Russ Baily has been a client of mine since 1995; that's awhile by a goodly measure. I will never forget our first outing together, we were down on the beach at Aquia throwing lipless cranks and just loading the boat with 3 and 4-pounders. There were a couple other fellows down there and one was bragging about a 7-pounder he caught. When he hoisted it out of his live-well, Russ looked at me and ask if his 4-pounder could be a 7-pounder like that guys. I looked Russ straight in the eye and said , "Russ as long as you pay me at the end of the day that fish can be as big as you want it to be and I'll swear to it." Russ is one of those guys you just feel at ease with and he never lost that Oklahoma drawl in his voice. He was/is an avid golfer but I never held it against him. During the 15-years Russ and I saw some magnificent sunrises over the Maryland shores of the Potomac we also saw a couple sunsets on some evening frog trips.

Russ Baily a true class act.

Our last trip together ended like our relationship started. I had found some staging bass and had said a little prayer that they held till his trip. I pulled into the spot tossed my Baby-Boo Jig into the hole and whacked one. I simply put my rod down and watched as Russ and his friend John Fravel loaded the boat. It was a great day with them teasing me about all my little hidden messages I use in my photos and fishing reports. (I give the public a lot if they just look and listen) They couldn't believe I was wearing sandals in 40-degree temps. We laughed and joked but as our time drew to a close it hit home that I may never see Russ again, as we shook hands and exchanged a hug I really had to fight back the tears; see I have gotten attached to a lot of you guys over the years I have always said the relationships forged are the best part of my job. I only hope something brings Russ back here for a day or two and we get to fish again. I miss Russ already but I know how much he was looking forward to going home to Oklahoma, and fishing with his brother. There is no place like home!!!      

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Highlights

One of my goals this year was to get back on track with the lipless crankbait bite on the Potomac River. Well mission accomplished we really poured it on them this past spring with the XCalibur xr-50 in royal-red. We had some 25 and 30 fish days and a couple that went above that. Things went a little off track however the closer we got to spawning time. Instead of the bass going in waves to the beds they trickled in a little at a time due in large part to warm days but frigid nights dropping the water temps over night sometimes as much as 7-degrees. However there was a little silver lining to that it would re-stage a lot of bass in predictable areas. Client Vernon Moore got in on one of those good lipless crank days.

Vernon Cranked this fatty up.

Client Letcher Trent and his son LJ just couldn't get enough of them pre-spawn Potomac pigs. We hit them just right on a spawning bank and boys crushed them on shallow running cranks, then they got two trips worth of post spawners on Booyah spinnerbaits.  The guys just couldn't do anything wrong.

Great fun with the Trent men!!!

I really had to work the bass hard through May with the erratic water temps, but persistent clients were the key to success. I made it a point to keep my charges cranked up and stay positive. I changed locations in the grass frequently, changed lures a lot everything was on the table but it was the persistence of my folks that got it done.

It didn't get anymore persistent than Mike Hicken and Dave Hall.

When bass are finicky often times it requires a slow approach. That means flipping the holes in the grass. We used lures like 6-inch lizards, YUM Craw-Papies, and YUM dingers.

No one gets that flipping thing done like Ken Jester.

Dara used a YUM Dinger to coax this bass from the grass.

The early heat wave in April sent a lot of bass to the spawning grounds at Lake Anna earlier than usual. That set up some pretty good post-spawn action in May and we took full advantage.

Spinnerbaits in the water willow is a great post-spawn tactic at Lake Anna.

Come on Duane Adams we were supposed to be catching bass around those docks.

 Like Lake Anna our Susky trips were a little more consistent. OA Guide Big Jon Else put his guys on some nice brown toads this year.

Reagan Kling with a nice brown toad.

Big Jon actually did some sight fishing for some of his smallie clients in addition to the more traditional eddy fishing.

Big Jon, Matt Campbell, Dave Ellison did some sight fishing for these chunks.

That does it for the recap lets look at what's ahead.

Summer 2010

Of course everyone's favorite is the frog bite on the Potomac River. It is a very exciting way to fish. I'm anxious to get my new YUM Money frogs into the game, but to tell you the truth here as of late (Early June) the YUM Buzzin' Frog is still proving to be a good frog and I'm going to keep going with it till they stop biting it. This is the time of year that we run our early bird and happy hour trips they are 4-hr trips either in the morning or evening. It has been a huge hit in years past and I have fielded calls asking when we were going to get them going well I have already done a couple and we slammed them on Buzzin' Frogs. This is also the time of year we punch mats. This is a flat out big fish deal for sure and it goes hand and hand with froggin'. I also want to get back to the Chickahomony River again this summer, a very scenic river plus it was outstanding fishing last year. You can find yourself in an old time cypress swamp or up one of the many small feeder ditches. This is a cross between fishing the bayous of south Louisiana or the swamps of Florida.

Many of you know that I got my Nitro Z-9 outfitted with a Humminbird 1197 side imaging depth finder this year. You cannot even fathom what I have found in Lake Anna this year. You should see what the Rose Valley cemetery looks like with this unit...unbelievable!!  Anyone up for some deep structure fishing or learn how to do it?

What's Hot

For sure my hot bait of the year so far has been the Booyah Boogie bait. I have banged some toads on this lure this year. I have taken a lot of 4 to 6-pound fish on this lure. My favorite three colors have been white, black/blue, and my custom perch skirt that I make.

Also the YUM Money Minnow  5-inch swim-bait has been a great producer for quality bass. I've been swimming this lure through the grass on higher water and it has been a load of fun.

The Tidal Rappahannock is hot. It seems that since they removed the old dam that the smallmouth are flourishing in the tidal section. Anyone care to go do some serious flipping and cranking for both greens and browns?

In closing

I would like to thank each one of you who has fished with us this past spring, your trust in us is always valued. I look forward to our summer trips together especially our evening Potomac trips there's nothing quite like an evening on the big river. God bless and big hook sets!

Teddy Carr

• The new YUM Money Frog-I had a chance to use this thing before it got to cold. This is a swimming frog, and unlike the YUM Buzzin' Frog that has a more subtle presentation, this thing spews the water. Has a great color selection and is very durable.
• The new XCalibur Xr-25-the xr-25 is a 1/4-oz lipless crankbait. Remember I told you I want to hit those grass beds hard in April this one of the tools you want to have. Goods colors are royal-red, blue-shiner, and gold/black.
• The new XCalibur Xt3D-this is an absolute must lure to have. It is the deeper version of the Xt3 twitchbait that I use. This will be a home wrecker on Lake Anna, Buggs, and other lakes.
• Bass Pro Shops Pro-Qualifier Reels-everyone knows that I have been a long time user of these reels. This year they introduce two new gear ratios (5.2:1 and 4.7:1 retrieves) in both left and right hand models.
• Bass Pro Shops Cut-tail Finesse Worm-there are days when bass want that large offering on a shakey-head this is the perfect worm.