STRIPERS: The fish are turning on strong with the gulls exposing the numerous schools of Stripers. The fish are schooled well around the splits chasing bait to ...more the surface in low light conditions and schooling deeper in the 20 to 30 foot flats during the day. Run live bait on down lines or jig Spoons and flukes at the depth you see the arches on your depth finder to catch these Stripers. The fish want to fatten up and will attack the larger baits driving the shad up to the surface with explosive strikes.
BASS: By far the best way to locate Bass is to start in the backs of the creeks going as far as you dare then finding the slightest channel depression and working it back out targeting stumps, rocks or humps nearby the channel. Shallow running crank baits and spinner baits covering water quickly keying on areas where bait is present will get the job done. If the fish will not cooperate in the back of the creeks and rivers go directly to the mouths of the creeks working primary points and flats working deeper diving Crankbaits and especially Jerkbaits as the water cools. Bass also will hold on docks.
CRAPPIE: The Crappie are also moving with the weather conditions. On warming trends they are moving up on the points with brush on them in 5 to 10 feet of water, on colder days the larger slabs can be caught on the deeper drops on primary points with structure [boulders or brush] on them. They will also move to the bridge pilings in the colder spells and congregate in large numbers. The nicer Crappie are feeding on 3 inch Threadfin Shad so try larger baits.
Thanks
Carlos
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Lake Anna, Va. - With water temperatures in the mid to upper 60s throughout the lake and dropping we are poised to enter the next phase of annual fishing patterns ...more here on Lake Anna. Once the water drops into the 60s you see a lot of fish movement. There will be vast areas of no fish and small areas of big schools of fish. You'll have to pay close attention to find these "Hot Zones" and you when you find them, the fishing can be excellent!
Striper - Striper are moving into the upper portion of the lake to feed on massive schools of threadfin shad. The "Hot Zone" will soon be above the second bridges in both branches. Currently, however, the schools are from The Splits up to the first two bridges, and around the power plant. We are catching keepers on Toothache spoons under breaking smaller fish that will take a variety of small, plastic swimbaits. Multi-arm rigs with 3" baits are working well now, too.
Largemouth Bass - Largemouth bass are less prone to be caught in the shallows when the water drops into the 60's, though they will be feeding heartily in the shallows for part of the day - usually in the mid afternoons. The backs of mid lake creeks often hold herring then and the bass school up and corral them for a buffet style smashing. You can also catch fish in the upper, flats sections of the lake using baits that allow you to cover a lot of water like a spinnerbait or lipless crankbait. The biggest limits/catches come when you slow down and pitch creature baits or jigs to willow grass lines in the upper portions of the North Anna and Pamunkey Branch. Currently, you can consistently catch bass pitching worms and creature baits to docks in the mid and up lake regions and along willow grass lines in the upper sections.
Crappie - Crappie have been on docks, shallow brush piles and rocks in the upper section of the lake since late last month. The average size will get larger and the fish will slowly move toward deeper and deeper holding areas, including bridge pilings until the water falls into the low 50s when they will begin to school off shore and follow threadfin schools.
Report furnished by McCotter's Lake Anna Guide Service. www.mccotterslakeanna.com. 540.894.9144 -
HIGHPOINT MARINA
FRIDAY NIGHT TOURNAMENT
SEASON SUMMARY 2013
PRESS RELEASE
On Saturday, September 28, HighPoint Marina held the “Top 50 Fish-off” to conclude ...more the 2013 fishing tournament season. Of the 74 teams that fished this season only the 50 top teams were eligible for the finale. Wayne and George Dorman of Louisa won the classic tournament with a weight of 16 lbs. 7 oz. A great finish for the team that placed 8th for the season and won the first two tournaments. John Doyle of Ashland and Eugene Carter of Spotsylvania placed second with a 13 lb 13 oz bag. Only 5 oz. separated the next team as the season champions, Larry Wollersheim and Preston Cox, finished 3rd. The prize for biggest fish was claimed by Tommy Garrett of Thornburg, a beautiful 6 lb. 8 oz. lunker.
The seasonal tournaments were held every Friday evening beginning June 7th, and ran for 11 weeks throughout the summer, concluding on August 23rd. Cash prizes were awarded after every tournament and each teams’ total weight was kept on a cumulative basis. The top 50 teams at the end of the season qualified for the "Top 50 Fish Off”. Throughout the summer over 1950 pounds of fish were weighed and released. Collectively 74 different teams participated throughout the season with 57 of the teams weighing in fish. On average, 37 teams fished each week.
The early part of the season was dominated by topwater anglers as the cicadas kept the fish shallow and active. Wayne and George Dorman perfected their technique and won the first two tournaments of the season with a 17.5 lb average. John Doyle and Eugene Carter won the 3rd tournament and began a close race as six different teams recorded first place finishes throughout a seven week period. Larry Wollersheim and Preston Cox overtook the leader board in week 4 and held a narrow lead for the next several weeks. As the overall season winners for the past 7 out of 8 seasons, Wollersheim/Cox cemented another championship by winning the last 4 out of 6 tournaments. By week 9 it became apparent they would win their 6th consecutive, season championship. They ended the season with 142.7 lbs.; four first place finishes; big fish for the season (6 lb 13 oz); and the overall championship. Four teams battled throughout the remainder of the tournaments, and remained within several pounds of each other. At summers end Eric Johnson and Nathan Sullivan had moved into second place with a weight of 117.79 lbs. Guy/Mike Davis and Steve/Bob Campbell finished 3rd and 4th respectively.
Weekly winners:
WEEK CONTESTANT HOMETOWN WEIGHT (lbs.)
June 7 Dorman/Dorman Louisa 13.91
June 14 Dorman/Dorman Louisa 20.15
June 21 Doyle/Carter Ashland/Spotsy 19.83
June 28 Johnson/Sullivan Partlow/Fredburg 16.98
July 12 Wollersheim/Cox Fredericksburg/Louisa 16.90
July 19 Carter/Farrar Spotsy/Bumpass 17.87
July 26 Davis/Davis Locust Grove 16.19
Aug 2 Wollersheim/Cox Fredericksburg/Louisa 13.91
Aug 9 Johnson/Sullivan Partlow/Fredburg 12.28
Aug 16 Wollersheim/Cox Fredericksburg/Louisa 13.36
Aug 23 Wollersheim/Cox Fredericksburg/Louisa 11.40
Thanks
Carlos Wood
HighPoint Marina
Pic 100_1190_00 Larry Wollersheim
100_1198_00 Tommy Garrett, Big Fish 6 lb 8 0z
100_1232_00 Wayne and George Dorman Tournament Winner 16 lbs+
100_1236_00 Preston Cox and Larry Wollersheim Season Winners 147 lbs+ -
Largemouth Bass – The fish have moved into deeper patterns with the warmer weather, however, that should change with the cold front that has just moved through. ...more Generally speaking fish topwater in the early mornings and adjust a foot deeper every hour for the next 6-8 hrs. Fish the major creeks
like Sturgeon, Contrary, Mitchell, Marshall and Pigeon where you might
even be able to catch a few on a Tiger Shad spinnerbait in the
afternoons. Up lake fish will be on the crankbait holes (rocks, ledges
and brush) but will prefer plastic worms. Keep an eye on the extreme
headwaters for big bass on gizzard shad. When this happens, use
lipless crankbaits such as a Rat L Trap.
Striper - Very good fishing is here for those that like to use lures
for striper. You can target breaking fish in the morning within a mile
either side of the 208 marinas using lures like a Super Spook, Jr.
Larger fish can be caught below the surface action by vertically
jigging Toothache spoons, casting sassy shads or Sea Shads. Trolling is still very effective, but that should be slowing soon. Gulls are here , but they’re not much help yet.
The best bite has been late afternoons around the splits and Rose Valley.
Crappie – Fish are around bridges, docks and structure, as they are slowly moving away from most bridges. Varies depths depending on the day and conditions. Small minnows and jigs.
Water temps upper 60’s to low 70’s
Carlos -
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 -
McCotter's Lake Anna Guide Service Fishing Report/Forecast Mid September
Lake Anna, Va. - Amazing September weather has further cooled Lake
Anna into the ...more 70s up lake and the lower eighties down lake. This has
moved crappie to their shallower water haunts, made striper begin to
feed consistently and pushed baitfish into the backs of creeks where
largemouths are following. It won't be long now before the shorelines
are ablaze with fall color.. Here's what you can expect on your next visit.
Largemouth Bass - You can find the baitfish in
the backs of major creeks like Sturgeon, Marshall, Serks, Pigeon,
Contrary, Ware, Plentiful, etc. but you might not catch bass. So
what's the deal? It's all about your timing. The lake's largemouths
will feed early and late in the day now as they are already fat from a
summer of plenty. What you need to do is locate the baitfish schools
and check back three to four times a day to pattern out the feed. A
multi-arm rig with baits the size of the bait you are seeing can be
deadly now. If you don't want to mess with baitfish and schooled bass,
tie on a shaky head worm and hit mid lake docks and up lake rocks.
Down lake bass are schooled over humps and can be targeted with
topwater walking baits, grubs and small crankbaits.
Striped Bass - Now is the time to hunt striper. Sometimes you find
them within five minutes of leaving the marina, sometimes it takes an
hour. Striper are breaking just about every morning now somewhere on
the lake. There are schools at The Splits and along the State Park and
down between Dike 1 and Dike III. These schools mostly consist of fish
from seven inches to 25". The bigger fish have moved up lake. You'll
find them above the first two bridges in both the North Anna and
Pamunkey Branches but they are trickier to pattern. Topwater walking
baits, multi-arm rigs and Toothache spoons are the three most
consistent producers now. Trolling and fishing with live bait is fair
to good at times but it's difficult to remain mobile with four to 12
lines out! Watch for seagulls in the up lake region showing you where
to fish now.
Crappie - Once the water dropped to 80 the fish returned to docks,
rocks and brush in 8-14' of water in the upper part of the lake. Small
jigs, fished on 1/32-oz. jig heads are good as are minnows on slip bobbers.
Good luck and see you on the water. -
Largemouth Bass - Fair to good fishing when you can find active
schools, otherwise you'll have to get reacquainted with your shaky
worm rig because the crankbait ...more bite is tough. Schooling largemouth can
be targeted down lake from the dam up to Dike 1 where ever you find
threadfin shad. Dog walking topwaters and soft plastic jerkbaits are
best when these conditions present themselves, usually over humps,
drop offs and other vertical structure. Mid lake fish will be on shad
and herring and take the same lures with a crankbait and multi-arm rig
from time to time. Expect some movement into major mid lake creeks
like Sturgeon, Contrary, Mitchell, Marshall and Pigeon where you might
even be able to catch a few on a Tiger Shad spinnerbait in the
afternoons. Up lake fish will be on the crankbait holes (rocks, ledges
and brush) but will prefer plastic worms. Keep an eye on the extreme
headwaters for big bass on gizzard shad. When this happens, use
lipless crankbaits. MLAGS has produced four bass between six and 7.5
pounds this summer and a dozen between five and six pounds.
Striper - Very good fishing is here for those that like to use lures
for striper. You can target breaking fish in the morning within a mile
either side of the 208 marinas using lures like a Super Spook, Jr.
Larger fish can be caught below the surface action by vertically
jigging Toothache spoons (30-40'). Gulls are here - about two dozen in
the Jetts Island region, so you can look to them to help you at times.
They aren't getting up very early, though! We anticipate a reliable
afternoon bite any day now. Hot zone is mid lake and lower up lake.
Crappie - As soon as the water in the upper Pamunkey Branch and North
Anna drops below 80, it's time to hit the docks with casted jigs and
minnows on slip bobbers. Fish are on all bridge pilings now, about 15'
down.
Good luck and see you on the water.
Report generated by McCotter's Lake Anna Guide Service
www.mccotterslakeanna.com -
Bass - Fish have been moving from deeper water into coves and creeks and continue to move towards the backs. Fish stumps, brush, docks or any other structure with ...more medium running crankbaits, lipless crankbaits, shakey worms and Missle baits. Even some fish caught in very shallow water using spinnerbaits. Great topwater action in low light conditions using Pop R, Chug Bugs and buzz baits.
Stipers - Plenty of fish being graphed above Rose Valley and above Stubbs Bridge. Some schools have even been found all the way into the S turns. Cast sassy shads, Toothache spoons, troll Redfins and DD-22 or float live bait all through the main lake. For topwater use Zara spooks or Redfins. Multi bait rigs with sassy shads and sea shads will begin to be productive very soon.
Crappie - Action has been very good, yet the fish are still deep, 20-30'. Holding on bridges and very deep structure. Small minnows and 2" grubs are working best. Many anglers report great catches.
Lake temps upper 70s to low 80s
Thanks…Carlos
www.highpointmarina.com -
Largemouth Bass – With the cooler lake temps the fish are actually
In more of a mid-Sept pattern slowly moving into the creeks and holding
on structure, stumps, ...more and brushpiles 6-10’. Small poppers or buzz
baits for the topwater, early morning bite are catching good numbers of fish
but not a lot of size to them. For better quality bass, fish deeper using
soft plastic jerkbaits and small crankbaits. The Rapala scatter lip has
been deadly on these fish. The new lip gives the bait a violent sweeping
action and the will run 6-9’. Fish are also moving in and out of grassy areas
where spinnerbaits have been producing some nice catches.
Striped Bass – The change in weather and moon phase have slowed the
fish somewhat, however, many fish are still being caught .They are
beginning to feed on the surface in the early morning and late afternoon
all over the lake using Redfins, Zara Spooks or Storm Chug Bugs. Most
of the action has been around Day's Bridge in the Pamunkey Branch
and Rose Valley in the North Anna. During the day trolling, casting,
jigging and live bait are all working.
Crappie – Plenty of fish on deep structure and bridge pilings. Use
jigs or minnows on slip bobbers. Right now you can target big
crappie with small crankbaits on rocky points in both tributaries.
Lake temps low 80’s
