Dan B.

Thanks all. I booked a trip with Jimbo.

Any suggestions for a guide on Lake Lanier that targets spots? I'm probably heading down there in early March. Thanks for any suggestions.

FWIW, I agree with NathanDLTH. I have both rods you're asking about. They're quality travel rods, but if you're going for trophy peacocks in the Amazon, I'd worry (a lot) that both these rods are underpowered. I'd say the same for a lot of striper fishing. The Dragoon would probably be a much better option for your intended use, although I don't own that one.

I've had a lot of luck with 3" Bass Pro Speed Shads. I was surprised when I looked up their prices right now that they're actually more expensive than Keitechs ($5.69 for 8 at BPS vs. $4.75 for 10 at TW) but they last a lot longer. I have to admit, I only used Keitechs briefly before switching to the Speed Shads, because I was often only getting one fish per Keitech. Maybe I'm missing out, but I can attest that the Speed Shads last a lot longer than 3-4 fish. I'd say typically they last 10-15 bass. Maybe I should try Keitechs again and see if I am missing out.... :-)

Water temp and clarity will play a big role as to where the smallmouth are. Many are probably still in deeper, slower pools where they spent the winter. However, the big girls are often the first to move. Look for large current breaks, because they won't want to be in the current. Fish the downriver end (facing/casting upriver) of large laydowns, islands, boulders, and ledges that create large eddys. Don't necessarily focus on the water right below the current break. Often the tail end of the eddy is best this time of year. The Ned and Shad Rap are good choices, but assuming the water is fairly clear, I've had the most success covering water this time of year with a 4" watermelon red-flake Swim'n Caffeine Shad rigged on a 3/0 or 4/0 1/8 ounce belly-weighted Gamakatsu swimbait hook (Zoom makes a similar swimbait that is probably the closest alternative and might be easier to find). Something about the subtle slow roll of that swimbait on a belly-weighted hook is irresistible to bigger smallies looking for an easy meal after a cold hungry winter. A few years ago fishing the prespawn on the Upper Potomac, that bait never failed to produce an 18-20" smallie. You won't necessarily catch numbers this way, but you'll have a chance for a citation, especially on the New.

Have to echo what others have said. Well written summary, and impressive performance in harrowing conditions. Good luck!

This is probably too late for your orientation visit, but I assume you'll be back from time to time. I've been in Charlottesville for a year now and have fished most of the local lakes multiple times (i.e., Walnut Creek, Ragged Mountain, Albemarle, Rivanna Reservoir, Chris Greene, Beaver Creek, Fluvanna Ruritan). I wouldn't say any are lesser-known spots, but at the same time, none of them are fished as hard as they would be in a larger urban area. Unfortunately, some are really hard to fish from the bank. Chris Greene, Walnut Creek, and Ragged Mountain have accessible shorelines around almost their entire circumferences, so I'd recommend you try one of those if you have to fish from the bank. If you have a kayak, try Ragged Mountain, although you will have to take your gear down a fairly steep hill to launch. You'll probably catch mostly small fish at some of these places (Walnut Creek in particular is loaded with dinks), but all these places have big ones in them. My most successful bank fishing technique has come when throwing a weedless wacky worm as described extensively elsewhere in the forums by Wayne P. As Sam mentioned, Wayne P. is a great resource and he's reported catching double digit bass from some of these lakes on weedless wacky worms. I highly recommend you find his descriptions of the technique.

I've only fished Anna a couple times. Both times I launched at the state park. I think it's a good option for boat or kayak fishing as it's fairly central and accessible to various creek arms as well as main lake water. You can find shallow or deep water relatively close and lots of structure and cover options. That said, I've heard the lake can be very busy with boat traffic in summer, which is part of why I haven't been there since spring. Wherever you launch, I'd recommend trying to be on the water at or before first light to avoid the boat traffic.

I agree with James that you don't want to fish the free-flowing James River in your boat. If you want to fish out of your boat on the James River for smallmouth, go to Monacan Park (about an hour from Buckingham northwest of Lynchburg). That section of the James is a fairly large pool behind a dam that's got plenty of depth to run your boat. However, you'll only be about a half hour from Briery Creek, which has excellent largemouth fishing. You won't be able to run your outboard (it has a 10 hp limit), but you probably wouldn't want to anyway because it's loaded with standing timber.

Any recent reports from people who have fished Briery or Sandy? Thinking of going down there this weekend, but wondering what impact the weather from the past couple weeks has had.

Thanks Sam. My post was from last week, so it was actually last weekend that I went. I didn't have much luck. Even so, I'll provide some detail here in case it's helpful to others. I was surprised by the amount of fishing pressure. Everywhere I went on the lake and river both days, I encountered other bass fishermen. Water temps were about 66-67, and there were moderately strong winds both days. Water clarity ranged from clear to muddy (the muddy areas were in shallow water due to substantial wind and boat traffic on Saturday). I arrived Friday afternoon and launched at Bolar Marina (there's a $5 fee). I decided to fish up the Jackson River thinking I might find some current that would help me figure out where the smallmouths were. As it turned out, the wind from the south was so strong that it essentially negated any current from the river (I'm not sure there's ever much current from the river below the bridge anyway). I caught one 13" smallmouth on a swimbait near a laydown that day. I went all the way up to the bridge and fished shallow flats, as well as deeper in the river channel, and couldn't get another bite. The next day I launched from Coles Point (also a $5 fee). I went up the Big Lick creek arm first and fished some deeper water off main and secondary points, as well as shallow structure and flats. With no luck, I made my way towards the main lake basin and fished the shallow water around the two large islands. Some of it was muddy, but some of what I could see looked like good spawning habitat (although I didn't see any beds). No luck there either, although multiple bass boats were hammering the water around those islands (didn't see anyone catch anything though). I moved again to a flat that extended off a main lake point and saw some submerged vegetation on the sonar. I fished there for a while and picked up one 16" largemouth on a squarebill. I couldn't get another bite though, so I moved to another similar area. No luck there either. I went back up the river, and caught a bluegill that thought it could eat a squarebill. Wasn't having luck in the river, and after hearing thunder I started running back towards the launch. I fished another island along the way without luck. I would go again, although probably only if I could stay for several days and spend a lot of time looking for and fishing deep structure. In retrospect, I think most of the smallmouth were probably in water deeper than I was fishing. I think the largemouth may have been on flats off the shore like where I caught that one, but I didn't concentrate on that pattern long enough to confirm it. It's a beautiful setting, but I wasn't smart enough to figure it out in two half-days of fishing.

I'm heading to Moomaw for the first time on Friday. I've read the historical posts about this lake, but they're from a while ago. Anyone been there lately and know recent water temps, whether spawn is over, etc.? I haven't found info on whether or which boat ramps ever close or have fees to use them. Does anyone know or have a preferred ramp? I might want to look for smallmouth, since I don't usually get to target them. I've read that the smallmouth fishing up the north end creek arm can be good. Can anyone confirm good smallmouth spots? I'd also welcome any tips on good spots for largemouth, although if they're still spawning or recently post-spawn, I assume they'll be on or near the flats around the mid-lake islands or what look like flats near shore to the north and west of those islands? Thanks for any tips!

I'm new here. Just wanted to thank everyone who posted on this thread. There's some great info here (special thanks to Wayne P.). Wish I'd seen this before fishing Briery on Sunday, because it could have come in handy. :-) I went to Briery on 4/12 for the first time. Water temp was 70, and water was stained. I figured bass might be on beds, so I was concentrating on shallow water sheltered from the wind. I caught 7 and lost a solid 8th pitching creature baits to shallow water structure in a few different coves and pockets. All the fish were in skinny water hugging the shoreline or laydowns. I couldn't actually see any beds or bass guarding fry, but there were definitely bass acting like they were spawning (I also saw or heard multiple fish inches from shore or shallow laydowns splashing around, and they weren't carp). Biggest was 21.5" and 5 lbs. 11 ozs. (a PR for me). Three more were 18 inchers, and the other three were 12-15". The one I lost was probably in the 3 lb. range. I also threw a chatterbait for a bit in slightly deeper water without any bites. A guy at the ramp when I was launching claimed his son caught and released an 11 lber. that morning on a plastic worm in the cove opposite the ramp by the dam. I went back on 4/16 hoping to maintain the pattern and try it in new spots, but conditions changed. Water temps increased to 72-73. The wind was fierce and nearly constant (there were whitecaps), and it muddied up the water. I looked for sheltered water, and hooked a 3 lb. class bass on a creature bait in a couple feet of water by some laydowns outside of the wind (water was still dirty). I lost that fish when it jumped. I tried to repeat the pattern from 4/12 in other spots, but it wasn't working well. I hooked and lost one other smaller bass, also on a creature bait, in some water that was actually windier but also clearer than the first spot. That was all for me that day. I didn't land anything, or get any other bites. I probably should have covered more water, including deeper water, with a chatterbait or spinnerbait, or used my electronics more. A guy at the ramp, who I saw at one point fishing slightly deeper than me, said he caught 8. I also went to Sandy a couple times earlier in April. I had a similar experience there. One day I caught 8, including a 19" 4.25 lber., and another day, I just got one dink. However, there I did the opposite. I was concentrating on deeper water first (and not getting bit), and the next time when I focused on shallower water, I did well (for me).