Extremely excited for the first trip of the year!

The next weekend or the following, I’ll be headed to the pamunkey river in search of a prespawn fat girl.

What else would you have tied on to entice her?

I'm thinking of adding a Zoom dead ringer on a 1/8 oz ball head jig….

suggestions please!!!

Some things like this.

I don’t have much in the way of big swimbaits but I definitely have a couple red eye Shad’s. That LV500 is beautiful!

 

24 minutes ago, Kyle S said:

That LV500 is beautiful!

The Aruku 65 shown on the bottom is another good one for less $.

 

9 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

The Aruku 65 shown on the bottom is another good one for less $.

 

Thanks! I’ll look into those. Admittedly I’m not much of a crank bait fisherman nowadays even though I own a million of them.

have you or anyone else tried any of the academy branded H20 express hard swimbaits??

They’ve always peaked my curiosity and seem to be pretty reasonably priced?

I don’t know what conditions you’ll be fishing, but this is what I’ll have tied on for the first trip of the year:

30 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

I don’t know what conditions you’ll be fishing, but this is what I’ll have tied on for the first trip of the year:

That looks like a great lineup! 
Typically for the Virginia river that I’m going to fish, the water is teetering around the upper 40 degree mark by late February. The last couple of years I haven’t started fishing until around mid March but I want to get a head start as I think some fish will already be moving around and more active. It’s usually somewhat windy and overcast this time of year. Moving baits are typically what gets the most attention. Jigs can certainly play a role however. 

Crawfish colored crankbait like a rock crawler or wiggle wart.

14 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Crawfish colored crankbait like a rock crawler or wiggle wart.

While I don't have any of the suggested I've got a bunch of Booyah and KVD squarebills in craw and red patterns. 

 

You think they'd be worth giving a shot? Stumps/downed trees would be the only cover I could deflect them off of as the grass won't come in until around May-ish

6 minutes ago, Kyle S said:

While I don't have any of the suggested I've got a bunch of Booyah and KVD squarebills in craw and red patterns. 

 

You think they'd be worth giving a shot? Stumps/downed trees would be the only cover I could deflect them off of as the grass won't come in until around May-ish

Yeah, use what you have. I like to parallel cast steep banks early in the year .

17 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Yeah, use what you have. I like to parallel cast steep banks early in the year .

I'll tie one on! Thanks!

Lipless crank in a crawdad color. I use 6th sense quakes.

The colder the water, the more comfortable I am with a blade bait.  Good Luck!

 

scott

1 hour ago, Southernbasser said:

Lipless crank in a crawdad color. I use 6th sense quakes.

this (I like red eye shads for the yo yo).

 

also, a 3.8 keitech on a jig head. 

I'm partial to a blade bait (Gay Blade etc.) early in the year. Tight wiggle and no rattles. They're fairly snagless on a steady retrieve, but if that's a concern, you can clip off the forward facing hook on the front treble and eliminate a lot.  Another great feature, like a spinnerbait, they can be fished almost anywhere in the water column.

7 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

this (I like red eye shads for the yo yo).

 

also, a 3.8 keitech on a jig head. 

now a red eye shad is certainly coming along.

A smaller paddle tail swim bait certainly could be a contender. 

 

both of those are getting added!

 

Thanks!

7 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

I'm partial to a blade bait (Gay Blade etc.) early in the year. Tight wiggle and no rattles. They're fairly snagless on a steady retrieve, but if that's a concern, you can clip off the forward facing hook on the front treble and eliminate a lot.  Another great feature, like a spinnerbait, they can be fished almost anywhere in the water column.

While I don't have any Gay blades, I do have a few different silver buddy and XPS laser blades. I can't recall as to whether I've ever caught anything on a blade bait but to be fair i've never given them fair chance. I reckon a blade bait could make the cut? Thanks for the suggestion 

17 hours ago, Kyle S said:

Extremely excited for the first trip of the year!

The next weekend or the following, I’ll be headed to the pamunkey river in search of a prespawn fat girl.

What else would you have tied on to entice her?

I'm thinking of adding a Zoom dead ringer on a 1/8 oz ball head jig….

suggestions please!!!

 

You can't use that alabama rig in Maryland, has too many hooks.

 

Allen

Any lipless craw colored bait.  Fish are not brand loyal. 

Your talking about PoMonkey however its spelled on the Lower Potomac correct? 

 

Allen

Shallow running crankbaits, and lipless crankbaits.  Red or orange for muddy water.  Natural colors for clear water.

2 hours ago, Munkin said:

Your talking about PoMonkey however its spelled on the Lower Potomac correct? 

 

Allen

@MunkinNo sir. The Pamunkey River is a tributary of the York River here in central Va. Is their a PoMonkey River on the lower Potomac? 

 

Also in Va, their is no limit to the amount of hooks you are allowed to have.

thankfully.

 

While I've got ya, I'm a big fan of the lures that i've seen you make on the Show off your work thread! Great looking stuff!

jerkbait?  crankbait?  squarebill.

On 2/13/2023 at 3:42 AM, Kyle S said:

 

 

Thanks!

While I don't have any Gay blades, I do have a few different silver buddy and XPS laser blades. I can't recall as to whether I've ever caught anything on a blade bait but to be fair i've never given them fair chance. I reckon a blade bait could make the cut? Thanks for the suggestion 

 

I fish the silver buddy, ledge hog, and damiki vault, but have the most confidence in the vault.  A slow 6-8" lift and drop is my way of covering 40 degree water.  The hardware on the silver buddy and vault is slightly questionable, best to take your time playing out a fish or upgrading.  Like a ripping a lipless, short grass you can pop free from is often a trigger.

 

scott 

On 2/12/2023 at 2:14 PM, Kyle S said:

Extremely excited for the first trip of the year!

The next weekend or the following, I’ll be headed to the pamunkey river in search of a prespawn fat girl.

What else would you have tied on to entice her?

I'm thinking of adding a Zoom dead ringer on a 1/8 oz ball head jig….

suggestions please!!!

get you a c-rig with a baby brush hog in whatever color sells you the hardest
tungsten red eye shad

oh and throw a blue pearl 4" yamamoto shad shape worm on that white chatterbait micro, run it slow with different motions all year and thank mr.yamamoto later

Lots of great suggestions for baits here.  As for bottom baits it looks like you have a finesse jig and a rage bug type bait there.  I would add a light weighted tube and Ned rig.