Well... if I had a child and they were of age to surf the internet, I'm sure they could stumble across worse things than a clothed picture of Mrs. Angelina Jolie. As far as comments on the site go. If things were getting offensive to anyone, I'm confused as to why the thread was just not cut off sooner. I know Glenn is a very generous guy and he normally let's us know when we are getting out of control, but I think he warned a couple of people or warned everyone a couple times in that thread if I'm not mistaken. Also, I think a child logging on to an AOL chatroom, or Yahoo chatroom or whatever it is that these kids use nowadays would see much more graphic textual content on there than they would here. Not to mention I don't think half of them would understand the context in that the adults spoke on this particular thread here. As a teen I used instant messenger religiously and trust me my parents didn't have a clue as to who I spoke with or what was talked about over IMs. And I know that there are teens and adolescents that have pcs in their own rooms, whose parents don't monitor anything until they stumble across some of the sites they have been visiting (if they even know how to do that). To me this thread was just a bunch of us guys having some fun, getting some laughs and poking fun at a particular movie icon so to speak. Now if we wanted to get really vulgar I think we could have picked someone much more trashy, such as Brittney Spears... lol. However, I can see where those who may be offended are coming from, but to me... you have the choice or option not to open the particular thread per the title or the first few comments that were made in the first place. Just my two cents... P:s: CONGRATS ZEL!!! or should I say Muddy? I think we are all awaiting a speech from the great Muddy who now needs to accept this great gift of generosity! Speech, Speech, Speech...

Wow Burley, I've never seen those pics of Avid until now... I have to say that you matched that to perfection. Don't worry Avid, you'll be back for some of the best fishing of the year... then again do you guys even have seasons in Florida? Haha. Hope you heal up soon bud so we can some more of those humble pics! I guess this is the best I can do for an Avid Tribute pic. I got some work to do:

Congrats on the new bundle of joy. You mean to tell me you didn't buy him a fishing combo for the baby shower? Now what kind of grandpa do you call that? Haha. J/k. Put him in as soon as he can wrap his hand around that cork handle pops. He'll be fishin' that tourney before ya know it! Congrats again!!!

basstrackers, bayliners and a party barge, strung together like a floating trailer park anchored out and gettin loud all summer long side by side there's five houseboat front porches astroturf, lawn chairs and tiki torches regular joes rocking the boat that's us the redneck yacht club!!!

Hey guys, I've been fishing plastics for a long time now mostly senkos, twisty tail worms, tubes and brush hogs (not as much). Anyway I normally fish these weightless but sometimes I'll add a 1/16-1/4 ounce sinker to help it drop around ledges, drop offs, deep water applications, etc. My question is where can I find those hooks for Florida Rigs and how do you rig the weight? I mainly fish texas, do not like carolina rigs at all due to the bulky combo of everything during the cast and am open to trying new techniques like florida rigging and drop shotting (which I am no good at but want to get better at). If anyone can point me in the right directions with this Florida Rig I'd appreciate it. It looks like it really helps keep that weight stationary and not sliding freely on the line which is what I'm looking for. I'm in northern virginia and not a big fan of ordering online so if anyone could point me to brands that I could find in certain stores I'd appreciate it. I have Dick's Sporting Goods, Boater's World, Walmart, and Sports Authority. Bass Pro and Gander mountain are in reach but over an hour away so I'd like to stay clear of those if possible. Also if someone could let me know brands as far as weights for florida rigs and not just hooks that'd be helpful. Thanks in advance fellas.

Nice bass man. Looks like the 2.5-3lbers I've seen my friend pull out of my local pond. I'd guess around 2-14 - 3-2. Looks like a nice 3lber though. Congrats on the fish. I normally only throw the white senkos when going after smallies in clear water with decent current. My other favorite colors for largemouth are purple or natural, watermelon, or my all time favorite pumpkinseed. I like the swim senkos for the pumpkin seed. I never thought I'd be a worm fisher because I'm not exactly patient but the swim senko has so many applications and you can fish it so many ways, with a slow constant steady retrieve, hopping it across the bottom, popping it like a jig, dragging it over cover or mats, etc. Gary Yamamoto is a genius. I agree the senko is a sure fire bait and great way to put a fish in your live well or land it or whatever, but as Avid said lately I've kind of tried to learn new baits and get better with the hard baits just because they are fun to fish and they can trigger GREAT reaction strikes. I've had fish slam my Mann's cranks, Rapala baits and Strike King spinners. I've prob caught about 3/4 of my 60 fish this summer on senkos though.

Well... I was only going to buy a frog at Walmart tonight (to compliment my zoom hornys and sizmic toads) that my friend nailed two lunkers on the other day, but now I have to buy a topwater too??? Dang old bait monkey is at it again. ::evil monkey points finger at LBH:: Great fish guys. Wish I was up on those New England waters, I'm from Lowell, Mass and moved down here at 10. Never got a chance to fish em'... sad. Although I do have relatives to put me up. Maybe you guys could put me on some good bodies of water.

Sam, Basspro48, Dominion Dan and btlva for their help on starting off fishing for smallies. From spots on the Rapidan, Rappahannock, and James to baits as far as tubes, senkos and topwater plugs go. These guys gave me invaluable information that has helped me tremenduosly. I have caught almost 10 smallies in my first 3 outings and landed my pb 1lb 13 oz smallie my last time out and a 1lber at the James the time before. I really had no clue how to get started with this stuff and these guys helped me learn a couple of things that would allow me to start off and be able to catch off the bat. These guys even told me how to cast with current being a factor, how to retrieve, and where to look for the fish. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am. Thanks guys. Also want to say thanks to anglernfuego, one of my new fishing buds from nova that I met on here for givin' me some tips on the buzzbait and how to work it and for building my confidence up in the frog bait landing some LUNKERS at MY local pond!!! Haha. One of the biggest thanks of all goes to my dad, who I got into bass fishing on Father's Day by buying him a new quantum combo. Since then he's bought a Lowe's Fishing Boat and always comes to me first as far as spending a day out on the water with him. We've been able to talk and hang out more than we have in a long time and it's cool to know we can do that and bass it up each weekend. Thanks dad. Lastly thanks to all the mods and senior guys for making this place what it is. If it wasn't for you guys a lot of people probably wouldn't have hung out here as long or spent as much time as they do on here sharing information. This is the best forum EVER!!!

Dude... I could have puked on the eagles current jerseys and they would have looked better than the crap they wore two weeks ago. When I saw them I literally thought that they had just let some college team enter the nfl and play an nfl team. Those things were horrible! The only throwbacks I like are the Redskins, the Chargers, The Patriots and the Broncos. Lets not even get into the ultra plain ultra boring Pittsburgh Uniforms.