Nitrofreak

I finally got to a point in which I had planned out an adventure in the bigger ranks of the bass fishing world, I was going to finally see what all I could learn from the Toyota series when yet again life throws me another curve. Now I am not sure how anything is going to work out but life being what it is you just have to make the best of it, I recently had to make a major career change from the automotive industry to the trucking industry, I just finished my second week of driver training, with this holiday break I finally got to have a chance to sit down and write a couple of sentences about this new venture, boy I gotta say, I did not expect so much effort to be put forward with driving a truck, there is so much more to it than passing your tests and taking a class PHEW !!! My driving tests are scheduled for Dec. 7th but I have one last scheduled fishing day to be spent with my friend on my home lake (Lake Anna) the Saturday before the testing takes place, this is going to be a much needed trip to let everything else go for a day and calm the nerves, I will do my best to post up a report, I don’t know when my next one will be since with this new career will be very time consuming for the next couple of years it seems, maybe with any luck I can gather some seniority sooner than later but that’s not something I am holding my breath over. I hope everyone in my region had quality family time with their loved ones over the holiday and I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving !!! Much love and respect to all of you, keep teaching and keep learning about our beloved sport peeps, I’ll pop in when I can and do my best to keep up with things so that I am not too lost for when I am able to get back… again ??

I like the versatility of the platform, they pretty much changed the industry. EDC to Competition ready without the expense of having to buy multiple firearms and everything in between.

I hope you find happiness with it, it should bring you many years of service and dependability, it’s not a cheap firearm by any means but it’s not expensive either, god bless and glad to hear you have good practices my friend !!

New waters are a great way to hone and develop skills, awesome topic !! I originally thought that if I could just figure out my home lake I should be able to go anywhere and figure out how to have some success... negative ghost rider !!! Sure there are places that map out the same but they can be so very different, it really wasn’t until I started fishing tournaments more seriously that you find out real quick just how different they can be, some places you just would not believe a fish would be you would put 20 pounds in the box (exaggerating on my point but you get it) points and various other structural aspects I like to fish do not fish the same because of bottom content, maybe some cover or some sort of change in composition, I agree wholeheartedly that it forces you to do better with your decision making, it forces you to change speeds, colors, and work through various numbers of techniques. All great exercises for the gray matter to absorb !!!

My CC Is a P320 .45 full size, I’m not a big guy but I am defiantly not a small guy in the same token. As far as why, I am uncertain of the question but I will answer with two parts, I carry because I love the aspect of being able to protect myself and my loved ones, I celebrate my freedoms but also take them seriously, to many have sacrificed themselves for me and my family as American citizens to not take them seriously and exercise them vigorously, all of them, not just this one. As for why I carry a full size .45, one reason is that my hands comfortably conform to a larger size firearm, smaller or compact models just get lost in my grip and I usually end up with slide bites, why the Sig is because it was a more natural sight alignment, it felt like an extension of my arm when I brought to up to fire that first round, I have done a lot of research when I looked around and the one thing that stood out to me was not how big of a hole it makes but it was a matter more so of penetration, the .45 is slower out of the gate (unless your using +P rounds etc...) in training there is a scenario in which you are taught to look through your target because the chances of your round leaving the intended target and hitting a second or possibly even a third is quite plausible with the speed some of these rounds leave the barrel. With the .45 and with the Sig Elite Performance self defense round I feel more at ease knowing the chances of that round leaving my intended target are reduced greatly, not saying that they can’t or won’t, we all know how ballistic arguments go, it’s just a personal decision that I feel much more comfortable with.

I carry a Sig P320 full size .45 everyday, I have close to 19,000 rounds through it now and it’s just starting to show some wear and tear, for instance the slide lock just started not locking when the mag empties, my sight dots are no longer visible (been considering optics lately anyway) and really, out of the 3.5 years I have had it it has never mechanically failed, I can attest to mistakes on my behalf but I can also say that this one does not like mag-tech ammo, it would not go into battery 21 out of the 50 round box. With what this thing has been through I couldn’t be happier with my choice, not saying what you should and should not do here, that is no ones decision but your own, if your at a toss up though, figure out which one is more like an extension of your hand, does one over the other aid in a more natural point of aim, how close the controls are to reach, can you single handedly break one down easier than the other, can you empty, reload, rack and fire one over the other easier using just one hand, these things and others like them matter more than anything else at least to me. In a lot of cases of when it comes to pricing, if I am looking collect it, I’ll pay for the extras, the one thing I would say to ask yourself is, how dependable is it going to be, we all know that quality firearms are not cheap but the dependability of it doing it’s job when it matters most is worth paying good hard earned money for that little extra confidence and peace of mind. This is when she was new ?

There is a lake here on the East coast named Fredrick Lake or Lake Fredrick I cant remember which but, if one wishes to discuss “Fishing Pressure” then this would be an absolute prime candidate for such a discussion, this place is known for its double digit possibilities and if I didn’t know any better I think the whole darn state of Virginia comes here on any given day. I have had success on this body of water but nothing over 5 pounds... yet. I have gone to the extremes with large swim baits, glide baits, as well as the other side of the spectrum, the drop shot is something I am extremely comfortable fishing. I am in no way shape or form denying that fishing pressure does not exist but I am convinced that there is a way to overcome said pressure by doing what others like yourself have spoken on, by the way, that pictured bait is one of my favorites ? I think that if I can put it in a picture, I would lean more toward the “patience” side of fault, if I had to pick a word to describe what I see as fault by anglers when it comes to situations as such then that would be it, I think we have a tendency to fish too fast or not take the time to try and understand what is actually happening and adapt as we should. I am no expert on the matter hence the reason for the post, there is so much knowledge in what you guys put out there for us that it helps incredibly well when we are faced with situations on the water, maybe it is a bust sort of season, that could explain a ton of things that has happened this season, maybe it is something I need to change or maybe it is something I do not, I know with certainty that we have been around the right areas to do so much better than what my partner and I have shown, I believe we just missed out on some of the factors in those areas by just a touch but it wasn’t because of pressure in my honest opinion, it was something else we missed. Your input is valued my friend and I thank you for taking the time to put your thoughts into words, it is something I will defiantly take with me on my next outing.

Nope, no ritual, superstitions, lucky charms or otherwise, looks like your just strange ?? I know plenty of anglers who have those though some are even laughable even in their opinion ?

Makes sense and I hope that works out, we haven’t had anything remotely close to that in the last decade and a half maybe, the more I read yours and Toms post the more it may just be something to that nature, I wonder if the same could be said for a region of lakes and not just singular bodies of water? The tournaments here aren’t the 100+ boat tourneys, maybe 30 at best although our veterans tournaments and special event tournaments do reach that mark but they are once a year type events, I just don’t see it as harmful as some make it out to be, I have struggled there myself even though I know the lake well enough to have success but in the same breath I have not frequented the lake as I should and lost touch with what the fish are doing, I think the same could be said for a lot of those in which I spoke with although I did not pose the question to them.

That is a great way to put it Tom, Thanks for that. So it’s possibly a cycle ? If so then does that mean we could possibly see the next couple/ few years being somewhat the same?

Sorry for not replying sooner peeps, as mentioned to A-Jay I am in the process of remodeling my mother-in-laws kitchen, it was a late night and some of the posts in which I had posted and quoted are incomplete. I have read them all, thank you guys for your input, it’s really interesting as well as educational as usual from the BR peeps. The point is defiantly made that across the country we have seen a rise in numbers, which I too am glad to see more and more getting out and enjoying the outdoors away from their personal electronic devices, (you know, except in cases of which we want to reply to a certain topic ?) it would be interesting data to know the actual percentage of first time anglers during this rise and just how much of an affect, if any, it actually has had on fishing our favorite waters. In my case, what I have noticed since starting this thread is that on my home lake it is the shallow water anglers in which seem to be the ones whom are suggesting that the fishing is harsher than usual, I say this because I took the opportunity to call on roughly 50 of my fellow anglers that fish strictly shallow and 10 who I know with certainty have a tendency to fish both deep and shallow, maybe there is a point in there somewhere that can be made for that scenario in which they feel like they are always fishing behind someone else in that shallow water instance. Tidal waters like here in Virginia or relatively shallow waters as in Florida’s case in which they are expansive while seemingly having the increased pressure from numbers of anglers on the water have a key factor in which it seems to be experience, or, time on the water invested in order to have a greater chance at success, quite possibly we could take or incorporate a lesson from those types of fisheries and apply some of that knowledge and experience to our reservoir experiences to enhance our chances of success, through my conversations with my friends who do fish both it does make sense since they are the more successful group when it comes to cashing checks. On a side note: I do find it odd this season that my tournament partner and I have caught more dink’s this season than in past, we have one 5.95 to our credit and the rest of our limits have all been sub par numbers in which we have barely broken the double digit barrier, several others being in the single digit ranges, with the one exception being the Potomac River here in Virginia, which in turn is also odd because we were fishing our tournament at the same time MLF was fishing theirs, we were fishing close to and around the likes of Casey Ashley all weekend and still managed a pretty decent bag each day, I defiantly agree with a lot of you in that it’s been a weird fishing season as with some suggest, I can not quite put my finger on it either but something just seems a little off in my opinion. Again guys, thanks so much for your thoughts and replies.

Sort of the same here, the all knowing home owners introduced grass carp which in turn ruined the habitat, my home lake is a power plant lake as you know which was phenomenal at one point, I have adapted as well as many others to the changing environment, that’s not to say that I am finding absolution but I am finding key areas in which the bass now travel, some grass has made a comeback and it certainly plays a role in how these fish move, I caught the same fish twice in a years span, it’s tagged so it makes it easy, that same fish before the grass came back was roughly a half mile away the prior years to that point. The tournament weights tell the tale, they haven’t changed in the slightest, during the summer months if you want to place you better have a 20+ bag, in the winter it had best be knocking on that 30 range with consistency for both. Nothing has changed as far as the fish are concerned. I was going to mention that in my post about the shutdowns across the country which has led to a noticeable increase in the outdoor activity all over the nation, in particular our fishing sports, maybe even more in particular bass fishing. Excellent point and thanks for the reply !!

I am in the process of remodeling my mother in laws kitchen when the notification beeped in, I had no idea this thread would take off like it did and is, I am looking forward to reading it all tonight and soaking up some of this BR knowledge. Thanks @A-Jay

That’s a good point, that is one question I had posed to my friend which had to do with tournament weights, on average it’s roughly a steady total, about 20 pounds is what it’s taking to have a decent shot at placing in the top 5 even with the increases of traffic, I think it’s more of not getting in the habit of getting around those obstacles as we should be.

Lake Anna has some big Crappie, Buggs Island (especially in the grassy creek reservation area) Briery (Also close to Buggs Island) SML (around oak hollow road launch) Prices vary so much around all of these areas for hotels but you can call around and see what the current overnight stay would be, it’s cheaper to look at ones within an acceptable driving distance from each.

I was having a conversation today with a fellow angler about my home lake and how he felt it has changed over the last few years, the conversation turned to the amount of “pressure” the lake sees with all of it’s tournaments as well as the growth of its popularity with pleasure boating, then I had seen a sort of blog from Jacob Wheeler discussing the same topic so it led me to posting something about pressure and the changes that may or may not come with it. I admit that my home lake has defiantly suffered some damage from anglers, in part mostly from word of mouth, that being said, the lake which is roughly 10,000 acres does see a crap ton of action, however, I personally am not one to buy into (in it’s entirety) purely the fault of fishing/boating pressure, in my opinion I am more inclined to research other variables that contribute to the lack of active fish that are willing to chance a strike at ones offering, such as but not limited to the amount of available natural forage for example. The pro side of angling on the other hand brings with it nation wide coverage, yes it does give away “spots” or “areas” not previously known by all which in turn creates added pressure, in Jacobs blog it seemed as if he was suggesting that the added pressure was in part to blame on the media coverage and why the fish catching has taken a significant hit. On the more popular bodies of water like a Chickamauga or other big time lakes I can see the voice for concern in Jacobs case or at the very least the reasoning for their discussions, It’s a ton of work these guys put in having their own “secret” places, I get it, when it comes to pressure though I am left with the thought of, do these spots really get hit all that hard by others who may or may not know how to fish for them, is it really doing so much damage that it causes the fish to move from the areas? Or develop a case of lock jaw from the wide spectrum of lures being thrown about? My conversation went in a bit of a different direction, in my area of the country it has not truly seen a harsh enough winter for several years to kill off any significant amount of forage, the added amount of pleasure boating on my home water has without a doubt made it significantly more difficult to safely fish a lot of the offshore areas which in turn does tend to make fishing much more patience/safety oriented, and maybe that was the reason for both the conversation I had with my friend and the thought process from Jacob. With the amount of technology out there today, information is going to be used to ones advantage, especially by those who tend to skip over the hard work ethic, the additional boating traffic is or at least can be in part to blame in some ways, I am more the opposite frame of mind in which I like to look at the total picture and try to grasp what’s really happening under the surface, thermoclines, amount of forage, water conditions and so on, I tend to learn much more being in a more open frame of mind, I don’t think it is simply due to one single aspect or another that changes the fishery, the singular aspect at least to me would have to be in the way we fish it.

If your specifically targeting “big” bass you will have to have an intimate knowledge of that lake, I personally have never fished there but targeting bigger bass takes an awful lot of searching for areas that have the right mixture of structure, cover and forage. Any presentation can catch big bass on any given day, if your going to target specifically those then you might want to think about larger baits like glide baits for example, while they may not attack the bait they are extremely effective at drawing and holding the attention of big bass, this will give you a good idea of where they live then you can make a presentation with another tool to that location, other baits include but are not limited to presentations like the A-Rig, large Flutter Spoons, Big Crank Baits, Hair Jigs, Mop Jigs, the list is abundant.

Not there but getting pretty good at it, jigs are my thing even though soft plastics like worms are still very much an extremely large part of my time on the water, line watching and countdowns are a big thing that’s been incorporated into my outings, not just for these types of presentations either, things all of you guys have said over the years have stuck with me and in most part have been instilled into my continuing passion for this sport. Two years ago I joined my first club, I am enjoying a lot of success from the back of the boat and a ton of it is because of what I have learned here, from you guys, albeit that it’s a different world from the back but none the less another lesson in learning.

Perfect !! Conditions change on the Potomac minute by minute and so do the fish, it is defiantly a fast paced game and you have to make the most out of it when you do get on them. There is a saying on that body of water in which it goes something like this, “if your fishing an area that you have all to yourself, there is a reason for it.” In other words you need to be fishing where everyone else is ? I have only been fishing the Potomac for a brief few years now and finally just getting to know a few things as in the post above, keep in mind that bass move in as the water rises and move out as the water falls, this holds truth to not just vegetation but also for wood and other forms of cover, try fishing moving baits when the water is moving in and out and soft plastics and such when the tides are idle. Bass love edges ?

There are many voices in my head that at any given time none of them make any sense whatsoever. I also believe as others that it is an attribute to the amount of time you spend on the water as well as the amount of confidence one builds, this too is a hit or miss game, at least for me it is still a 50/50 shot at paying off. Spending hours behind the graphs really plays a big role in the form of if a spot or an area will linger in my thoughts especially on tournament day, then again, if it’s a body of water I am familiar with then a little history may have significant influence on driving my instinct to fish differing areas or switch techniques all together. Good subject and thanks for the post !!

I tend to think a little differently about going about that, I figure I can not change the course of nature so why try and force my hand, I just pick up the trolling motor and try something else, somewhere else, sometimes I will spend hours on the graph on days like that especially before I find something I like but it’s usually worth the effort. Our underwater environment is something we are still in the stone ages of understanding, those little pea brained advisories have seemingly millions of years of evolution to their credit stored in their little DNA infused gray matter, it would seem that they need very little data to perform the simplest day to day tasks.

Awesome stuff gang!! I haven’t been to any match’s for a while, pretty much been shut down with all the changes here in Virginia but I’m itching to get back after it again hopefully sooner than later. I pretty much just do this to gain experience with my carry firearm, before the shutdown I had built enough trust with my group that we started doing some concealed carry work incorporated into our course of fire. It is defiantly great to see all the different types of field of fire everyone enjoys as well as seeing some beautiful firearms, I can not say thank you enough for all the responses !!

The Chick was a struggle for my tournament partner and I this past weekend, day one only produced almost 9 lbs of bass and day two was almost 5 lbs. both with a limit of bass. Club weighted almost 20 for the win, we were way off base for sure, we did find a little something that we think we can use for this coming weekends next event in which we go right back to the Chick again so we will see. We set a goal this season to be in the top 10 by years end, respectively we are sitting 10 and 11th with 3 events left, my partner being 10th, this past event surly didn’t help matters much but we are looking for some redemption and want to expand on what we learned, two weeks between events we know that an awful lot can change so we are prepared for adjustments that may need to be made but we remain excited for the opportunity to expand on what we learned if it all works out. Tidal fisheries are something we are working hard on to get a grip with, a top 5 at our Classic on the Potomac is proof of how hard we are working to gain experience and knowledge about things like timing as well as adjustments during all aspects of the fishery. I am pumped to get right back after it this coming weekend and put what we learned to the test, if we succeed or fail I’m still going to come away with something valuable for next seasons two events, god bless peeps and thanks for reading !!!

Lately I have really been working hard with the Tokyo Rig, if there is even the slightest gap you stand a great chance of getting that rig to the bottom, the coolest things I love about the rig is that it falls straight down, the other is that if you do get bit the weight is not something you have to worry about exploding the mouth of the fish open and potentially missing the fish.