A Day On The Res With Nitro!! 2024
quanjig reply :
Headed out with Nitro today to spend a day on the res! I wanted to give him an idea about what this place has to offer here in NOVA! We launched out of Bull Run and headed to the splits. Fog and overcast to start the day and eventually broke out into a glorious sunny December day, air temps were a little chilly and damp but finished very comfortably.
I figured we would start throwing the drop shot on some deeper drops and had some small nibbles but no hook ups. We continued fishing around the same general area with very little to show for it, just a couple small crappie! Nitro decided it was entirely possible to catch one on top water so out comes the chug bug and he actually had a couple fish come up after it (I learned something today!) we tried a couple other baits and just couldn't get anything to bite.
I decided we should try back around to the front of the point we had started. All the while I'm struggling to get my fish finder to work. Finally got it going and talked to a buddy that was out as well and he was catching fish on a crankbait. With the graph finally working I was able to see the unbelievably abundant bait all around the area we were and tied on a pointer 100 DD and started to go to work!
Fish number 1!
And then another!
Fish number 2!
At this point I'm thinking we are going to destroy them! I keep at it with the pointer while Nitro tries a few different cranks, then, bam, my line just starts to take off after a long pause!
Fish number 3
At this point I look for another bait for Nitro because I want him in on the fun! All I had was a 100 the same color but no a DD so he ties that on and gets to work as well! Amazing that theses fish are just bunched up on one nice little corner. I let Nitro in on the "I'm not dousing anything special" when another fish just starts peeling line!
Fish mumber 4! Biggest of the day! We spend some more time fan casting the area and nitro gets in on the fun!
His first res fish!
We tried for some more but the bite sorta shut down a bit. Time to make a run and show Nitro the lay of the land. We ran down to a couple of bluffs and missed a couple of fish on a tube but had a good time trying baits and talking about our families and assorted fishing stories!
We figured we should get back to the area that produces the fish for us and headed back to the splits. We caught a couple more, missed a coulple more and figured the day was just about as good as a December day could have been so back to the ramp and chat with some friends about how the day was and pack up for home!
Nitro is such a genuinely good person, very good fisherman and full of the joy of life! Couldn't have had a better time with a new friend!! Anytime you get some more free time we need to do it again!!
Zoff reply :
Good job, Guys!
Traveler2586 reply :
Congratulations on the bites guy's.
Bigbarge50 reply :
awesome stuff fellas! green with ***.
Sam reply :
Good report.
Glad Nitro caught one or two!!!!
He is a very nice guy.
Beautiful ladies, too!
Nitrofreak reply :
Quan,
Thanx for a really great day !!!
My favorite part was getting to know you guy's there at the res, really great people and I was glad to meet all of them, I look forward to the next time, maybe they might know me by then and not as "the new guy" LOL !!!!
You are a wealth of knowlage about that special little place and hopefully I am a little more prepaired for the next trip, I think however I may use the seat instead of trying to stand up since I almost took a swim a few times, lol !!!
I don't know that I broke or damaged anything, at least I did not see anything, I tried to avoid it at all costs, especially from that last little spill, but if I did please let me know and I will make it right.
Thanx a ton for the use of the bait, I feel if I would have put my rod in the water I may have got down deeper and we would have been more successful as a team, I could have taken advantage of some of that knowlage and put it to work for both of us.
Had the water had just a touch more clearity I think the chug may have been a little more productive, but I learned so much about that place it was unreal.
You sir are one class act and I can not wait for the next time to come visit and hopefully another chance to fish with you as well.
I had a really great time fishing with you and getting to know you as a friend, and thanx for letting me hold one of your fish LOL !!!
Nitrofreak reply :
To the rest,
Thanx for the compliments and comments, it's been a great time this year meeting all of you and fishing with you as well, I look forward to meeting more of you and hopefully fishing with you and I hope I can return the favor some day.
roadwarrior reply :
Great post!
I hope you guys will consider coming over to Pickwick for the RoadTrip
in May.
Nitrofreak reply :
On 12/10/2012 at 7:40 PM, roadwarrior said:Great post!
I hope you guys will consider coming over to Pickwick for the RoadTrip
in May.
It's not just a consideration RW, I can't speak for the rest of the group, there have been a couple of conversations of who is going and what we can do to make this happen, I am working two jobs to try and save enough money to get there and have some fun with you guy's, it has to be a an absolute blast I am sure, for me, meeting you would be a real treat and one I would value for a long time to come.
I had seen some of the vids from past Road trips and can't help but wanting to be a part of that, the friendships and the fun you guys had looks awesome, if not this year I hope next year but we will see, so if I don't make it I hope you all have an absolute best trip ever and I look forward to seeing the end results, I may be a last minute entry if the opportunity should present itself, however I will continue to work hard to see you all in May.
mudkart reply :
Nice report guys. Jon is the JB master out there; it is one great place to fish.
I
Nitrofreak reply :
So why do you think Quan is so successful out there? lets break this paticular day down and see if we can figure out a few things that will help you on your home waters as well.
Are you up for figuring out why the fish were there? well be ready to do your homework if you are, I did mine before I fished with Quanjig and found out few thing while I was there.
This is not going to be a give away of free info but a constructive puzzle for you to put together and apply it to your fishing in your areas for a winter pattern.
This is a winter pattern for sure, one easy clue to start with, if you are interested in learning a little something here Quan is willing to help us out with some things as well, make sure you read his Original Post first !!! there is already a clue or two there for you !!
So get a topo map out and google what you need to for visual mapping and lets see if we can learn a little something together here.
First question is for Quan, What do you feel is the most important key for the success we had that day? Electronics?
HookSetDon reply :
Nice looking fish gents, Glad you had a good outing. Comradery and fishing is hard to beat!
Nitrofreak reply :
Thanx HSD !!!
It was a lot of fun I enjoyed it sssoooooo much, I look forward to the day when you and I can get an outing as well !!!
quanjig reply :
Nitro and I thought this might be fun for everyone to get in on and to see if it would lead to a free exchange of information on what seasonal patterns were successful or failures on the body of water they were fishing. Sort of a "will this help me on my home lake or even some place new" deal!! We don't expect anyone to give away particular honey holes or secret bait, more of a here are some things to consider and will they apply to where I am fishing today this time of year!
Since Nitro and I fished the res this past weekend and he has thrown out the first question, I will try to explain how this day unfolded!
Having intimate knowledge of this body of water (30yrs) makes it much easier, but seasonal patters do apply to just about anywhere you fish.
As I stated in the first post, December fishing can be feast or famine. A general idea about where fish are located in relationship to the basic layout of the reservoir is a good place to start. With that in mind you can start to narrow down your choices of high percentage areas that you believe the fish may be active.
With that information you can begin to try and formulate a game plan on how to make your day a successful one! It's always nice to have some inside information about what others have been doing as well. In our case, I had reports of what some friends were successful with in certain areas as well as knowing areas that I had caught fish in the past.
So back to Nitro's question: what do I contribute our success to, was it the electronics?
I think it was a valuable tool that morning in that it allowed us to see how the bait was relating to thaw area we started fishing. There were also visual signs of bait all around us so we had a good idea tha bass were also active in the same general areas. That was enough to start us asking additional questions!
1- how do we get the most active fish to respond?
2- what bait will get us the best results?
3- what presentation will trigger the most bites?
I'm sure there are plenty more and this is where everyone else gets in on the fun!
Not everyone has the time or the ability to spend as much time on the water as others and we thought this might help anyone that wants to be more successful when they may not have a grasp of certain seasonal tactics. I myself struggle with certain times of the year when my tried and true abilities are not producing when I think they should!!
Lets have some fun and see if we can all learn new things that may help you on a day that might leave you scratching your head, and maybe turn your outing from a failure to a success!!
Nitrofreak reply :
Keep in mind, his electronics did not work for almost the first hour or so !!!
Edit: What Quan just laid out for us should raise a few good questions, really nice post Quan !!
rabidsquirrel reply :
Nice!
mudkart reply :
If we're talking about the Rez specifically, IMO, step 1 should be go here and buy the map for the Rez: http://shop.gmcomaps...&categoryId=27.
Nitrofreak reply :
No not the Res specifically Mudkart.
We are going to look at a lot of different things here to help others get a leg up for seasonal patterns etc...for any body of water they may be having a little difficulty with
But let's take Mudkarts lead and start here, this is an excellent place to start, case in point, before I fished with Quanjig, what should have been my first assignment?
Just because I knew how much in touch with the Res he was, should I have just let him take me where he wanted to go and let him do all the leg work for me? What if he asked me questions as to where I wanted to fish?
This is a totally new body of water to me, I already know it's a winter pattern, how? I got a little info from Quan a few days before I fished with him, I got the water clearity, surface temp and what the weather was going to be like for the day, the next thing I did was get a topo map and I also looked at the water surface from a google map, good start Mudkart !!
What do you think I am looking for? remember we are in a winter pattern here.
quanjig reply :
At this point, I don't think we have any wrong answers! As long as the thought process gets us the best end result, some familiar things may work better for some than others!
The first thing that comes to mind on a body of water I am unfamiliar with is what kind of access am I going to have. This should apply to anyone fishing, not just in a boat! I then look at the system as a whole.
Then I figure out when I will be fishing, time of year, time of day, weather conditions (both leading up to as well as the day of)
My game plan will be determined from there.
mudkart reply :
On 12/12/2012 at 4:58 AM, Nitrofreak said:No not the Res specifically Mudkart.
Just because I knew how much in touch with the Res he was, should I have just let him take me where he wanted to go and let him do all the leg work for me? What if he asked me questions as to where I wanted to fish?
Local knowledge that you trust will very likely trump map study, etc. Just don't completely disregard what the map is telling you; try and coordinate it with what you learn on the water with/from the local. Also, these maps are largely incomplete. LOTS of stuff (cover and structure) not found on the GMCO map that I've found with SI.
mudkart reply :
On 12/12/2012 at 4:58 AM, Nitrofreak said:What do you think I am looking for? remember we are in a winter pattern here.
Any sort of break/structure that leads to deep (greater than 10 feet) water.
Talking about the Rez, you will have little trouble finding water that deep! Many spots you are in 15 fow (or more) only 1 cast from shore.
And are we talking about numbers of bass or lunker bass? I think the process changes depending on what you are targeting, especially on this body of water.
If your electronics are working, then look for something like this (a favorite spot of mine on the Rez)
quanjig reply :
Mike is absolutely correct in all aspects. Local knowledge is one thing we all would love to have but is not always available. The awesomeness of top of the line electronics is also a plus!! How everyone puts all the information together and gets the most out of decisions on the water is usually the one who is most successful and takes home the money or bragging rights!!
Bigbarge50 reply :
I suddenly am thinking I need to upgrade my electronics. Grayscale downscan seems to be a little behind the curve there. I have found the map with the downscan has been the most useful, for finding where the deeper cuts are, though still tough to scan deeper structure or drive over bait balls.
All my luck has come on white spinner baits working the bends in deeper water and tossing jigs into down trees. I think being able to find the shad more effectively would really be a huge help
quanjig reply :
The shad in the res in my opinion, is #1 on the hit list for bass. You would think crayfish would be right up there with the amount of rocky cover is present. If you find bait with fish feeding under or around them, chances are pretty good of hooking up!! I have found plenty of willing fish I have graphed under balls of shad!!
Nitrofreak reply :
On 12/12/2012 at 7:03 AM, mudkart said:Local knowledge that you trust will very likely trump map study, etc. Just don't completely disregard what the map is telling you; try and coordinate it with what you learn on the water with/from the local. Also, these maps are largely incomplete. LOTS of stuff (cover and structure) not found on the GMCO map that I've found with SI.
His knowlage was not in question here, at least from my point of view, my thought was what if he were to question me about what I know or did I do my homework, I wanted to be prepaired for anything of that nature, please don't think for one minute that I would ever undermine that, we all know how very strong he is about the Res and fishing in general on any body of water.
What I was getting at is that we have a different approach to everything and that is one of the points of this discussion to learn thought processes and key in on strength areas.
Zoff reply :
Did you guys try spoons, NF? That would have been the tops on SML that day we were out.
Nitrofreak reply :
On 12/12/2012 at 7:25 AM, mudkart said:Any sort of break/structure that leads to deep (greater than 10 feet) water.
Talking about the Rez, you will have little trouble finding water that deep! Many spots you are in 15 fow (or more) only 1 cast from shore.
And are we talking about numbers of bass or lunker bass? I think the process changes depending on what you are targeting, especially on this body of water.
If your electronics are working, then look for something like this (a favorite spot of mine on the Rez)
The homework I did or the point I was going to make was that since this was a winter pattern, I am looking for shallow waterways leading to a main body of water, the point that Quan and I fished was not far off from where I had originally thought about fishing, or wanted to fish with him, warm water will draw bait fish such as shad since they can not survive the cold, a period of warm days will heat up narrow shallow waterways and since I went back two weeks and tracked the weather, the area he caught fish in was close to where I would have suggested, this particular area also had 2 contributaries with a Y shaped entry to the spot we fished, current was also a deciding factor as to where I would have started my search, we all know how much shad love current, this particular point had everything a bait fish could want, including some really great cover, and for a winter pattern it had everything I would want.
There is no doubt that electronics play a huge roll in aiding the ability to find fish, but what if you had none how would you know where to look?
To me this would have been my first option or a great starting point from an outside perspective having never been there before.
Nitrofreak reply :
On 12/12/2012 at 11:30 AM, Zoff said:Did you guys try spoons, NF? That would have been the tops on SML that day we were out.
No, I pulled the same trick as I did with you, I got so excited about the trip I forgot to double check my tackle LOL !!!
Zoff reply :
You gonna learn this time? lol
Nitrofreak reply :
if I have offended anyone, I offer my sincerest apologies, I am only offering my approach to fishing the Res had I not fished with Quanjig, a different look at some things may help you with some of your waters.
Good luck and be safe !!!
Nitrofreak reply :
On 12/12/2012 at 11:41 AM, Zoff said:You gonna learn this time? lol
Already did, I bought a new tackle box that will hold almost everything....yes they are already packed lol !!!
Traveler2586 reply :
On 12/12/2012 at 11:52 AM, Nitrofreak said:Already did, I bought a new tackle box that will hold almost everything....yes they are already packed lol !!!
Don't you know it's not how much you have, it's all about how you use what you have......
Zoff reply :
That sounds vaguely familiar. Tackle ***? Wonder what Freud would say?On 12/13/2012 at 1:48 AM, Traveler2586 said:Don't you know it's not how much you have, it's all about how you use what you have......
Nitrofreak reply :
There is so much truth to that...oh wise one !!!
I did use what I had and worked it pretty hard, the fact is the fish there did not want movement of any kind or at least very little, very long pauses were the key or very slow movement, had I had the pointers and my spoons I possibly could have kept up, even the top water got a couple of near takes on really long pause times but still I think the 5 1/2 spoon would have performed very well, jigs for some reason on a very long pause and a host of slow presentations did not cut the mustard either, they were keyed on the shad.
However now that you mention it, one other thing comes to mind, I did have a swim jig, but I did not present it at the right time, instead I focused on getting the JB to work that Quan offered and lost all other focus on other techniques and presentations I had left, hopping a swim bait off the bottom may have produced results but I still think the fall rate would have been to fast for what they wanted.
Traveler2586 reply :
Don't know about the Res. but when it's cold and I'm fishing slow & deep, I'll tie on a Shad or other style lip-less, or shallow diving crank, that matches the hatch on a Carolina rig; I'll start with a 24" leader and adjust down to a 18" and then 12". You'll need a weight that will take the lure down to depth; it doesn't take much to put some life into the lure and it will stay in the strike zone as long as you want. ( I think it looks like a bait fish looking at forage crawling in the bottom )
As far as the body of water, I'll find a good topo map, use Google Earth, and search the web for any postings; then when I get there I'll consider the other factors, i.e. sky, air temp, water temp, light, water color, etc. Then,,, I'll start out on the water and see a spot that looks "fishy",,, and all my plans go out the window....... 
Some will tell you I have A.D.D. but I call it F.S.D. ( Fishing Spot Disorder )...
( Santa knows where all the naughty girls live )
CPBassFishing reply :
I really need to fish with you guys 
come to ashburn and I'll show you my little jewel of a golf course pond.
Nitrofreak reply :
CP, Will you be able to join us for the Meet and Greet?
You will have a chance to fish with any one of the fellers !!!
CPBassFishing reply :
working on it. Has the location been decided on? I have not been following the thread.On 12/13/2012 at 8:05 AM, Nitrofreak said:CP, Will you be able to join us for the Meet and Greet?
You will have a chance to fish with any one of the fellers !!!
Nitrofreak reply :
Not yet, it will be on Jan 1st.
Nitrofreak reply :
On 12/13/2012 at 7:19 AM, Traveler2586 said:Don't know about the Res. but when it's cold and I'm fishing slow & deep, I'll tie on a Shad or other style lip-less, or shallow diving crank, that matches the hatch on a Carolina rig; I'll start with a 24" leader and adjust down to a 18" and then 12". You'll need a weight that will take the lure down to depth; it doesn't take much to put some life into the lure and it will stay in the strike zone as long as you want. ( I think it looks like a bait fish looking at forage crawling in the bottom )
As far as the body of water, I'll find a good topo map, use Google Earth, and search the web for any postings; then when I get there I'll consider the other factors, i.e. sky, air temp, water temp, light, water color, etc. Then,,, I'll start out on the water and see a spot that looks "fishy",,, and all my plans go out the window.......
Why do you do that?
If you stop at a spot that "LOOKS FISHY" why dont you instead find a spot that "IS" fishy, then you won't have to throw all those well laid plans out the window.
Traveler2586 reply :
On 12/14/2012 at 4:59 AM, Nitrofreak said:Why do you do that?
If you stop at a spot that "LOOKS FISHY" why dont you instead find a spot that "IS" fishy, then you won't have to throw all those well laid plans out the window.
Can't help myself, I have FSD
Nitrofreak reply :
On 12/14/2012 at 7:50 AM, Traveler2586 said:Can't help myself, I have FSD
Well we have something to work on then don't we !!
Nitrofreak reply :
How many times have we been on locations that have had fish fill our screens only to come up empty handed?
Why do you think that is and what have you done to try and figure that out?
I know I have been on Anna so many times when this has happened and came away empty handed, there were a couple of times that the fish were breaking the surface and it keyed me into something.
Wayne P. posted something way, way back that got me thinking, "Patterns" these fish were chasing fish near and on the surface so these fish were the most active and I keyed in on the most active fish by throwing a surface bait, that bait at the time was a buzz bait I had already tied on, it was not the most productive bait for large fish but it did land me a couple of fish, actually 7 to be exact, ranging in 2 to 2 1/2 lbs.
This got me to thinking again, where were the bigger fish in the school?
After doing this on a couple of trips, I watched my sonar as fish broke the surface all around me, the bigger fish were still under these groups of bait fish, this time I had a super fluke tied on, I had it on a keel weighted hook to get down under the group of bait fish, and wham!! I had two nice fish to show for my efforts, one four pounder and one three pounder, since then I have done quite a bit of this type of fishing when I get into situations just like this one, since then I have learned that a large flutter spoon works even better in most cases by ripping it upward as the spoon reaches the bottom of the bait fish, I have found that this causes the bait fish to scatter and the spoon falling down under the bait will trigger a strike.
Since then I still do not have "Pattern" fishing down pact but I have found that if you take the time to think you can be more successful on the water taking advantage of things like this.
When you choose a bait, even if it's an expencive bait, your going to find that it does not work all the time, but what you will find is that it will work when the time is right if you keep trying, fishing "Patterns" will help you choose the right bait, it's up to you to use patience and excersize that brain you have to figure out these things.
Fish move slow in the winter, we all know that, bait presentations must match the bait fish and their speed, if you have ever been cold yourself, you know how hard it gets to move around, think about the bait fish in cold water, shad for example start to die in 40 degree water, their movements are so lathargic, thats why suspending jerk baits are so vital in cold weather, as long as you can get them where the bass are you will/can be successful, jigs are awesome cold water bass baits, but you really have to get them where the bass are so if they are on the bottom then you need a bottom presentation, or something they can easily access, for me, thats a jig, if they are up in the water under the bait fish or getting ready for spawn, then a slow moving bait or suspending bait, match the bait fish as close as you can, "Pattern" yourself as if you would pattern a fish, allow yourself to be open minded and willing to adapt to changes.
The time you spend patterning the fish will be worth it to you in the long run, experiment, explore, ask questions, but most of all, take the time on the water to find the fish first and see what they are doing and use your baits accordingly.
Good luck and be safe !!!
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