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Topwater action is awesome! I like two baits right now! I can toss them all day until there is a high tide and high sun! If there is sun and a low tide, they work all day! If cloudy, they work all day! I use a Furbit Frog and Furbit popper. Capt. Karl Bunch turned me on to these about 2 years ago after the Furbit won Best of Show at ICAST…annual Vegas industry tackle show! The rabbit fur is so lively; I am replacing the legs on some of my other Frogs like the Mann’s Super frogs! JannsNetcraft.com has these! Add them to your frogs! 65 pound Spiderwire Stealth and a good stiff frog rod like the 2iG Ultra Strike...a slightly softer tip for better casting…a solid reel and hold on! The fish are inhaling them!
It’s just around the corner; the 12th annual St Jude Potomac Teams Tournament is JULY 11th…Friday…Leesylvania! …I really would like more boats this year! Email me for REGISTRATION forms
My follow-up bait this week was the new chatterbait style bait, the Rock N Runner…a Road Runner on steroids complete with small silver willow blade on the underside which gives it a unique action and more flash! This thumper combined with the Mann’s HardNose Craw is killer! I am using green pumpkin and watermelon skirts with contrasting or matching craws! Various retrieves in the grass are working. I look for clear water close to deeper water and to stained water for the best bites. If you are getting catfish, move closer to the clearer water!
WUSA Ch9 Morning Meteorologist Kim Martucci is rally talking up fishing and boating during her morning weathercasts! Her reports are easy to follow and accurate! Slowly but surely, she is teaching me about weather! She is really into it! I hope she can get back out on the boat with me again soon! But, I am going to have to be careful about telling her some of my secrets! She posted photos and some of my secrets on her blog Kim Martucci! Maybe I shouldn’t let her into my workroom again…who knows what photos she will get next time! I am putting in my requests for weather for our next trip!
Another topwater favorite is Mann's HardNose Frogs with a 5/0 Mustad Ultra Point tube hook! I like white, when the sun is out, black on very cloudy days or in off color water. In between, green pumpkin! Poppers over clear water or at lower tides are producing on main river grass and in creeks. Find the right speed. I have found a pop, pop, pop, at a very slow pace will get bites. Also walking the dog with baits like the Lucky Craft Gunfish 115 really draws the bigger fish.
After that…Stick worms and weightless plastics…split shot, drop shot, and slow down! You can use cranks or spinnerbaits appropriate for the water clarity. Remember, chop, low light and some color to the water make for the best spinnerbait conditions. The incoming tides produce cooler water. This activates the fish a bit. Otherwise it’s a slow patient presentation.
After that, Mann’s Baby 1-Minus in Slatterback Holographic is my favorite. In spinnerbaits, the ¼ ounce Mann’s Classic…gold blades, white skirt over shallow grass and wood when the skies are cloudy or the water is a bit stained. Vary the speed of the retrieve and rip from grass. Also, “waking” baits like the Mann’s Waker or even the Mann’s Mid-Minus in citrus colors or shad patterns are working over grass and around docks and wood!
I am fishing a lot of Mizmo tubes now! Pitching to marsh clumps in creeks and to grass clumps. I am pitching them Texas rigged and with the Gerkin insert heads. I have been using the Gerkin head for 6 years! Made with a Mustad Ultra Point hook...it has a wire weed guard and an elongated lead head…this makes the bait glide. The Gerkin tube head, now owned by R&R Custom Baits can be found at Dance’s Sporting Goods in Colonial Heights, VA or by calling…804-541-4162. Also, hair jigs like the Punisher work too. Jack’s Juice really soaks into the plastics or into the hair on a Punisher jig!
Pro’s Soft Bait Glue is new and improved…how could they? They improved the bottle! No more clogs! Much easier to apply on the water! Just in time for stick worm time! (senko style baits)
Last month I went fishing with WUSA Channel 9 sports Anchor Levan Reid! He wanted to go in February! We had a blast! He caught his very first bass! Wait until you see how excited he was! [link]
If you are a boater…or board a boat for any recreational use…PAY ATTENTION!!! Under threat of a new potentially costly EPA permit program to be in place by September 30 of this year, recreational boaters and anglers have only a short time to encourage their Senators and Representatives in Congress to support the "Clean Boating Act of 2008." The bill would retain a 35-year-old exemption under the Clean Water Act of 1972 for "normal operational" discharges from recreational boats, such as deck run-off from rain or engine cooling water. The proposed Clean Boating Act of 2008 does not weaken any existing environmental laws that restrict the overboard discharge of oil, fuel, garbage, or sewage.
Help is needed to convert the 93 House sponsors who had previously co-sponsored a similar House bill, H.R. 2550 - now dormant - to be co-sponsors of the newest version, H.R. 5949.
To easily contact your federal legislators or learn more about the issue, go to http://www.BoatBlue.org or http://www.BoatUS.com/gov.
On all moving baits, I recommend replacing hooks with Mustad Ultra Point trebles. BTW! The BEST split ring pliers ever, from Texas Tackle! http://texastackle.com/pliers.htm none like it anywhere! For cranks, I like the 7” medium action rod like the 2iG Ultra Strike, perfect to feel cover and hookset! It’s not too limber or too stiff to keep you from landing fish.
This year I changed insurance companies; I went to the experts in boat insurance, BoatUS! BoatUS Angler’s membership program is part of the nation's largest association of recreational boaters protecting the interests of boat-owning freshwater anglers. BoatU.S. Angler offers insurance policies specifically designed to meet the needs of today's anglers with fishing boats, including coverage for accidents with non-insured boaters, medical coverage for injuries, as well as salvage costs related to the recovery of a sunk or totaled boat. BoatUS offers GUIDE programs!!!! Visit http://www.BoatUSAngler.com or call 866-532-1829 for more information
You can check out the new Skeeters, including the one I run, the Skeeter ZX225! Stop by 1214 Portsmouth Blvd, Suffolk VA 23434 or call for details 757-923-0663, Frank, Chuck, Jack and Steve will be there. Pick up some Yamalube and Ring Free and also check out their other lines of boats. Under New Management, www.SeaportMarineServices.com.
I spent some time on the water with writer Pete Robbins and his wife. Pete did a great job on this article…How (not) To Teach Your Wife How To Fish! How many of you bought a baitcasting reel, tried it and gave up! Apparently there are a lot of you out there! Don’t give up, learn how to use them! Start with a decent reel, $120-140 on up. Then practice…but what do you practice? Check out my free videos (http://www.monkeysee.com/channel/show/89) and you’ll learn how to cast…if you can cast, but with only one hand, you can learn how to use your other hand too!
There’s confusion over what licenses are required to guide on the Tidal Potomac River. I worked very closely with the PRFC this summer to come up with a grid of requirements to comply with DC, MD, VA and the PRFC on the Tidal Potomac. If you would like a copy, let me know! I support efforts to see to it these rules are enforced!
How about pouring your own swimbaits? Senkos? Now you can! Lure Craft makes it EASY!!! Now they have a DVD that explains and demonstrates the entire process! Now they offer durable and exact aluminum molds that enable you to make “round” baits! You can customize your swimbaits and for a huge savings. Pour some great finesse worms and other soft plastics with precise and easy to use molds from lurecraft.com. They have all of the supplies and plastic mixes for floating and for softness. Go on–line to find out more! (www.lurecraft.com 1-800-925-9088 for a free catalog). Make straight tail finesse worms for shakey head fishing, drop shots, and split shots! They can even make a mold for your design! Take a look at some of the baits I have made on: www.nationalbass.com (articles/lure-craft.htm)…call now to put your orders in! 1-800-925-9088
Senior BASSMASTER writer, Robert Montgomery has taken decades of writing and fishing experience with the best in the fishing business and compiled it into one huge E-Book. Ratio's KILLER BASS FISHING SECRETS contains nearly 300 VERY specific tips from pros to help you catch more fish! I found a TON of great tips to help me. Get RONTICO's KILLER BASS FISHING SECRETS here: www.killer-bass-fishing-secrets.com. It's only $19.95…about a nickel a tip! Well worth it! The site has some FREE tips!
Captain Steve Chaconas/National Bass Guide Service/SEOPA
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