Ron Emery

April 8th, 2008 : Cloudy and cold, Water Temp 54* and Clear. Got out early this morning to catch bait and picked client up about 7:45. Set up on a flat just below 208 bridge and put out a spread of planner boards and a couple downlines. Once we hit the flat a board went off and Ron reeled in the largest Bass he has ever caught, a 22" citation Bass. We had a couple of more hits on the flat and I decided to move. We found a bunch of fish deep in 32 feet of water, put downlines on them and nothing, baits did not even get nervous. I continued to see fish so I put out 6 planner boards along with the 6 downlines we had out and pulled about 2 miles of water for a half dozen strikes. I had enough of this and decided to do something completely different, I went even deeper and found some fish near the bottom in 45 feet of water and put baits in their faces and finally got some action. Ron caught 8 Stripers today and his Bass, He was happy but it made for a long day for me. I was expecting the fish to rock today and they didn't. Ron is pictured with his first Striper of the morning and he released them all to fight another day.

Paul Henon and George Hussey

April 4th, 2008 : Cloudy and Windy, Water Temp 53 * and Clear.

Picked clients up around 6 am and went and caught bait. Set up on some main lake points with 10 Planner boards, a bobber and a couple down lines. I had just engaged my last reel in deploying my baits when the board closest to the bank went off in about 3 feet of water. George grabbed the rod a reeled it in, a 23 inch 7 pound Citaition Bass. Not a bad way to start the day! Before he got the fish in another rod went off and Paul hauled in a nice Striper. While taking it off the hook another line went off and then another. We got these fish in and I had just got all the baits out again when we came up on the next point. The outer-most board went off and George grabbed it. Now he is a seasoned veteran when it comes to fishing and after a minute of fighting the fish he mumbled " I think this is a real nice fish". He was right, we got it on board and measured it, it was a 34" fat cow! We popped a picture and George said " I want to release the fish" so we put it back into the lake to be caught another day. While we were doing this Paul reeled in another fish. We had a couple of downlines out and they were getting plenty of action but I was running out of bait and could not put more out quick enough. A downline went off and Paul grabbed it , the drag screeemed of the reel and pulled off about 50 yards before Paul could turn the fish. While he was wrestling his fish in another hog grabbed a bait and George fought it. We got Paul's fish in and it was a 35 " Striper [at the end of the day we weighed it, 19 1/4 pounds.] George was still fighting his hog and 'POP' , the fish rolled and gilled the line and broke off. We had to go catch more bait but the fish never turned on quite as good as the bite was this morning. By the end of the trip we caught 11 Stripers, 2 - 9 pounders, 2 - 10 pounders , and 2 -19 pounders. Ended up being a great day, sure missed their good fishing buddy who couldn't make it today, Geo. F. Barbosa.

hmb+bb, cr+hd

John Harris and son

April 3rd, 2008 ; Cloudy and rain, Water temp 53*.

Suppose to pick clients up at 6 but they were running late so I went and caught bait. While I was catching bait I saw Stripers busting baits on the surface and wished my clients were there. I finally picked my clients up at 8am and we set up on a flat pulling boards and a downline. We were late getting started and got in on the tail end of the morning bite but managed to put a few nice Stripers in the boat. The wind got up and changed directions and started to blow out of the east and shut the fish off. We fished the rest of the day with little more success. All day I kept wondering " What could we have caught if we could have got an early start"? Well , the guys had a good father - son outing and ended well.

Jeff and Brock Adams with Kelly and Logan Gletner

March 28th, 2008 : Sunny , Windy and Warm, Water temp 54* and Clear.
Got out early and hung a light for bait, picked the crew up early because they wanted to learn how to catch bait. Threw once on the light and had all the bait I needed and we went and set up on a deep flat protected from the winds by a high hill with trees. I set up 10 Planner boards and a bobber and just as I got the last board out the action began. Little Logan jumped up and grabbed the rod and for the next 5 minutes he wished he hadn't cause a 10 pound Striper wanted to whip his but and almost did! While he was fighting his fish another board went off and Brock grabbed the rod and fought it for a couple minutes, masterfully working his fish around the boat keeping his fish separated from Logans. The two boys had just put 18 pounds of Stripers in the boat and once they got their pictures taken, they announced they wanted to have a tournament against their Dads. For the next 3 hours we continued to get strikes about every 10 minutes or so. The Dads tried to keep up with the boys but fell a little behind after Jeff lost a few in a row. [The boys made up rules as they went along, not allowing the Dads to reel in other fish once they lost one]. We had to go and catch bait and then fished similar patterns with equal success. By the end of the "tournament" , the boys kicked some Dads Butt. Today we had 36 Strikes, boating 14 Stripers. Brock had the largest, a nice 12 pounder.

David Hinspater and Family

March 26th, 2008 : Sunny and Windy, Water Temps 53* to 55* and Clear.

Caught Herring early and threw for Gizzards for 3 hours with limited success and went fishing. Found a school near the bottom in 28 feet of water and worked them with downlines but the fish would not feed. Went and caught some Gizz and found some more deep fish and worked them for a few hours getting at least 30 strikes, mostly in the tails. We fished hard today to catch 8 Stripers and a couple of Catfish. Todays trip was a benefit for The United Way through Dominion Electric, thanks Dave for the great donation.

Earl Mielke

Friday, March 21st, 2008: Sunny and pleasant, Water Temp 51* uplake and stained, 55* midlake and clear. Picked up 2 other clients this morning and went to catch bait. As Doug was stepping onto the boat he said "Picked the wrong morning to go fishing with the full moon shinning bright last night didn't I" . I confirmed his fears and told him that usually the fish feed hard during a night as bright as it was but not to worry, the Stripers would feed just as well this afternoon. Then he muttered " well, we have to come off the water at 11am this morning because my son had other plans for the afternoon". That being said put the pressure on me and set the tone for a interesting day. We caught bait and set up way uplake in 5 feet of water and deployed 10 planner boards and a bobber and worked our way back downlake hoping the fish in the stained water did not feed as much last night. We kept getting hits but the fish were hitting the Herring in the tails not being interested in eating them, just killing the baits. 11 o'clock came fast and I took the guys back to the marina . They took home a Striper, a couple of Bass and a couple of nice Crappie. While I was running back to the marina I called a friend who lives on the lake and invited him to fish this afternoon since I already had bait and I thought the fish would feed. I picked him up about noon and headed for deep water. I had a friend who was also fishing today who had been working shallow water with freelines that had not put a fish in the boat , He and I not doing well shallow forced me to try deep. I found lots of schools of bait deep with a few fish nearby so we set out downlines and worked the areas. The move payed off , the Stripers feeding better and better as the afternoon progressed. We ended up having about 40 strikes this afternoon, keeping a few Stripers to take home , and Earl releasing a couple Hogs to be caught again. Sorry Doug and Dillon had to leave early this morning!

Tim McClung with Brian and Mark

Saturday, March 15th, 2008 : Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temp 56* and clear.

Caught Herring early and picked the guys at the dock at 7am. Ran uplake and set up on points in the mouths of creeks and had a couple of hits and caught a Striper . Within an hour boats started running over our lines on one point so we moved to another point and damn if 3 boats didn't run between us and the bank, one of them running aground stalling the motor! I new then we were in for a bad day so we got out lines in and went to the back of a creek where we thought there would be less traffic, Ha! After an hour of fishing there we moved again and again trying to get away from the boat traffic with no success. Needless to say our catch today was hindered by the traffic and shut the fish down. We struggled to catch fish today ! Can't wait to get back out on a weekday to catch some Big Stripers...

bsb, ftr+earls

David Dick and Craig Coleman

March 14th, 2008 : Sunny and Beautiful, Water Temps 54* to 57* and Clear.

Picked clients up at the marina at 5 am this morning because they wanted to go with me to catch bait. Had plenty of bait by 6:15 and set up on a nearby flat and pulled a dozen baits across it. We had a couple of strikes and boated a fish but I just had to move. We went and set up on main lake points in the mouths of creeks and had some more hits but the Stripers just didn't want to feed there either so we worked our way up the creek and caught some fish on points. The boat traffic got bad around noon and we had to move. I ran up in a creek and hit a couple of points and got hits on every pass. David wanted to learn the lake so I decided to take him downlake and we worked some deep flats with downlines and caught Stripers there also. Today we had 42 strikes, boating 19 Stripers and the guys keeping a few for the freezer. Dave let a few nice ones go today , he is going to try to catch them tomorrow. The water really warmed up today and so did the fishing!

B SB/D, F JILLS,T,1D

Brian Mohr, Mike McGee, Lee Burnette and Lenny Steele

March 12th, 2008 : Sunny and windy, Water Temp 50* and Clear.

Caught bait early this morning and picked clients up at 7am . Set up on a shallow flat that I had fished yesterday morning with success and pulled 10 planner boards and a bobber over it rigged with Herring. After working the flat for 45 minutes I decided to make a move because the fish just were not aggressive, they only hit the baits in the tail and we only put 1 keeper in the boat. [Yesterday morning in an hour pull we had 15 hits with multiple hook-ups.] We set up on and worked main lake points where fish were but the fish just did not want to eat. We hit about 15 points and in between with limited success and by now the wind was howling. I made another move to the back third of a major creek and put our spread out. The Stripers did the same thing until I hit a certain secondary point and every pass we made on it we would get hits and catch fish. Today we had 19 strikes boating 9 Stripers. We wouldn't have had that success if it were not for Lenny's alertness and Brians help with the rods.

BSB/FSP, JILLS

Greg Whitlock and Jim Hemby

Thursday, March 6th, 2008:

Sunny and 50's, Water Temp 45* to 54* and clear.

Got out a couple of hours before daylight and set out two lights to lure Herring. After working both lights for an hour and a half I realized the bait wasn't coming to the lights so I got on my big motor and found a school to throw on and caught 75 . Picked Greg up at 6am and set up on a nearby flat pulling 8 Planner boards , a bobber and a downline. I didn't get the baits out before we had two hits, catching one and missing one. I played catch up for the next hour trying to keep baits in the water. I was out today checking different places that I have not fished yet this year looking for places to take my clients to get out of the wind this weekend. I knew the fish were here so I left them while they were still biting and moved on. We looked deep for awhile then set up on another 20 foot flat and pulled it for 1/2 hour without putting a keeper in the boat and decided to move on. We hit the backs of a couple creeks and put fish in the boat and kept moving. Fished some very deep flats with downlines also with little success. We could have probably caught well over 20 fish today but I left the areas for my clients. We kept 8 of the 12 Stripers we boated and had some fun . Greg works for Louisa Boat and Motors and needed a break from work today. I think he will sleep well tonight.

B SB,F SF,1D

Sunday Morning Blues [Stripers]

Sunday, March 2nd, 2008 : Sunny and pleasant, Water Temperature 46* and clear.

Laid around the house this morning watching fishing shows till 9 0'clock wishing I was out on the water because there finally was No Wind! I knew 2 friends were out on the lake fishing this morning because both of them invited me to go last night so I called one of them up and he said fishing was slow. I waited about 10 minutes and called the other guy up and he also confirmed the fishing wasn't much but I just could not take it anymore, the outside temperature has risen from 20* up to 30* and I told him to pick me up on the dock at 10 am. We hit a flat with some boards and worked it for 300 yards and didn't get a strike so we decided to get on the big motor and look for some deep fish since the shallow bite was off. I kept seeing balls of Herring right on the channel edges and a couple of fish nearby and no fish anywhere else so we decided to set up over 30 feet of water working nearby the channel. We just set out 4 downlines to "feel" the water out and the front right rod bent over and popped right back up. I told Anthony to check it, it just got hit. He thought it hit bottom but reeled it in and put it right back out. The whole time I was watching this take place on the depthfinder and when he engaged the reel after putting it back out it bowed over again . The fish waited for him to put the bait back out, we watched the fish hit the bait and him fight the fish on the Lowrance. We set out a couple more rods and duplicated the same scenario time and time again watching the Stripers come off the bottom and take our offerings. I came off the water at 1 o'clock , boating some nice 10 pounders and satisfying my urge to get out of the house. Anthony is holding a couple of the fish we caught , we did not have a stringer to show the other fish.

Afternoon of Fishing

February 25th, 2008 : Cloudy and Cool, Water Temps 45* to 50* and Clear.

Decided to go fishing this morning so I filled the bait tank at 9am and headed to the lake. Caught bait around 11 o'clock and called a friend and told him to meet me at the marina and lets fish for a few hours. He would be awhile so I set up where I caught the bait and pulled 2 small coves off the main lake with a few planner boards rigged with Herring. I never got more than 5 boards out without getting hit, catching 5 Stripers in about a half hour. I pulled out of the coves and ran some nearby flats just to see if the fish were relating just to the coves or were feeding everywhere in that part of the lake. After an hour and no more hits I knew the coves were the key. Picked up my friend and checked a few more coves out with similar success and decided to try something different. Found a few fish on a deep flat in 45 feet of water and put downlines on them and caught a few keepers . I decided after 30 minutes to try yet another pattern and ran a 20 foot flat with planner boards and a few downlines and we nailed them there also. This afternoon we had over 30 good strikes. I lost count of how many fish we caught but I did keep 7 good eaters to take home . The fish we caught ranged from 4 to 10 pounds, all males.

B SB, FSC, 1D

David Rice and Steve Birrell

February 17th, 2008 : Cloudy and cool, Water Temps 45* to 50* and Clear.

Caught bait early this morning and picked clients up at High Point at 6:30am. Checked a deep flat out but did not see what I wanted to on my depth finder so I set up on a 20 foot flat pulling boards and a bobber. We worked about 200 yards until we heard the reel screaming on the bobber rod and Steve picked it up. After 25 yards of drag got stripped off the reel the culprit surfaced, a loon. We could tell that it was wrapped up around its leg by the way it was moving so we wanted to get it untied and after a 30 minute battle we finally released it tired but unharmed. I checked all the lines and rebaited after the fiasco and resumed fishing. Early this morning the fish were lethargic and only wanted to kill the baits but as the morning progressed they started eating the baits allowing the guys to catch some Stripers. We had 34 strikes on that 20' flat in 3 hours before the action slowed. I then looked for more fish and set up on some deep fish and put downlines on them . We had a couple strikes and then Steve hooked a nice Striper and while he was fighting it a rod bent over which I thought was hung up. As I helped Steve land his fish I asked Dave to grab the other rod and free it up. I asked him twice was it hung or was it a fish and he thought it must be hung by it not budging but after 30 seconds it started to move off and I knew we had a Hog on. Dave fought the fish for a couple of minutes before the line went slack and we all looked at each other in disbelief. The hook simply pulled out, nothing broke, just pulled out [a new sharp hook] ! We hung in there and I saw a fish come off the bottom moving for a bait and I alerted the guys to get ready and next thing we knew we had 4 fish on and in the boat to limit out for the day. Pictured is Dave with a nice bass he caught and Steves first Striper of the morning. Today we had 45 strikes, boating 17 Stripers and a Bass , all by midday. We really nailed them today!
B SB,F 3D,1D

Steve Gross , Wayne Rutledge and Bob Elliot

February 9, 2008 : Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temps 46* to 51* and clear.

Caught bait early this morning and picked clients up at High Point at 7am. Headed downlake and checked a few areas on the way and set out 9 Planner Boards, a bobber and a downline over a 15 to 2o foot flat. A buzzard followed me from the marina and set down also about 100 yards behind me and once I started putting out my spread he fired his motor up and went around us and set back down 50 yards in front of us. I guess he thought if he got in front of us he could catch all the fish. Anyway, after we moved away from where he spooked the fish two of the boards that were running the shallowest got hit and Bob and Steve grabed the rods. It took a little teamwork to get both the fish in the boat, both got tangled with other lines but we managed to untangle them and net the fish. Happened to be the two largest fish of the day. We pulled the area for 2 hours getting several hits and boating a bunch of fish. At 9:30 we moved and set up on some fish in 50' of water near the bottom . We put downlines in their faces and put a few more in the boat. By 10am the wind was getting up and we decided to move uplake and set up on a 24' flat with downlines and caught a couple before I moved even further uplake and set up on some 25 to 30 foot flats. I put out 7 boards, a bobber and 6 downlines and we worked the area for a couple of hours boating a few more. Today we had 23 Strikes, boating 12 Stripers and clients releasing all but a few to take home for diner. The 3 largest fish were all around 10 pounds.

Kevin , Jeff and Bob Smith

Feb. 2nd, 2008 : Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temp 44* to 49* and Clear. Picked clients up at 7am and set up on a 15 to 20 foot flat. Rigged 8 Planner boards , a bobber and a downline and got hit immediatly . Kevin jumped on the rod and wrestled in a 33" Striper for the first fish of the day. We pulled about 200 yards and turned around to make another run over the same area and a friend [Striperholic] called me and said he had already limited out and come help him with a school of fish. Well it was only 7:30 and for him to already have caught his limit and we having caught the big fish and getting 2 more hits without hooking up I made the decision to run to the numbers. We got the rods in and within 5 minutes we set down beside Striperholic. He was on a 50 foot flat and had seen fish close to the bottom so I instructed the guys how to put downlines out and baited up 8 rods. No sooner did we get baited up did the fish start hitting. It was a little chaotic for awhile until the guys got it together but we caught a few there before the school moved. By 9am the fish had turned off and we looked for more schools finding only scattered fish in 40 to 50 foot depths. I fished them and pulled boards over some more flats but the Bluebird skies and boat traffic turned the fish off. We ended up having 23 strikes boating 14 Stripers and the crew taking a couple home for dinner. I kept overhearing all of them saying throughout the day " If only Matt were here ......."

Steve Gross ,Mike Mitchell and Yitzy Stoeak

January 26th, 2008: Sunny and Cold, Water Temps 41* at the Splits , 50* at the Dam and Clear.

Caught Herring and picked my Clients up at High Point Marina this morning and went in search of Stripers. Looked in Mitchell and up around the Splits , not seeing what I wanted to see on my Lowrance and too many birds picking up the previous nights shad kill so I moved downlake and set up in the back third of a creek pulling Planner boards and free lines. We worked the banks out to 25 feet deep with our spread and got bit 3 or 4 times but the fish were hitting short and I decided to move. Went and set up on some deeper flats in 25 t0 35 feet of water where I had seen schools of Stripers earlier in the week and worked them briefly with jigs but I the were not positioned to feed so I looked some more . I found fish a little shallower that looked catchable so I put out some downlines rigged with Herring and worked them for a few minutes but they kept moving up in the water column so I decided to get my downlines in and set out a spread to planner boards to cover the upper water column. Once I got my spread out I moved over to where I saw the fish and got 6 hits within 5 minutes. We worked the area for 2 hours and got 15 more hits. We had a great afternoon catching plenty of fish with the largest Striper being caught by Steve. The fish hit a Herring on a board in 18' of water and after a short battle we boated the fish. It was 34 inches long, broad shoulders with a Fat belly, somewhere between 18 1/2 and 19 pounds. We released all our fish today to be caught again. Steve had booked this trip a month ago and in our conversations prior to the trip I had told him fishing was generally poor for this time of year for Lake Anna and warned him that it may be slow today but their patience in letting me work the depth finder and find Stripers that wanted to eat payed off for them.

Jim, Jim and Alex Hoskins

December 21st, 2007 : Cloudy and Cold, Water temps today 41* uplake to 54* downlake, Water Clear.
Picked clients up at 7am at High point and since it was cloudy I went right down to the Dam area and set out a spread of 10 Planner boards and a couple of free lines. I couldn't get 2 baits out before we started getting hits and for the next hour all I did was bait hooks . After a couple hours of that madness I worked my way back uplake and set up in 15 to 25 feet of water and pulled it the rest of the day. Some of our hits came in 22' of water and some came out of 5' of water, no rhyme or reason, no pattern. By the end of the trip the guys were glad to get off the water, it had been a long cold day for them although Alex couldn't believe the day went by as fast as it did. It always helps to have plenty of action. The guys kept a couple of fish to eat and released the rest.They could have done better today if they had brought their good fishing buddy Rupe but gossip has it he is running for the House of Delegates in W.Va. Good luck Rupe and Happy Holidays to all.

Blue Ridge School Group

November 30th, 2007: Sunny and Cold, Water Temp 50* and Clear.

We had a group of 7 anglers today from Blue Ridge School so we split the guys up between my boat and John's boat. John took the Pomunky side of the lake and I went up the Anna Side. John caught Herring this morning and ran them on Planner boards and I had big Gizzards and ran them on Boards also. We got a few bites early then had a spell of 4 hours without putting a fish in the boat and then toward the end of the trip caught 5 in 20 minutes, catching 12 fish on Gizz today. John had hits consistantly all day and ended up catching over 20 Stripers today. Although the big fish did not feed today everyone ended up having action and taking fish home.

Earl Mielke

November 29th, 2007:

Sunny and pleasant, Water Temp 49* and clear.

Went out this afternoon to catch bait for tomorrows clients and took a friend to fish for a couple hours. Set up on a 5 foot flat and pulled Gizzards on boards and had one blow a bait up immediately but did not hook up. Ran a couple hundred more yards and caught a 22 inch fish then Earl pulled this nice Bass off the bank in inches of water. We worked the bank for 10 more minutes and put another Striper in the boat then moved. Caught enough bait for tomorrow and decided to fish the last 40 minutes so we put out baits and caught another fish. We had 6 hits in about a hour of fishing this afternoon.

Bob Graham with sons Steve and Scott and Grandchildren Maddie, Casey and Gordie

November 23rd, 2007 : Sunny and cold, Water temp 55* and clear.

Picked clients up at 8 am at their dock and went directly to a bay that was out of the wind. A cold front blew through last night and I wanted to keep the kids as comfortable as possible in the cold and wind today so I caught bait before I picked them up. Put out 10 planner boards and a bobber and stayed in the protected bay this morning getting strikes about once every 30 minutes on Gizzard Shad. Although it was bitter cold for the kids they hung in there and did very well. We only fished a half a day this morning but everyone caught nice fish and released all of them to fight another day. I am sure Bob has alot to be thankful for having these great fisherman in his family and spending time in the outdoors on a Thankgiving weekend on Lake Anna.

Craig Briggs with Parents Lee and Betty

November 21st. 2007 : Sunny and warm, Water temp 54* and clear.

Caught bait and started pulling flats from 14 to 5 feet of water and just as we put the last planner board out we hooked up with our first fish. We had 4 strikes pretty fast in the mouth of a little creek . We continued to run the points and humps with the fish being lethargic and not wanting to eat our offerings. After getting 12 to 15 hits without hooking up I decided to relocate to another part of the lake over 20 feet of water and got bit right away but pulled another mile with no more strikes. Finally hit one little stretch where the fish would strike and for the next 2 hours we had action every 10 minutes or so. Craig's parents are up from Florida and enjoyed a very pleasant day on the lake with their son. Craig took a nap at one point and woke up to the drag going off and thought he was eating a Cheeseburger in Paradise.

Brad Price with Father David and BoBo Pack

November 19th, 2007 : Cloudy and cold, Water Temp 52*.

Picked clients up at 5:30 at High Point and went and caught bait. Set out a spread of 10 boards and a bobber and pulled points and flats in 10 to 20 feet of water. Got bit on every point and flat but the Stripers were a little slow in the morning. The sun popped out for about 30 minutes and we caught 4 before the clouds returned. Today we had 23 hits with clients keeping 9 Stripers and a white perch to take home.

Krisjan Berzins with daughter Alina, mother Aija and grandfather Leonids

November 12th, 2007 : Sunny and Pleasant, Water temp 56* and clear.

Picked clients up at 6am and went and caught bait. Set up planner boards rigged with Gizzard Shad and ran points and flats in 10 to 15 foot of water. Got hit on the first point and Kris put the first Striper in the boat. We hit the same point again and caught another fish the same size. Fished for another 45 minutes without putting a fish in the boat then hit a flat that produced a couple of fish. Pulled down to a flat with a couple of boulders on it and hooked up with a double. Overall it was a beautiful warm fall day with enough action to keep everyone on their toes. 6 year old Alina is pictured reeling in here first Striper, completely without help from anyone. Also pictured is her Great Granddad who is 91 years old who also reeled in a couple of fish today without help. Nothing better than the outdoors to bond the young and old. [Dad was a very proud father, son and grandson today also].

Chris and Wade Tyler

November 8th, 2007 : Partly Sunny and very cold, Water Temp 57* and slightly stained.

Picked clients up and went and caught bait. Set out a spread of 10 Planner boards, a bobber and a free line on a shallow flat and worked my way toward deeper waters of no more than 20'. We had two hits on a point and boated 1 Striper and for the next hour we got hit about once every 10 minutes. The fish quit hitting when the sun went in behind the clouds and when it was out the fish would turn back on again. Clients kept 12 Stripers that weighed well over 80 pounds. We also saw 2 very large schools of Stripers breaking on the surface, one school well over an acre in size. These fish are just starting to feed up for the winter, their belly's small and their appetites Big.

Mike Vann with Nick and Ryan

October 29th, 2007 : Sunny and Cold, Water Temperature 65* and Stained.
Caught bait early and picked clients up at their dock at 7am. Set out planner boards and a bobber rigged with big Gizzards right in front of their dock. Hit a hump right across from their dock and Mike hooked up with the first Striper of the morning. Just as soon as he put his fish in the cooler another fish rolled a Gizz and then hit the next board that was in line. Ryan grabbed the rod [although still half asleep and hung over] and attempted to fight the fish. He acted like he hooked a freight train by the way he was fighting the fish and complaining how hard it was to turn the reel. He battled the fish to the boat and we relieved him by netting the fish. We continued to pull boards getting strikes on most points and humps which was surprising to me due to the fact that yesterday the coldest weather blew in from the north dropping the water temp 5 degrees and waking up to 30* air temperature with blue skies today. We ran out of bait and caught more then went downlake and hit another area . Before I got set up a Striper hit my bobber while I was still letting it out and the next flat we hit produced two Stripers with Nick catching one on a board and Ryan nailing one also. We had 17 strikes today, not bad for the conditions.

John Fox with children Rebeka, Sarah and Jacob

October 19th, 2007: Rainy and warm, Water Temp 73* and clear.

Picked clients up at their dock at 7 and went to look for fish. Dad said right off the bat " We just need for each of the kids to catch 1 fish, then the pressure will be off me". I knew that would not be a problem but I was concerned with the first front to produce rain in a month that was blowing in today. We looked for about 10 minutes for breaking fish that I saw yesterday but did not see any so I went to set up on a flat I ran yesterday. A few fish were working the area and Rebecca started the day off with catching the first Striper. Dad had a sigh of relief and we worked a little while longer and decided to catch more bait. We caught bait with no problem and set up on another 22' flat where we saw numerous fish breaking but the Stripers were punks so we let the jump fisherman play with them and continued running the flat till Sara hooked into a nice Striper. Dad was feeling better now and we continued to fish. Jacob caught a Cat and lost a striper at the boat then we moved. Found a school on another flat and Jacob made Dad proud by catching the largest fish of the day. We had 21 hits today, catching a few Cats and Stripers.

Greg and Bubby Whitlock

October 18th, 2007 : Partly Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperature 73* and Clear.
Got out on the water early to catch bait, picked my clients up at 7am. Right off the bat found a school of fish blowing up on the edge of a flat but could not fish them due to other boaters also seeing the fish and crowding the area. Too many times when we are on fish and the fish show themselves inconsiderate fisherman run in and either cut our lines and always spook the schools. We simply left and set up on a school in 25 feet of water. Lost that school quickly and went and set up on a 20' flat and pulled boards and downlines but only got hit on the downlines. Went and caught bait and located a major school and we couldn't get the baits out quick enough for the Stripers would hook up and it took some time for Bubby to get the fish in. Greg would help me netting the fish and once we got all the lines out Greg participated in the fun. The fish hit both boards and downlines but we really nailed more fish on the downlines. Bubby caught the bass in the picture right up on the bank. We returned a lot of nice keeper Stripers to the Lake to fight another day and the guys kept only 8 to take home for the freezer.

Gary Skillicorn, George Barboza and Paul Henon

Oct.13th, 2007 : Sunny and cool, Water Temp. 74*

Picked clients up at 6:45 and went and caught bait. Set up on 20' flats pulling boards and running downlines. Hooked up with a downline and a freeline at the same time then went a 1/2 mile without another hit. Worked a little shallower and hit another area in 16 feet of water where we had 8 hits but the fish were not wanting to eat the bait and only put one fish in the boat. Went and caught more bait and found a school of Stripers in 32' ,put downlines in their faces and caught only 1 before the school evaporated. Found another school, again putting downlines on them, catching a couple more. Fishing was slow today following a major cold front that blew through yesterday. I am surprised we caught what we did. Hopefully the lake will cool down enough to turn the fish on.

Jim, Bob and Jerry Van Camp with Guy Axtel and Frank Schreiber II

October 4th, 2007 : Sunny and Pleasant, Water temp 78*.

Got on the water early to catch bait and caught only 16 pieces and went to pick clients up at 7am. They showed up late so we went and caught enough bait to get started. Didn't get started fishing to almost 8:30 so we missed the early bite.
Set up on 20' flats and pulled 9 planner boards, a bobber and 6 downlines and on the first 300 yard pull we caught a 28" Striper and had 4 more hits that just wouldn't hook up. I turned around and ran it again with no luck so we hit similar flats nearby with limited success. The fog finally broke around 11 and once the sun cam out the Stripers pulled off the flats to the ledges. We hit one school with 10 of our lines going off and tangling up the other 5. We retied and turned around but they had moved on. We located them again and worked on them some more. Today we had 38 strikes , boating 8 Stripers and a couple of Cats. We lost a half dozen at the boat.