Brick

I've got a ride 135. I love this boat. It is heavy as hell, and a workout to paddle, but I doubt there is a more stable kayak on the market. I use this thing for fishing everywhere. I have even hit class III-IV rapids in this thing while loaded with camping/fishing gear. A smaller person would probably love the ride 115. The 115 is probably easier to handle in rapids. This boat has so much weight capacity that I have paddled across a lake with a 200 lb buddy standing in the back storage area. We were taking on water back there, but if i put scuppers in, it would have been fine. lol. Thing is a tank. Upgrades -Humminbird 698 SI fishfinder - ghetto rigged anchor trolly that I use with an anchor and a sand spike. You can see it attached on the right side of the kayak. -No crate because I throw my 50 lb dog in the back storage a lot of times. -Permanently attached lure retriever

pantyhose work too. Don't ask me how I know.

Weird. It double posted, and didn't include the pic I attached. Lets try this again.

Actually, I have a wilderness systems ride 135 kayak. Very good boat for standing. A little too windy to stand today, but i managed to snag a 23" snakehead today! First one! Great fight. Knew it wasn't a bass or a cat the second I hooked it. Smoked it on the smoker, and it was delicious! Caught him on a chatterbait real shallow. Also, there was some talk of stomach contents earlier. This one had a 10" snake in its belly! Couldn't tell the species as it was half digested. I've got pics on my friends phone. I'll try and post them when he gets them to me. I guess reading this thread answered my own questions. Thanks guys!

Actually, I have a wilderness systems ride 135 kayak. Very good boat for standing. A little too windy to stand today, but i managed to snag a 23" snakehead today! First one! Great fight. Knew it wasn't a bass or a cat the second I hooked it. Smoked it on the smoker, and it was delicious! Caught him on a chatterbait real shallow. Also, there was some talk of stomach contents earlier. This one had a 10" snake in its belly! Couldn't tell the species as it was half digested. I've got pics on my friends phone. I'll try and post them when he gets them to me. I guess reading this thread answered my own questions. Thanks guys!

I fish out of pohick bay and mason neck park from my kayak. Any suggestions on snakeheads in this area? I catch tons of bass, and a fair share of catfish on lures, but as of yet not one snakehead. I've fished back into cane creek, little cane creek, and so far no luck. Do they like certain types of grass over others? Anyways, any help would be appreciated. I may just be fishing too deep most of the time.

Cool. Thanks for the reply. Now that i think about it, I did hit Burke lake not to long after that last big storm. It's not my favorite lake to hit in this area. I am very hit or miss on Burke lake. I have had days when I catch 20+ fish on top water, when they are hitting baitfish over 30 ft of water. But for every one of those days, there are probably 5 days that I catch absolutely nothing. Or only a couple of dinks. I do really well when I fish for catfish in there, but I'm normally targeting bass unless I'm with a friend that doesn't fish often.

Any good spots in the area that you know of that won't be as affected by the rain as occ res? I know the res is pretty bad after heavy rains for a few days. I'm looking for a spot to take my kayak out. I frequent the res, mason neck park, occ river, pohick bay. Do you think any of these places would be better than others tomorrow?

If they won the tourney, they should be charge with felony theft if the amount warrants it.

It doesn't matter what is in front of the rowers. They will do absolutely nothing to avoid collisions. You could be anchored for four hours in the same spot with a laser light show shooting off your boat in every direction, and if they are heading your way, you better move. I've considered getting a mega phone myself, and following right along next to them screaming at the coach for the duration of their practice. Aren't you supposed to stay to the right when in motion on the res? Why do the rowers not have to follow this rule? They think they own the reservoir, and I don't blaim them. The counties gave them 3 of the 4 launches found on the reservoir. Id think I owned the place too.

Don't get me started on the rowers. Haha. Can't stand when they are out full force on occ res. Nothing like enjoying some peace and quite out on the res until 6 teams of rowers come through one after another. Each group 8 boats wide, taking up the entire width of the reservoir. Not to mention that each group has a coach screaming through a megaphone. They do not give a flying f who they wake, or whether someones fishing or not.

Hi Charlie. I have been reading your fishing reports for a few years now. Keep up the good work! Where do you get all the info? You must have a lot of fishing buddies. I don't have a bass boat. Can I compete in a kayak? Haha.

Yep. Basically a citation fish is a fish that is a certain length and/or weight for any give species. Here is a list of what is considered a citation fish in good ole VA. And calling someone a yank in the wrong part of Virginia might get you shot. lol. Just kidding. Or am I? Largemouth Bass 8 lbs. 22" Smallmouth Bass 5 lbs. 20" Crappie 2 lbs. 15" Rock Bass 1 lb. 12" Sunfish 1 lb. 11" White Bass 2 lbs. 8 oz. 18" Striped Bass 20 lbs. 37" Hybrid Striped Bass** 8 lbs. 24" White Perch 1 lb, 4 oz. 13" Channel Catfish 12 lbs. 30" Blue Catfish 30 lbs. 38" Flathead Catfish 25 lbs. 40" Rainbow Trout 4 lbs. 22" Brook Trout 2 lbs. 16" Brown Trout 5 lbs. 25" Chain Pickerel 4 lbs. 24" Muskellunge 15 lbs. 40" Northern Pike 6 lbs. 30" Walleye 5 lbs. 25" Sauger* 2 lbs. 18" Yellow Perch 1 lb. 4 oz. 12" Gar 10 lbs. 40" Bowfin 10 lbs. 30" Carp 20 lbs. 34" Freshwater Drum 6 lbs. 24"

I'm in NOVA. They are blossoming everywhere around here. I was on a potomac river creek two days after this report, and absolutely crushed between 1-3:30 during low tide. I'd tell you which creek, but I fish from a kayak, and don't want my spot blown up. Haha. Trying to fish there tomorrow. All fish were caught in less that 2 ft of water. Most fish were concentrated near the mouth. I was fishing moving baits extremely fast near grass with occasional pauses.

What would be the point in stocking a community pond and not letting people fish there? I'm assuming that it has been stocked since Peacocks are an introduced species. What is the point of building a pond for a community if not to fish? Mosquito breeding? I'd tell everyone that approached me to f off until I was approached by a cop. Any "HOA laws" will not stand up in a court of law against a good lawyer anyways. Especially if you have permission from a home owner. It is after all the HOME OWNERS association. The HOA in my neighborhood ticked a lawyer Home owner off so much that he basically took them to court and forced them to abandon most of their bylaws. It's a townhouse community with two parking spots assigned for each home. He apparently was getting nasty letters from the HOA because his extra car was always parked in visitor spaces. Well now there is no assigned parking at all in the entire neighborhood and even though the spaces are numbered still, you can technically park wherever you want. The lake in our neighborhood has signs all around it saying that it is for residents and guest use only which is fine with me. In actuality, anybody can fish there because the dam was paid for by the county for drainage control. The only reason HOAs think they have so much power is because nobody challenges them. They assume that they actually have authority, and they don't. Our HOA will soon be a civic association that pays only for landscaping in common areas, and that is fine with me.

Most people think of catfish as scavengers, but the big blues and flatheads actually prefer live prey. I've caught cats on all sorts of lures. I've even caught a small cat on a dry fly!

Hoa's are the absolute worst. Obviously anyone who has time to be a hoa official, or whatever u call it, has no life of their own. So they have to interject themselves into others lives. I'd have written permission from your friend who lives on the lake in your tackle box at all times. That way when u get approached by some crazy black lady you can ask her, "Im sorry, am I on your property?" If she says yes, leave. If she says no, tell her to "tick off, mind your own business." If she calls the cops, produce your note for them and they won't/can't kick u out. Works for me in Virginia. I actually had a guy try and call the cops on me because I was fishing from the shore around his floating dock. The cops came, I informed them I was a guest in the neighborhood. I then produced the note, and my fishing licence. The cops informed the a hole that not only was I allowed to fish there, but since it was a floating dock that was not connected to his property, I could technically even fish on the dock if I wanted. I was actually about to move on from that spot, but decided to chill and fish on this dock for a while. I still fish on that dock everytime I go to that lake.

I have a wilderness systems ride 135. Its stable enough that I don't have to worry about wake from the bass boats. A 25 mph wind is far worse than being on a lake with a ton of bass boats. I actually have more trouble being waked on smaller bodies of water with horsepower restrictions. Bass boats actually don't throw a ton of wake when they are up on a plane. I actually get slammed with wake more in the no wake zones, because the boats are down in the water more. Therefore, displacing more water. You do have to worry about idiots that are not paying attention while driving. Just have your head on a swivel. And make sure u are plenty visable. My kayak is bright orange, and has a pole on the back with a flag and mirrors. Some people even fish these boats in the ocean.

They can actually have charges pressed against them for "rigging a public contest". It's the same idea as someone rigging the lottery. There was actually a guy charged recently for sneaking counterfit poker chips into a tournament at the borgata in atlantic city. The borgata gave everyone in the tourney their money back, and gave the first 15 places an equal share of the winnings since the tourney wasn't over when the chips were discovered. I'm assuming it would be the same charge for rigging a fishing contest.

Lake Mercer is not a bad place to start. You can pretty much shore fish all the way around, and I have caught some nice bass out of there. Some decent crappie too. Plus, they recently drained a nearby lake(huntsman). Before they did, they moved as many fish as they could over to mercer which is right down the street. I prefer fishing near the d**n. The stump field at the other end looks great, but I haven't pulled to many bass out of the stumps, mostly crappie. I think the bottom around the stumps is all muck and mud.

Wow! That sounds awesome. The potomac was on fire Sunday too. Fish were really shallow and smashing gold bladed chatterbaits. Best 5 def went 20+. 15 fish in 3 hours from a kayak. Smallest was around 1.5. Also saw about 10 bald eagles(young and mature) and countless blue herons fishing. Hooked into something truely monsterous, but it pulled the hook. Guessing it was a cat or snakehead but didnt get to see it.

I wish I had a Bass Pro Shops closer to me. I'm in Fairfax county and have to drive an hour to get to a BPS. I already ordered them from the site though. Thank you. Got an upper and tidal.

Thank you. I've been on that site before, but couldn't remember the address, and couldn't find it on google. May be the first time google failed me.

Can some of you VA and MD guys tell me where to find a good fishing map for the potomac river? Google is failing me right now.

Never fished that area before. If you have any luck, I might have to give it a try this year. I've fished mainly from harpers ferry to down below great falls. I also get the yak to the bigger part of the potomac near occoquan bay/pohick bay. I also fished the south branch of the potomac last year in West Virginia, but I hit an area known more for trout than smallmouth. I did catch quite a few smallmouth though. If you know what the river looks like in that area, I could probably help you more. Some areas of the potomac have grass across almost the entire river. Other areas have big boulders, and sporadic grass. When the water gets warmer, right under the d**n may be a good spot to hit.