McCotter's Lake Anna Guide Service

January 20-22 - Richmond Fishing Expo

2012-01-23T05:52:00.000-08:00

The first show of the year brought friends together at the new Virginia Fairground Meadow Event Park in Doswell. We brought the Lake Anna Outfitters exhibit along with the Woods & Waters exhibit to the event and had a busy weekend. I'd say some of the most noteworthy things I saw were the multitude of multi-arm rigs, a new Buzz-Brella rig from Dave's Tournament Tackle, a Darrin Clements' made crappie multi-arm rig and some pretty cool kayaks from many manufacturers. Notably absent was MARE Marine. Richmond Mare seemed to do very well picking up the business, bringing Triton and Legend bass boats. Display of the show definitely goes to the crew from Dave's Tournament Tackle which had a massive display coordinated in striking red and black colors. One of the busiest booths was that of Anna Point Marina with Dave Fauntleroy, Chris Craft and Bill Hare on the job. Hare's multi-arm storage tube was another new bit of gear that proved a popular purchase. I took a few minutes to review the new Lowrance HD Generation 2 units and will look more closely at upgrading to them soon. 2' contours on the Navionics map and the Down Scan Imaging feature does look to be helpful technology, especially when looking for striper. You might look into these new units if you have a few moments on line or to visit Green Top. I wanted to thank everyone that visited us at the show. Your business, well wishes and fellowship is appreciated!

January 16 - Nearly Showtime!

2012-01-16T13:43:00.000-08:00

We are getting ready to head to the Richmond Fishing Expo with MLAGS, Woods & Waters and Lake Anna Outfitters. Please come for visit, book a trip or check out our selection of Lake Anna Wear, kayaks and gifts. I'll also have plenty of books, maps and videos from the Woods & Waters Outdoor Marketplace. I've not been fishing lately, but I have been on the water duck hunting!

January 10 - Mike, Zack & Josh

2012-01-11T04:29:00.001-08:00

Fishing with fathers and sons is a special treat I get to experience fairly often. I never grow tired of observing the interactions between the generations. It's nice when the fish bite, too! Today was high, bright and breezy. We fished from noon until dark. Our final tally was seven striper and two bass with a couple of pull-offs. We were using suspending jerkbaits and pulled some 4" threadfin shad. Most of the fish were caught on lures mostly in the Dike I to Dike III region. There appears to be a good point/jerkbait bass pattern. HOWEVER, when I turned right from High Point to head up to Stubbs Bridge to get bait, I rolled over one heckofa mess of striper in bait around Jetts Island. This is the first time I've seen that many fish stacked - mega spaghetti. We jigged a little with no success and I wanted to stick to my script for the afternoon. It's not the best idea to learn striper patterns WITH clients. I would recommend this area again for a.m and late p.m. striper fishing. The boys, Zack and Josh, were polite and respectful to their father and he caught most of the fish! We fished as the sun set and I snapped a pic of all three in the bow of the Grizzly. Looks like herring are coming back Dike III, but the water is still nearly 60, so it will be a while yet before big fish arrive.

2011 MLAGS Client of the Year

2012-01-10T07:22:00.001-08:00

We have some excellent clients that fish with us nearly every month. Repeat business is very important to us as are the friendships we develop over the years. This year's Client of the Year goes to long-time client Paul Howard based on his ability to fish just about every month and overcome conditions to succeed. His smile says it all, Paul is just fun to be around. Check out the pic of him fishing in the hard rain at the end of September. Paul and I caught bass, striper, crappie and white perch and had a blast together. He brought co-workers and family members to the lake and I enjoyed my time with all of them. Thank you, Paul, for a great 2011 of fishing and fellowship.

2011 MLAGS Big Crappie

2012-01-10T07:16:00.000-08:00

Crappie trips have become very popular among our clients. Most of these pics were generated during our famous four-hour, half day adventures.

2011 Hat Tricks & Notable Catches

2012-01-10T06:55:00.000-08:00

A Lake Anna Hat Trick is accomplished by catching a crappie, largemouth and striper in one day. This is a fun challenge we came up with many years ago that clients really enjoy. Here are some pics of LKA Hat Tricks and pictures of notable bass catches. FYI, all the bass are released.

2011 MLAGS Striper

2012-01-10T06:42:00.000-08:00

A big striper on Lake Anna these days is anything over 12 pounds, especially if you are casting lures like we mostly do! Yes, there are 20-pound fish in the lake, but they are difficult to catch on a lure. Here are a few pics of stripers we caught and ate this year!

2011 Big Largemouth Bass by MLAGS Clients

2012-01-10T06:11:00.001-08:00

Clients enjoyed a pretty good run with big bass this year. Click here for some pics.

2011 Big MLAGS Largemouth Bass By Chris

2012-01-10T05:59:00.001-08:00

Click here for some pics of the big bass I caught and released while you were eating a sandwich!

2011 MLAGS Milestones

2012-01-10T05:30:00.000-08:00

I know we are a week into the new year but I wanted to share some end-of-year observations and note our special clients, share some pics and videos that I couldn't during the season.

The guide service produced seven citation fish in 2011, three largemouth bass, a yellow perch and three crappie. This was slightly above average and good for crappie as I would say 2011 was really only a mediocre year for big crappie. The big bass were caught in the spring and then August. The yellow perch was caught in the spring while crappie fishing. These fish are experiencing a nice comeback as they have discovered they can spawn on the extensive willow grass beds through the up lake region of both the North Anna and Pamunkey sides of the lake.

The largemouth bass spawn was split - some went early on the full moon in April (mid and down lake) and many went late during the first week of May up lake. The North Anna featured an amazing bass spawn at this time. I really wasn't impressed with the spawn in the other regions of the lake. I am also wondering why only one truly trophy bass, a nine plus pounder caught by Garry Cramer in March, was caught this year?

We did have a striper kill during the heat of August. Many big fish perished due to the low oxygen content and high heat. Don't worry though because there are PLENTY of fish in the pipeline. The 2007 and 2009 year class survival rate from stocking was very good and these are the fish we'll be catching for the next five years. They reach 20" by the fourth year.

Did you think I'd not talk about the effect of both reactors being off for two months after the earthquake on August 23? The lack of current totally changed the fishing, especially down lake. Those thousands of largemouth bass, striper and white perch that we were hammering before the shutdown vaporized. Turns out they just went through Dike III to follow the bait that went up into the Cooling Lagoons. Vertical jigging with Toothache spoons and Crazy Blades was excellent for about two weeks once the fish settled into their new surroundings. We were catching largemouths in 36' of water! I was glad I had my new Lowrance Elites to show me where to fish.

Ah, the rains of 2011. Yes, we had quite a bit of precipitation and we fished on many rainy days. I remember one very well with Paul Howard. We found huge schools of striper in front of the State Park beach in September and just keep on catching them as the rain poured down. Even the ospreys wouldn't quit. I watched them shaking rain off themselves as they flew overhead and fished with us. Paul never once complained.

We had a good herring spawn in May and found plenty of bass and striper that wanted to eat them every morning. Herring are now dispersed throughout the lake and if you find areas where they spawn, the gamefish will be there, too. Interestingly a moratorium on herring fishing along the east coast might just apply to using herring as bait in Lake Anna, so we are advocating for an exemption with our friends at VDGIF.

I got a new boat in June as I sold my Nitro and tried something new. Dee at Anna's Marine Center suggested the 2072 Grizzly center console and a new one was delivered with a 90 hp Mercury OptiMax a few weeks later. This boat is wide and roomy. I can now guide three clients comfortably. I usually guide from the back of the boat now using a remote control Minn Kota iPilot trolling motor. You and your buddy are in the front of the boat, taking first shot at everything without me on the foot pedal any more ... it's what I've wanted for years and it's great!

By the end of the year we had a new tactic to fish - multi-arms. I began using a proto-type Toothache version of the Alabama Rig and discovered it was excellent not only for largemouth bass but for striper as well. I recommend a medium to heavy action rod of no less than 7' coupled with a high capacity spool baitcaster with 17-pound Trilene Big Game. Do not use super lines unless you want to snap the rig off on a backlash OR pull the rig away from bites.

Predictions for 2012? I would say we'll see more yellow perch citations, more 22" largemouth citations (but few eight pound citations) and plenty of 20-24" striper. The crappie fishing, I think will be good if you are looking for 10-12" fish. You'll have to work a little harder to find the 15" or two-pound citations, though. Hiring a guide is recommended!

Our associate guides include Chris Craft, John Hutchins, Shawn Blankenship and John Barlow. They did an excellent job this year with MLAGS clients and you can be assured if I'm not available, you'll certainly enjoy your day with these gentlemen.

John Hutchins and I will continue to guide from High Point Marina in 201. John Barlow prefers to guide from Anna Point as his boat likes that ramp better. Chris Craft also runs out of Anna Point.

I thank you for your patronage in 2011 and hope to see you again this year. FYI, the best way to book your trip these days is via email lkalife@earthlink.net and then phone 540.894.3540 or 894.9144.

Client of the Year and notable catches, videos coming next ....

January 9 - Fishing in the Snow

2012-01-10T05:21:00.000-08:00

Always try and fish during a snowy day. The accompanying low pressure usually brings good fishing. I got out yesterday by 1:30 and fished the down lake region from Dike III back to Dike I. I We caught 15 striper, but none over 20 inches. I did loose a very large largemouth bass. The lures we are using include a suspending jerkbait and the Toothache E-Rig with 3" paddletail lures. I predict an excellent round of fishing coming in the down lake area from I saw today. The only other person on the water was The Professor. (See photo) He was in his stealth fishing rig - a true devotee of striper angler.

January 6 -High, Bright and Little Fish

2012-01-07T05:15:00.000-08:00

Today I fished with Jose and his son, Josh for striper. Our day was the first of the week that did not feature temperatures in the 20s at dawn. In fact, I think the day was almost too nice for striper fishing. We watched hundreds of birds fool with surface threadfins as we left High Point Marina and headed down lake. While striper are there, there just too much bait and too many fat fish to mess with them. You have to go way up lake to get out of the bait to find the still hungry striper. We went the other direction based on my lack of success the evening before up lake, fishing from Dike III back to the 208 region, catching only small stripers and a 15-pound carp. I had a huge fish on only to have it pull off, broke a rod on a cast and lost my favorite Squirrel 76 (Leewood, we need to hit Green Top). Fish are in place down lake. Dike III, Valentine's, Dike I, they all have fish ready to be caught, we just need a little more cold weather and some clouds. Water temperature at Dike III was 57. I fished with Peter Knapp and The Professor. Each were using their deluxe fishing rigs that feature people power - kayak and a canoe. The Prof even has a depth finder on his! Today's photo is courtesy of Mr. Knapp. Thank you!

December 30 - Mike Edwards

2011-12-31T05:22:00.000-08:00

After 10 days off the water I was out today with one of my favorite clients, Mike Edwards in search of a few year-end striper. The day dawned 30 degrees and partly cloudy. We alternated between sun and clouds, a 10 mph breeze and calm conditions. Air temp. was around 58 at one point - a good day to fish. Many other folks thought the same thing and it was good to see people out and enjoying the lake, though a little busy. We enjoyed our day but could have enjoyed some more fish! We caught six sub-keeper striper and two largemouths - not real good. Hotspots are Big Ben Flats up to the 29 Marker above Rose Valley and over in the Pamunkey up to Stubbs Bridge. I did roll up to the mouth of Duck In Hole and noted good water clarity and temperature (44 ish) but didn't touch a fish in about a half hour of fishing at 3 pm. The mouth of Harlow Creek to the 20 Marker was loaded with fish but we only caught a couple at dusk. There are many birds working surface threadfin at the 208 marinas at dawn, so keep an eye on this, too. I caught one of the bass on the Toothache E-Rig, everything else took a small swimbait or jerkbait on a jighead retrieved near the bottom. FYI, Dike III is 60 degrees and has small striper.

December 29 - Back Out With Mitch

2011-12-30T05:30:00.000-08:00

Mitch and I were out for about an hour this evening (started at 4 pm) to see what was cooking on LKA after our trip south. Too much 80-degree weather is not good for a fishing guide. I wanted to thicken up the blood for tomorrow's trip, too! We noted some bird action in Mitchell Creek and then headed to Dike III. There we discovered Jim Martin and his Nitro and some small striper in the current. I don't recommend making the trip down there just yet. Water temperature was too warm at 60 degrees. It was good to be back on Anna.

December 19 - Country Chevrolet On The Water

2011-12-19T09:02:00.000-08:00

This morning I fished a few hours with Jake Moore and Steve Myers of Country Chevrolet in Warrenton. It was below freezing when we shoved off from High Point Marina and stayed that way for about an hour-and-a-half as ice formed in our guides. We were casting for striper again with the Berkley 3" Rippleshad and the Toothache E-Rig in The Splits region. The bite wasn't that good and we had number of nips and no hook-ups. Steve finally found a keeper but the action was certainly off from what it has been. The high and bright conditions might have a little to do with this or the fish just might be full. We hit two bass spots on the way in and took a two-pound chunk on the E-Rig and a five pounder on the Jackal Bros. Squirrel SP. Water temperature is around 48-49. A little FYI here, Country Chevrolet will give you a $500 gift certificate to Green Top Sporting Goods with the purchase of any new vehicle in December 2011. Steve's # is 540.905.4083.

December 18 - Double Striper On Toothache Extraction Rig

2011-12-18T09:51:00.001-08:00

We were out again this morning testing and learning. The Toothache Extraction Rig was the star performer during our two our window. We caught multiple striper on it with no issue. The fish wanted a small swimbait on the E-Rig or casted solo. We caught a couple non-keepers Pamunkey side, then rolled over to the North Anna side and loaded up under a big flock of gulls. Fish were shallow, less than 10' for the most part when we caught 'em feeding.

Video - Birds On Stripers

2011-12-16T08:01:00.000-08:00

This is what it looks like when birds find striper working baitfish. It often starts on a main lake point and then moves into a cove if the school is not pressured. Observe BEFORE making your move if possible and then intercept. Try not to move into the school. Instead work the edges and let the fish come to you.

December 16 - Wide Open With Leewood Davis

2011-12-16T07:51:00.000-08:00

I had the rare chance to fish with Leewood Davis this morning, not an official trip, just two fishermen sharing a boat. Leewood was kind enough to pick me up in his rig and we fished a couple of hours. It was "on" from the start as I stood on the bank waiting for him. A fish swirled, I casted a 3" Berkley Rippleshad and "Wham" I had striper #1 and I wasn't even in the boat. Leewood came with two fish already in the livewell and we could see birds working where he came from. I jumped on and for the next two hours we caught four limits of striper. The fish were so shallow and so aggressive we watched them a mere two yards from the boat swirling and popping threadfin shad out of the water! I put some footage up on the Woods & Waters Facebook site that you MUST see. I've not seen much like it in all my years here. We had steady action for nearly an hour. We caught them on the small swimbaits and the Toothache Extraction Rig with the small swimbaits. Water temperature was 50 degrees. We were fishing in the lower up lake region, Pamunkey Branch side.

For those of you that don't know, Leewood is one of the lake's best striper anglers and he only uses lures. Casting is his specialty and he's quite good. I am thankful to have spent at least part of the morning with him. Thank you, Mr. Davis. Great time!

December 14 - Striper Eating Toothache E-Rig Readily

2011-12-15T06:34:00.000-08:00

After three versions, we have the Toothache Extraction Rig ready for delivery! I went out for a half hour last night in the pontoon and caught two nice ones at dusk. The key is using 14-pound Trilene XT (no braid), a 7'6" or 8' rod and a high capacity baitcaster. The fish were right on the bank but near a channel and swirling on 3" threadfin shad. The baits we are using are the Berkley 3" Rippleshad and the Gitzit Paddlefry.

December 8 - After The Big Rain....

2011-12-08T09:03:00.000-08:00

I was out today just to see what happens to the lake after 4" of rain falls in a 24-hour period. Interestingly the lake rises. We are up about a foot, over many docks with plenty of floating debris above the first two bridges. Some of the creeks are full of stuff washed out when the lake rises quickly. I even saw a picnic table floating at The Splits. Sadly, the fish bit incredibly well yesterday as Leewood Davis can attest, but I was not on the water. Today, the bait was right on the surface with plenty of birds, but the fish were full this morning. Hotspots look to be Rose Valley, just above Stubbs, The Splits and Pigeon Creek.

Video: Striper On Toothache E-Rig

2011-12-05T05:33:00.000-08:00

December 4 - Fred and Eric Z

2011-12-05T05:28:00.000-08:00

Father and son, Fred and Eric Z. were with me on a rare Sunday trip this morning. Unlike yesterday morning we had heavy fog today. I had to navigate along the shoreline from HPM up to above Terry's, so it was challenging. Please remember to put up both your running and anchor light if you are running fog. I had a boat nearly run us over today with NO LIGHTS! Well, I don't have much to blog about because we literally had no bites for the first four hours. We fished the same areas as yesterday, but the fish just weren't biting. I also checked Terry's Run before and behind the bridge. Things are looking excellent up there, but no bites. We crappie fished and then bass fished just to get some bites. Eric had two nice largemouths right at the end of this one that saved the day. Water temperature mid lake is 55.

December 3 - Eric O Tests The E-Rig More

2011-12-05T05:11:00.000-08:00

Today we wanted to see if we could catch some striper on the new Toothache Extraction Rig. Eric Omohundro is an excellent angler that can put lures where I need them to be AND he has the stamina and determination to fish all day like we did. Dawn to dusk - all day long, as we say, here at MLAGS. We started far up the Pamunkey just above and below the bait plug. There was a feed going on, but it was spotty. We landed three striper, one keeper. The nice fish took Eric's E-Rig in about 7' of water. We rigged it with Gitzit Paddlefry on the perimeter and a Berkley Realistix 3" Minnow in the middle. All the fish Eric caught today bit the middle bait. The threadfin are massed in several places up there, right at Hunter's Landing is one. There's also gizzard shad still in the upper Pamunkey with the water around 48-49. We did a little crappie fishing with fair results. The fish are now moving off structure and onto deep bait. We then switched over to the North Anna side and ran to Helem's Point. Here we found birds and sub-surface swirls. We hooked two on the E-Rig but couldn't keep 'em on the hook. I was a little impatient and we were rolling back down lake just before sunset. We found those small striper once again in Mitchell and finished up there using Toothache spoons and the E-Rig for a few more. About the only place we didn't fish today was Dike III.... Eric and his wife are expecting their first child, a son, on January 14. Hopefully today will keep his fishing tank full for a while.

Video: First Fish With Toothache E-Rig

2011-11-29T07:38:00.000-08:00

Video: Toothache Extraction Rig Swimming

2011-11-29T07:31:00.000-08:00

November 28 - Toothache Extraction Rig Works!

2011-11-28T15:08:00.000-08:00

Today I finally had the time to try the new Toothache Extraction Rig (E-Rig). I fished far up the lake where baitfish lit up the screen and the bass and striper are shallow. Water temperature is around 55 degrees - perfect for fishing. I saw some swirling on the bank and lobbed the E-Rig on a 7'6" rod. On my first cast, the rod pulsed and I had a fish on. Turns out it was a nearly seven pound largemouth bass. This is the Beta E-Rig, our first try, but I think it's close to being production ready. You need a 7-8' rod and 12-14 pound test. Your shoulder will feel it, but I believe it will be as good as the Alabama Rig we are hearing about. The bass ate two of the baits I had on the rig, FYI.

November 25 - Paul and Mark

2011-11-27T04:28:00.000-08:00

Trips with brothers are not as common as you'd think. Paul Howard brought his brother in for the Thanksgiving holiday and had some nice things planned. They went to the Redskins/Dallas game and them game fishing with me. Our day dawned frosty and foggy. Mark is from Arizona, so he was shivering for the first two hours! There was heavy fog for about two hours, so the morning bite was tough to locate.... We fished mid lake and noted some bird activity and just missed some sub keeper striper in Contrary Creek, but it was a slow morning. By the time the fog lifted, the bite was over for striper. There was a huge mass of fish at the mouth of Terry's Run, though and we jigged up some perch and crappie as by catch before we hit a few crappie holes. By this time the air temperature was nearly 55 and the day was turning sensational. Water temperature is actually rising with both reactors now up and turning out the hot water - 55 up lake. There were plenty of crappie on shallow stuff in the Pamunkey Branch.

November 18 - Leewood & The Toothache E-Rig

2011-11-18T07:01:00.000-08:00

Friend of MLAGS Leewood Davis is out today testing the proto-type Toothache Extraction rig show here. It's similar to the Alabama rig that is gaining so much attention nationally. We think it might be great for striper here.

Depth Finder Tips 1

2011-11-16T06:33:00.000-08:00

I get to see a lot of interesting things on my Lowrances. I wish someone had shown and explained to me how to interpret what I was seeing 25 years ago! This is the first in a series of posts intended to help you understand what your depth finder (hopefully a Lowrance) is telling you.

First of all I will tell you I am using a Lowrance Mark 5x and a Lowrance Elite 5x. Keep in mind you will need a minimum of 320 pixels per square inch to use my tips. You do not need an $800 depth finder, though.

The first pic shows small striper on the depth finder. I was fishing recently with my son at the mouth of a mid lake creek and noted six birds looking down over the area and a couple of small swirls. We moved in with the outboard, noted a good trend of fish on the Lowrance and shut down, using only the Minn Kota iPilot. We jigged up a couple dozen small striper (no bigger than 10") and several from 15-17". These are two and three-year old fish. They rarely school with bigger fish, as you can see from the Lowrance pic. They are fun for kids and light tackle enthusiasts but they don't go in the box.

The second photo shows Dave Gedra getting ready to catch the 19-21' striper shown on the Lowrance using Specialized Baits' Little Jimmy spoon. You can see that bigger striper show up as one-inch long arches. Truly big striper are about two inches and I'll show you some of them soon! Something to consider when using your depth finders is that at 25' the cone you are reading is only about 8' wide. So if you see a bunch of fish on the screen, it's really loaded up down there.

I hope these Tip Posts are helpful. Good luck!

November 13 - Mitch's First Tourney

2011-11-14T06:11:00.000-08:00

Today (the seventh in a row I've been on the lake) I fished with my nine-year-old son in his first bass tournament. Years ago, when he was three, we (with his sister) fished the first Team Crappie Tournament out of Sturgeon Creek and took second. I have also fished a Winter Series with my daughter and took third and big fish. Today, after a week of excellent results, I thought we'd have a good chance of winning the tournament. Alas, fishing is not empirical (actions don't equal guaranteed, mathematical results) and the bite changed! We fished for nearly three hours trying to jig up bass in the 30' of water we'd been fishing Monday through Friday and we only caught one two pounder and a tiny white perch. So, we have one fish in the livewell by 9:30 and the wind begins to increase from the southwest. This is not good where we are fishing because all the creeks run southwest..... Mitch begins a series of naps and I try and figure out where the fish have gone. I don't think they really went any where, they just weren't biting. I am forced to adjust and fish points, brush and roadbeds using a suspending jerkbait and a drop shot. I catch about 20 more fish and Mitch wakes up and catches one, too, but the four more we put in the livewell are skinny 13 inchers.

So, the irony of fishing rules again. The guy that is catching 15 pounds every morning brings in five pounds and the fellow that fishes once a week wins with nine pounds. My congratulations to Dave Menard for the win and also to Steve Myers of Country Chevrolet who almost won and took big fish!

As we drove home, Mitch and I agreed it was a fun day despite the often 25-30 mph winds that made it tricky to fish in the afternoon and frustrating change in the pattern. He wants to fish again this Sunday and that is a good thing.

Tips for introducing your children to fishing - don't force it and don't over work them. Let them fish at their own pace and make it fun. If they want to try a lure/tactic you know they are not yet skilled enough to use, rig it up for them. You'll be surprised and you MUST let them try to succeed, otherwise you are just squelching their desire to be like you. Connect and relax. Simple parenting is the best.

November 12 - An Afternoon with the Reilly's

2011-11-14T05:56:00.000-08:00

After coaching soccer at 10:15, it was time to jump in the Grizzly with Chris, Matt and Connor for an afternoon of chasing striper. We had a clear and rather breezy five hours spent mostly in the upper end of the Pamunkey Branch. I thought we might do some crappie fishing as the evening feed developed, so we pulled up on some docks with 20' of water in front of them near the mouth of Terry's Run. We hit three or four spots and caught crappie from each, but the saddlebag specks eluded us, save for one that Chris pulled from a rockpile. We then moved further up the creek to where the Lowrance showed plenty of bait in 10' of water. Problem was, it never moved to the banks. Connor caught our only striper on a 5" swimbait, a skinny 19-incher on the first pass. The return pass drew no strikes. I rolled around looking, looking, but nothing was happening, so we tried the bank where Connor hit the fish again. This time he caught a nice largemouth on the same lure, Matt and Chris - nothing! We finished up at sunset on the flat above Stubbs with strikes, but no hook ups. I think we should have pulled two live lines or side planers as insurance. I think Connor was just as surprised as his brother and father about catching the biggest fish! This fine little crew put the end cap on six days of guiding and I am grateful for their visit. I hope to see you again in December.

Observations On The Week

2011-11-11T13:10:00.000-08:00

I have had an astounding week of guiding on Lake Anna. Clients and I have caught and released over 175 largemouth bass, striper, white perch, even catfish with about 165 of them coming on shiny metal lures - Toothache spoons and Crazy Blades to be exact. They were caught from 18-36' deep and we didn't fish any banks. The fish are on 3" threadfin shad and often have mud on their bellies from laying on the bottom! I am grateful for the fine weather we had early in the week, an excellent round of clients and unbelievable fishing.

To Greg Jones and his crew I fished with last Friday on a rough, windy day, I must say timing is everything - that's the big irony of guiding. Even the best, most prepared anglers can miss the big bite. I can also make tactical errors in judgement and miss the hot area or tactic. Again, I'm just thankful I figured out what to do this week. Thank you clients. You are great. Thank you Dave Gedra for this photo you took and emailed me.

November 11 - Paul Howard and Kevin

2011-11-11T12:58:00.000-08:00

Let me start by thanking all the veterans out there for their service to our country on this day of remembrance. Your dedication keeps us safe and I think I speak for everyone here when I say thank you.

Today I fished with the good Doctor Howard and his partner Kevin, the fly caster... With 15-20 mph winds and gusts up to 30 mph, I guessed fishing with the long rods would be tricky today. We were outbound by 6:40 and fishing before 7 am. Our first fish was a perch that fell for the small Toothache spoon Paul was using. We caught probably 25 bass, striper, white perch and catfish from just before 7 am until 9:30 when the wind started to roar and it was tough to stay in place over the 25-35' of water the fish are in.

We switched to casting and fly casting a Clouser. You didn't read wrong, Kevin was fly casting ambitiously in the wind. He's a great caster and had a sinking line. Paul caught two from the back of the boat on a 3" Sassy Shad, Kevin had just a nibble before we bagged the fly fishing. It was just too windy.

Paul did hit one nice fish on the crankbait in about 6' of water, but the pickings were slim and we were done by 11:45. Observation of the day - even with the passage of the cold front and rain of yesterday, those deep fish are still biting the spoons!

November 10 - Day 4 Of The Frenzy

2011-11-10T11:11:00.001-08:00

George Lenard of Specialized Baits fame (Little Bunker and Little Jimmy) along with his fishing buddy, Dave accompanied me on today's quest for greatness. A front was supposed to arrive by noon, bringing rain and wind, so we were on the water by 7 am and caught our first fish, a sub keeper striper, by 7:15. The fish were even deeper today (odd because of the cloud cover) and we caught 30 combined bass, striper, white perch and catfish before the action slowed. From 9:30 until noon we caught less than 10 fish. The rain began as we strapped the Grizzly back on the trailer. George's spoon was very productive in the silver and chartreuse finishes. It's just as good as the Toothache in my opinion. I also caught a number of bass on the 1/2-oz. Crazy Blade in chartreuse. Our deepest fish came from 36'. Check out the pic of the Lowrance lit up and Dave jigging in the background.

November 9 - Day 3 of The Frenzy

2011-11-10T11:02:00.000-08:00

Ed Hanley and I set out this morning at 7 am into heavy fog and, using GPS, navigated to where the big school of fish has been biting. They had moved and we found them about 300 yards away in even deeper water - 35'. The continuing high pressure has them bunched up on deep threadfin and confused about the reality of our Toothache spoons and Crazy Blades. We catch many in about an hour and then action stops. I can find the bait, but the fog and bite is over. We catch a few more elsewhere using a Berkley Realistix Minnow on a drop shot on a drop off from 12-26', but this is the time of year when there are vast areas of nothing and small areas of everything. We have a mid day lull, then catch a dozen under 20" striper mid lake starting at 4 pm using spoons in 28' but that action is over within 30 minutes when the sun hits the treeline. Advice here, be on the water at dawn and dusk, because any fish you catch between, during high pressure and blue bird skies, is bonus. Water temperature is 58-60 where we are fishing.

Video - How To See Fish On Depth Finder and Spoon Them Up

2011-11-08T13:00:00.000-08:00

November 8 - Day Two of the Frenzy

2011-11-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

I'm loving the bite that is going on now around the lake! I fished with Jim Wilkins this morning and we had the trip he deserved. He and I fish about once a month and this one was awesome. Both he and I had big fish on... his came unbuttoned at the boat but was probably over six pounds. I wrestled a 5-6 to the net. We had 50 largemouths, five striper and 15 white perch - all on Toothache spoon or Crazy Blades. The biggest bass were biting in 32' of water! We had to fizz several of them on the release. All fish were released, except for one striper that will be fish tacos at the Wilkins' tonight.

November 7 - The Frenzy Begins

2011-11-07T12:44:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day where I experienced the full effect of the fall feeding frenzy we've all been expecting for a couple of weeks now. We mowed down bass, striper and perch from 7:30 till noon using Toothache spoons and Crazy Blades in 18-24' of water in the down lake region. Terry, Kent and Big K thought I was crazy when all I did was scan with the Lowrance and not get near any bank, but in the end the 40+ fish made it all worth it. Thanks for a GREAT morning guys and faith in spooning. The Lowrance shot shows the largemouths on the bottom we were catching. FYI, we released all but the two striper and two of the bass that took the spoons too deeply.

November 6 - 2011 Lake Anna Cup

2011-11-07T11:23:00.000-08:00

60 teams of the best anglers around. A beautiful fall day. In the end it took 16.48 pounds and a nearly eight-pound largemouth to claim the first place prize of $2,000. Here's the story.....

The 2011 Lake Anna Cup Invitational Tournament was held November 6 out of Sturgeon Creek Marina on a beautiful, warm day that drew a talented field of contenders from six different bass fishing tournament circuits around the state to this central Virginia fishery.

Sturgeon Creek Marina, the Lake Anna Business Partnership, Country Chevrolet of Warrenton, Green Top Sporting Goods, Richmond Marine, Line-X of Fredericksburg, Anna’s Marine Center, Woods & Waters Magazine, Habervision eyewear and Lake Anna Outfitters sponsored this fifth annual event.

Qualified teams combined with a select number of at-large invited teams to make a field of 60 boats that blasted off at 7 am and fished until 3 pm for the five biggest bass they could catch.

At weigh-in most teams reported catching fish, with many five fish limits. Everything from topwater plugs to crankbaits, jigs and worms caught bass for the competitors, so it was anyone's event to win.

2010 Lake Anna Cup champions Darren Bache and Craig Hayden were in the field as was past winner Preston Cox, but in the end it was fitting that a first year LKA Cup team won the big prize and honor of putting their names on the actual Lake Anna Cup.

Eugene Carter and John Doyle totaled 16.42 pounds to "Claim The Cup" and the $2,000 first prize money and prizes provided by the sponsors. They told the crowd at a post weigh-in interview they were fishing the North Anna arm of the lake using spinnerbaits for bass on rocks near shoreline weeds.

Second place finishers Rob Grike and Eric Nelson brought a limit of five bass to Tournament Director Dave Fauntleroy's scales weighing 15.85 pounds and took home a $250 check from Line-X of Fredericksburg. Grike is a new father, so his fishing time has been limited this fall and the second place finish was a nice “welcome back” to Lake Anna.

Tony Turnbell and Carl Sheets took third place with five bass weighing 15.45 pounds. This earned them $80 worth of Green Top gift certificates.

Father and son Tim and Nick Covington brought a 10.75 limit to the scales and finished fourth. Mike Elswick and Casey Woodfin came all the way from Chickahominy Lake and the Eagles Landing Weekly Bass Trail to fish the LKA Cup and finished in fifth with 10.59 pounds.

The team of Carter and Doyle also had the event’s biggest bass with a 7.64 citation, good for a season’s launch pass from High Point Marina.

The youngest competitor in this year’s event was Connor Schweikart, who at the ripe old age of eight fished his first tournament with Dad, Jim. There were even prizes for the biggest striper and crappie brought to weigh-in.

After the event the contenders enjoyed a BBQ meal courtesy of Woods & Waters Magazine and Lake Anna Outfitters. All of the teams received goodie bags provided by Green Top Sporting Goods filled with t-shirts, caps, pocket knives, stickers, Line-X gear and more.

Lake Anna is located in Louisa, Spotsylvania and Orange Counties and spans 17 miles with 225 miles of shoreline. It was opened in 1972 by Dominion Resources to provide cooling water for two nuclear units. There are a number of public access points at marinas, motels, campgrounds and a state park.

The 2012 Lake Anna Cup will be held at High Point Marina. The actual Lake Anna Cup will be on display at Sturgeon Creek Marina until then. If you'd like to be in the field next year contact C.C. McCotter at 540.894.5960 or lkalife@earthlink.net.

November 2 - Fog & Stripers

2011-11-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

Today was cold and foggy until 9 am when the sky lifted and a cloudless sky warmed us up. I fished with Derek Dequaine until noon, looking around and fishing, too. We had three fish on a Toothache spoon jigged up near Stubbs Bridge. Around noon we encountered a MASSIVE school of gizzard shad at the north point of Jetts Island. This is a good place to fish later in the evening as the shad were not being chased during our stay. (Did they bite there, Professor?) There are fish at the mouth of Pigeon as well..... Good to see Garney Horner and Peter Knapp setting the standard of fun out there. Thanks, guys.

October 30 - Blue Screamer Striper

2011-10-31T03:56:00.000-07:00

Today was what I call a Blue Screamer. Yesterday's massive cold front/wind storm and rain/snow event was up in New England and what we were left with was a 32-degree morning with heavy frost and a screaming blue sky. What to do when you have a client that wants to learn how to lure fish for striper? You try everything and stay confident you are smarter than the fish! It took three hours and a lot of running around using everything from swimbaits, soft plastic jerkbaits on jig heads, Toothache spoons, Crazy Blades and finally a totally new rig before I had the corners of the puzzle today. I stopped by Green Top last week and found a "mini" umbrella rig that looked like something that would work on schooled fish, bass or striper. I attached four three-inch Gitzit swimbaits and had it ready. At 10:45 I finally found bait and striper on the Lowrance in a feeding situtation just above Stubbs Bridge and dropped the mini over. Within two minutes we had our first fish and promptly broke it off! I brought the rig in, tied on another swimbait and swung into position for another pass. The rig went in and we hooked up again and again broke one off! The third attempt was also productive and we landed a 19-inch fish. At this point the school spooked due to us and boat traffic and I could not get them to hit again. See the pic for a look at this new option. While I don't like trolling, I do like learning and this little rig appears to be legit. Jim and I finished up the day jigging in the upper Pamunkey Branch for whatever would bit in the bait plug - now near Henry's Point. We had heavy fog this morning and I anticipate more to come this month as the lake is warmer than the air. That's The Professor in the fog. Bumped into Eric O. in the Z8, too, and had to take a pic of that awesome rig.

Lake Anna Cup Is Coming November 6!!!

2011-10-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

Think you can catch five Lake Anna largemouth bass? Enter the annual Lake Anna Cup tournament to be held November 6 out of Sturgeon Creek Marina. It's only $80 per team and you get a BBQ dinner and two t-shirts if you pre-register. I've included the t-shirt design and entry form here. I hope to see you at Lake Anna Cup.

October 28 pm - Ronnie Stanley

2011-10-29T07:05:00.001-07:00

Ronnie came to MLAGS recommend by friend Arthur McKenny. I am always grateful for friends' recommendations and want to do especially well on these trips. Ronnie and I departed High Point Marina around 1 pm under heavy overcast. Mercifully, the strong winds of the morning dropped to less than 5 mph. We bumped into stripers five times, fish all over the Lowrance and even blowing up around us, but all we had to show for these encounters were a few crappie and two largemouth! We also had schooled largemouths chasing shad around us at times. Things are really starting to happen and all of this activity was in the Jetts Island area. On the way down to the 208 region we encountered about 20 birds working fish not far from the 208 marinas. We eased up and noted fish swirling. We boated six with two keepers. All fish were on Toothache spoons jigged or casted and retrieved. We would have had more, but for the first five minutes we were casting other lures! The fish worked up to the mouth of Marshall Creek and we caught a few more non-keepers, again all on the spoon. Rain began to fall as we tried one more spot with The Professor and Garney as darkness fell. Fish were on the Lowrance, but they were done and so were we for the day.

October 28 am - Jim Burkhart

2011-10-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

This was the day before the first major storm front of the fall was to pass through the area. Snow west and north, cold rain and wind here tomorrow. Should be a pretty good day, right? Jim wanted to learn some new bass tactics so we headed out at 7 am for the down lake region with a topwater, soft plastic jerkbait, shaky worm and drop shot ready for action. 42-degree starting temperature, FYI. It didn't take long to find schooled bass on bait. Oddly, we could catch them in open water, but instead found they were feeding on a point that dropped from 12' to 25'. The topwater and soft plastic jerkbait caught them looking and we had a dozen boated up to two pounds before the action slowed and a stiff 20 mph wind pushed me off. We fished about six more places that morning, catching bass from all. Bass were on drop offs. We didn't get to the docks. The action was never as fast as that first stop, but Jim learned how to use several new tactics and said that was the best day on Lake Anna he'd ever had in a half day! Kind words, Jim. Thank you!

October 27 - Mike Edwards' Fall Hat Trick

2011-10-29T06:33:00.000-07:00

The lake has turned over and the fall feeding frenzy is underway. Late last week I observed bait, bream and bass returned to the shallows. Today, Mike and I found out that the bass, striper and crappie are feeding much better than in the previous weeks. We had striper in the Jetts Island region fill the Lowrance, for about a minute this morning over 30'! Vertical jigging a Toothache spoon is the most productive tactic again with a small swimbait retrieved through the middle of the water column good, too. The fish really aren't on the bottom, so you should jig in the 20' range if you are not getting bites when the screen lights up. I also saw some fellow anglers troll up several keeper striper. We then moved to a mid-lake creek and found plenty of little striper will to take the Toothache and Crazy Blades we jigged amongst them. We spent a little time far up lake on crappie and found some nice ones on rocks in 5-10' of water. The temperature is about 63 degrees. We couldn't fish the magic hour today, I had to coach soccer. Leaves are beautiful now.

Where Was Chris?

2011-10-23T07:13:00.000-07:00

I was in Maine October 18-23 on our annual Woods & Waters Adventure Trip hunting grouse with Ross Lake Camp. I've included some pics. Great time, great fellow hunters and memories. The article will be in a upcoming W2.

October 5 - Chris Murphy Returns

2011-10-08T04:58:00.000-07:00

Chris and I decided to change venues and fish way down lake today to see what the largemouths were doing. Turns out they weren't doing much, but if you adjusted and kept on casting you could catch them. We ended up with around 30 bass, but most under 14". We caught them on dropshotted Berkley 3" Minnows, one on a Tiger Shad spinnerbait (weirdo fish) and many on a shakey head worm. Chris brought some Luck E Strike Bass Magic baits the fish liked on the jig head. The drop shot fish were on roadbeds and drops. The shakey head fish all came from under docks. Every fish we caught today had one thing in common - shade. I hope that is helpful to you if you fish Anna soon. Water temperature was 72. The pic with this post shows the typical dock you want to target, lots of shade in the afternoon and at least three feet in the middle.

October 4 - Jim & Derek

2011-10-08T04:52:00.000-07:00

Today I fished with Jim Wilkins and his guest Derek Dequaine. This was a morning trip and I knew we needed to find those early striper quickly. It was chilly, in the upper 40's as we headed up to the Stubbs Bridge region. Our first stop above the bridge was a whiff, but on the lower side we found the big school. The problem was that it dawned high and bright and the fish didn't want to break very much. The Lowrance found them from 22-26, a little deeper than they have been lately and we caught some jigging Toothache spoons and Crazy Blades. I then saw birds start working bigger breaking fish nearby and we zoomed over there only to find the fish had spooked. We played cat and mouse and found them schooled up in the middle of the water column (see Lowrance shot) but that action was over for us. We spent the rest of the morning catching crappie and a few largemouth bass, but it was tough! Derek registered a Hat Trick, but not one for a photograph! Having these two guys in the boat was great fun as you can see from the pic of the LKA Cup award. I just need Ms. Anna to cooperate a bit more.

September 30 - Pat Metcalf

2011-10-01T06:52:00.001-07:00

I had another exceptional client with me today. Pat Metcalf is also a veteran - over 20 years in the USMC. He is now enjoying a little fishing time. His wife purchased him today's trip and we wanted to notch a Lake Anna Hat Trick. Again, the striper part was easy with fish breaking first thing, before the sun rose. Yes, they were small, but a lot of fun. We then tried some bass fishing around willow grass with very little to show for our efforts. I decided to run the backs of up lake creeks and did find some largemouths in place on shallow structure. I observed some interesting things that are happening in the up lake region that bode well for next year. Pat whacked a solid North Anna bass pitching a Berkley creature bait to some willow grass, so that part of our quest was checked off. We got the bass, then knocked out the crappie part and the Trick was complete. I found water that was 69 degrees, FYI.

September 27 pm - Chris Murphy

2011-10-01T06:44:00.000-07:00

Well, this afternoon's segment of my guiding day brought the predicted heavy rains and thunderstorms, however, the client was of exceptional caliber and was game for just about anything LKA had for us. Chris Murphy is a veteran and a police officer, a fly fishing guide and now a bass fisherman/MLAGS client, and I am fortunate to have made his acquaintance. He came prepared with all new Skeet Reese rods and Revo reels, plus a rainsuit, his own food/drink and an attitude of determination and willingness to learn. He needed it because the weather and fishing was similar - tough! We did catch bass, on Tiger Shad spinnerbaits and creature baits, but they were well-earned. I am locking onto what little bass pattern there is day by day. It does appear that fish are up in the upper North Anna, just tucked tightly down in the willow grass. The sky was awesome at times and this inspired us to keep on casting. Chris and I are at it again next week, so we'll see if we can put a few more bass in the box.

September 27 - Jose and Suzanna

2011-10-01T06:37:00.000-07:00

Today was a special treat because Jose brought his wife with him to celebrate their 22nd anniversary. We had a blast from the first stop to the last with striper and crappie, even a few catfish mixed in. We had keeper fish blowing up ABOVE Stubbs this morning and despite some company and learning how to cast as the fish broke, we found a few willing to eat the Berkley Power Mullets we were tossing. Back below the bridge we found little striper and catfish eating the Toothaches in 21' - that seems to be the magic depth this week. We finished up on a crappie hole and send the Ibaras back with nearly 30 slabs up to 12".

September 26 - Bill Koshoffer

2011-10-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

Today I fished with Bill Koshoffer and his son in search of the Lake Anna Hat Trick of bass, striper and crappie. The striper part has been fairly easy lately, though catching a keeper over 20" is the trick. We started out fast with fish breaking in the Jetts Island region and use casting to them with Berkley swimbaits. We even jigged up some with the Toothache spoons. Getting that bass was a real challenge! The crappie had moved back out of the shallows? Odd. We had to get them on deep brush. Water temperature is 74 mid lake. I believe the Stubbs Bridge region is about to pop for bigger striper, so keep posted....

Sept. 23 PM - Borzi/Batemen Prepare

2011-09-24T05:12:00.000-07:00

I really like people that prepare. Pat Borzi and Tom Bateman have fished with me several times this season to re-acquaint themselves with Lake Anna so they can do better in the High Point Marina Friday Night Bass Series. While they have not yet set the world on fire, they have improved and even took a third place (with a check) one week after we fished. They are getting better and want to get better and making arrangements to get better, so that is where it all starts. Today we fished an afternoon session to see what might be biting for their tourney on Saturday. We found a nice Tiger Shad spinnerbait bite in certain upper sections of the lake and swimbait bite mid lake, despite heavy rains again. By the end of the evening the sunset was beautiful and the guys felt better about the event with about a 12-pound limit. They were looking forward to dinner at Asian Cafe and I was looking forward to some dry clothes. I earned my water wings again today with nearly 3" of rainfall. Good luck guys! I hope to see you at Lake Anna Cup on Nov. 6.

Sept. 23 - In The Rain With Paul Howard

2011-09-24T05:04:00.000-07:00

Paul Howard is making a strong case for 2011's Client Of The Year award. He showed up ready to fish this morning despite the prediction of heavy rains. While the rains did hold off for about an hour, we did experience the heavy stuff for about four hours. That didn't stop the fish from feeding, however. We caught close to 50 stripers, mostly small, but had a ball. The birds, too, enjoyed the feed, with terns, gulls and ospreys working in the downpour. Check the video for a good hint where we were fishing. We caught most of them on the small Toothache Spoon and a Berkley Power Mullet on a jighead. Thank you, Dr. Howard for fishing this morning. At around 11:45, I headed home to change clothes and put on rainsuit #2 for the afternoon session....

September 20 - Crappie Move Shallow

2011-09-20T12:13:00.001-07:00

The water temperatures throughout the lake are from 78 (at Dike III) to 73 so the crappie have gone shallow. Mitch and I fished about two hours last night under that buttery cloud cover and hit three crappie holes - two deep and one shallow. All had fish. The shallow spot had big ones.

September 10 - Brian and Allan

2011-09-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

I thought today, Saturday after Labor Day, might be a little less busy than a normal, "in-season" weekend on Lake Anna, so I agreed to take Brian and his son, Allan fishing. I was right until about noon when old LKA became VERY busy with folks enjoying a beautiful afternoon and water temperatures around 84 degrees. Needless to say, we got on the striper first thing and that was about it! We did catch a mixed bag of crappie, perch and catfish, but we really didn't bass fish much (left 'em to the tournament anglers today). Brian and Allan are excellent anglers, so we'll be at it again as it cools down. Inconsistent is the word of the week.

September 9 - Jim, Maria and Kate

2011-09-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

Jim Wilkins brought two special guests this morning, his wife and his niece. After some serious rain the lake is now slightly high and around 74-85 from top to dam. It is slightly muddy above the second bridges. Below this runoff effect, however, it's business as usual and that is where we started again this morning - working breaking striper in the Stubb's Bridge region in a misty fog. After this early morning action faded with several fish boated and the kinks of casting nearly worked out, we ran the Grizzly around for a looksee and located one more school of fish near Jetts. We actually jigged some of these up with a Toothache spoon. We then moved mid lake for some crappie I found in 19' of water, caught a couple of them before Leewood Davis called and told me of some breaking fish down lake. We had to wait for them to school back up, but they were still there and we had fun chasing them for another hour or so. Most wanted a topwater as the sun came out and the heavy fog lifted. We finished up the morning on a crappie hole. Everyone caught fish and the afternoon looked beautiful. Thanks for the honor of taking the gals fishing, Jim.

September 5 - Labor Day with Skeet and Geoff

2011-09-06T06:24:00.001-07:00

You all will probably be surprised, but I actually guided on Labor Day. With a forecast of rain in the afternoon, I thought the traffic would be down a bit so a half day morning might be possible. We started out up lake.... that's right, I wrote up lake and quickly found striper breaking in the Stubbs Bridge region (how's that, Mike?). There were schools of keepers and non-keepers, though we could only find runts! There was some traffic that ran through the fish, but it didn't seem to stop 'em from feeding. These fish were on slightly larger threadfin shad (about 2-3"), so they readily took our Berkley Rippleshads and small Zara Spooks. Geoff is a flats angler from Florida, so he took to the front deck of the Grizzly and the topwater immediately. I left this fish breaking ( a mistake) and headed down lake and found ZERO fish working. The Lowrance blacked out several times, but the cloud cover had the fish on lock down. We moved back mid lake and landed several largemouths, then crappie fish as the boat wakes began to make fishing nearly impossible. Good news is that the water temperature is 83-83 and dropping and that means it's CRAPPIE TIME!

Geoff registered the hat trick. Skeet is coming back to get his! Enjoy the video. I think Geoff had a dozen hits on one retrieve before Tiny Elvis got the lure.....

August 30 - Jim Wilkins

2011-08-31T03:55:00.000-07:00

Based on yesterday, I decided to run the same route this morning with long time client James Wilkins. I had an ah-ha moment when the area in which I've been catching some shallow fish showed why the fish have moved..... water as clear as gin. This happens every year within two weeks and it means the plankton is gone, the baitfish have moved and the gamefish take a couple days to follow suit. No biggie, we moved down lake and starting looking for those hungry stripers a little earlier.

We had some wind, a steady 15 mph at times that made it tricky to see the fish, but I found two schools - around Dike II and right in front of the spillway on the dam! Jim had the only keeper of the morning using a topwater over 70' of water!

The bit was compressed today with no fish staying under us long enough to spoon for them. Water temperature at the dam was 87. Water temperature mid lake is 83. I anticipate good fishing in the region above Stubb's Bridge to commence any day.

August 29 - Chris Reilly

2011-08-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

Today dawned clear and around 60 degrees. Chris Reilly was back from some late summer fishing and I was thinking there might be a pretty good morning feed of striper. Turns out I was right, but first we had to get our bass fishing segment over with. While the fish I've been on have moved a bit, I believe I've relocated them. Chris found two bass on back-to-back casts and lost a couple others before the window closed. I wanted to move on, anyway. "Stick and move" is the mantra these days, as schools of fish must be located to be harassed, right?

We headed down lake and found two large schools of striper from Duke's Creek down to Dike II. Today was the first day there were big fish under them. While I caught a couple on the Toothache, the water was 86 and still a bit warm for that type of fishing. We stayed on top, sometimes over 60' of water and caught our fish that way, much to the delight of Mr. Reilly. We probably caught 30 stripers in an honest two hours of chasing.

Now that being said..... all of you that like to read this blog and then reap the benefit of the information provided should understand how this needs to work. If I tell you where I'm catching fish, don't tell everyone in the neighborhood and have 20 boats show up the next day. If that happens, I can easily produce misleading information, though I have made a reputation NOT doing this.

I think a good rule of fishing ettiquete is that if you didn't find the fish on your own, give way to the guy that did. It goes without saying (but I'm going to say it), please do not motor into breaking fish with either the outboard or the trolling motor. Instead, watch the direction they are moving and position yourself to cut them off.

Lastly, please do not compete cast for cast with me on fish I told you about here. I am trying to make a modest living. You are fishing for fun. I am not entitled to the fish. I know that. However, if I do the work to locate them and post here where they are, you are enjoying the benefit of my work. As long as you understand that, I think we are going to have a lot of fun together this late summer and fall!

I hope you enjoy the screen shots from my new Lowrance. It shows the striper very well. Fish over 1.5" are the 20" keepers. One of the pics shows striper from the nearly the surface all the way to the bottom.

August 26 - Paul Howard and the girls

2011-08-27T04:28:00.001-07:00

Paul brought his daughter and her friend today and we tried the same run as yesterday. I found out the striper had moved, though a few largemouth remain - too much pressure perhaps, or just a natural progression? It didn't matter because the lake was mirror calm today (two days before the hurricane) and absolutely beautiful. We rolled down lake and found sooty terns and arctic terns dancing on the stripers up to 18" and had a ball. There were hundreds in about an acre at one point we chased around for an hour. It took a little figurin', but we found out what they'd hit and everyone caught some. Once we reached our "goal" we went swimming!

August 25 - Todd Taylor

2011-08-27T04:24:00.000-07:00

Today Todd Taylor brought his buddy Greg for a little late summer vacation fishing. They rented a home on the "hot" side but knew the cold side was where the better fishing was this time of year. We started throwing topwaters and soft plastic jerkbaits in shallow water, and I was eating my banana within 10 minutes, as both anglers caught striper. We caught approximately 15 largemouth bass and striper and lost a few, too. The action was over by 8 am and the wind got up and blew a steady 20 mph making it impossible to fish the main lake, down lake areas I roll to after the morning feed slows. Water temperature was down to 83 and ranged to 90 at Dike III.

August 24 - Post Quake Feeding Frenzy?

2011-08-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

Mitch and I launched the Grizzly this morning to a beautiful sunrise and a great striper feed going on shallow. We caught 20 and kept just a few. The water temperature has dropped to 84-88 throughout the lake. I don't think yesterday's earthquake affected the fish much, just a bunch of bubbles released from bottom sediments. The plant is still venting steam today. It was noisy last night. You can see a clip of this at Lake Anna Life Facebook site. Head to the backs of creeks if your fish on the main lake have disappeared. The season change occurred early because of the rain, cooler nights and the shutoff of the plant and no current.

August 13 - Mike and Bradley

2011-08-13T11:08:00.000-07:00

Today was another special father and son trip with Mike Walker and his 10-year-old, Bradley. We ran the same route as yesterday and found larger striper this time were will to take our baits. Heavy cloud cover might have spurred the action along with an approaching storm front. Bradley caught his biggest fish ever and we had two keepers and some throw backs on lures by 7:45 am in the Grizzly.

It was time to head down lake to see what was happening in the Dike III region. I found out quickly it wasn't much. Yes, we caught a few fish down there and yes, the Lowrance lights up like it would in demo mode, but the fish just won't go.

The lake is very busy and we are done by 11:30. Mike is tickled for his son and I am too, but I'm waiting for the 20-fish morning I know waits just around the corner.

August 11 - Andy and Greg Jones

2011-08-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

Fishing has been tricky lately. There's an early morning bite and a late evening bite, with very little in between. Andy and his Dad were with me today and we were on the water before dawn. We had our first four striper boated before 6:15 am. We are catching them shallow on soft plastic jerkbaits and they are blowing up on the baits. Water temperature is around 88 - four degrees too high!

We run down lake to finish out the morning and scratch out a few more small striper, some jumbo white perch and two incidental catfish - all caught on the herring Toothache Spoon.

Fishing in tough, but we make the best of it and enjoy the fellowship and beautiful day. The Lowrance looks awesome in many places down lake and there are plenty of little striper that dance on the surface in great schools, but the good stuff just hasn't arrived quite yet.

August 10 - Hot & Breezy Afternoon Session

2011-08-11T04:19:00.000-07:00

About this time of year a good afternoon/evening feed develops. Eric and Fred wanted to try some bass and striper fishing and I was game. We fished from 2:30 until dark from the Power Plant on down. A strong west wind made it tricky to stay on the fish the Lowrance just keep marking around Dike I. We found plenty of small breakers from Duke's Creek down to the dam, but the water temperature of 91 has them moving fast and finicky. They are still on those darn tiny threadfins, too! We caught fish, but not as many as I'd like. Eric had a nice striper at dusk. The sunset was the highlight of this trip.

August 3 - Sky & Collin

2011-08-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

Today I had bass fisherman. They just wanted to catch some bass. Sky brought his son, Collin who was heading back to Georgia in a week to complete his senior year and ROTC program. Here's how the morning went....

Our first stop had hordes of herring and some bass chasing them and we hooked one, but nothing came to the boat for the two hours we spend there! Ooof and brutal!

Next stop was far down lake where I caught bass on Monday. Thankfully, this action is still "on" and we get right with a father son double immediately. We catch a half dozen more and loose several but the fish are on tiny threadfin shad and don't really want anything I offer (and I literally have a tackle box on the back deck when I'm through) them.

After two hours of seeing bass blowing up and catching far less than we should, I figure I've got one more trick up my sleeve and convince the guys we should go.

It's a good decision because I find another point with herring on it and bass blowing them out of the water. Collin looses two good ones then lands one and the grand finale begins. We catch a few more, then the sun comes out and it's 11:30 and time to roll.

Despite being the perfect day on paper - cloudy and prefrontal, the fish cannot read! There was a heck of a feed going on, but you have to find the fish on bigger bait if you want to catch 'em!

August 2 - Back At It Again

2011-08-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

I wanted to see if yesterday was just a weird day, and I had two hours available to personal fish this morning, so I went solo. I first motored up to The Splits and found a massive school of yearlings breaking and swirling and used the herring Toothache to try for bigger fish I could see on the Lowrance under the shorts. Despite amazing markings I could not jig or troll up a keeper. The little ones were annoying! I did the loop up to Jetts, over to Big Ben, but the fish were all on bait at The Splits.

I bailed and checked on some bass and herring I've been tracking. Within five minutes I had a solid three pounder for the pic, then it was time to get back to the office. Yesh, the water temperature has these fish feeding like pigs one day and totally off the next. I'll try and again tomorrow and report my findings.

August 1 - Gary, Garrett and Ben

2011-08-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

The guys wanted to catch some striper this morning, and I said I'd give it a try despite the 93-degree water and the weekend that chopped the water into a froth. We did catch striper, but they were the yearlings you don't want to catch. There are plenty breaking around The Splits on up into Big Ben Flats and near the State Park beach. Many folks were fishing, but few keeper fish were caught. We could see them on the Lowrance, but they weren't taking what we were offering.

Thankfully, after 18 years, I have a couple of back up plans. We ran down lake and found bass blowing up baitfish on the surface and hooked a dozen or so and put six in the box for a pic. This was a frustrating day for many of us that like to chase and catch striper, but the company of Gary and his friends was great and those aggressive bass saved my ....... rear.

July 29 - Fridays With Mike Begin

2011-07-29T15:46:00.000-07:00

Mike Edwards is an honorary Associate Guide he fishes with us so much. He likes Fridays because he can take a day off, camp and fish. I pick him up at dawn most mornings at his camper and then set off in search of striper. Today we saw the little fish at the mouth of Sturgeon on the Lowrance, but kept on going. At our first stop I managed to catch a hot water piggie on a soft plastic jerkbait. The water was 90, the herring where everywhere and it was about two feet deep. I netted some herring and then we were off to The Splits where at our first stop, the Lowrance lit up, and then we had a "spice blow" (where's that reference from Professor?) of bait and fish.

Mike caught a largemouth and we had some little striper but a nasty backlash in the middle of the action wreaked havoc. I dropped a couple of down lines, but the fish were too high in the water column and too small!

We spent the rest of the morning mostly here, fishing Toothache spoons with friends like Jeff May and Peter Knapp, George Kachinski and Robert and Zachery Taylor. I think everyone caught fish. It was like a striper fishing party.

When the party broke up I darted around looking for fish, but those rascals gathered right back up and started feeding again. We caught a few more and a largemouth and watched mini "hailstorms" of under 12" striper chasing threadfins in 18-30' of water.

The Big Ben Flats region is where we were. Thanks for the laughs everyone. It's good to see the Toothache back on again!

July 28 - Still Hot But They're Biting

2011-07-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

Still trying to totally familiarize myself with the new rig and new Lowrances. I was out this morning and found a nice school at The Splits and whacked a personal limit using the Toothache spoon. Fish are all the way into Rose Valley as well. Small ones breaking at Splits and mouth of Sturgeon Creek.

July 25 - Jeff Garnett

2011-07-25T14:48:00.000-07:00

Jeff has a bonefishing trip coming up in the fall and needed some practice with the fly rod. He has outstanding equipment, but he's a busy guy and just doesn't get enough time to use it! Today we rolled out of High Point Marina looking for some surface feeding striper. We checked Big Ben Flats first, then The Splits, then Sturgeon and finally around Dike I. The Lowrance looked best in Sturgeon but I was a little impatient and left. As we were coming back up lake I looked up Sturgeon and saw what appeared to be hailstones hitting the water - actually surface feeding striper. Yes, those on top were small, but there were larger ones underneath. We casted with the fly rods and I hooked up and landed one little guy before the schooled moved deep - by 7:30 am. As you can see from the screen shot, there are plenty of 20+ inch striper here, you just have to stick with them. I could not get them to eat the Toothache nor trolled plugs with a grub trailer.

We rolled around a bit more and Jeff caught a nice largemouth, but that 92-94 degree water temperature makes it tricky. We did come upon a school of surface feeding largemouth and hooked up with several.

In the end, I took Jeff to where some late spawning bluegill were on beds and we simulated a bonefish flat with good success. I think he liked my Temple Fork 3 weight more than his Orvis pack rod!

New boat did great. iPilot is a blast. I was rarely in the front of the boat. Jeff was casting to the fish himself. I think my clients are going to love this new set up! What made this trip special for me, other than noting the start of the daily topwater feed, was all the interesting bits of Lake Anna history Jeff knows and shared with me. For example, he used to sit on the wall of the Rose Valley cemetery and then swim in the North Anna River after doing some "wall building" for his Daddy.

July 22 - Pat & Tom's Hot Morning

2011-07-23T03:54:00.000-07:00

The continuing upgrade of Pat & Tom's bass fishing knowledge continued this morning. The water temperature was 88 degrees when we began. At our first stop, I have a round of five areas in a larger, schooling region that I check. On the fifth spot we found the school and actually watched herring being chased and eaten. Shallow water and active fish, not what you'd expect with the heat wave (six days of 95-104 degree heat), but that's what they do. The fish get really active in small areas and you must seek them out. We caught three and lost a couple, but moved on when a big pleasure boat came slopping through the school, digging up mud as his lower unit hit bottom..... amazing. The GMCO Lake Anna Pro Series map would have been a big help here!

We then moved to fish a deep roadbed and on the first cast, Tom landed a solid three-pounder on his new favorite technique - the drop shot. Pat and Tom need options so we ran up the North Anna to the Christopher Run region and noted some bait here being chased and I showed the guys the channel bend run, too. Not much was going on here, so we ran back down lake the power plant region and found that the deep water structure/humps had fish schooled over them. The drop shot, a 3" grub and a small soft plastic jerkbait is a great 1,2,3 system down here now if you just want to catch some fish.

John Hutchins was also guided for us today and his client had a five pounder on a shakey worm from deep rock!

By 11:45 we had sweated out everything we had consumed and it was time for the guys to recharge. This was a very hot morning back on the lake, but Anna was kind enough. Thanks, guys.

iPilot And Anna's Marine Center Support

2011-07-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

The reason why you buy a boat from a local dealer is because they are a phone call away when you need some direction. I was having some issues getting the 24v series set up and getting 24v to the iPilot and communicating with Dee Kidd at Anna's Marine Center to troubleshoot. He was patient and very helpful. It took two trolling motor plugs (the first one was the incorrect one) but I now have a fully functional iPilot with the Lowrance Mark 5X hooked into it - transducer in the nose cone! I have to admit, if it weren't for the plug snafu, this would have been a super easy install. I mounted the trolling motor using the metal quick-disconnect plate and am interested to see how that holds up.

Thank you Anna's Marine Center for great support! I'm just about ready now. I will add some custom rod holders and some drop-in storage boxes, but the bulk of the rigging is complete.

July 15 - Maiden Voyage and First Fish

2011-07-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

Last night we christened the Grizzly and took her to Anna Cabana. It was me, my wife, my Dad, my son and my daughter in it and that OptiMax 90 did great. Plenty of room and a decent ride. No bow lift on the hole shot and some lift as I trimmed. It takes a little getting used to around the dock because of the sponsons, but overall I liked it. After we ate, I dropped off the split tails and we headed into Pigeon Run to check on some striper. The Lowrance Elite 5X lit up and it was go time. In went the Redfins and grubs and it didn't take long for Mitch to hook up and land the first fish of the new boat. We caught several more until the sun began to set and we wanted to get in. Lots of fun. New Lowrance looking awesome as you can see from the pics. Dee at Anna's Marine Center has them at GREAT prices. Now if I could just get the iPilot wired right to the batteries we'll be 90% finished with rigging! FYI, water temperature was 88-90 degrees.

Still Rigging The New Boat

2011-07-14T05:03:00.001-07:00

Thank goodness for that storm last night because I had to shut off the computer and go out to the garage! I opened the doors after the worst of the wind and rain and worked to rig the Lowrance Elite 5X on the console. I had to snake the transducer/power lead after pulling up a deck panel and the fuel cell, but I got it through, and the rest was much easier. Pic of The Magic Snake with lead Gorilla taped on is the trick if you have to do your own install. I also installed a Roger's rod strap, battery boxes/Interstate batts and a Guest charger.

I am now waiting on the Minn Kota iPilot, sonar ready, that should arrive tomorrow. While I might not be on the water now, I am preparing.

Word has it that striper are surfacing at the mouth of Harlow and the mouth of Sturgeon. Some in Pigeon Run, too.

Working On Rigging My New Guide Boat

2011-07-10T12:33:00.000-07:00

Many of you have stopped by Anna's Marine Center to see my new TRACKER Grizzly 2066 CC. In fact, I've been so busy some of you saw it BEFORE I did! As you can see from the pic, I've chosen a new type of guide boat, I think one that will permit me to 1) accommodate more of you per trip, 2) permit me to be more versatile in my guiding and 3) be a better "investment" when it comes time to sell it. I am now accepting $500 deposits on a price of $19,399.

I will rig it with two Lowrance depth finders, an iPilot Minn Kota trolling motor, battery recharger and several other functional features like interior red LED lights. This large, beamy boat is 98" just about from bow to stern, is 21' long, is made of aluminum and has a non-slip material sprayed on the interior. I think I will miss the ride of my Nitro on about 20% of the days, especially in the spring when we are down lake, but with a 90 hp Mercury OptiMax, I also think I'll like the fuel economy enough to live with the ride.

I've wanted to get out of the front of the boat for a while now when guiding. I want you and your guests/family members to be up there cast. I really DON'T need to be fishing on your trip. With the remotely controlled trolling motor, this will now become a reality. I also have two seats side by side on the stern casting platform, so that's a new and cool set up as well.

Where am I going to store everything? That's a good question and I'm working on it. I'll post pics as I go about the rigging. I think these affordable fishing rigs will really catch on for Lake Anna, and I'll give you an honest assessment of what I think of mine.

Great Father/Son Video

2011-07-09T04:06:00.000-07:00

Fun with the Vickers!

July 7 - Too Easy!

2011-07-07T12:28:00.002-07:00

Sometimes you get on striper that are so easy you scratch your head. This morning was like that. We rolled up to the Big Ben Flats region and found striper breaking right where Peter Knapp told me they were breaking yesterday morning! Great tip, Peter. Thank you!!!

Daniel and Caleb Vickers were with me and this father and son had never caught so many stripers. In fact, Daniel (Dad) though you only could catch them on live bait this time of year! Imagine that? I handed him a Repo Man and he promptly caught his limit in about 10 minutes. It was inspiring to those in the vicinity.

Fish were breaking all around us. Nine-year-old Caleb was doing the heavy lifting for us as the livewell began to fill and the excitement of watching a father and son having a ball grew. What a great morning to share with them. That's the most important part of my job - sharing information with my clients and seeing how much they appreciate it.

Peter and George were out, too, and catch some striper nearby. I also saw neighbor Bill McCutchin and Don Probst this morning. The whole gang was out and having fun.

Once this action slowed, we moved over to Jetts Island and Caleb caught a nice striper all by himself using a Toothache spoon. I do believe this bite has now begun. There was a nice school of striper in this area as well, but we wanted to try something different, so we moved again...

I rolled into an area with blueback herring schooling and Daniel caught a 9-8 striper on a soft plastic jerkbait! We then caught four largemouth bass and lost two more striper before hitting one more spot and calling it a morning with a nice limit for the two on board.

Thank you, Vickers for a fun morning. I hope to see you again in the winter.

July 6 - Jim Wilkins Back In The House

2011-07-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Jim Wilkins had some trouble this spring. You see his dear wife, Maria, had to undergo bypass surgery and Jim has lovingly taken care of her. Well, today was the first time he had been able to get out of the house and we fished a morning, watching a magnificent sunrise that offered new hope for many, including he and Maria.

The lake is now about 86-88 degrees and fish are schooled up and feeding regularly each morning. Find the 10% of the lake that holds 90% of the fish and you're going to do alright. We found a few bass and lost a few, caught up on news and had a fine morning. We caught the bass on shakey worms and soft plastic jerkbaits chasing bait.

Gonna go striper fishing in the morning. I hope to see you out there.

June 25 - MLAGS Associate Wins Another Tournament!

2011-06-27T11:31:00.000-07:00

Chris Craft has enjoyed great success on this season fishing tournaments on the lake. Here's his recap of the recent Hook N Line event held out of Anna Point Marina....

Today Scott and I fished our 5th tournament of the year here on Miss Anna. Hook N Line Bass Anglers hosted an open team tournament from 6am-2pm. We brought home our 5th consecutive victory with a limit that weighed in at 12.79 lbs. and took Big Fish Honors with a 4.76 lb. beauty that Scott caught. All of our fish were caught on either a Burton Baits Arkie Jig (black) or a Yamamoto Hula Grub.

After fishing for almost four hours on the main lake with only one keeper in the well, we made a drastic change in what we were doing. We went to extreme backs of creeks and started pitching our baits to boat docks. The water was very warm 89-91 and the fish were shallow. This just goes to show you even though history says you should be doing one thing, it is not always the case. Thanks partner for drilling me into changing our tactics!

June 24 - David, Lisa and Tyler

2011-06-25T05:13:00.000-07:00

David Dick brings his children fishing with me once a year - usually in June when they are out of school and he can break free. Today, was the day, and we started out looking for some accommodating bass, then turned to striper fishing.

Our first spot provided both, including a tubby 6-6, 22-1/16" largemouth bass that just made the citation length mark for me. It smashed a Vixen topwater and played smallmouth as I was showing them where to cast. I borrowed one of my old Nitros back from Ed Hanley and forgot to bring a net, so today we used "hoist and hope" landing method, though I belly grabbed this whopper.

We then found a great school of striper in front of the State Park where we trolled deep diving Redfins with a grub dropper in 34' and caught too many to hold. I'm not a big fan of trolling, however, it is a technique that we employ here in the summer time. The kids loved it.

Lastly, we visited a crappie hole and managed just one, before the wind got up and my time ran out. Pretty cool day with a fun little family. Thank you, David, Lisa and Tyler.

June 25 - A Fish Here A Fish There...

2011-06-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

Today I fished with Pat Borzi and Tom Bateman for largemouths. They are long time tournament anglers that needed a little brushing up on their summer fishing. The last time I showed them a bunch of deep stuff, but the GPS went boffo so afterward and the spots were lost. After being treated to a rare morning rainbow, we hit about a dozen spots and the upper Pamunkey Branch, catching 10 fish on the drop shot, shakey head worm and Tiger Shad spinnerbait. By the time we were done, Pat noted he had seen more fish than in two tourneys so far. These guys are making the commitment to get better and I respect that and appreciate their repeat business. FYI, water temperatures are down to 80 degrees.

June 13 - Peter & George's Adventure

2011-06-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

Looks like Peter Knapp finally convinced George Kachinski to get up early enough to catch a Sanctuary striper? Keep 'em coming guys while I ride my desk for a while. Ah, Peter, that's not a striper..... Like the hat, G, but your eyes look a little sleepy!

June 12 - Last Fish In Nitro

2011-06-12T07:21:00.001-07:00

I spent three hours cleaning the Nitro yesterday for the new owner and my son comes home and says he wants one more fishing trip in it. He's nearly in tears, so we wake up at dawn this morning and launch her one more time into Anna. It's a beautiful morning and I'm glad I agreed to take Mitch out. We caught eight fish in an hour including a nice double largemouth using our Cherrywood light rids and Tiny Bass Assassins. Today we say "Good Bye" to a great boat we've enjoyed guiding and fishing from for three years now. I can recommend the Nitro line to you wholeheartedly. I've owned 14 Marine Group products and never had any major issues with any. I've only had one Mercury that "blew" and that was fixed under warrranty. Check with Dee Kidd at Anna's Marine Center if you want one.

June 11 - Big Striper Love

2011-06-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

After nine days of guiding it's nice to fish with someone like Brent Shelton. He's on time, brings excellent gear, has patience and can cast well. He even had a nasty head cold and still fished! So today I said the heck with those suspended, finicky striper mid and down lake and ran far up in to the headwaters of the lake in search of cooler water and more active fish. While the bass where still difficult the striper were not. The first fish we land I have annihilate my jerkbait in 2' of water and stays on the surface the entire time, ripping drag and splashing water everywhere. It turns out to be a fine 13.25 pound striper. This is the second day we've caught striper in this remove region of the lake and it's a lot of fun. Brent lands two more and loses one. His guest, John, catches a largemouth and a crappie - great for him since he's just started to fish. We're in watching the sunrise and out by around 10 am. We make a quick stop so Brent can try his beloved Rapala crankbaits and he hooks a nice bass that comes off as I reach for it with the net! The towing was commencing, so it was time to head back to the marina and call it a morning.

This was a great run of fishing, though I am still scratching my head on why the striper won't hit the spoons yet. I do think it's coming, though, we just have to be patient. Every year is different and this one is proving to be so. I hope the water temperature (88 at Dike III and 86 mid lake) comes down because our big striper do die in August when the water temperatures get high and oxygen content low - and we are heading in that direction.

June 10 - George Lenard

2011-06-10T14:41:00.001-07:00

After yesterday's 100-degree furnace with no wind, I was back out this morning looking for some LKA love. George Lenard likes to vertically jig. In fact, his Specialized Bait Co. makes an excellent spoon known as the Little Bunker we have caught many fish on. Today we had no problem finding striper in the mid and down lake region (see Lowrance shots), they just weren't willing to eat metal... or anything else we offered. We did catch several nice largemouth bass, a bunch of white perch and catfish, but Anna has been finicky for me this week. Water temperature on the surface is now 86 degrees - a bit high for early June.

June 8 - Ed Hanley

2011-06-09T04:21:00.000-07:00

With yesterday's knowledge in hand, I immediately headed up the North Anna.... far up the river to an area where we found 83-degree water and 69-degree water. We caught largemouth bass and striper. Unfortunately the carp were still spawning in this region of the lake, so the bass fishing wasn't as good as it will be. The striper were destroying hard plastic jerkbaits in shallow water. We spend about 4.5 hours up there until the deer flies drove us out!

June 7 - The Eds

2011-06-09T04:19:00.000-07:00

Today the bass fishing changed. The schooling fish we've been consistently catching began to transition into summer behaviors and vacating the shallows. Baitfish are going deep, too. Water temperature has been over 80 for about a week now, so this is to be expected. It wasn't until the Tschannes and I headed up into the North Anna side of the lake and began tossing small crankbaits around rocky points that we found a workable pattern. Deep water structure fishing wasn't that great either and that's why we ran up lake. With all those fish that spawned in the North Anna this year, I have to believe this will be a good arm to fish this summer. Picture coming...

June 6 - Scott Smith's Citation Finish

2011-06-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

Today was Scott Smith's final trip of the spring season and it turned out to be a good one. We did the morning "milk run" and put six decent bass in the livewell for a pic and release but it wasn't until the last stop that Scott made a memory. Using a soft plastic jerkbait over main lake vertical structure he hooked, fought and landed a 23-1/2" largemouth that weighed over five pounds and easily made the length citation mark. This was a nice fish given the time of the year and 83-degree water temperature.

In between bass we caught a bunch of jumbo white perch (see the Lowrance shot of them schooled in seven feet of water) and we structure fished with shaky worms (see Lowrance shot of structure loaded with fish). Scott is a great client and very deserving of today's trophy bass. Remember, he had to watch me catch a citation crappie earlier in the year and his buddy Goff catch a big bass as well. Thank you, Scott, for a great spring of fishing.

This week is going to cook me, but with morning trips scheduled, we should be off before it really heats up. Wish me luck!

Nitro Moving On....

2011-06-05T07:07:00.001-07:00

My 13th Marine Group product, the Nitro NX898 DC I've had for the past three years will now be navigated by a new captain. Jim and Connor took a test drive recently and I snapped this pic. Fathers and sons fishing is what it's all about.

June 4 - Ingrams

2011-06-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

Every once in a rare while I come across a child that has what it takes to be a great angler. Chad Ingram appears to be this type. The 13-year-old came with his grandfather, Larry, today for a little bassin' on Lake Anna, arranged by his Mom. Turns out he brought his skills and horseshoe, because from Stop One on, that boy caught most of the fish and missed only one. He was great with the soft plastic jerkbait and landed fish up to four pounds. I ran nearly the same route as yesterday, with some adjustments and further refined our presentations for an even better day. The big school of striper had moved shallow and spread out, so we really didn't mess with them. We did find some jumbo white perch in the same down lake region and loaded up on them for good eating. The bass were schooled over offshore structure thanks to the Memorial Day weekend boat traffic and were pouncing on the jerkbait. The Vixen and Magic Swimmer placed a distant second and third on the popularity scale. Chad could cast, follow directions, didn't tangle much and when he did, he got the snarls out. Good work, young man. We'll see you on the water in the future, I'm certain.

June 3 - Paul Howard's Big Finish

2011-06-05T06:42:00.000-07:00

Today Dr. Howard was back and we were after bass and striper. A recent stretch of 90+degree days has raised the lake's water temperature to 81-83 but this morning a cold front blew through and the air temps. were in the upper 50s with a north wind. After being off the water for about a week, I was fired up and looking for answers. We checked some schooling spots with me on a Vixen and Paul on a Sebile Magic Swimmer (newly acquired from my friends at Hooker Bait & Tackle) and he promptly hooked up and landed a nearly three-pound largemouth at our first spot. I thought it was going to be easy pickins, however our next stop only produced three strikes and lost fish. The third stop produced one for me and Paul lost a good 'un on the jump. From mid lake we rode up to The Splits and played around with an aggressive school of undersized striper, then I turned the Nitro south and we headed down to the dam with one stop on the way. It was a good one as the Vixen called up a half dozen bass on a long, main lake point and we each caught "keepers" before moving on. Around the dam we found the motherlode of striper as I was motoring. The Lowrance lit up and I circled back. These fish were over 72' of water in 30-45'. The channel runs next to a flat and the fish were right there. We dropped down Toothache spoons to the bottom, but it wasn't until I reeled up 30' that we actually hooked them. The line would just go slack. The depthfinder looked amazing for 10 minutes. We each had multiple fish on but only landed two! Once the school left we did some bass fishing nearby and caught a couple more. Our last stop was where we caught the bass on the way down. Evidently they had forgotten about us because we whacked them again!

This day featured a slow start, but a strong finish as the sun came high and the bass schooled and chased bait.

May 27 - Rob & Greg

2011-05-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

These two guys show up after working hard at their jobs and just want to enjoy themselves and catch some fish - the best kind of client in my mind. Well, we set out to try and do just that this morning and I can honestly say we hit about nine spots and only one didn't have a fish for us.

We caught them schooling using soft plastic jerkbaits, a Sebile, a Repo Man and Rob even put on a deep water structure fishing clinic near the end. Water temperatures have risen quickly to 80 degrees and fish are moving deeper. We fished mid and down lake. We were done by 11ish as the holiday weekend crowd was gathering.

May 15 - Shawn's On The Stripers....

2011-05-15T06:32:00.001-07:00

Shawn just kept on rolling today. I think the pic speaks for itself.

May 14 - MLAGS Associate Wins Tournament!

2011-05-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

Here's MLAGS Associate Chris Craft's account of the victory he and Scott Taylor marked in a recent LKA bass tournament. We like it when it all comes together for members of The Team!

Today was the 3rd regular season tournament in the LAPR 150 Series. Scott & I are coming off of back to back wins in the series and today we made it 3 in a row!!! To say that I am very humbled is an understatement. We brought in a limit of fish for 15.00lbs, the margin of victory was a mere .11lbs. Congratulations to Chris Stanley & Matt Seale for their 2nd place finish with 14.89lbs. Chris also had the Lunker with a beautiful 7.04lb GIANT! Finishing 3rd was Bill Deeds & Robbie Hissen with 13.42lbs. The next 2 tournaments are on the mighty Potomac, we then return to the lake in the fall to wrap up the season in September and October.

All of our fish were caught on either a Paycheck Baits Repo Man or Zoom Super Flukes. On Friday, I went out with Brian Oxendine for a few hours in the morning and we caught fish in areas that I found the Blue Back Herring spawning. We worked out a game plan for the tournament so we wouldn't bump heads with each other. The fish all came from rocky areas in 3-6 feet of water. After a couple of hours the sky was brighter and the herring and the fish pulled out to a little deeper water. (6-10 feet) That is when the Super Fluke really came into play. They would not chase the bait, they would only eat it on the fall or DEAD STICK.

I would like to thank my sponsors for everything that they have done for me. Anna Point Marina, Captain Gary's Marine Care Products, Wood's & Water's Magazine, Dave's Tournament Tackle, Damiki, Izorline, Temple Fork Outfitters (TFO), Lew's, Kickn' Bass Attractants, Burton Baits, H.C. Baits, Eye Surrender Eyeware, Russle Newton, JJ's Magic and of course my wife Nikki!

May 13 - Big Day For MLAGS

2011-05-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

We had three guides out today - me, Shawn Blankenship and John Hutchins and everyone did very well. Here's pics of Shawn with a fish on, his stringer and a pic of John's clients.

May 13 - Ed Hanley

2011-05-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

Friday the 13th..... Yep, we fished. Today featured heavy clouds and some truly heavy rain for about a 45-minute stretch. Ed and I started looking for schooling bass and striper and I managed to find one nice one for him quickly. MLAGS Associate Shawn Blakenship was also fishing nearby and was doing a fine job for clients on a school of striper we found earlier in the week. The fish were gobbling the herring as fast as he could set them out. Ed and I moved to the Dike III region and found some nice striper willing to blow up on Repo Man topwaters. He also caught a solid bass on a Badonkadonk. Then it was back up lake to try for some spawners. I found one and whacked it with the drop shot and then the skies opened up and torrents of rain fell. We caught a few more fish and lost a couple, by quittin' time. I didn't go all the way back to where I fished yesterday but heard good reports. One angler even noted the bass were eating the blade in the form of a Tiger Shad spinnerbait! I love this time of year!

May 12 - Mystery Client...

2011-05-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I fish with clients that don't want to be named.... I've know this fellow for years and he's a great, great angler. While it been too long since we've shared a boat, we've shared information for some time and it's been a great relationship. Mysterio wanted to see how I used a drop shop on shallow fish today. Mission accomplished. We found a bunch of fish spawning in the North Anna between the bridges and really had a good time pestering them! There was a nuance to the pattern so it was particularly satisfying to figure it out with this fine angler. Water temperature is 73. Had to include the pic of the chain pickerel for George Lenard!

May 10 - Scott and Goff

2011-05-11T04:24:00.001-07:00

These two fishing and hunting buddies really know how to enjoy a day on the water! Hilarious banter from good friends was overheard throughout their day, and we even had Lake Anna Cup competition going....

We started off fast with some casting for striper but this action was curiously "off". I found out why when I spied the school in deep water nearby on the Lowrance (see pic). We dropped the Toothaches, but only caught catfish. The jigging season is really just days away now based on this newly established deep school of striper.

I next moved into a mid lake creek and then the Pamunkey Branch were we caught some decent crappie as more are now coming to the beds, but very few largemouths. I did have two blow up on a surface popper, but missed both. I would say skip the Pamunkey if you want bass!

We finally got a tip in the afternoon of bass spawning in the North Anna grass, and it was a good one (thanks to a friend of Chris Craft's!). The density of the spawning bass was amazing. The willowgrass really permits them to make beds close together, unlike what we find down and mid lake.

Goff got a really nice fish on a soft plastic jerkbait that we had been stalking since Friday. Most of the others were taken using various sight fishing tactics. 73-degree surface temps., FYI. This spawn will go quick because of the warm water.