Lake Anna 10/9/10

Lake Anna today with Tater. On the water at daybreak, about 6:50am. Beautiful day, 50 this morning, 80 by 2pm. Tater caught 3 off some rip-rap leading out to a point, all were 12-13 inches. Around 2:15pm were skipping plastics under boat docks and I caught a 21b-2oz LM on a trout colored senko. Tough day fishing, enjoyed the time with Tater on the boat, left at 3pm to get back to Johnny's hockey game. They won 10-0, head down to Hampton to play the Prowl at 10am

Labor Day 2010

Went fishing with Tater on the James River at Dutch Gap. Went downstream and right to an area he calls the boat graveyard. Numerous boats and barges from decades ago are strewn around, mostly just timbers remain from their frames. We got there pretty early, river was very foggy, and we were fishing by 7am. Shad were jumping, schools of minnows rippling the surface; appeared to be a fish feeding frenzy! I started with a few casts using a white fluke with no luck. Put on a 6" lizard in green pumpkin magic and second cast landed a decent largemouth, around 2lbs. Within about 1 1/2 hrs, I had landed 5 largemouth, all keepers, and a catfish. We were wishing we had been in a tournament, definitely would have been in the money. By 9am the bite had quit. Fished a few more spots in the location then decided to move to some creeks off the Appomattox.....nothing except for a few dinks that Tater caught. Went back to the graveyard at almost high tide and I hooked up with another on the lizard, 2.3 pounds. Nothing else but a few nibbles so we packed it in for the day. Great day to be on the water!

8/21/10

     Pam, Tater, and I yakked the James from Scottsville to Hardware Saturday. Sunny day, fishing not as good as last Saturday when it was overcast. Fewer fish, smaller fish but we did manage a couple 17"-18". Met a guy named Robert Shue when he floated by on a toon. He pours his own plastics with a buddy, trying to start a bait company called Rock River Custom Tackle, out of Staunton, VA. Web page not up yet. Great guy, gave me 2 handfull's of soft plastics. I fished his 4" white fluke and my largest smallie blew up on it in some slack water near the bank. He also gave me some small grubs, frogs, senko's, couple of worms, other flukes, and a snake. All great looking plastics, will definitely call him when I need some more soft plastics.

Went thru my bag tackle box this afternoon. That thing was weighing a ton. Took out some stuff I haven't been using. I pretty much have my standard lures for the river but I keep others for pond fishing and others for larger bodies of water when I go with Tater.
Still looking for a jon jet. Will have to wait on the Riverpro until Johnny is squared away in college. Would like to find a 16', .100 hull with a jet tunnel. This will handle what I need to do for smallie fishing and can still be used when the river's are low. The Riverpro will double as a river and lake boat. I'm watching some forums and craigslist; hopefully this fall folks will be looking to get rid of some and not have to carry over the winter. Won't be fishing next weekend...Johnny's hockey season starts and he has his first tournament starting on Thursday. Will try and get out on some ponds this week, try those frogs and the snake Robert gave me.

8-14-10 Scottsville to Hardware

Pam and I floated the James today from Scottsville to Hardware. Overcast most of time, sun broke thru for just a few minutes a couple of times. Pam's first fish of the day, about 1/4 mile below Scottsville, was a CHUNK! Didn't have scales but it went at least 4lbs. I did measure it and it was just over 20" long. I didn't catch anything even close but between the 2 of us we caught about 20 fish. River is REALLY low but we still found a few deep holes. This would be an awesome float when the river level is normal. We were on the water at 8:10am and got to Hardware about 2:45pm.

Vacation July 2010 JRSP

Pics from this week...

JRSP 7/18/10

Johnny was hot today! Here's a couple he caught that were right at 2lbs.

Pam's smallie JRSP 7-17-10

Got on the river this morning for a few hours before the thunderstorms arrived. Just stayed around the park because of the forecast. Here's one that Pam caught, a good start, she was tickled. If moma ain't happy, nobody's happy....she's happy! She caught this one on a pumpkin fat baby craw.

Lots of folks on the river today (Saturday); crowds should die down after the weekend.

On a whim, I bought a pack of "Bass Assasin" soft plastics at Wallie World the other day. They were in the salt water section. Guessing but they are about 3.5" long. This particular one looks like a fluke but has a grub tail. I figured best of both worlds, fluke/grub. I caught 8- 12"-14" smallies on one within an hour and still using the same one. Tough and they worked for me.

River looked good, water level was good, just a slight stain. Weather should be good Sunday so we're headed upstream a few miles for a 3-4 mile float. Loaded with rock and small islands. Should be good fishin......

Loaded and ready to go!

Yaks are loaded, headed to JRSP in the morning. Water levels up to near perfect, 3.5'. Hopefully not too stained or muddy!

10 hp honda short shaft

Bought this used motor today. Johnny's getting interested more and more in river fishing so I want to get him a powered jon for him to enjoy. He and I drove up to the Sheetz just west of Stuart's Draft to meet Bill off of RiverSmallies. He went over the motor from head to toe with us. Can't wait to try it out but the 12' jon we have is only rated for a 7.5. Didn't want to pass up the deal on this motor; the reason I put the cart before the horse.
I can remember the fun I had at his age with a jon and motor!! Want him to experience this as well so he will continue to gain a love for river fishing.
Looking now for a 1436 jon. Have my eye on one locally that comes with a trailer. Will try and take a look at it tomorrow afternoon and see what they REALLY want for it.
Finally getting some rain. Hopefully river levels will be up about a foot for vacation next week. Keep praying!

HOT & DRY

With 100 degree temps and no rain, I ain't been fishing! The last blog entry was pretty much the last time I've been out. I did hit a couple of small farm ponds and caught a few before it got to triple digits but nothing to brag on. 70% chance of rain on Saturday from the mountains down so hopefully the river will rise at least a foot. Going on vacation in 7 days so praying for some rain. Right now the river is low, slow, weeds and algae everywhere, so being on it is more of a chore than a pleasure.
Since it's going to rain; Johnny and I are going to BPS's to take the "Boating VA" course. Required for Johnny now, required for me by 2016 to operate any PWC or vessel with 10HP or more. Able to spend a day with my son learning about something we both enjoy and will have us ready when we get our Riverpro jet boat next year. Also during breaks, we can walk around BPS's and pick up a few things. Reading some of the Smallie forums, flukes in pearl white are working as well as white frogs. Also bought some soft baits on Riversmallies so I need to pick up some heavy duty bait bags or ziploc baigs to put them in my main tackle bag. 1 week, JRSP, here we come, can't wait!!!

James River 6/25-26/10

Floated around the JRSP on Friday afternoon Paddled up from the canoe landing to the rocks/riffles and we caught several. No hogs but decent fish in the 14" range. Floated on down to Dixon's landing and caught several more, primarily below riffles. Pam caught several behind ledges near the bank. Fat baby craws and paddle tail senkos were working as well as grubs.
Was going to float from BC down to the park Saturday but the water was loaded with canoes/kayaks so we went on up to AC and floated down to BC. Water was almost a foot lower than the previous weekend. Had to get out an walk thru most of the riffles. Not quite as good as the last weekend but we still caught fish. Several pools that were holding fish no longer had them due to water levels. Hoping for some rain to get the water up a little but not so much as to really stain it. Not sure where we're going this weekend but we'll be on the river somewhere......

Allens Creek to Bent Creek

Got on the river today with the family; Pam, Johnny, and me. Put in at Allen's Creek about 7:45am, paddled out to the river, and went up stream about 100yds to get to the other side of the island. Started a little slow but Vada found that green pumpkin fat baby craws were the ticket. He caught 10 with one pretty decent smallie. Pam had many hits but didn't hook up till middle of the day and finished with about 6. I tried paca craws with little luck. Switched to green pumpkin grubs and started catching fish. I caught about 8-10 but really no size. I was surprised that the water was still a little stained. River was just over 3' at Bent Creek. We were able to float the entire trip without having to walk the yaks thru any rapids but another 6" lower and we would have. Good float, lots of rocks and ledges, and a few trees. Went into the creek that divides the island and had a sandwich. Told Johnny about when I used to deer hunt on these islands with Uncle Bubby. Those were good times as a kid! Saw 4 college age boys in 2 canoes, a couple other yaks at a distance. Other than that, the river was ours. Wonder why we fish the river instead of lake fishing? I bet the lakes today were a cess pool of humanity........
T and Chess are at JRSP this week. We'll probably go up and fish a day with them next weekend. Batteau's are coming thru this area tomorrow so glad we got there ahead of them.

Smallie fishing on the James

Got on the James today. Chester the Molester and I put in at the state farm and floated down to James Frame's place, roughly 2-3 miles. This short of a float allowed us to fish and not feel rushed to get on down river. CM caught 3-4 and I caught 4. Nothing big, 14" or less, but boy can smallies fight! River was still stained, visibility was 12"-16" at most. I caught one on 1/4oz white spinnerbait, one on a paca craw, one on a chigger craw, and one on a lizard. CM caught his mainly on a lizard. Couldn't see much structure or the bottom so we focused on current breaks and behind rocks. Lots of jet boats out, nobody appeared to be slaying them. Did see one jet catch a hog at the state farm dam. Looked to be every bit of 3lbs!
I also tried a frog jig trailer on a 1/0 hook just for the leg motion.....nothing. Also tried a tiny torpedo but probably didn't fish it long enough to see if it would work. Tried a grub....nothing. Tried 2 different colored 4" senkos.....nothing. Bite was tough but again I think it had alot to do with water clarity.
Hopefully going to Bent Creek next weekend. Up river, barring any wash out storms, water clarity should be better.

Ain't been fishing....

Katie got married on Saturday, Sunday was a recovery day and man was it hot! Don't even know if being on the water would have been any cooler. Week is looking a bit rough to do any serious fishing, might be able to get out one afternoon for a little pond fishing. Vada's baseball team continues to win and if they win tomorrow, they head to Radford for the state finals. That will be friday-saturday. That only leaves Sunday afternoon and I think they are forecasting showers. We'll see........

James River Memorial Day Weekend 2010

Looks like the James will be blown out this weekend. Heavy Rains tonight from Bent Creek to Powhatan, water levels will rise quickly, water will be muddy. Calling for rain all day friday into saturday morning. Was planning on going to Bent Creek on Saturday but looks like this trip will need to be postponed now for at least a week.
Katie's coming home this weekend also. Her wedding is just a week away. Maybe we can get some pond fishing in while she is still my little girl!

Tommy's pond 5/22/10

Got home from CA around 12:30am Saturday morning. Got up around 8am, Vada and I cut some grass and then he went to get his hair bleached for baseball, a regional/state finals thing at Powhatan. Looked like it could rain any minute so I went down to Tommy's pond instead of going to the river. Threw a Case-Jack's worm in green pumpkin along the dam....nothing, not even a nibble. Heading back to the truck to get another lure, I fished my way back across the dam and had a 4lb'er take it. Here's a picture.

Worked back to the truck and caught another couple 1lb'ers then the rain came so I loaded up and headed home; was only there for about 45 minutes. You can see Molly, our dog, in the picture so if there are any doubts on size, she can confirm!

River Smallmouth Fishing new release

Stuck in Chino, CA all of this week for training. Will be home late Friday and hopefully can get on the river Saturday. Looks like the forecast keeps bouncing back and forth with rain, VA has had some rain all week, so we'll see what the river looks like this weekend.
Ordered Tim Holschlag's new book tonight, "River Smallmouth Fishing". Here is the link to his site. Check out the new book:
http://www.smallmouthangler.com/site/angler/index.php

I've only heard great things about his previous book "Stream Smallmouth Fishing" and the new book looks to be loaded with great info.

Windy Chesdin, Pond was good

Went to Chesdin with Tater this past weekend. Wind blowing, cold front coming in, fished all day and we each caught one. Chesdin has not been good to us this year!
Went to Tommy's this afternoon. Caught a dozen or so 1lb or less and worked my way to the dam. At the overflow tube I threw a Case Jack's worm, green pumpkin, and hooked a 4lb'er. Decent fight, checked him on the scales for weight, but didn't take a picture.
Got a couple new rods and another Citica baitcaster last week at BPS. Looking forward to getting back to the river soon. Need to leave the large lakes alone, it's a different game.

Maidens

Went to Maiden's Landing on the James this afternoon. Took my kayak and paddled upstream about a mile. River's looking good, stained to just muddy, on the high side of what I would consider normal levels. Threw a white spinner bait, chartreuse spinner bait, green pumpkin grub, chartreuse grub, Sammy 100 topwater w-t-d minnow, tiny torpedo, green pumpkin lizard, tiny paca craw. Fished around a couple of exposed rocks, tree limbs, middle of the river, plopped them off the bank, eddies, brush piles from high water......nothing, not even a bite. These baits covered top, middle, and bottom of the water column as well as shore and mid-river. Couldn't see thru the water to the bottom to check for beds. Thinking they are on the beds now or the beginning of post spawn and making fishing difficult. Also, this section of the river is not smallmouth heaven but I have caught some thru this stretch in lower/clearer water. Saw 2 other yaks but never saw them land a fish either. Couple of jon-jets but they were heading further up river than I wanted to paddle. Hopefully I can try the islands/rocks/tree piles at and below the state farm bridge later this week. This areas usually holds lots of smallies. Still love fishing from the yak but that jet will allow me to cover more water and find the fish.

Lucky Craft Sammy 100

Was checking out my favorite smallmouth forum, Riversmallies, and a guy in SC was talking about a lure called a "Sammy". Didn't know what it was so asked some questions and he sent me a link to the Lucky Craft page. Turns out this lure is a floating minnow with "walk the dog" action. You twitch the rod tip, it darts right, you twitch the rod tip, it darts left; this is what is called "walking the dog". You do this 5-6 times, let lure sit, then repeat, or you can just keep walking the dog all the way back. When sitting, the tail is loaded with 4 bb's for rattling effect, so tail is below the water, head on top. The start and stop retrieve is supposed to drive the fish crazy. He said he spent the day with only this bait and was slaying them. There is nothing like top water action for any fish species. I bought the Sammy 100 (4" long) today at Greentops. This same guy and other reviews I checked are using the "Ghost Minnow" color. Bronze back, tint of blue on the side, white bottom. This thing looks exactly like a minnow. Can't wait to try it out and have the luck others have had!

Here are links to the sites. First is the Riversmallies site, the second is the Lucky Craft Sammy 100 site.

http://riversmallies.invisionzone.com/index.php?act=idx

http://www.luckycraft.com/luckycrafthome/products/topwater/sammy100.htm

Here's a picture:

Net Bait Paca Craws

If you haven't tried the Net Bait Paca Craw line of baits, do yourself a favor! These things are awesome! They ought to be illegal, it's like fishing with dynamite; you'll catch every fish in the pond/river! I've fished them Spring, Summer, and Fall with the same great results.
They have 4 sizes, largest to smallest are:
Paca Craw
Baby Paca Craw
Tiny Baby Paca Craw
Paca Chunk- primarily a jig trailer
Personally I use the Baby and the Tiny, Tiny the most. I've only used them in Green Pumpkin because I haven't had to try any other colors.

I went to Tommy's pond this afternoon. Weather was calling for rain Saturday so I didn't go to the river. Overcast but we only had a couple of sprinkles, literally. Sunday they were calling for rain, then possibility of strong thunderstorms with threat of Tornados. Sun came out so I went fishing about 5pm. Turned out to be a beautiful afternoon with little wind. Go figure!!

I threw a small white 1/4oz Booyak pond spinnerbait. Caught several, one being about 2.5lbs. Tried a couple of .99cent lures in bubblegum out of the sale bin at BPS's, nothing, even though bubblegum senko's by Yamamoto produce well here. Then I went to my go-to bait, the tiny baby paca craw. I must have caught 20 bass, mostly in the small to 1.5lb range. If I'd have gone with the larger craw, I truly believe I'd have caught larger ones. About half way thru, one of the craws got torn off. Roughly ten fish later, the second one got tore off. I still thru the nub and caught 3 fish but the ratio of casts to fish did decrease. On average, every 2 casts I had a bass on! These even work this well in the river for smallies. I fish them weightless in the pond, just the hook and swivel making them sink. They are hollow on the inside so the craws float up like a real one in self defense. In the river, I use a small split shot or bullet weight to compensate for the current; to get them to the bottom faster.

 If you can't catch fish on these, it's one of two things:
1. There are no fish in the waters you are fishing or
2. You're fishing with barb wire for line and a fence post as a rod (these baits are so good, this may not be true, you'll probably still catch fish!!)

The Net Baits last much longer than the Berkely chigger craws. Usually the Berkeley's will loose a craw or two after just one fish. Net Baits last 10-20 times more. At roughly $3.69 a bag, you can't go wrong!

Here's a picture, green pumkin on the left:

Fishing- a jerk on one end waiting for a jerk on the other.

JL's pond on 60

Went fishing with Tater this afternoon. Weather was great, some wind, but it would come and go. Went from a tiny paca craw to a baby paca craw by Net Bait. The Baby is a little larger. Paca Craws have become my go-to bait. If they ain't hitting this, there aren't any fish in the pond! Caught a good bass about 20 minutes after lauching, 2.5-3lbs. Tater took a picture but it didn't do the fish justice. Went out in the middle of the pond and threw a chartreuse/white spinner bait. Caught 1 pike and 1 bass. Went back to the bank with the paca craw and caught a couple more decent fish, lost a couple also. Tried a TN shad shallow crank, no luck. Tater caught a couple bass and 1 pike. Tater hates pike! Fished till O'dark thirty, had a great time. It's just great to be on the water! Weather is calling for a front to move in Friday afternoon and last thru the weekend, so no river this weekend, AGAIN. Need to get out there, might just have to take a day off in the middle of the week to get good weather.

5lb largemouth

Went fishing with Tater on what he calls "the clear pond". I was catching a lot of small bass on a green pumkin tiny paca craw. Tater started catching some larger bass on a baby brush hog, so I changed over as well. He backed me into the corner of the pond at the end of the dam in his 16' jon (he could have easily fished this spot but he gave it to me). I threw out the green pumpkin baby brush hog on my new 7 coil Emmrod, twitched it a couple times and got a tap-tap. I set the hook, it was in some lily pads, so I thought I had a small fish that was just wrapped in the pads. Got her out of there and she ran along the front edge of the pads and that is when I saw what was really on the other end. I get some ribbing from Tater on this rod, so when I initially hooked up, I threw the rod back side to side a few times like I had a lunker and was fighting hard. We laughed and that is when I saw the fish. I see the rod bend like never before and I'm saying, "Tater, get the net, this IS a big one! Tater landed it in the net and we laughed so hard at how this played out; me joking at first, then the rod bending, and me yelling, "get the net"! And to think me goofing off could have lost this fish! After taking a couple of pictures, I took the hook out. Lo and behold, the hook was barely in; one good head shake and this fish would have thrown the hook! The good Lord was on my side!

Lake Chesdin

Spent the day with Tater at Lake Chesdin on his 18' procraft fish/ski boat.. Got there around 7:15am to find a light rain. Checked the weather on my phone and looked like it would end soon so we lauched. Ran up the lake from the dam and fished a couple of creeks. I caught a small pike on a black/silver broken back rapala and rain ended about 1hr after launch. You name it, we threw it to find what the bass wanted. Nothing until about 1:30. Tater landed a 1.5lb and 2lb bass on a Yum green pumkin wooly hawg tail. I had a crappie and small bass role on the rapala but didn't hook up. A day on the water fishing is a good day. Fishing was extremely tough, probably because of the cold front moving in. Water was glass in the morning but got choppy due windy conditions as the day went on. Talked with a couple other boats in passing and all were having a difficult day. Oh well. Look forward to getting on the river soon but have spring cleanup yard work to do most likely every afternoon this coming week. Will shoot to get on the river this coming weekend.
Still dreaming of getting my Riverpro jet......

Tommy's pond, bait purchases

Back to Tommy's pond this afternoon. Cold front coming in, must have dropped 10-15 degrees in an hour. Started off with green pumpkin curly tail grub. 5 casts, 5 small bass. Wind was blowing so I tried a buzzbait, nothing. Tried a white chatterbait, 3 hits but didn't hook up. Bought a new senko called "daiquiri", white with a tint of light blue. Looks great but nothing hit today. Put on a green pumpkin chigger craw, first cast, fish ate the craws off. Put on a green pumpkin baby brush hog and caught 6-7. Took the gulp crawdads with me so I tried them. First cast, bass ate off the craws, soft bait like the chigger craws! Kept throwing it without the craws and still caught 4 bass. Got too windy and cold, spitting rain, so I came home. All in all a good day, small fish, 2 maybe 1-1.5lbs. Had a deer get in the pond and swim to the other side, got out for a few seconds, then back in and swam down to the driveway. No idea why the deer got in the water, no dogs or people pushing it. Tommy came down to see how things were going. What a guy, always tells me that we're welcome anytime! I asked if it was ok to bring the yak down and fish, his normal reply, no problem, have fun. Will try it soon. Hope to get on the river this weekend; river is looking good!
Ordered some baits from "Land Big Fish". Should arrive later this week. Got the new Stanley "Y-Not", craw imitation with pinchers that float up like a craw in defense. Should produce. Also got some Stanley "Itsa Bug", baby brush hog style that should also work well. Not sure of manufacturer but lure is called "Stingray", sort of a helgramite imitation that I hope will make some action in the river. Went to Greentops today, last day of their Spring sale and spent an undisclosed amount of money re-stocking my go-to lures at 20% off; senkos, chigger craws, fat baby craws, paca craws, hooks. Does it sound like craw imitations are my go to baits?! Thinking about trying some braid fishing line. Hard to give in though, the 10lb Stren lo-vis green has not let me down.

Riverpro jets, Hockey

Got to see the boat in person. WHAT A RIVER BOAT! It's everything I could want in a river boat and more. It's built like a tank but light, roughly 1500lbs. I've been in touch with the builder by email, will be calling him in the next couple of days to get specifics on options. Still about a year away before I can purchase one but want to get started on the planning phase. This boat will give me the option to shallow water river fish but also double as a family boat to pull the kids (grandkids one day!) on tubes and skis. The more I check into this boat, the more I love it! Most likely the only boat I'll ever purchase, so I'm going whole hog!

Johnny's team won today. They all played very well. Johnny had a good day, tough on defense and scored the game winning goal! GO VADA! We're purchasing the DVD of the tournament so we can share memories with family and friends. Gonna go see Niagara Falls either Friday or Saturday, too close not to go by and visit, about an hour west of Rochester, NY.

Had to go by Gander Mtn and check out Walmart tackle. Same supplies here at GM as back home. Did find a baby brushhog lure by Netbaits that looked good so I bought a pack, mad paca's. Got a couple packs of Arkie soft plastics on sale at Walmart. Hard to pass up fishing lures on sale!

Easter, Hockey, Riverpro boats

River is still up, stained but not really muddy. Couldn't go this weekend, had hockey games on Saturday, spent day with family Sunday for Easter. Went to Tommy's pond this afternoon with my son-in-law Alec. Caught 25-30 small largemouth but nothing over a pound, still had fun. Alec was slaying them with a pumpkin/black spec yamamoto senko and a grub in the same color. Since he was on, I just threw a bunch of other lures just to see what would happen. Couple on shallow diving crankbait, a few on chartreuse creature bait, a few on a chigger craw, a few on a bubble gum senko. Mosquito's are out! My legs looked like I had walked thru a briar patch from smacking them on my legs.
Going to ice hockey U18AA Nationals this week with Johnny so no fishing on the calendar until next week. We are going to stop off in Harrisburg, PA on the way up to check out the RiverPro jet boat. That's my dream boat! Done all the research I possibly can online, need to see them in real life, touch and feel. Check them out at www.riverpro-boats.com/
This boat will take me to my favorite river fishing holes and still allow me to be on big lake water; best of both worlds! Now I just need to decide on which one. I'm going for the 20' but can't decide yet on whether to go with the dual center console or dual side console. 200hp inboard jet, 50mph on the water. That's the speed of light on a river!

Tackleing!

Got to talking to Jeff McGovern on his post about setting up tackle boxes, cleaning reels, putting on new line. "Tackleing" is a sport in itself! How many tackle boxes do you need? What size tackle box/worm bag should you take kayak fishing, how many styles/colors of lures do you need? How many rods/reels? What pound test line? Braid, mono, flurorocarbon? What rods/reels? What else besides rods/reels and tackle boxes should you have on your kayak (besides PFD and cooler). Anchor and what style? It sets the mind to wondering; the anticipation of going on a fishing trip, the options seem endless. See how "Tackleing" can become a sport in itself? Compare it to becoming a child again with the anticipation of Christmas morning arriving; what will Santa bring? I guess that's why I've fell in love with fishing again. What will I need on this trip to outsmart the fish, have a "good" day by catching a lot of fish? It's also ensuring you have the family set up for success. What rod/reel combo can they use successfully without worrying about backlash, line breaking, etc. Also set them up with enough tackle so you don't spend your day on the water passing out hooks and lures (not that I mind); but to see the smile on their face when they catch THEIR fish on the lure THEY chose and rigged out of their own tackle box!

Went to BPS in Nashville with Pam. She and I both spent almost an hour going thru the sale bins to see what treasures we could find. Count it a blessing when the wife has as much fun searching as you do! We came across some odd color beavers (or creature baits). Found some white salty beavers in 3" that had fallen out of bags, so we re-bagged them and got a great deal. Seems like white and green pumpkin in whatever are always good go-to baits. Got some pink/orange beavers that may work in muddy water. Got some other baits that you can break this off, break in half, to turn a worm into a grub, smaller wild colored plastics to jig or put on a spinner harness. Again, the imagination gets started and you can play around with options. For .99 a bag, it seems worth the risk! Problem now is the worm bag is full, almost have to sit on it like a piece of full luggage, to get it zipped closed. Now if you don't take if fishing, you can't try out all the options you were thinking about. So now we're back to the question, "how many tackle boxes/bags do you need to take with you?! If nothing else, the bag being so full, it can now double as a throwable PFD!!! Ain't fishing/ tackleing fun!

Tubes

Been watching some fishing shows. Saw KVD using tubes, jerking them pretty hard stating it is immitating a bait fish. Never thought of them in this way. Always thought of them as a crawdad imitation. Sold me so I bought a few packs today in white, gray/silver, and baby bass colors to see what I can do with them. Going to see Katie this weekend so won't be able to fish, will try them out next week. Anybody got any tube stories to share? I used green pumpkin tubes on the James last year and had pretty good luck. Others in my group were using fat baby craws and beavers, so I tried the tube. It was one of those days that you could fish with coke cans and catch fish, had a great time with the family!

Emmrod Spinning Rod

Got my new Emmrod saltwater spinning rod from Jeff's Tackle Box (http://www.jeffstacklebox.com/) today. It's a spinning rod that's roughly 2'6" in overall length. It has as spring coil system on the rod and a short cork handle with reel seat. Jeff recommended the 7 coil rod tip with short handle for my fishing needs. Saltwater is just part of the name, equally at home in freshwater. Check out Jeff's site (link above) for more info, videos, as well as spincasting & baitcaster models. I put a Shimano Sahara spinning reel on mine with 10lb mono. Tested it out at Tommy's pond this afternoon with great success! This little thing will cast as far as my 6'6" rods! I'll be going to the river tomorrow and see how it works out of the kayak on the smallies. This thing is a blast and brings another whole aspect to fishing! It's all about the fun!

If interested in an Emmrod, I highly recommend Jeff's site. Fantastic service, will answer any of your questions in great detail, and make recommendations for your particular fishing needs. Jeff is a field tester for Emmrod and many of his ideas have led to new components and models!

James River this weekend!

I'm gonna check the river in the morning. If all goes well, planning on going Saturday. Spent this afternoon going over the kayak and going thru old tackleboxes. Found lures in them that I had on my list to buy, so glad I went scavaging! Still planning on getting a couple of inline spinners tommorrow, just in case, since they produced in the pond. You never have enough lures; it's an obsession.....no, a passion. Didn't have to prompt Pam to go, she called since she's out of town, to ensure I was already planning to go. What a Woman!

Tommy's pond

River still up and muddy so I went down to Tommy's pond this afternoon around 5pm to wet a line, wanted to try a couple new baits I'd purchased. Tried the Sebile Magic Swimmer in soft body; man what action! No bites, but it was interesting to just see that lure swim in the water! Also tried a couple other swim baits, no luck, thinking it's too early in the season for swim baits. Tried a senko, baby brush hog, again no luck. You always hear "match the hatch". Bugs were starting some small swarms, did have some mosquitoes land on my leg, so I got to thinking of inline spinners like a rooster tail or Mepps. That did it! No size but I did catch 4-1lb or less largemouth. Didn't have high expectations when I went, again only to try out some new lures, but the inline spinners did the trick. Will get a few more this week for early season fishing. Used them as a kid for brim and lost interest when I wanted to catch larger fish. Will try some larger sizes and see what happens. The inline spinner today had a yellow polka dot body with black dots, silver "crimped" blade (picture in your mind that "as seen on TV" hair crimper and how it would make hair zig-zag, that's what the blade looked like) with a small red bead on the wire harness at the swivel.

Smallmouth river fishing in Central VA.

My hope is this blog will become a place to post info on river smallmouth fishing for those in Central VA.
What are your "go to" baits for Spring river fishing; Senkos, Craws, Spinnerbaits, Jigs?
Do you fish from a boat or bank? If boat, what do you use; jon/jet, jon/prop, jon/trolling, kayak, etc.

My family is a fan of Native Kayaks. We have (2) 12' Manta Rays outfitted for fishing; (2) flush mount rod holders, Scotty rod holder, anchor trolley.  I use a 14.5 Ultimate that I've personalized for fishing; anchor trolley, Scotty rod holder, front skirt to keep class II's from coming in over the bow, 3 rod plastic rod holder mounted to rear stabilizer bar, retractable clothesline reel to keep anchor rope organized. The seats in both style yaks are extremely comfortable. You can spend a day on the river very comfortably.
Check out Appomattox River Company for all of your kayak needs in Central VA. Good deals on numerous brand name yaks.

Hopefully the river will be down this coming weekend and will have cleared up from all the rain. Mid 70's, can't wait!