Mike, Ron, Larry and Mario

Sunny and Hot, Water temperature 88* and clear.

Caught bait, picked the guys up at 5:30 and took off to find a place on the lake without boats. We set up in an area without seeing fish so I could show the guys how to deploy the lines. We worked the area for about an hour then went looking for schools. We hit a few small schools and then a very nice school till we ran out of bait. I looked for bait for a half hour without success then Charlie called me on the radio and said he was going in, did I want his bait. Was he ever on time. We took about a hundred from him and went looking for schools but could not locate any. Again after about 9:30 the schools vanish. We set up over an area where fish had been using and put out a spread only to catch 1 more Striper for the day. We all had a good time this morning, the guys took home 13 Stripers. They are on vacation this week and I am sure they will enjoy eating some fresh fish.

Mark, Alex and David

Sunny and HOT, Water temperature 88* and Clear.

I got out early as usual and put 150 baits in the tank then picked up my clients at 5:30 at High Point. We set up in an area where I knew Stripers had been but after pulling a spread though the area for 20 minutes we only boated 3 Catfish so I decided to look for schools. I looked for awhile and found what I wanted to see. It was a major school so as I was baiting hooks I called Charlie over to join in the action. We started catching fish immediately and lost them within about 15 minutes. I decided to get aggressive by getting on the big motor and relocating the school before it could get too far away. I found it again so we set up on it. We were popping fish and so was Charlie till a so called "Striper fisherman" who saw us reeling in all the fish decided to play Buzzard and circle us time and time again [not fishing ] till he broke the school up. After 3 circles the fish would not take the motor running over them any more so they broke up out of one large school into pods of 8 or 10 fish. We looked for the main school for 30 minutes but it was not to be found, just small pods of Stripers. I had enough of this mess so I relocated to an area where no boats were, we had this part of the lake to ourselves. After looking for about 5 minutes I located a school of Stripers and we worked the school for 90 minutes till we ran out of bait. Today was a special day on the water, this was the first [and not last] time Alex wanted to fish and she did a great job catching Stripers. Today we caught 24 fish and kept 14 for David's family to enjoy this week while they are staying at the lake house [Dream Catcher]. Mark caught the big fish of the day.

Larry, Dan, Eric and Brian

Cloudy and Warm, Water Temperature 90* and Clear

I got out this morning and put 163 baits in the tank then picked my crew up at High Point. We went out and set up in an area where I located fish yesterday. We worked it for an hour only to catch Catfish so we got the baits in and looked for schools. I found a school within 5 minutes, called Tony and Charlie over to me as I was putting baits on everyone's lines. We were " in um" now putting fish in the boat. I lost the school as Tony got to us and he found them right away. We worked the school for about 25 minuted before they broke off into smaller pods. Tony took off in one direction and I went the other looking for schools. He located a huge school and called me to it but I was 4 or 5 miles away so I set up where I found some fish. We worked those fish till we ran completely out of bait. As I was on my way to catch more bait I ran over an incredible school stacked up right against a ledge of a channel bend. Here we are with no bait and a massive school. I called Tony and told him to get over here, luckily he had just caught bait himself. We put out a trolling rod and caught one on it immediately then Tony came around the corner with bait. We lost and found this same school for the next two hours. We worked it so long we ran out of bait again. We were getting our baits in when Tony called on the radio the he was coming back out and had just caught a tank of bait. That was sweet, more bait and two boats to work the school. We proceeded to pound the school even more. We eventually left that school and went looking for more. I found yet another massive school, called Tony in and we both used up all of our bait catching Stripers. Today was a day that our clients and ourselves will never forget, plenty of action and great company. Larry caught the big fish of the day.

Will, Dan and Billy

Guide Tony took these guys out today for a half day charter and here are the results of the morning. Tony located a huge school of Stripers around 9 this morning and everything they had out got blasted. This was the first time this crew had been out with us and there was no way they could handle the action. Tony said at times there were rods going off all around the boat and 3 or 4 rods would get tangled up resulting in loosing a lot of fish. They worked the school till they ran out of bait. Didn't matter though because it was an incredible experience and they had plenty of fish to take home. Tony called me as he was taking his crew back to the dock and said he was going to drop them off, catch bait and come back out to work on some of these larger schools.

Johnny and Tony

Today being the first cloudy day in awhile after Tony dropped his clients off this morning he called Johnny and invited him out. Here are a 8 out of 20 fish they caught. Looks like Johnny needs to work out a little more often, the bar looks heavy!

Jakson, Kate and Tom Ring with Derek Anthony

Sunny and HOT, Water Temperature 90* and Clear.

I got out early this morning to catch bait then picked my crew up at the marina at 5:15am. Instead of searching for schools of Stripers I decided to simply set up over a 30 foot flat and pull a spread of boards and downlines. We did this for about an hour or so catching 3 Stripers and about 6 Catfish. Once it was good and bright out we got our baits in and looked for schooling action. Charlie was out this morning also and he located a few fish. He called us over since we were nearby and popped a couple of fish. We lost the school pretty quickly so we continued to look for other schools. We found and fished 3 more nice schools before the schools dissipated for the morning. We came off the water this morning just before it got too hot. Kate caught the first and largest fish of the morning. Today was a nice enjoyable morning catching fish and being in good company.

Jack, Emily and Will

Partly Cloudy and Warm, Water Temperature 88* and Clear

Here is a nice picture of three good looking young anglers that had fun today fishing for Stripers.
Emily is holding the largest fish of the day. We got on fish early this morning but the action petered out quickly as boats ran over us time and time again. When we were on the best school of the morning I had five boats within 100 yards of us and a inconsiderate Bass boater ran right through the middle of the group of boats, less than 30 yards from us. He had a 1/2 mile area either side of us where could have easily avoided us. Go figure!

Terry and Adam

Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature 86* and Clear.

The Rizors went out with me on Tuesday and must of had a good time because they booked another trip with us today. Thursday was my only day off this week so I called Tony and he gladly took them out. I had told Tony that these guys enjoyed live bait fishing and that I had taught them exactly how to deploy the baits and how important it was to get the all the baits out within a minute after I stopped the motor to show a school of bait to hold the school of Stripers around the boat. The first thing Tony said when he walked into my house this afternoon and handed me his camera was that whatever I had said to them sunk in because on their first set up they literally "spanked" a school of Stripers. For about 30 minutes they enjoyed multiple hookups with constant action. His words were "It was total Madness". The bite was hot the first thing this morning then the fish turned off for the rest of the day. This is pretty common this time of year. The Rizors are here on vacation this week and will take back some great memories of Lake Anna with them along with plenty of Striper filets. Adam is holding up a bass he caught this morning.

Bud Hamrick with wife Pam, Bobby, Caroline, Jenna and Ka Ka Kevin

Partly cloudy and Pleasant, Water Temperature 89* and Clear.

Bud and I went out and caught bait this morning then picked the rest of the family up at their dock. We went around the corner and saw about 3 acres of Stripers blowing baits out of the water. We snuck in close to the action, put baits out and popped a couple on top water baits. After catching a few more I left the school because they were not the quality of fish I knew we could catch today. I searched for some other schools and started locating keeper fish. We set up on a school and worked it for about 20 minutes with everyone catching fish. Pam [lower picture] caught her big fish in this set up. A boat trolled by us spooking the fish so we got the baits in and found another school just as big. We started catching Stripers immediately so I called Charlie in to us to join in on the action. Jenna had not caught a nice fish yet so I told her to come to hang around me for a couple of minutes and within 20 seconds she hooked up with her big fish of the day, a 31 inch Striper. We worked this school for about 45 minutes catching fish after fish. We were only out for a half day charter so I got on my motor and located a couple more large schools before running completely out of bait. Caroline rods were hot this morning, early on she caught as many Stripers as everyone else, combined.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOBBY

Adam and Terry Rizor

TUESDAY, JULY 10th

Cloudy and Warm, Water Temperature 90* and clear.

I picked the guys up at 4:30, caught bait and went looking for schools of Stripers. While we were looking a friend Charlie called me on the radio and said he had just located a school and to come on over. We were just around the corner so we checked it out. We set up in the area but only caught 3 punks so we got our baits in and looked for the school again. We found it but had difficulty getting baits out and lost the school before we caught a fish. It is crucial fishing the way I do to get your baits out within a minute of locating the school or your boat motor simply spooks the school and they leave the area. We got our timing right after a few sets and started putting fish in the boat. After setting up on 6 or 8 schools they got real good as you can see by the stringer of Stripers they are holding. Adam caught the two big fish of the day and is holding them in the picture. We went through about 250 baits today, a lot of action for two anglers to handle.

Bubba and Hunter

Guide Tony took Bubba and Hunter out this morning and put them on some nice Stripers. Tony and I worked together today to keep our clients on fish.

Jim and Daniel McCarthy

Sunny and Hot, Water Temperature 92* and Clear

Picked the guys up at 5:30 then went and caught bait. Put about 150 in the tank and looked for some schools. We hit a few schools then ran out of bait so I went and caught 100 more and worked the schools again. We worked a school for about 30 minutes then ran out of bait again so I left Tony in charge of following the school while I went and caught 100 more baits. It took about 10 minutes to catch the bait and get back to the school but it had dissipated. We looked for an hour for the school but never located it again. Didn't matter much, we had plenty of fun catching Stripers this morning. Lately about 10 o'clock or so we loose the schools and the bite is over. We never caught another fish after 10 today.

Karl, Madison and Troy

Sunny and HOT, Water Temperature 92* and clear

Guide Tony took out this crew for a morning of Striper fishing on Lake Anna. Madison is pictured holding up the 2 largest fish of the day which she caught both of them and they are also the largest fish she has ever caught. Great catch Madison!

Matt and Dylan

Sunny and Hot, Water temperature  88* and Clear.

Dylan partied a little to hard last night so we got a late start this morning. I looked for fish where I had been catching them but saw nothing decent to set up on so I looked elsewhere and located Stripers. We only had a couple hours to fish so we made the most of it, caught about 18 Stripers and kept enough for a couple dinners. Matt caught the largest fish of the morning.

Richard Hendricks and Sons

Sunny and Pleasant, Water temperature 84* and Clear.

What an interesting morning...leave my house at 3 as usual, almost run into downed tree on my road, called and reported trees down so they dispatch volunteer firefiters. I pull first tree out of the road, then run into another. Firefighters come, ends up being a friend of mine, cuts that tree and a dozen more out of the road in the direction I am traveling. [Thanks Will]. Get to the lake at 5:15, too late to catch bait on lights, pick up my clients and go to catch baits. We see a pontoon boat with a cover on it floating out in the middle of the lake, it had broke loose in last nights storm. Find bait, throw the net a few times, no bait. Finally see a 8 inch hole in the net one of my guides left me without telling me to repair it. Finally caught 150 baits with another net, found a school of Stripers and worked them till we only had a dozen baits left. Went and spent an hour looking and catching bait, then looked for a while for more schools. Found a couple more huge schools and proceeded to wear them out. On one set up the 3 sons each put 1 rod out and immediately hooked up. I netted the 3 fish and looked at Richard and asked why he did not hook up. I forget what he said but I told him that he sucks. Two seconds later his rod went off and he landed the big fish of the day, a solid 10 pound Striper! We had fun with that so I rebaited a rod, tossed it out and kiddingly again told him he sucks , next thing we knew he grabbed the rod and reeled in the second largest fish of the day. Now I finally know how to get big fish to strike. We caught a bunch of fish this morning, I lost count at 44.

Amy and Terry

Guide Tony took Terry out by himself today for a half day charter fishing for Stripers. As hot and muggy as the weather was this morning it was a good thing they only fished for a few hours this morning and got off the water early. Terry's wife Amy is helping him pose for the picture.