Hey fellas, I'd like to head out early tomorrow for a couple hours on a lake somewhere in NOVA, preferably not too far from Woodbridge, where I live. Someplace public that I can fish from the bank. I was thinking of trying one of the smaller lakes like Huntsman or Mercer, maybe Burke. I don't have a boat, so the Occoquan Reservoir, Occoquan River and the Potomac aren't the easiest for me to fish. (Or maybe I don't know where to go? I'm just trying to avoid trespassing.)

Can anyone give me some tips on specific locations to try at any of these lakes (or any other reasonably nearby NOVA lake)? I've caught a grand total of one LMB (well, one larger than a small bluegill) in my life, so I'm brand new to this game and having been struggling. I've been out roughly six times in the past two weeks and haven't even had a bite, at least as far as I know. (After doing some reading here, I realize that I may have had some bites and not even recognized them. I'm not sure.) I feel like I just have too many variables in play right now, in terms of type of lure, depth, color, retrieve, etc., and then on top of all that not even being sure if I'm fishing a potentially decent spot. So if anyone can give me any tips to maybe help narrow things down a little, I'd really appreciate it.

Welcome to the site. 

 

Down in that area there are some decent shore fishing options. I'd check out the grass flats near the kayak launch at Leesylvania SP if it were me. The area holds decent numbers of bass and snakeheads. I'd try throwing a frog or other weedless topwaters, and maybe a punching rig to get under the grass. There's quite a bit of shoreline in that park and pretty decent access to the water. The entire creek is less than 4' deep pretty much all the way across. You can also try fishing the bridge foundations with soft plastics. The park is just a nice place to spend the day too, and there are hiking trails, bathrooms, etc.

 

Not sure about ponds in that area, but I know that right across the river in Charles County, MD there is some really good pond fishing. I know there are fishable ponds at the base at Quantico, but I've never fished them. 

 

Check out the Southeast Bass Fishing threads here and you can talk to more local people down your way. There's a thread called NOVA spots here.