Maryland's Who's who!

[Deleted account]

I have been busy with work, but it has been slow each time I got out last month or so, The last couple of days has picked up, and it should only get better. Got 2 bass and 2 pickerel fishing in my uniform in 30 minutes this afternoon.

I have some HO tanker cars and a cabooze, looking to trade for tracks and a tunnel....  

[Somd Fx4]

I've been catching fish down at St. Mary's lake but they are nothing special. All have been less than a pound.

[Deleted account]

6 hours ago, Junger said:

Laphroaig 10yr.

Yum.

[fishwizzard]

It is heartening to know that it's not just me.  I have tomorrow off and I am going to hit my confidence pond until I get some bass or my hand falls off.  I am going to start with a chatterbait, then a spinner, then a fluke, and then, I don't know.  My crank collection is limited to lipless and 1.5sk squarebills.  The pond still has some living SAV and a lot of still standing dead stuff, so cranks seem like a poor choice for how little time they will be productive per cast.  I have some jerkbaits but have little confidence in them and have even less patience to fish them slow.   

[jason99vmi]

On 10/18/2018 at 6:03 PM, fishwizzard said:

It is heartening to know that it's not just me.  I have tomorrow off and I am going to hit my confidence pond until I get some bass or my hand falls off.  I am going to start with a chatterbait, then a spinner, then a fluke, and then, I don't know.  My crank collection is limited to lipless and 1.5sk squarebills.  The pond still has some living SAV and a lot of still standing dead stuff, so cranks seem like a poor choice for how little time they will be productive per cast.  I have some jerkbaits but have little confidence in them and have even less patience to fish them slow.   

So did it work?  

 

Went out to Piney Run Lake.  Came up empty.   Was only out there an hour or so.  Fished the floating dock and down the lake trail to the cove.  If it wasn't for my 6 year old complaining she was cold i probably could have found a better spot.   But read fishing the points during windy conditions is really what you want to do.  

 

Started with Powder Whopper plopper, switched to shaky head craw then threw on the 2-4 foot crankbait.  

 

haven't fished in 30 years and thought getting back into it would be fun, guess i shouldn't lose faith after 3 outings.  Or the longer i go when i finally do get one i'll be hooked for good.  pun intended. lol 

[fishwizzard]

2 hours ago, jason99vmi said:

So did it work?  

 

Not well! 

 

Hit three ponds on Friday and beat them to a foam with spinners and chatters.  The only bass I saw was a small school of turbo-dinks who would follow an S-Waver around at a respectful distance.  Hit the same ponds again on Saturday and fished a fluke, t-rigged senko, and a shakyhead for most of the day.  Same result, nothing.  I tied on a tiny Pond Magic spinner and spent about a hour walking and casting it to no effect.  

 

Ran into a few other guys I see and chat with and none of them were having any luck either.  

 

I seem to recall doing pretty good last fall, but I also seem to remember that it was a lot warmer.  

[fishwizzard]

Finally.  It took six days of the skunk but I have managed to catch a bass again.  This morning I decided to ignore conventional wisdom and spend 3 hours slowly dragging a jig around to no effect.  Just as I was about to put the jig rod away and go get my DS rod to slowly drag that around the wind came up and I tied on a spinnerbait.  Third cast this guy grabbed it like 3' into the retrieve. 

[Junger]

Nice gut on that one. I think I'm going to hit up Widewater, Wednesday morning before I go to my son's Halloween parade. Going to try a double fluke rig, and yo-yo a Rat L trap.

[fishwizzard]

9 hours ago, Junger said:

Nice gut on that one. I think I'm going to hit up Widewater, Wednesday morning before I go to my son's Halloween parade. Going to try a double fluke rig, and yo-yo a Rat L trap.

 

I keep meaning to try the double fluke rig but never think of it when I am anywhere near a tackle shop to buy swivels.  

 

I am going to take advantage of the warm weather and hit either Centential or St Mary's Lake this morning.  I am still shaken from the sextuplet-skunking and I want to grind some lures on a riprap dam, which are one of my general confidence spots.

[JeepFisher]

Its Roctober/Rockvember...

[Deleted account]

On 11/2/2018 at 12:39 PM, JeepFisher said:

Its Roctober/Rockvember...

All you need is a little garlic butter, and some chopped fresh herbs...

Nice pictures.

[Joshua Vandamm]

On 11/2/2018 at 12:39 PM, JeepFisher said:

Its Roctober/Rockvember...

Nice one from shore! Which pier is that at?

[Nai]

Hello, I live in Cecil county and mostly fish private ponds, streams, and the upper bay and Conowingo now I have a bass boat. I am kinda new to the forums, not really. I mainly just look at what people have said and it usually gives me my answer to whatever I'm stressing over. My dad was saying to mes last week we could hook up with a guy he works with next year on a float trip on the Octorara creek where he supposedly caught some footballs on whopper ploppers and senkos. My dad said we would definitely go with him. Now, most of you guys seem west of Baltimore so sorry if this is a waste of your time. If not and you know the given stream, you know how I kinda find this hard to believe. Now, the Octorara is connected to arguably the best river in the mid-Atlantic for smallies, (the susky), and they could go up in there from the main river, but this isn't a small or big creek. Kinda mostly 3 feet deep in my experience and 45-65 feet across. Now I have only fished there once (in winter) so I guess I wouldn't know but if anyone has info, let me know. Thank you guys and tight lines (yes this is a essay, I already know)

[fishwizzard]

Anyone here willing to give up a bank spot near Shepherdstown, WV?  

 

I am heading up there weekend after next with my wife and some friends and I should have some time to sneak in a little fishing.  I suspect the Potomac will be too high to wade, so that rules out driving down to Harper's Ferry.  My current plan is to drive across the bridge, park at Lock 38 and start walking north until I find a good spot.  

[Logan S]

Annual FOBA schedule post spam.  I made a full post in the Bass Club section so go check it out there:

I put a nice fancy image in that post, but heres a quick link to the schedule on our site:

https://www.fishonbassanglers.com/tournaments/schedule/2019

 

If you're a boater or non-boater in the MD area (or NOVA/DC) I encourage you to check us out...We make it easy to join and fish even if you've never fished a tournament before.  Great mix of competition, fun, learning, and sharing...Something for everyone.  

[Junger]

I think I'm going to join this year, I know Ed Yee and he's been inviting me to the meetings.

 

Need to clear it with the wife first though.

[fishwizzard]

I am almost positive I asked this last year but here I go again:

 

How are co-anglers assigned to boaters and how far before each event is everything locked down? 

[Logan S]

1 hour ago, fishwizzard said:

I am almost positive I asked this last year but here I go again:

 

How are co-anglers assigned to boaters and how far before each event is everything locked down? 

Most of the tournaments are a random draw.  For the 2-day tournaments, members are allowed to choose their assignments to make travel and lodging logistics easier...But you don't HAVE to pick, the TD will still pair everyone up if needed.  

 

The pairings are done 1 week before the tournament... For the 2-day tournaments many make arrangements well in advance, but the deadline to sign up and the "official" pairings are still 1 week prior.  

 

If you're signed up for a tournament and have to drop out, you get a 100% refund or credit for another one...Whatever you prefer.  

[Nai]

8 hours ago, fishwizzard said:

Anyone here willing to give up a bank spot near Shepherdstown, WV?  

 

I am heading up there weekend after next with my wife and some friends and I should have some time to sneak in a little fishing.  I suspect the Potomac will be too high to wade, so that rules out driving down to Harper's Ferry.  My current plan is to drive across the bridge, park at Lock 38 and start walking north until I find a good spot.  

Idk a spot but watch out for the ghosts!

[fishwizzard]

On 12/6/2018 at 5:53 PM, Logan S said:

Most of the tournaments are a random draw.  For the 2-day tournaments, members are allowed to choose their assignments to make travel and lodging logistics easier...But you don't HAVE to pick, the TD will still pair everyone up if needed.  

 

The pairings are done 1 week before the tournament... For the 2-day tournaments many make arrangements well in advance, but the deadline to sign up and the "official" pairings are still 1 week prior.  

 

If you're signed up for a tournament and have to drop out, you get a 100% refund or credit for another one...Whatever you prefer.  

Wow, 1 week is very reasonable.  I am self-employed and the last minute work I get tends to be the most lucrative so I hate making plans too far out to only then have to cancel.   I think I might give it a go this year, assuming I am in town on Jan 2. Thanks for the info.  

[Logan S]

44 minutes ago, fishwizzard said:

Wow, 1 week is very reasonable.  I am self-employed and the last minute work I get tends to be the most lucrative so I hate making plans too far out to only then have to cancel.   I think I might give it a go this year, assuming I am in town on Jan 2. Thanks for the info.  

Yes, the way it works is that the Saturday before the tournament (1 week out) is the payment and notification deadline and then the pairings are out the next day.  Even if you do have to cancel the week of the tournament it really not a big deal, it happens....The only time it would be an inconvenience is if it was a travel event and you had arrangements for lodging/travel/etc with your partner.

 

If you can make the January meeting great, but if not you can come to any other meeting also...FOBA is open year round.  

[Munkin]

On 12/7/2018 at 7:29 PM, Logan S said:

Yes, the way it works is that the Saturday before the tournament (1 week out) is the payment and notification deadline and then the pairings are out the next day.  Even if you do have to cancel the week of the tournament it really not a big deal, it happens....The only time it would be an inconvenience is if it was a travel event and you had arrangements for lodging/travel/etc with your partner.

 

If you can make the January meeting great, but if not you can come to any other meeting also...FOBA is open year round.  

Do you have enough boaters for new coanglers? I would not mind fishing a few of the tournaments.

 

Allen 

[Logan S]

1 hour ago, Munkin said:

Do you have enough boaters for new coanglers? I would not mind fishing a few of the tournaments.

 

Allen 

Short answer is yes and we'd love to have you .  (And anyone else)

 

Long answer is that we don't do a 1-for-1 admittance thing and we don't close membership to Co's even if they outnumber boaters.  Most years we're pretty balanced, but sometimes we might have a handful of extra Co's.  Our annual average is right around 25 boaters and 25 co's.   

 

The way we handle it is a priority system that is based on payment for each tournament...Co-angler priority is determined by the pay-date for the specific tournament, so the last guy to pay for that tournament is the first one out.  Seniority or anything else has no bearing, it's strictly by the date you pay.  A lot of Co's will just pay for the specific tournaments they want to do (or all of them) right in the beginning of the year to get it out of the way..It's a golden ticket to guarantee you're in.  If you have to pull out you get 100% of your entry back or you can just roll it over to another tournament - Either way you get it all back if you can't make it to a tournament.

 

It's typically not even an issue though, the boaters just fish more often on average...We usually have an open boat or two in at least half the tournaments every year.  IF there are actually more co's than boats for a tournament we use a waitlist and if anyone drops out the Co on the waitlist gets in (or if an extra boat comes in).  Black Hill is the most common venue we have to worry about waitlists since it's so close/convenient to most members and the fishing is generally good (it's also where we have the annual family picnic after the tournament).

 

Bottom line is that if you pay early, you'll be guaranteed to get in any tournament you want...Whether you've been a member for 2 days or 2 decades.  Might be overkill to pay early, but it doesn't hurt anything.

[Deleted account]

Of mice and fishermen:  Been busy, so haven't been out lately. Missed the window on Sunday (sucks being tied up on such a nice December day), so decided I'd go out yesterday no matter what. Well I only had about two hours, so I bundled up and headed out to catch some pickerel at a local spot, well, no pickerel, but 3 bass and 1 crappie. I'll take it. JB and inline spinner.

[fishwizzard]

I am about 6-7 trips into "only throwing a 68 Special all winter".   Zero bass so far but today I got a little bump!  I think.  It is hard not to drift off in thought.