Largemouth Bass - Target the up lake region for the best catches. This region offers you plenty of shoreline structure in the form of willow grass lines, rocks, ...more docks and stumps, especially above the first two bridges in both the North Anna arm and Pamunkey Branch. Pitching small plastic worms to docks has been the go-to pattern right now. You might be able to visit the flats in the extreme upper end of both tributaries and some of the smaller tributaries and find bass feeding on threadfin shad. The 1/8-oz. Tiger Shad spinnerbait in the Lake Anna Special format is excellent for these skinny water areas as well as retrieved around docks and grass. If you cannot get them to take the spinnerbait, go to the worm and work docks and rocks in grass more thoroughly. Mid lake bass are moving to the backs of creeks like Marshall, Pigeon, Mitchell, Sturgeon and Contrary. Each will have fish in them somewhere, it's up to you be there early and leave late to bump into them. The water here is VERY clear now, so you'll have to use suspending jerkbaits and soft plastic jerkbaits, maybe even swimbaits for schooled fish. A big topwater you can "walk" is also good. Down lake bass are schooled up, but the lack of current at Dike III due to one reactor at North Anna being offline has the fish in unpredictable ways.
Striped Bass - There are fish breaking just about every morning in all three sections of the lake. Have a small topwater you can walk tied on and keep your eyes peeled. (Zara Spooks or Chug Bugs). Birds are here, but they are on tiny threadfin, mostly, and not much help yet. Hotspots have been the Stubbs Bridge region, Splits and Rose Valley. September striper are mostly skinny, however, there are bigger fish to be caught, even among the little ones breaking. Be on the water at dawn and dusk as these times have produced the best catches. The warm, dry weather has keep the fish deep late in the day which makes trolling still effective.
Crappie - We went from poor to good very quickly here as the specks responded to the longer, cooler nights. Just about all of the docks in the upper Pamunkey are worth trying as long as they have 10' of water on them. Slip bobbers and minnows set at 5-8' are deadly. You can also use six-pound test and a one-inch jig under and around docks. The up lake bridges are good now, too.
This report furnished by McCotter's Lake Anna Guide Service
540.894.9144
www.mccotterslakeanna.com