Logan S

Welcome...Lake Fork and Lake Erie are tough acts to follow, but the fishing in this is area is still pretty good - Especially if you're willing to drive a bit . For walleye, your best bet is to head to Deep Creek Lake in western MD, I don't know how good it is compared to other good walleye fisheries but in my opinion and experience it's pretty darn good....I catch a ton of them there while bass fishing - So a real walleye fisherman should do pretty well. Might want to check out some local clubs - If so, I know of a pretty good one .

There is a learning curve going from bank to boat - It introduces a whole new set of variables, but it also opens up a ton more water to access. It's really not to bad though, definitely worth it. The fishing stuff is pretty much the same, you'll just have more options. Boat positioning is probably the hardest thing to get used to, since the bank doesn't move around while your trying to fish like a boat will. You'll get used to the multi-tasking of fishing and controlling the boat with some practice. Sounds like you and your kids are really into it, might as well get the boat bug started now because it sounds like you are heading that way regardless....If you wait too much longer they might stumble on bigger boats and that john boat will turn into a bass boat, start small while you still can ?.

My previous boat was a dark red with glitter Stratos, it's like a rite of passage for bass fisherman For my current boat I went with another tried and true color combo in the bass fishing world (black/blue).

If this is what you like, the Diablo Spec-R is probably right up your ally. Would be great for what you described, among many other things - It's probably the most versatile rod I've ever used. Could go down to the Flatside Special if you like to use lighter line and fish more open water with it. Could also go up to the Perfect Pitch if heavier line and cover. The Perfect Pitch handles lighter weights surprisingly well, I frequently pitch 1/4oz weigh with Z-Craw Jr on mine and it does great. Sounds like the DSR is really the rod for you though. Only disclaimer I'll put in here is that all my experience so far is the with the Gen1 XX.

I've done that too, I quit because the time difference between just shaking the hooks apart and fiddling with the bands was not much different to me. I also had the bands deteriorating after a couple months...Might have been the bands I used I guess though....Either way, it's definitely a good idea, I just didn't think it was worth continuing for me. I just cram as many in as I can and deal with it .

The BPS storage boxes hold the most baits of any I've ever used...Noticeably more than a Plano of same size. The BPS 3700 size box still fits in all normal 3700 size slots too. The Bass Mafia ones, while sturdier than any, are way to big on the outside and way too small on the inside....They hold substantially less than any other 3700 and still don't fit in the 3700 size slots (in my boat anyway). I had several and got rid of all of them except for terminal tackle (where the extra rigidity and slots are wanted). I didn't count, but I'm sure I have well over 50 baits in this BPS 3700 size box....I do get some hook tangling, but I'd rather have 1 box with a ton of baits and deal with the hooks. They're also cheaper than most other boxes too...

I don't know about all the medical/technical virus stuff...I'm not too worried about the virus itself. But in MD all schools are now shut down for two weeks. Both my wife and I work and we have 2 young kids. Thankfully we are both able to telework, but it's going to be a big challenge balancing child care and work while remaining productive at both ?. Fishing related - As the President of a large bass club I actually have think about what heck we're going to do related to this, which is not something I ever thought I'd need to do . We've got a tournament in a week and then a meeting and another tournament in early April.

Started small and worked my way up. IMO its the way to go, though I've known people that go straight to a full size boat and were fine. I think starting in smaller boats made me a better fisherman though, it forces you to make the most of what you've got - both fishing and equipment wise. Got this hand-me-down 12' V-Hull from the 1960's when I was 12. Cleaned it up and put small deck and trolling motor on it. I learned a ton about fishing in this old boat. When I was 15 (close to 16 ) I scratched together enough money to get a bare bones 17' Tracker with a 25hp....And pushed the limits more than I probably should have in that thing - Taking it down to FL and up to Canada and almost everywhere in between on the east coast. Started fishing tournaments in this boat and won my first local tournament in it. Many of my best fishing memories were in this boat. When I was 21 (after college) I upgraded to a 20' Stratos... Couple years ago I upgraded to my current boat, 21' Skeeter ZX250 ?.

39 is pretty cold, it's going to rise more than normal in water that cold. When I'm fishing water that cold I keep suspend-strips or lead wire handy because I think all of my jerks will rise a bit more than normal (my Visions for sure do). Colder water = more float. Suspend-strip or a bit of lead wire wrapped on the center hook shank and it should keep it down. I think 39 is temp when water the most dense, so you're literally at the temperature where a jerkbait will float the most.

On the diving depth, I've noticed that if you overwork the 110Jr it doesn't get as deep and the action isn't as good...I find that I need to tone down my normal jerkbait cadence a little bit with it. If really rip on it like do with the full size sometimes, it doesn't get more than 2' deep. The bill is tiny so I think too much forward movement negates the diving. I haven't noticed any suspending issues with the ones I have. I fish them on straight 10lb flouro on casting gear FWIW. If you're using braid I can see it being really easy to overwork it, so maybe give it a try on straight flouro before giving up on them.

Fish On Bass Anglers is still here ...2018, 2019, and now 2020 in the same thread ? Here's the post I made for the 2020 season: www.fishonbassanglers.com

I feel for the team, but the fact it was an hour later and not immediate is the key. At that point, it's no longer your bait that caught the fish...Even if it's almost a certainty that the line/lure was actually yours originally (same bait/color/location/etc). Not meant to sound harsh toward the team at all, just thinking about it as a TD would. Yep, you call the TD. Happens all the time, from Pro all the way down to local levels. I've called the TD and I've been a TD and had people call me. If there's ever a question, call the TD and get an answer. Probably, lots of different rules on different trails...Not sure about the FLW College, but I think the most common rule is that you can have over the limit temporarily while waiting on a ruling, but you can make any casts until you cull down to the limit.

About this much At some places or certain times of the year I'll have less. Like right now in the winter it's probably about half this and summer on tidal water is probably about half as well. I don't load stuff that I know I'm not going to need. I do make an effort not to let my tackle get out of hand...But I live in an are where I fish many different types of water bodies and all 4 seasons, so over the course of a year I need to use just about everything at some point.

Here's the biggest one I've ever caught or seen...Got it back in 2016 on the Potomac. I should have weighed it because it could have been close to a state record, guessing it was in the 15lb class. It pulled me around pretty good even with a 7'6" H rod and 65lb braid (can actually see it pull my boat a bit). They can be fun but really just bycatch for me, I catch quite a few each year when bass fishing on the Potomac and Upper Chesapeake. Nothing will ever get them out of the Potomac, but the ***holes that are illegally stocking them in every other waterway in the area need to be caught and have the book thrown at them. The Potomac is doing OK with them but other places might not.

I generally request off well in advance for fishing trips I know I'm taking ahead of time...But everyone once in a while there's a perfect day and a chance to hit the water has been too good to pass up. I've never felt like I needed to lie outright though, "I need to take an unexpected PTO day," has always seemed to go over just fine. Assuming your absence doesn't cause some kind of disruption...Nobody is going to care unless you actually tell them that you're going fishing or you forget sun protection and come in the next day with major raccoon-eyes.

There aren't really any that I'm falling over myself to scrounge for them on eBay or anything...But there's a handful of baits that are or used to be productive for me that I would pick up if they were readily available at normal retail prices... UJ Pork Rebel Deep Wee-R Lucky Craft Redemption Spinnerbaits Havoc Devil Spear Yum Wooly Bully Jackall Bling WEC/Zoom Cranks - Would be nice to have some backups to the ones I like without paying the crazy prices right now. Probably a couple more I can't remember too.

When I was 17 I went on the first of many annual trips to a chain of lakes in Canada with a group of guys from my club. It was my first big, long distance fishing trip. The day we were leaving I was really hyped up to go, hooked the boat up early and basically paced around till it was time to go (we were leaving mid-afternoon). I loaded up my truck and tinkered with some tackle in the boat for a while until I just decided head to the meeting spot early....Guys were always early. So I do that and then get to the meeting spot and no one is there yet, but whatever I'm a little extra early.... It gets to the actual meeting time and still no one there so I call the guy that lived closest to the meeting spot to ask where everyone was....And he says, "What are you talking about? It's Friday, we leave tomorrow....." Yep, I was an entire day early ?. As a teenager trying to be 'cool' in a group of more experienced fisherman, it was pretty embarrassing - Though they were good sports about it, giving me just enough flak to stay funny. It's been 16 or 17 years now since that screw up and if I'm ever the first guy to the ramp in the morning one of those guys will still hit me with, "You've been here since yesterday haven't you?" Or something similar ?.

I've thought about this several times - But haven't yet because of concerns over how waterproof I can make it and the power situation. I know there are water proof cases and I can run a power cord to it like anything else but I just can't see it standing up to the abuse that a regular graph does. I know several pros do this because I've seen them mounted in their boats, but they don't talk about it a ton.

You've got a couple talented teams that are participating a lot, that's a good thing. IMO, it's better to keep the guys that are doing well around and if you end up 'culling' some teams, let it be the from the other end of the leaderboard. One thing you might try is to promote a sharing/learning attitude...NOT giving out every detail/location/etc, but in a very general sense. Our club has this philosophy and it has worked very well....During weigh in each angler talks a bit about their day. Something like, "I got a few on a jerkbait and the rest on a jig, I was targeting main lake points." It's after the day is over and no one is giving up anything so specific that it would compromise them...But it gives everyone some insight as to what worked that day. We've found that it really helps newer anglers get their feet under them and it keeps the experienced guys working to stay ahead of the curve - "Rising tide lifts all ships" sort of mentality. It also gets people talking to each other that might not have otherwise. It's been a great feature of our club for over 20 years now and one of the big reasons we maintain a large membership base (60ish members annually) IMO at the club/local you need to strike the right balance of fun and competitiveness, too little of either and you'll have people bailing. I think too many groups try to neuter the competitiveness out of their events in the name of 'fun' - But it ends up backfiring because the competition is a big part of what makes tournaments fun. Anyway, it could be something you talk to your group about...You have some talented anglers so even just little tidbits from them would probably be good insight for the rest of your group.

You have to be willing to put in travel time around here...We have more options than most would think though. Local electric-only lake is about 20 mins away and is among the best bass fisheries in MD....Great option to have even though I have to putt around it on the trolling motor. At 500 acres its workable without using the outboard. There's another electric-only lake that can be really fun about 45 mins away too, but once I'm driving that long I typically will hit a 'real' place instead. The Potomac has a ton of ramps as close at 30 mins, but my favorite launch site is about 45 mins away. Upper Chesapeake and Conowingo are about 1.5 hours for me Lake Anna is 1.5 hours or so in the AM, but 95 traffic can be a killer on the way home. James/Chickahominey are about 2 hours. Places like Deep Creek Lake, Gaston, Smith Mountain, and a few others are 2.5 to 4.5 hours away...I'll go to these lakes 4 or 5 times a year for multi-day tournament trips. And if I really need to get a fix, there's a creek behind my house that has smallmouth and panfish in it...So I can grab my ultralight and catch a few almost anytime if needed .

The line and hook you would likely be using with a L or ML rod wouldn't be ideal for boat flipping anything of size either. Bass smaller than 14" or so are generally OK to flip on just about any gear....At least for me. Above that it's situational for your line/hook/rod. I've boat flipped bass in the 5lb class and netted 12" smallies...Depends on the situation, my gear, and my judgement.

Dang, page two and no one has mentioned livewells or bed-fishing yet? ?

Looks funny, but there are actually a lot of goldfish in the Potomac and on the Upper Chesapeake. It's rare to actually catch one though.

I got sick of rods sliding down the wall and falling over so I had to get them mounted when I had them in house. I've never liked the vertical racks and in my case, my ceiling is too low for my 7-6+ rods. This rack is pretty crude and I'll probably make a nicer version one day, but for now it works beautifully. I'm kicking myself for not thinking of horizontal wall racks sooner. Even when everything is out of the boat, I can rig and work on stuff much easier now. I generally fish through the winter, though definitely less often so I pull the gear out of the boat usually...So this is my off-season storage.

I'm not a big swimbait fisherman so I've steered clear of the really high dollar stuff. But I have more Vision 110's than I'd care to account for...Actually more $25 class baits in general, I shouldn't tally them up ?. The most valuable baits I have are probably several from this box...Some of these could probably bring a high price if I were to sell them.