Karl and Jake

Cloudy and Damp, Water Temperature 74* and Clear.

DP took these clients out today and here is what he had to say about the day.

Yesterday I spent the day on the water with my son Anthony, he made a memory of a lifetime for me when he gave me a hug and said "Dad this was the best day ever".  Today I had the privilege of having a father son team on my boat.  It made me think about all the times that I have spent with my dad on the water and dream about all the times to come with my son.  Jake caught the largest fish of his life today, but there were two things that impressed me the most.  First is the way that he handles a fish, he knew exactly what to do from the moment it hooked up to the moment he released the fish to be caught again.  Second is the fact that this kid researches new bodies of water and gives a power point presentation to his dad on why they should or should not fish certain fisheries.  It was a pleasure to have spent the day with these two fine anglers.  Thank you Karl and Jake.

Shawn, Big Al and John

Cloudy and Misty morning turning into Sunny and warm afternoon, Water Temperature 74* and Clear

I met the guys at 5am and off we went to catch bait. It was another difficult morning throwing for bait and after 2 hours we had about 40 beautiful baits in the tank. We drove to an area that I wanted to fish but there was already another boat there so I turned around and set up somewhere else. We put out about 15 lines rigged with big Gizzards and pulled a variety of structures ranging from 6 to 40 feet deep. For some reason the fish this morning were lethargic, they would roll the bait without taking it. We would only hook up on maybe half of our strikes. After running out of bait again we caught more and set up in a different area taking a lot of action till boat traffic turned the fish off. John caught this huge Bass over 20 feet of water on a live bait.  We all had a fun day on the water.

Stewart and Mark

Cloudy, Hot, Water temperature 74* and clear.

I got out early on the water to catch bait but a thunderstorm blew through scattering the bait. I had caught about 30 baits but wanted to start with more so I picked the guys up and threw till we had about 50. It was too late for me to go where I originally wanted to fish so I set out a spread at the mouth of a creek where there were no boat to interfere with my spread. We started taking hits not up in the shallows but over deeper areas on breaklines. We had steady action for about 2 hours before the bite subsided. We went and caught more bait later in the day and set up in a main lake area but fishing had slowed down considerably. The bottom picture is Mark holding a Bass he caught over 25 feet of water on a Gizzard Shad. Stewart in the middle picture is holding a Citation Bass that he caught on a Hollow body swim bait nearby where Mark caught his fish. Today they caught 12 Stripers, kept 9 to eat and released 3. We also caught numerous Catfish today. Today is Marks birthday and my daughter Emily gave him this trip.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK

Jack, Paul, Kim and George fn Barboza

Cloudy and cool, Water temperature 64* and Clear.

I got out early to catch bait then picked up the guys at High Point. We set out a spread of planner boards and a bobber and before we knew it we were hooking up. Fish were feeding early this morning and it was all I could do to keep up with the action. Fish fed for about an hour before they shut off or us loosing a couple fish turned them off. We had gone through most of the bait so I had to go catch more which was not easy, I spent every bit of 2 hours till I caught 20 in one cast. I set out another spread with fresh bait and hadn't gone far before we started taking hits again. We fished in this area for the next 3 hours till we ran out of baits, not bad action for mid day fishing. Today we kept 13 Stripers.

A beautiful windy day on the lake

Sunny and Windy, Water Temperature 64* and Clear.

Both DP and I had clients today so we got out on the water very early and caught bait before picking up our clients at High Point Marina. DP went up one side of the lake and I went up the other. We both pulled spreads of planner boards over various depths. The fish only cooperated the first hour of the morning then fishing slowed way down due to the cold front. We both did our best to put our clients on fish and everyone had a good time today. The top two pictures are of Eldon with a Citation Bass and a nice Striper. The third picture is of Michael's Stripers which is the largest fish he has ever caught. the forth pic is DP's clients holding up Stripers and the group picture is of the Jim Ciulla gang. The bottom picture is what happens when the wind is howling, your trolling motor batteries are spent and a Stripers swims through your whole spread on one side of the boat, courtesy of Elden on DP's boat. You can click on the pictures to enlarge.

Paul, Bob, Dave and Ron

Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperature 61* and Clear.

I got out early to catch bait this morning, picked the guys up and was fishing by 6:15. It was quite foggy this morning so I set up in an area where I thought boats would not run over us. We pulled a spread of a dozen planner boards along with a bobber and a free line over shallow points and flats. I was concerned about the water temperature dropping over the last couple days and also today was a poor day to fish according to the solunar tables. Our first hit was a catfish which confirmed my fears but the next half dozen hookups were traded off between Catfish and Stripers. We fished for about 4 hours going through about 30 baits before it was time to go catch more bait. I looked and threw for a couple hours before getting enough bait to set up a spread again. We set up over a little deeper flats this time and took 6 hits, boating a couple fish and loosing some very large fish. Overall it was a good day, the weather was beautiful with not too much wind, fishing was fair and friendship was great.

Some of last weeks catches

Here are a few pictures of our guides catches from last week. Tony took Marc, Mike, Mark and Tim out fishing and although they did not want to keep any fish he managed to get a picture of them holding some fish up. Tony took Sam and Jimmy out and caught this nice stringer of Stripers. Bob is holding up 4 of the 12 Stripers that guide Brian put them on. Finally DP is holding a stringer of Stripers that his client could not hold up. Our guides learned from the master, they are ready to take you out on the water and prove it. Give us a call and book a trip while we still have some available dates.

My New Boat

I just purchased a second boat [22' Crest Center Console ] just like mine to accommodate our growing guide service.  Over the years business has expanded to the point where I have had to make adjustments to handle the demand of numerous groups of clients, many wanting to fish on the same dates. I have made changes to insure the continued high level of service we offer our clients. In addition to the second pontoon boat which can handle up to 6 anglers we also have 2 Champion Bass boats to handled the client who wants to learn how to fish for Stripers with live bait off of a platform that may be more like their own boat, a boat that can handle windier conditions but is limited to 1 to 2 anglers. We now have a total of five guides that have a total of well over 130 years of experience fishing for Stripers on Lake Anna. In addition to myself and Anthony, DP Seay, Tony Smith and Brian Mohr have teamed up with us to work together to keep our clients constantly on Stripers.

After seeing this video of the electroshocking boat I am beginning to think I bought the wrong boat!

Doug [Douger] and Joe

Cloudy and Rain, Water Temperature 65* and clear.

Picked the guys up at 5:15 and went to catch bait. I threw for about 45 minutes and caught 58 nice baits. I was excited about the morning, it was suppose to rain which hopefully keep a lot of the boaters off the water but when I called Doug yesterday his wife said he was out fishing and had fished the day before also, my kind of guy. Doug and his cousin Joe were interested in seeing what this lake Striper fishing was all about and by the end of the trip I believe they found out. We had taken 46 hits when I ran out of bait in the tank so I emptied the tank and right before we started to get the remaining few baits in 2 hooked up at once and they reeled them in. Forty eight hits in a morning is quite a bit of action, makes you not even feel the rain pouring down on you.

Brad, Casey and Cliff

Brad got in touch with me about a week ago to fish today and take his daughter Casey out on the lake but I was previously booked so I hooked him up with Tony. Before Tony had deployed all the baits they started taking hits. Tony had got on the water at 4 to catch bait to insure they could be fishing at daylight and it payed off with a nice stringer of Stripers. Today they had about 20 hookups, caught 9 Stripers, a nice Bass and a Catfish. The wind blew most of the day restricting Tony from fishing where he wanted to.

Craig and Mike Rasmusson

Sunny and Windy, Water Temperature 58* and Clear.

I picked the guys up at High Point at 5:30 this morning hoping to catch bait before daylight.
The bait gods were with us today and we caught over 50 in about 5 or 6 throws. That enabled us to get a spread of baits out on the water at the crack of dawn early enough to beat some of the wind that has been blowing every day. I hadn't quite got all my boards out when the first Striper of the morning boiled a bait then hooked up for a brief moment. We got that rod in to change the bait and the one right next to it hookup up but 10 seconds later simply got off. Not a good start but at least we were getting hits. Instead of turning and going back I decided to just hold my course and put out my full spread. Lately it has not mattered where you fish, the most important factor to catching fish has been to stay away from boat traffic and keep out of the wind in order to keep your baits in the water column where the fish are holding. We caught 5 or 6 Stripers then the wind started howling again so I headed for a more protected area out of the gusting wind. Once I hit a calmer area and slowed the trolling motor down one of our free lines hooked up and Craig jumped on the rod. Next thing I knew the fish had pulled my tight drag out about 50 yards from where she originally hit. I cleared the back of the boat of rods that were out in order for Craig to fight the fish but it was too late, the fish had already got into one of our planner boards. Craig wrestled the fish from one side of our spread to the other, up under our boat to pulling out 30 to 40 more yards of drag. Craig's arms were on fire and he was ready to tap out but I got on him to keep doing exactly what he was doing, holding his rod high in the air, keeping the rod bent and not letting the line touch anything. Eventually the fish tired and Craig got the fish close enough to the boat for me to get a net under it. Craig was exhausted, the fish was HUGE and his father got it all on a video camera. We popped a couple of pictures and continued to try to fish the bank we were on. We caught a few more Stripers but the wind was getting worse and the 8 pounders they were reeling in just didn't seem to be much of a challenge any more. It was around 10 o'clock, Craig could not keep any more Stripers because he did not have much room in his freezer for fillets, they had conquered Lake Anna and were ready to go in and get the fish to a taxidermist. We went back to the marina and the fish pegged Carlos's scale. The fish was in excess of 21 pounds, a memory Craig and his Dad will never forget.

California Phil and Vince

Cloudy, Windy and Cold, Water temperature 60* and clear.

We left High Point at 5:30 and went to catch bait this morning. After catching over 30 I set out a spread of a dozen planner boards and a bobber. Just as I put my last bait out a board got hit and Phil reeled in the first Striper of the day. Vince's eyes bugged out, he took a picture of the fish while another board was screaming across the surface. Vince jumped on that rod and got the fish in the boat. I don't believe they were ready for this kind of action but it didn't take Vince very long to figure out the deal. From there on out Vince was ready to pounce on any rod that got nervous and he did with the exception of letting Phil reel in an occasional Catfish.[Just kidding] We continued to have action, hooking up about every 10 to 15 minutes till we ran completely out of baits. We went to catch more baits but it took 2 hours to catch enough to set up again. It didn't take long to start hooking up and continue where we left off. Today was a very bad day weather wise on the water, aside from the wind blowing 25 MPH, Snow and Hail it was quite cold out there. We had 20 Stripers hooked up today and caught a Bass and a Kitty also. Can't wait for the wind to die down.....

Tony , son Brandon, his wife and Daughter Casey

Partly cloudy and windy, Water Temperature 62* and clear.
Today was a slow day on the water, we fished all day for about a dozen hits. We ended up catching only 6 Stripers, a Bass and a couple Catfish. Hopefully after the full moon faze the fishing will get better.

Dan and Jacob Ourada

Sunny and Cold Front, Water Temperature 63* and Clear.
We got out at 6 and went to catch bait. The wind was Howling and a storm had just blown through. We caught 38 baits then I looked for awhile for a place where I could fish where I could somewhat control the boat and my baits. I had only gotten 3 lines wet when Jacob hooked up with the first Striper of the day. While he was trying to get it off the hook another Striper hooked up but got off before getting to the boat. Unfortunately where we took hits the lake was white capping so all I could do was try to keep the boat heading straight while I put baits out. We worked the area for about 2 hours boating 4 Stripers. Eventually we ran out of bait and had to catch some more. Fishing was SLOW but we hung in there and Jacob ending up having a ball catching Stripers. Today was an extremely slow day but Jacobs patience and fishing ability paid off with a nice stringer of fish.

Anthony's Clients

These are a few recent catches of Anthony"s clients.

Matt, John and Alex Pastino

Cloudy and Cool, Water temperature 67* and Clear.

We got out at 6 from High Point and went to catch bait. We caught a tank full and set out a spread of planner boards and a bobber. We caught one before I could get a side of boards out and took a couple of more hits quickly. A few boats went by and fishing slowed considerably after that. We continued to work a shoreline for over a mile with our baits getting chased to the surface but landing only a couple of Stripers. By 11 we had run out of baits so we got our spread in and went to catch bait. It took a while to locate what I wanted but once I did we caught bait in short order. The wind had got up which prevented me going to where I wanted to so I choose an alternative spot and set our spread back out. By now it was noon and I was ready to put some fish in the boat. We started hooking up and for the rest of the afternoon we would boat a fish about once every 10 minutes or so. Today we caught 19 Stripers, a Bass and a few Catfish. Alex is pictured holding the Bass he caught which he released. This is a heavy stringer, you can click on the picture to get a better look at the fish.

Gordon and David

Cloudy and Rain, Water Temperature 70* and Clear.

Picked the guys up at the State park at 6, went and caught bait then set out a spread of a dozen planner boards. We started the morning off OK with Gordon landing a Striper but our next 5 or 6 fish were Catfish. I told Gordon after we landed the first Cat that it was a bad sign to catch a Cat where I knew Stripers were holding, it is a sure sign that the Stripers are not feeding. We worked the area for about 2 hours then had to move. I set up on some spawning flats and within a hundred yards we had 8 different Stripers roll our baits but did not hook up once. I made a turn and hit it again and that is when David hooked up with the largest Striper of the day. The fish were there but not feeding well so I simply worked the banks around for about a mile catching a fish here and there, mostly out well off the bank. We hung in there in the rain and ended up catching a nice limit of Stripers today.

DP and Cory

DP and Cory went out to prefish for a Bass Tournament this morning and after an hour of fishing for green fish DP said "Man, We could have caught a tank of bait and had Stripers in the livewell by now" and that was all it took for the guys to put the boat back on the trailer and head for the lake. By the looks of their Stringer I think they made a good move.

Tim, Troy and Bob Hammond

Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature 66* and clear.

This morning I picked the guys up at 6 and by daylight we had a beautiful tank of bait. I set out a spread of planner boards pulling flats ranging from 20 to 6 feet deep. We caught our first fish fairly quick but the for the next hour we could not hook up. We were getting constant swirls and the boards would back up 3 to 10 feet but the fish were not interested in eating the baits. Around 8 we started to hook up with the Stripers and things got got better and better till about 11 when the fish turned off again. We went and caught more bait and hit another area with similar success. Seems the last couple of days the Stripers would feed better mid morning. We ended up having plenty of action, today we had 48 baits get clobbered. We all had a lot fun laughing all day at different screw ups. There was very little boat traffic on the water today and fish bit everywhere we fished. We missed Bob's son Zack today on the boat, he had an accounting class and could not make the trip.

Jim, Tim, Jason and Matt

Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperature 65* and Clear.
Picked the guys up at 6 this morning and caught bait. I set up in an area I thought I could catch some nice fish in and pulled boards through it. After an hour we had boated only 1 Striper and had a dozen more hits, swirls and hookups. I thought my bait may be a little too big so I went and caught 40 more smaller baits and set up in a different area. We hadn't gone 40 yards before the same thing started happening. Obviously the fish were off this morning and did not want to eat our offerings. I continued to work flats nearby us catching a fish here and there, no set pattern. We were under the gun this morning because Tim had to come off the water around noon. After a while I wanted to make a move but simply did not have the time or enough bait. We ended up having a good morning, the guys took home a dozen Stripers for the freezer.

Jeff, Ron, Tom, Mark and Ken

Sunny and Warm, Water temperature 63* and Clear.
Picked the guys up at 6 this morning, caught bait and went fishing. I wasn't really looking forward to fishing today with the first warm weekend and all the boats on the water. All I look for before I set out a spread of Water Bugz Planner boards is an area where there is no boat traffic, it is that simple. Boat motors spook Stripers, if you want to catch fish in the spring get away from other boats or boating lanes. I try to find a bay or area out of the main flow of traffic and fish the area till boats run through it or other Striper fisherman who are clueless come into the area, then I usually leave and find another similar quiet area. It is actually comical to predict when I see a Striper fisherman come down the lake that he will see our boat, slow down and try to either cut us off or fish the area where we are fishing thinking that they are on um now. Stripers are scattered over the whole lake now and will be for the next couple of months. Needless to say I had to hit numerous areas today to avoid boats but everywhere we hit that was quiet we caught fish. Water temperatures have risen 6 to 8 degrees this week and the fish are reacting to the change in a favorable way. Can't wait to get back out on the water during the week for some peace and quiet. What a beautiful weekend!

Taylor and Donnie

DP took his daughter and his Father Donnie out for an afternoon of catching on the lake today. Donnie has that big smile on his face because he enjoyed watching his granddaughter reel in a lot of these fish. Donnie goes back a long way on Lake Anna, he is one of the original Bass fisherman on the lake who fished and won many a Bass Tournament here. He has forgot more than most people know about the lake. [Anyone his age usually does] Donnie and I go way back also, one beautiful day I threw him out of my Champion Bass boat at 72MPH!

Jimmy Richards

Jimmy is holding his 37 pound Catfish that he caught on Thursday evening. It was caught on a Gizzard Shad. Jimmy caught another Catfish just as big on the lake last April. They broke the net trying to get the fish in the boat.

Bob, Jack, Carl, Ken and Richard

Sunny and Windy, Water Temperature 53* and Clear,

We got started at 7 this morning and headed up lake to catch bait. On my first set up the first fish we caught was a catfish. I told the guys right then that was a bad sign. We fished the area for about an hour just to catch 1 small Striper. I knew the bite was off so I caught some more bait and hit another area. We got a few hits and maybe boated a fish or two but it was the same deal down there also, the fish were simply not feeding. I caught some more bait and hit another area and just couldn't buy a fish. I kept assuring the guys that yesterday it was slow and about 2 the fish went crazy but it was difficult to set there and stare at planner boards. When the moon is bright at night a lot of the time the fish feed so heavily at night they don't feed again for about 8 hours. Next thing we knew we took a hit, boated the fish and did it again and again for the next 2 hours. It was a long day with action sporadic action until we hit the feeding period. The guys hung in there and our patience paid off with a nice stringer of Stripers.

Dewey, Randy, Rick and Dean

Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperature 52* and clear.
This morning I picked the guys up at 6:30 and headed out to catch bait. We caught about 40 nice baits then I found a place with no boats and set out my spread. At least I tried to get out my spread of boards, the fish wanted to eat us before I could get set up. I eventually got out a spread of 13 water Bugz Planner boards and a bobber and worked flats ranging from 20 to 8 feet deep. We did well for about the first hour but the fish turned off so I simply put the boards on the bank out to about 80 yards off the bank and pulled about a 2 mile stretch of water. We finally got low on baits so we caught about 40 more then hit similar areas only to catch a few fish in as many hours. The boat traffic had gotten up with a lot of boats running back and forth enjoying the nice weather. Around 2 I decided to make yet another move so I set out my spread again and just started working the banks. The move payed off, in about an hour of so we proceeded to wear the Stripers out. I had to work hard today with all the action and also the wind to present the baits in a manner to entice the fish to eat. Today the fish would eat when there was no boat traffic and when the boats were around it was slow.

Paul Bode

Paul contacted me earlier this week to go out on Saturday afternoon for a half day trip so I hooked him up with DP and DP hooked him up with a bunch of Stripers. Here are a few pictures of some of the fish they caught.

Bryce

Anthony took Bryce and his Dad out fishing today and landed this nice 13 pound fish along with some other very nice Stripers. Not a bad way to spend your spring break from college.

Dominic and Joey

Cloudy and Pleasant, Water Temperature 51*

I picked the guys up at the marina at 6 this morning and headed out to catch bait. I checked a couple of areas and did not see much so I kept looking till I found what I wanted. After making 4 or 5 throws we had over 40 baits so we went fishing. I had no sooner got my spread out when we started hooking up with fish. Within 150 yards we put 6 Stripers in the boat. We worked the bank a little further catching only one fish so I turned around to hit the productive area again. Last night it rained and the water was calm on our first pass but the wind had just started to get up out of the north and shut the fish right down. We fished the area for another hour or more only to catch a couple more fish. I decided to work another area so we headed that direction taking hits on primary points. We fished today till we ran out of baits. It was a fun morning for us, the guys did not expect all of this kind of action and once we started laughing about some of the comical events that were taking place [Dom] we had fun for the rest of the trip. Can't wait to get these guys out again!

Brian and Eric

Partly Cloudy, WINDY and Warm, Water Temperature 50*.
Today I picked up my clients at 6am and went to catch bait. Bait was easy this morning, we had enough to pull a few different areas after about 15 minutes of throwing. I knew I was in for some challenges today, the wind was already blowing and within a few hours we had a steady 30 mph winds with higher gusts. I started to set out my spread of boards but I put out my bobber first and before I could engage the reel it hooked up. I had also put out one board and it also got hit before I could engage the reel. Brian reeled the first fish in and we put it in the boat, a great start for the day. I continued to put lines out and attempted to hold the boat true in the wind. This is Brian's second time out with me, he originally contacted me about a month ago with his main goal of learning how to fish the lake like I do, not necessarily catching a lot of fish but primarily learning how to catch bait and all the finer nuances of Striper fishing Lake Anna. In addition to constant questions and answers today I had Brian deploy some of the baits hoping to get him dialed in on using boards. We took hits this morning out in the middle of the lake, not one fish today came off the bank. We also fished different areas all day, never turning around to hit areas where we had numerous hookups. Needless to say boat control was mostly what I was coping with as the day progressed and the wind gusted. We fished till about 1, the wind was just too strong for me to keep my baits in the strike zone. We caught more fish than were on the stringer today, it was so windy that the wind blew the fish off the pole into the water which we could not recover.

Kevin, Jason, Jeremy and Zack

Sunny and Cold, Water Temperature about 50*.
After getting 5 inches of snow yesterday and waking up this morning seeing the thermometer at 19* I knew I was in for some challenges today. I picked the guys up at marina and headed out to catch bait. The weather had moved the bait and broke it up so I had to throw about 50 times to get enough to fish with this morning. I set out a spread of boards and bobbers pulling flats where I had been catching fish lately. By noon we had 6 hits and had only boated 2 fish so I had to make a move. I went and caught more bait and set up in a totally different area working deeper flats with slightly warmer water temperatures and bait nearby. After taking a few hits I realized what the fish wanted and got dialed in on their pattern. Next thing we knew we were catching Stripers. We put 9 more fish in the boat within 2 hours but had lost a dozen more that were hooked up. The fish were only hitting a particular size bait today which I had run out of so I decided to go catch more bait of that size. I found the bait fairly easily this time, caught it and was fishing within 15 minutes. I don't know what happened within that 15 minutes but monkeys must have jumped on all of their backs because for the next hour and a half we hooked up a dozen more times and lost fish after fish, never boating another Striper. We ended up with a nice stringer of fish considering the conditions of the day but all I could think of was the nicer fish we lost this afternoon and what our catch should have been.