Trappernewt

After years of saving I was finally able to purchase a new Jet Boat. I’m looking for some help understanding safe water levels for my area. I’ve seen a bunch of conflicting information about what is safe and what isn’t. I fish the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers near Winchester VA and Front Royal VA. Also interested in the Potomac. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Aaaaand the rod to go with the new SLX DC. And a Curado K in 8.3:1 for the OG Tatula 7’4 Heavy I got on sale for $90.

Cause I watched a Tactical Bassin video on cranking.......?

Having a buddy that works in a tackle shop doesn’t help me at all. I didn’t even need a reel. Now I guess I better get a rod as well.....it’s neverending.

Fishing was ok while the wind was blowing. I caught 2 and had one get off on a spinnerbait slow rolling it just over the grass in about 8ft if water. Once the wind laid the spinnerbait bite stopped. I flipped some lay downs and grass. Threw a swim jig on weed lines and punched mats. About a half hour after sunset I threw a frog in the mats and a WP90 in the open water between mats and picked up one more fish on my way back to the ramp and had another one get off. Tough evening but didn’t get skunked. Boat that was loading up when I got there had been fishing since 12:30 and never caught a fish.

Just pulled up to the ramp. I’ll update y’all later tonight.

Well.....I went this morning and unloaded the boat, parked the truck and hoped on the front deck. Shoved off the dock and dropped the trolling motor....hit the button and nothing. Checked the plug and all the batteries and connections and everything was clean and tight. Apparently between when I unplugged the onboard charger (I looked this morning when I and when I arrived at the lake one of the batteries went bad. So I paddled my happy butt back to the ramp and loaded up. Bad part is the batteries are only 10 months old but they replaced both under Warranty.

Thank you. I will throw some top water really early. Then try the things you suggested. This lake doesn’t see a ton of pressure cause it’s nearly impossible to fish from shore and the vegetation makes it very intimidating to fish. I’ve caught a lot of fish here early in the spring and late in the fall but have struggled during this time of year.

Monkey got me good this time....and he was wearing a Bass Resource T-shirt.

This is a technique I’ve not done a lot as this is basically the only lake within 80 miles of me with this type of vegetation. I do have a rod specifically setup for it (just got it actually) and I have the tungsten, stops, hooks, baits etc. how do I know where on earth to start in 50 acres of weeds? Lol Just pitch to the holes or gaps? Starting deep and working up shallow so I don’t spook them?

I thought this might be a fun topic... I have been sitting here trying to decide all evening where to go fishing in the morning. I can’t make up my mind so I’m hoping you folks can help me out. We experienced a heavy thunderstorm this evening that muddied up the small streams and the air temps dropped from the high 80’s to the low 70’s. Below are the lakes....all 3 are under 60 acres and feed by a small stream. Bluegill, small shiners and crawfish are the main food sources. Im in the eastern panhandle of WV. Lake 1: Average depth is 9’ with a max depth of 20’. Has a Creek channel through the majority of it. It’s full of hydrilla and other aquatic vegetation that makes up about 70% of the lake. Mostly mud bottom. Lake 2: Average depth is 12’ with a max depth of 38’. Lots of standing timber and submerged structure. Very steep drop offs on most of the banks going from 6” to 10’ in a short distance. Mud bottom but not much vegetation other than reeds and cattails along the bank on one side. Lake 3: Average depth is 10’ with a max depth of 26’. Very little standing timber but a lot of submerged timber with a mix of mud and slate bottom. Not much vegetation at all. All three lakes produce LMB nearing 8# (I know small for a lot of you) and have a decent population of fish. Lake 1 has Northern Pike and Lake 3 has gotten several stockings of Musky over the last ten years. I know the info is vague but please share your thoughts on where I should try given the weather and time of year. Feel free to offer styles and lures you would try. I’ll be on the water at daybreak and will update this thread with pictures and a summary tomorrow afternoon.

Thanks for the advice. I'm not going to give up. I've never seen another angler on any local lake throwing a swimbait over 3" long. Not saying that its not happening I just haven't seen it and I spend a lot of time on the water. The state record LMB is 12.28# and it was caught in a pond. The second largest LMB ever weighed for a record from a public lake/river is 9.62#. I have been using some larger swimbaits 5"+ for the last couple years and have had some success (Mattlures Ultimate Bluegill, Osprey) with my largest fish being 5.34#. I do a lot better on large worms (Ol' Monsters Jelly Worms etc) and jigs as far as consistently catching LMB over 4#. Our trophy fish are few and far between here and anything caught over 5# is a nice fish. I figured that I didn't stand a good chance of catching much but I thought that I would at least catch a pike or have a follow. I'm just interested in trying some different things that may give me a better chance at catching larger fish and I have tried several hard body swimbaits and haven't had so much as a follow. Ill do some more research here. Thanks again.

@Harold ScogginsThe primary impoundments I fish are small, electric only and under 50 acres. The primary forage is bluegill and crawfish with small shiner populations. One particular lake is close to 70% hydrilla and other type of aquatic vegetation and has an average depth of around 9 feet. I threw a ganterel for 4 straight hours along the weed lines and reeds and never had a follow. This lake has a good population of pike and produces nice LM bass. I was just curious if I was doing something wrong.

Do you have a lot of luck with them? I have a few ganterel Jr’s and have had zero luck. I’d have imagined a northern would have smashed it but I can’t even get a follow. I have the ghost gill and spawn gill colors.

This site costs me a pile of money. I was just reading this thread and thought “Man I have a new rod coming and $45 worth of amazon dollars to spend. A Fuego for $30 sounds like a great idea!!” I need to take a break from Bass Resource!!