CeeJay

Wagglers, stick floats, homemade hybrids, casting bubbles, and fly fishing strike indicators are all I've ever used when targeting Bluegill. I'm a snob when it comes to fishing with floats It's also fun and easy to make some extremely sensitive floats out of balsa wood, quill, cork, etc.

Hello there. I fish from the banks of the Shenandoah river. I use light spinning tackle, and usually just a small selection of lures. I like to toss small spinnerbaits, wacky or t-rigged senkos and worms, float and flies and topwaters depending on my mood and how active the smallmouth are.

Welcome. I used to have a couple fly rods and really enjoyed catching bass and panfish on them. Unfortunately my rods disappeared during a hiatus from fishing so I had to start over, and now just use light spinning gear. I still have my old bass and panfish flies and will use them frequently (along with the standard bass lures) on my spinning tackle until I get a new fly rod. It was fun back in the day alternating between fly and ultra-light spinning gear. Anyway this is a great place with lots of good folks here I've learned a lot on the forums and hope you do as well.

Anyone ever had a pet goldfish? Of course fish can "learn", and also "recognize". I did an experiment once. My roommate at the time claimed that goldfish have a memory of merely a few seconds (he apparently read something stating that online). I told him to walk up close and look into the aquarium and see what happens. (Keep in mind that my roommate had never fed the fish before, only me.) Well "Junior" (the name of my goldfish) looked back at him.... and that was it. No going to the top expecting some fish flakes or anything like that. Then I walked over, and looked into the aquarium.... and Junior immediately went to the top of the water acting "excited", because he recognized me and associated me with feeding him. Obviously this wasn't done in even a remotely scientific way...but it did prove to myself and my roommate that Junior the Goldfish could distinguish between me (the person who always fed him) and someone else (who had never fed him)...and had a memory of a lot longer than a few seconds. Perhaps Largemouth bass are just not as intelligent as a goldfish, haha Or perhaps fish can indeed "learn" in some way despite their tiny brains. Or maybe Junior (currently residing in fish heaven) was an exception...who knows, but that is indeed a true story.

I really like the SK Bitsy Bug in 1/16-1/8oz. I haven't tossed them much lately but I usually bring a couple with me when I hit the river. Black/Blue and watermelon are the only two colors I have. I'm trying not to get too carried away with colors lately.

Wow what a giant, and the lake was apparently only 28 acres.

I respectfully disagree A few of us anglers, though not many, have tremendous respect for the common carp as American sport fish. Carp fishing is just about fun, just like bass fishing, crappie fishing, catfishing etc. Whether we like it or not common carp have been here since the 1800's and are now very much a part of American rivers, lakes and ponds. Coexisting with all the rest of our favorite sport fish. Fighting and landing a 20 pounder is still the highlight of my angling adventures to this day. But it's all good and I have no problem with differing opinions on them.

Yay I figured it out Just when I think I can't post any pictures...I get lucky and do something right haha. Top to bottom are my BN Dace, Muddler minnow, Mickey Finn, and Royal Coachman. Those 4 right there have survived many battles and are about 10 years old.

Absolutely. You'll likely get much more info here than some random article found while searching on google.

Sorry I can't seem to post the pics of my streamer flies and how to rig them. I have them all set up and got some pics. But I'm still trying to figure out how to post the actual pics of them on the forum.... Anyway if you google streamer flies: Mickey Finn, Black Nose Dace, Royal Coachman, and Muddler Minnow you'll see the streamers I've had success with for crappie. I've actually never used live minnows for crappie. But I know it's a time tested method, and if it produced for you in the past you should keep trying until you land some slabs

A streamer fly is a "fly" that imitates, or tries to imitate, bait fish and minnows...as opposed to floating dry flies, poppers, wet flies, and nymphs. It has swept back wings, and is usually used on fly fishing tackle and retrieved with a short darting motion. I fish all my flies on spinning tackle these days however. I can just cast them out further with spinning tackle and a few small split shot or "casting bubble". I'll have to post a few pics....one minute...

Good idea. I wish some other species could get a sub-forum of their own as well, (Carp!) but BR is a great site so it's all good to me I haven't had much luck finding the crappie from the bank along the Shenandoah River just yet...but I used to fish for them on the lakes and ponds in Virginia. My largest, and one of the few fish I've ever kept for eating, was caught on a 1/4oz Beetle Spin way back in the late 90's I think. I used to catch them on streamer flies as well. It's funny but those little crappie tubes didn't often work for me, but I should probably give them another chance on the river. Inline spinners are deadly for active crappie. Also I remember the Rebel Wee Craw crank produced at times in my old haunts in Va.

MassBass have you tried circle hooks for carp? I actually never have, but I used sensitive stick and waggler floats to detect lift bites (if the bait is on the bottom) and set the hook solid immediately rather than let the fish run with it and spit it out. Because as you said, Carp can drive an angler mad Thill makes some great floats for carping: TG waggler, Mini-Stealth, Shy Bite, etc. are amazing for detecting when a carp first picks up the bait. It takes some practice to weight them properly so that only a tiny portion is above water, but they usually list the shot/weight needed on the packages. Good luck and happy carping

You'll get em next time

The dreaded Zombie Fish

I have the itch right now. Had to run some very early morning errands and only glimpsed the river before I got stranded at home without a car. Hot day though here, and quite humid... but even so I'd still walk to the river with my rod and tackle if I had the stamina at the moment. Hmm maybe I could hitchhike

I did a quick search and looks like the 5" is sold out just about everywhere. If bluegill is ok Tackle Warehouse has triple trout in 5" in that pattern. Also check out Last Chance Tackle. Other than that you might have to buy used or stocked from individual anglers. Good luck Those are monster looking baits.

It's interesting that just about every article in magazines and websites devoted to catfishing never mentions the poison barbs on catfish. Seems like the first article on catching cats should mention how to land them without getting stung... I used to catch small channel cats and bullheads not knowing exactly how to land them haha. I usually just brought them in close and used long forceps to unhook the fish without touching them. The very first one I caught I tried to lip land, like a bass, and it clamped down hard on my thumb

I'm not sure I'll ever go fishing without a couple of 1/8oz SK Mini-King spinnerbaits in my box. Not my number 1 lure for bass...but it's up there in my top 3. Sometimes I think anglers go a bit too large with the spinnerbaits (and other lures) they throw, and haul nothing but water. Small spinnerbaits will usually catch some active fish for me.

I tend to fish frequently, about 4 days a week or so, but usually only for about 3-4 hours each time. Various physical ailments keep me from fishing all day like I could a decade or so ago. I get the itch on pretty much every day I'm not fishing For various reasons I took 7 years off once...it became unbearable once I made up my mind that I needed fishing back in my life.

I've actually been throwing small spinnerbaits quite a bit lately on the river. The local smallmouth and rock bass adore them I recently cleaned and re-painted a few of mine. They're fun lures to tinker with, and fun lures to fish with.

I'll never understand the animosity between trout/salmon anglers on one hand, and bass anglers on the other. And, if it's because of the fishing methods used (tradition).... fly fishing vs. spin/bait casting... then it's even more silly. All the great sport fish in America can be taken on a fly, or a spinner, or a worm, etc... Trout and salmon are old school glamor fish of course. But who's to say bass are not? The whole "invasive species" thing can be taken way too far, in my opinion. Especially when it deals with fish native to the same country...

Pumpkinseed Berkley power grub rigged on a 1/8oz jighead. It wasn't huge But it was my first smallmouth, not just of the year, but ever.

Thanks that's great to hear It's good to know there will be some fishable days in winter...I tend to get cabin fever when I can't go fishing. Also good to hear there are carp out there as I love carp fishing.

By the way I'm moving to Colorado in late November I can't wait to explore the angling opportunities out there.