Fishing Report by Jim Hemby from the Lake Anna Striper Guide Service
September 2008 Fishing Report Lake Anna, Va. BASS: Cooling water temperatures and shorter daylight hours will trigger the Bass this month to start feeding up for the fall and will position the larger Bass in the backs of the creeks and up the rivers. The shallower water cools down the quickest attracting the baitfish along with the Bass. In these locations the water temperatures can be as much as 5* cooler than the rest of the lake. The Bass are feeding on schools of Threadfins so popper baits and twitch baits work well on top and smaller crankbaits worked on the lips of the flats will produce well. Start all the way back and work your way out hitting ledges on the old creek channels where old stumps are present. Fish will congregate in the channel bends where it passes through the flats. Also check out the humps and old roadbeds around the bridges this month. Deeper diving crankbaits digging into structure will yield catches of nice bass while covering a lot of area. You will also see Bass blowing Shad out of the water around the bridges in the lower light times of day. There is a huge school of Bass and smaller Stripers working the big flat out in front of the power plant now, some days they are busting on top all day long! Once you locate the nicer fish work the area thoroughly hitting all the structure nearby for the larger Bass. On calmer days when you see the schools of bait on the surface the Bass can be caught right under the bait even with no structure present with fast moving crankbaits. The shoreline grass beds midlake and uplake in the North Anna will start producing again when the water level starts to rise. When the lake is rising fish the coves and flats covering a lot of water using crankbaits and spinnerbaits and when the lake is falling fish the points and fall back to the edges of the channels and breaklines. There also will be plenty of action this month for schooling Bass on shallow main lake humps and the old fish structures. These Bass will chase bait up to the surface and can easily be caught on topwater baits. Early in the mornings when the water temperatures are still cool from the night before the Bass will relate to any shoreline structures. As usual, find the schools of baitfish and the Bass will be nearby. STRIPERS: The Stripers will begin to fatten up this month and will become more aggressive as the water cools down. We are seeing Stripers schooling earlier than normal and being more predictable in their movements. When the remnants of the hurricane blew threw the end of August it not only dropped a couple inches of badly needed rain but cooled the water temps down and put oxygen back into the water and really turned the Stripers on. The next couple of days after the storm we were seeing acres upon acres of fish busting on the surface throughout the lake. There are still many patterns to try but out best catches are coming from 22 feet or less. With the fish feeding primarily in the upper water column we are switching from downlines to running Water Bugz Planner boards and free lines over humps, 15 to 20 foot flats and the back third of the creeks. The nicer Stripers are feeding on the larger Gizzard Shad while the schooling fish that are breaking are still feeding on Threadfin Shad. Jumbo minnows will start working better now the fish have switched to larger baits. Nice Stripers are being caught right up on the bank in low light conditions especially just after a cool night. For trollers, you can still drag crankbaits and umbrella rigs over shallower humps but may need to go to shallower diving baits or not put as much line out behind the boat. For fisherman using artificial baits fishing will continue to get better as the fish move shallower. In low light times of the day nice Stripers are being caught on the surface "Walking the dog" with spook type baits as well as on prop baits like Devil Horses and Boy Howdeys. Rubber twitch baits worked just under the surface will catch these fish also. Swim baits [Sea Shads, Sassy Shads, etc.] will catch fish all day by simply casting them as far as you can, counting them down to the fish and reeling with a steady retrieve. If you are looking for plenty of action the current at the Third Dike is holding plenty of Stripers and can be caught on Pencil Poppers on top when the fish are breaking and on Rattle Traps and the Berkley Frenzy Rattl'r in Black back-chrome finish. This school moves out to the 25 to 30 foot flats when the sun gets bright and can be caught on Spoons and Silver Buddies. When fishing uplake concentrate your efforts on the flats nearby the mouths of the creeks, humps and points, or go right to the back third of the creeks. Find the bait and the Stripers will be there. CRAPPIE: The slabs are turning on moving shallow following the schools of Threadfin Shad. Most docks are now producing fish and fishing the rock piles above Hunters Landing is great. Deeper docks with brush or with lights on at night are holding very nice fish. Bridge pilings in 5 to 15 feet are holding Crappie. With the lake being low the stumps in the backs of the creek may be to shallow to fish but find the first break lines along the channels in 5 to 10 feet of water and you load up the cooler. Small and medium minnows along with 2" jigs are catching the most of the fish. CATFISH: Cats are feeding everywhere from 20 feet up on whatever you offer them. Live bait, cut bait as well as stink baits are producing nice catches. This report furnished by Jim Hemby of LAKE ANNA STRIPER GUIDE SERVICE www.JimHemby.com
LAKE ANNA AUGUST 2008 FISHING REPORT
STRIPERS: A few patterns are very reliable this month. There are still many schools of fish breaking on the surface throughout the lake. Most any topwater bait will catch these fish.The deep bite is still on and once you locate the fish on your depthfinder you can troll Deep Diving Redfins or umbrella rigs to catch fish. Our trolling expert guide John Chadduck uses downriggers and lead core line to present his baits in the exact depth provoke strikes. The schools are not as large as they were in June and in July and are scattered more so this technique works pretty well now. I am converting from using Herring to using larger Gizzard Shad now and having great success. [ You can view our daily catches on my journal at www.jimhemby.com ] Again, if the fish are deep I will put my baits in their faces using downlines and if they are in the upper water column [later in the month] I will be running 10 Water Bugz planner boards to cover as much water as possible. If the weather cools a little or we get cooling and aerating rains the baitfish will migrate to the backs of the creeks and up the rivers and the Stripers will follow. Here you can use swim baits or topwater baits in low light conditions or better yet, run huge Gizzard Shad or Jumbo's on boards to catch the larger fish. The cooler it gets the further back in the creeks the Stripers will move. Also towards the end of the month the Stripers will move into the current at Dike 3 and can easily be caught on Pencil Poppers.
BASS: The beginning of the month you can find the Bass still relating to deeper structures where bait is present. Mainlake points, humps, roadbeds, brush and rock piles along with bridges hold the Bass now with numerous techniques catching fish. Deep diving crankbaits are working well now along with a "shaky-head worm". To fish the worm rig a 4 to 6 inch straight-tail worm on a 1/8 to ¼ oz jighead, either weedless or with the point exposed depending on bottom conditions. Cast the worm and let it sink to the bottom. Raise your rod to the one o'clock position and gently move the tip up and down imparting a quivering action to the worm while it is setting in one spot. Hop the worm a few inches and then shake it again. We are catching Bass on top of roadbeds [old 208, Stubbs, Contrary ], on 20' ledges in Rose Vally, on top water in the mouth of Contrary and on the older fish structures. Towards the later part of the month the Bass can be caught in the backs of the creeks on humps, rocks, stumps and ledges and the fish will move extremely shallow up the rivers and creeks. Small shallow running crankbaits worked near stumps next to the channels will put nice fish in the boat.
CRAPPIE: Nice Crappie are being caught on deep docks that either have brush under them, a sharp ledge, a light that stays on at night, or the combination of all three. Crappie are also schooling uplake on primary points with rocks or boulders on the breaks in 15 to 20 feet of water. Later in the month the fish will go shallow and can be caught in 4 to 10 feet of water. Smaller minnows and jigs are working best for the slabs are feeding on bait fry now.
CATFISH: Cats are everywhere and are feeding on everything in sight. Find arches on the bottom on your depthfinder and put live bait on them for plenty of action. They love this water temperature are are probably the easiest fish to catch this month.
This Report furnished by Jim Hemby
JULY 2008 LAKE ANNA FISHING REPORT
STRIPERS: July's weather may be hot but not as hot as Striper fishing will be this month. We are seeing acres upon acres of Stripers busting on the surface throughout the lake. There are literally hundreds of schools of Stripers foraging on schools of 4 inch Herring now and later this month they will also start attacking the new bait fry on the surface with vengeance. July is the month when any angler can catch Stripers on the lake, just pick your preferred method. In low light conditions, the Stripers will be near the surface feeding on Herring. When you see the action, ease up to the school, cut your big motor off 100 yards from the action and use your trolling motor to sneak up to the school throwing Pencil Poppers, chuggars, Spooks and plastic Jerkbaits on top working them as fast as you can. You can also catch these fish on Fly Rods. Just yesterday my client Doug Myers caught the largest striper of the morning on a Pencil Popper [to view our catches, check out my journal at www.JimHemby.com ] Please respect your fellow fisherman by not encroaching on them in a manner to spook the school of fish. You can also throw swim baits under the breaking fish to catch some larger Stripers. When the sun gets bright and or the boat traffic spooks the fish they will retreat to the depths and that is when you can locate the schools on your depthfinder. Once you locate the schools you can use many methods to catch them. Many anglers simply troll Deep Diving Redfins with a Bucktail tied to the crankbait on a 3 foot leader. Others troll umbrella rigs and drop rigs with twin bucktails. Another successful method is to vertical jig a ¾ oz. Hopkins Spoon in their face. Simply drop the spoon to the depth you see them on your depthfinder and jerk your pole up 2 to 3 feet and follow the spoon back down. You can actually watch your spoon on your depthfinder and see the fish hitting the lure! The absolute Best and most productive way to catch Stripers this month is putting Herring, Gizzard Shad or Jumbo's rigged on downlines in the fish's face. When you use this method it is hard to keep up with the constant and frantic action and this method usually produces the larger fish. It is common for my clients to experience 200 to 300 strikes a morning! Concentrate your efforts at the mouths of creeks on the main lake early and late in the day.
BASS: By now the Bass have taken up residency in their summer haunts and are predictable in their feeding patterns. Low light conditions, fish top water baits [ chuggars, prop baits, twitch baits, etc] on main lake points, flats and humps. Many fish school in the mouths of creeks and on main lake structures where baitfish are present. After the sun gets bright the fish pull back to the depths and security of stumps, rock and brush piles,and bridge pilings. To catch fish that don't see lures often try fishing ledges that drop off sharply from 10 to 25 feet deep using crankbaits, carolina rigs, drop shot rigs, etc. Parallel the bluff banks and Rip Rap along the dikes and the roadbeds early with topwater and change to crankbaits in brighter conditions. Try fishing deeper than you ever have to catch larger fish. Uplake concentrate on structures nearby the channels of creeks.
CRAPPIE: Most Crappie have moved to deeper water now using bridge pilings, brushpiles and ledges in 15 to 30 feet of water as holding areas. Deep docks with lights on them also hold nice fish. Use heaver jigs or slip bobbers tipped with small minnows to catch slabs this month.
CATFISH: The Cats are in 20 to 40 feet of water now feeding on Herring. You can use live bait as well as cut bait to catch the fish. They are either behind or underneath the schools of Stripers and can be located on your depthfinder as arches just above or near the bottom. Many huge schools of Catfish are presently ¾ of the back in the creeks like Sturgeon, Pidgeon and Mitchells in about 22 feet of water.
This report furnished by Jim Hemby of LAKE ANNA STRIPER GUIDE SERVICE
www.JimHemby.com http://www.jimhemby.com 540-967-3313
June 2008 Lake Anna Fishing Report
STRIPERS: Striper fishing is and will be for the next 2 months HOT. With water temperatures rising into the 80's and the Stripers finishing their spawn the fish are pulling back to their deeper main lake schooling areas and are feeding on schools of Herring and Gizzard Shad fattening up for the summer. The Stripers are migrating into the midlake regions of the lake and feeding on points and midlake humps in lowlight conditions, falling back to to the river channel bends and flats in the 30 foot range during the day. Topwater baits will entice some explosive strikes early in the morning hours. Good baits to throw are Berkley Frenzy Poppers, Pencil Poppers, Redfins and Spooks. The absolute best way to catch the Stripers this month is with live bait. Run Water Bugz planner boards early in the morning in the shallow waters and once the sun gets bright pull back to the adjacent flats and put downlines in their faces baited with Herring, Gizzards or Jumbo Minnows and be ready for constant and ferocious action. Locate the schools of Stripers on your depthfinder by cruising the flats and when your screen lights up with dozens of arches your on 'em. If you can't use live bait find the schools and jig a ¾ oz. Hopkins spoon in their face or drag deep diving Redfins with bucktail trailers and umbrella rigs over 30' flats. Concentrate your efforts this month within 3 miles either side of the 208 Bridge. To view our daily fishing report and catches you can go to my journal at www.jimhemby.com .
BASS: The Bass have finished their spawn and have retreated to deeper water nearby spawning areas to replenish their energy and feed up for the summer months. The Bass will regain their energy levels and start feeding on the points, humps and flats hitting chuggar and popping baits with vengeance. Work your baits in clear water with slow, rhythmic chuggs giving the Bass time to locate and blow up on the bait. The Bass will come up out of 20 feet of water to take advantage of your offering. When they are not chasing baits the Bass can be caught in main lake brush, rock piles and on primary points using large Berkley Power worms in the cover and Carolina rigged worms or lizards elsewhere covering as much water as you can. Drop Shotting over rocky flats with smaller offerings and shakey jigs around bridge pilings will produce this month. The Bass will also ambush spinner baits and twitch baits around the grass beds in the North Anna.
CATFISH: These fish are extremely plentiful and are feeding everywhere. The larger Cats are just under or behind the schools of Stripers . Anglers are catching fish using Powerbait Catfish Bait on fish finder rigs and the Cats sure are hitting live bait very well. The Catfish show up on your depth finder as arches on or very near the bottom.
CRAPPIE: The slabs have pulled out and are being caught on deeper points with brushpiles and on the deeper bridge pilings in the 10 to 20 foot ranges. They continue to hit small minnows and jigs . The fish are also stacking up on ledges in the rivers in the 8 to 15 foot depths. If you fish the "Hot Side" the fish will congregate much deeper under the bridges in 20 to 30 foot depths. Crappie rigs [two hook rigs] tipped with minnows are deadly this month. Simply lower your offerings to the depth of the fish and once you start catching doubles mark your line at that depth and fill your cooler up.
This Report is furnished by Jim Hemby's LAKE ANNA STRIPER GUIDE SERVICE