Coming Soon! Potomac River Snakehead Tournament

Posted on August 21, 2011 by gman

For those interested in helping our community rid our waters of this invasive species, while enjoying an exciting sport fishing opportunity, this event is for you! Click the image for more info.WFO-Snakehead-Tournament-header

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Roaches Run Kayak Fishing

Posted on July 31, 2011 by gman

Roaches Run bassRoaches Run snakeheadTransporting a Snakehead by Kayak8.5 lb 30in Snakehead
The first time I kayak fished Roaches Run, a part of the Potomac River, I knew it would be a great fishery. There’s lily pads, feeder creeks, tidal current, weed mats, reeds, and all kinds of fish holding structure. All this within view of the DC monuments. That morning was a hot one. I paddled around and worked a frog lure. Got one big bite but missed the hook set. Ended without catching anything but really got familiar with this water. Saw lots of baitfish schooling in the weed mats and saw some gigantic carp splashing about too.

Second visit was an early evening kayak run. It was low tide and the current was the opposite direction- water leaving the pond. That entire lower half of the pond was shallow weed mats. I was able to see fish hitting the surface within the weed mats. I casted a Rage Toad towards a spot where I saw activity and then a 15 in bass blew it up.

Paddled towards the lily pads and the feeder creek that I had heard holds snakeheads. Worked some of the pads without a bite. Then cast near the reeds with a hollow body frog and had a hit. I waited a couple seconds and then set the hook. The frog just pulled out with no hook set. So I switched rods and threw the Rage Toad in there. Saw a small bass come up and hit it short. I then threw the Rage Toad back into the creek a little deeper and got a huge hit. Set the hook and the next 5 minutes battled a raging 8.5 pound snakehead. What a beast! It was 30 inches in length and really thick. It wasn’t easy but I landed it using my small hand net. I’m definitely going back to Roaches Run for more fishing fun soon!

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Hey Virginia Anglers. We Need Your Help!

Posted on July 16, 2011 by gman

This was received by fellow fishing blogger, Steve, at SwitchFisher.com. If you are a Virginia resident and you enjoy fishing, please help us!

Please join with the TroutUnderground and us to fight for the right for anglers to use public water! We need to mobilize the fishing blogosphere!
A developer is suing 3 anglers in Virginia for fishing a section of the Jackson River that the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries considers public. If the court rules in favor of the developer, rivers throughout Virginia will be off limits for recreational use at the whim of the riverfront landowner in spite of a Virginia law that places the riverbed under the ownership of the State. These things have a way of spreading, so an unfavorable decision could ripple nationwide as a horrible precedent.
Our goal is to:

1) convince the Attorney General of Virginia to attach to the case to defend the public’s right to use its own river resources, and

2) raise a legal defense fund for the three anglers who don’t have deep pockets, to fight what is really a fight for all of us.

They will likely need up to $100,000 to conduct a proper defense through the trial and even more should the case get appealed and move through higher courts. If they run out of money, we all lose.

Can you add your voice and support to the cause? Please encourage your readers to send an email to the Attorney General (KCUCCINELLI@OAG.STATE.VA.US) respectfully requesting that he throw the weight of the Commonwealth behind the defense. In addition, we need a flood of donations – even a buck will help – here is the link to donate: http://tinyurl.com/6czw4r6. Please encourage everyone to give as much as possible.

The river defense website that has all the court documents and other information is at http://www.virginiariversdefensefund.org/.

Example email to cut and paste:

Use the subject of “Protect citizen access to Virginia’s Rivers”

Mr. Cuccinelli, I urge you to:

  • Join as Party Defendant in North South Development LLC, et. al. v. Garden, et. al., Alleghany County Circuit Court Case#CL11000043.
  • Be present at the July 25, 2011 hearing in Alleghany Circuit Court where the judge will hear arguments to compel the state to join.
  • Defend the interests of the people of Virginia to use and enjoy the Jackson River and any other rivers where injunctions may be sought to limit use.

    • Public use of rivers is under assault around the country from those who would privatize them and I urge you to protect the right of Virginia’s citizens to use their own rivers.

    Thank you

    Posted in Blogroll, Fishing Blog, General, Lakes, Rivers, Virginia | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

    Fishing Lure Factory

    Posted on June 11, 2011 by GManfishing.com


    Here’s a post that’s a little different. Ever wonder where fishing lures come from? In particular crankbaits, hard jerkbaits, plugs, poppers, etc? Just like a lot of other products, many come from factories in China.

    I made a trip this spring for personal reasons and found some time to visit a lure making factory. Here’s the process for making rattling crankbaits. The crankbait is simply a molded plastic object. The mold creates two halves. The halves are clear plastic and are glued together after the small rattling metal ball is inserted inside. Extraneous plastic or glue is then sanded smooth by hand. Then comes the tedious painting process. A base coat is sprayed on. Then all the detailed paint work is added on top. This includes painting the pattern, the eyes, gills, etc. For highly precise painting, a metal template is placed on top. Paint is sprayed on and only the openings allow paint to get through. This allows for the highly detailed painting to be accurately repeated. Next, the lure is put into an industrial drying machine. The paints are special durable paints and need the assistance of the drying machine in order to dry quickly.

    Then the QA engineer adds some hooks and then tests the lure out in a small testing pool. The QA engineer must determine if the action on the lure is functioning properly and that lure floats/suspends/sinks as designed. The lure is tested again after 24 hours after the glues and paints have completely set. This allows the engineer to determine if the first test caused any water leakage that may affect the lure’s performance. What a job eh?

    The factory serves customers worldwide. There are products offered that are typical types of lures we see here in the US such as shad, perch, and other popular patterns and colors. But one thing I found interesting is that the factory makes their products to their customer specs. I see that the Japanese customers have designed some really interesting lures with some odd color combinations. (More on this later).

    This brings me to my final topic. Should any readers out there be interested in designing a custom lure for your own local waters please contact me for more info. You can customize and order large quantities for your personal use or develop your own brand/product for distribution in the general market. It can be a completely new lure or it can be a customized color or pattern on an existing lure style. I know some anglers are very particular about colors and patterns. I’ve even heard of some anglers modifying lures with their own paint and markers. Here is your chance to develop your own lure!

    Posted in General | Tagged , | 2 Comments

    Productive Day at Burke

    Posted on June 11, 2011 by GManfishing.com

    What a great day at Burke. Best day in a long long time. Took the fishing kayak for an early morning spin. Total count: 6 bass. Biggest was around 18 inches and probably around 4 lbs. Second biggest was about 16 inches and around 3 lbs. The rest were in the 12-14 in range. I even had a 3 pounder come off when it jumped. The conditions were excellent. Slightly overcast. High pressure system. All bites came from the weed line on soft plastics. The bass I lost was on a plastic lizard. The 6 landed were on wacky rigged senkos. Now is a great time for some good action at Burke. The bass are not quite in their summer pattern. Still sticking around the shallows so go get em!

    Posted in Lakes, Virginia | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

    Slip bobber technique produces catfish

    Posted on October 10, 2010 by GManfishing.com

    Burke Lake Catfish

    I’ve always been curious as to whether fish are holding around the spillway at Burke Lake. From the depth maps it is about 30+ feet deep around there. So one night I kayak fished Burke using a slip bobber. I rigged a roadrunner jig tipped with a nightcrawler about 14 feet below the bobber. Worked the bobber to within 1 ft of the spillway. Got a massive bite and fought the fish until it broke off. My fault. I knew my line was scuffed up from the last trip.

    Fast forward to the morning and I hit up the lake again with the same game plan. Got a similar bite but this time no lost fish. Pulled in a 3 lb channel catfish. Kind of surprised to see that it was a catfish. Didn’t realize that they suspend. But maybe they swim up the side of the spillway? Who knows. Was hoping for a walleye. Anybody have a reliable pattern for walleye at Burke?

    Posted in Lakes, Virginia | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

    Hot Bass action from Lake Ridge Park

    Posted on August 1, 2010 by GManfishing.com

    Occoquan Bass from Lake RidgeJust to try something different, my fishing buddy and I hit up the Occoquan Reservoir from Lake Ridge park in Woodbridge. We were able to rent a jon boat with less hassle than at Fountainhead where you have to carry the battery/motor up and down the steps.The boathouse opens at 6am too so you can hit the lake at the prime bite time. Immediately, my buddy caught a nice 3 pounder right off the bat. We also hit a small cove that was loaded up with bass. My count was 4 bass with the biggest only about 13-14″. Meanwhile, my fishing partner got about 4+ with one monster 5-6 pounder that put up a long hard fight. The other noteworthy thing from this day was witnessing a guy in a bassboat catch about a dozen bass in about 30 minutes. He was casting a crankbait towards the shore and landing it about 15 ft from shore. Then just reeling in bass after bass after bass. He said they were hanging around the 10 ft depth. Amazing the consistency and control to get the crank in just the right depth to trigger that many strikes.

    Posted in Lakes, Virginia | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

    More Fountainhead Fishing

    Posted on May 2, 2010 by GManfishing.com

    img_9725img_9718
    It was a great day for Fountainhead fishing. The day started cloudy and was partly cloudy most of the day. When we arrived, we found that there was a BASS tournament going on. It was a great spring day pattern kind of day with lots of bass in the shallows in spawn or post spawn mode. My total was 3 for the day. All around 15″ and fat. Two caught on a plastic lizard in weed beds early in the morning. The other was on a husky jerk in a wooded cove early afternoon. There were at least 3-4 shallow spawning bass I tried to sight fish but they weren’t interested in anything I was throwing. Kind of frustrating to be able to see big bass cruising shallows and not trigger a bite. When we came in for the day, the weigh-in was going on. I thought my 3 was a good day, but learned that one fella caught about 25. The largest bag we saw was about 17 lbs for a 6 fish limit.

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    Fountainhead Bass

    Posted on April 10, 2010 by GManfishing.com

    img_9677img_9705The weather cooled down but it was sunny so I went to Fountainhead Park at the Occoquan Reservoir today. It was really windy and waves were lapping at the shore. So I hiked down to one of the coves where the water was calmer. Got two LMB for the day. One was about 12-13″ and the other was about 14-15″ and heavy with a big belly full of eggs. At one point I saw a huge one follow my bait only to head back to the depths. Too bad. That one would have been a good fight. If you decide to go to Fountainhead and fish the wooded shore be careful. The wooded areas are really steep and covered in leaves. On little slip and you’ll be swimming. Looking forward to more fishing fun soon!

    Posted in Lakes, Virginia | 1 Comment

    Hey Northern VA Anglers!

    Posted on April 5, 2010 by GManfishing.com

    Hey Everyone! Just wanted to introduce the new Facebook group “Northern Virginia Fishing” I understand fishing is oftentimes a solitary quiet pursuit but I’ve always loved hanging with buds and spending an early Saturday morning catching fish, talking fishing, and basically taking my mind off of the usual daily grind. So the motivation behind this Facebook group is that there are probably some of you out there interested in sharing and collaborating with other anglers. We can share info on conditions, locations, facilities, events, meet ups, photos and host an online ‘Braggin’ Board.’ Everybody welcome: kids, old timers, beginners, pros, salt water anglers, freshwater anglers, etc. So if this appeals to you, go to Facebook and search “Northern Virginia Fishing” Join up and show me your fish! Or click here

    Posted in General, Virginia | Leave a comment