Precious Moments

 Dillon and Alex

 Two fish caught at the same time

 Alex's first Striper of the afternoon

Dylan's Hog

Today I had an opportunity to take a couple of boys out for 2 1/2 hours this afternoon that dream about fishing, Dylan [guide Brian's son] and Alex his neighbor the lives across the street. DP and I got out just after lunch and caught bait then picked Brian and the boys up at 2 o'clock. We were ready for whatever action the lake would give us with 3 guides on the boat. All we wanted to do was hook the boys up with fish. We set out a spread of 10 planner boards, a bobber and a free line and before we knew it we started taking hits. Alex jumped on the first one and reeled it in like a pro. Dylan was next up but he did not know if he wanted to play with his dinosaurs, eat candy or reel in a fish but we persuaded him to reel in the fish. I have a rule on the boat if you pick up the rod you must not "tap out" and give it up regardless how big the fish is. Dylan did a great job and after some time the fish came to the boat and he won the battle. He was so proud of his accomplishment that his focus was now on the fish, not playing in the bait tank or dinosaurs. We actually got some great footage of both the boys reeling in the two fish that hit at the same time that they are holding up together. Before we knew it our 2 hours were up and we had to get the boys back to the dock to get them home but we delayed a few minutes emptying the tank allowing the boys to catch a couple more. Our prayers were answered today with the fish gods bestowing their blessings on us giving the boys memories they will never forget. Brian called me on the way home and said the boys were both sound asleep not knowing if they were worn out more from the actual fishing or the anticipation of knowing they were going fishing today. May God Bless our Children.

A Nasty Day on the water

 Doug, Joe and Steve

Joe's 30" Striper

Cloudy and Rain, Water Temperature 57*

We got early this morning to catch bait but we had to throw for a couple hours to get enough to get started. We set out a spread of boards and started taking hits on points. The weather was horrible. The cold, rain and occasional gusts made the day quite uncomfortable. We pulled for about 2 hours this morning before running out of baits then spent a couple more hours restocking the bait tank. This morning when the wind was blowing out of the East we took plenty of hits but the fish did not seem to really want the baits. The fish would hit the bait and pull the planner board 10 to 20 feet across the surface then simply let go. In the afternoon the wind changed to to West which changed the fishes attitude. The Stripers would hit the baits better increasing our hook up ratios considerably. Then the wind changed again to out of the North turning the fish off. Although the weather was poor today and the bite was fickle we had plenty of fun and action. We had over 30 strikes boating 12 Stripers and a few Catfish. Joe is pictured holding his 11 pound Striper. The water temperature dropped over 3 degrees while we fished today.

Some great father-son time

 Josh and Joseph

 Josh's first Striper

Cloudy and warm. Water Temperature 57* 

I met my clients at 6 and caught bait easily this morning. We had our spread out at daylight pulling beautiful baits over shallow flats. Today we had about 20 strikes and had fun catching Stripers. Joseph was going to bring his younger son but he had some medical complications last night and could not make it today. More fish for Josh to reel in but sad brother could not make it. We had steady action this morning but the bite slowed this afternoon. Today was a beautiful day on the water with plenty of action and good company. Josh's big fish was 8 3/4 pounds. Hope younger brother gets well soon.

Kenny

Guide DP took Kenny out for an afternoon of fun catching Stripers.

Emerald Homes

Ray, Marvin, Sean, Robert and Raymond

Sunny and beautiful, Water temperature 50* and Clear

Guide Brian who also sells homes for Emerald Homes in Richmond wanted to treat Ray and the guys to trip to the lake so Brian cooked up a feast Monday evening for them, housed them in the lake house and took them fishing today for Stripers. We threw for bait for a couple of hours then picked up the crew and went fishing. Once we got all of our baits out we started taking hits and Sean reeled in the first fish of the day. We worked the area for about an hour catching fish then caught some more baits and set up in a different area pulling planner boards. We caught fish there as well before deciding to make one more final move. I had to get off the water early for an appointment so we put out 14 lines then emptied the bait tank and took a picture of the guys holding up some fish. While I was popping the picture we hooked up and boated a Striper and before we could get our lines in another fish met his doom. We ended up with 14 Stripers for our efforts today. The water is finally warming which is going to turn this lake on.

A short mid day outing

 Anthony and Ethan

 Ethan's first fish of the day

Greg's 16 pound Striper

Cloudy and lite showers, Water Temperature 50* 

DP called me up this morning around 9:30 and hinted that it looked like the rain was going to miss us for a couple of hours so I took the bait and said lets go. I invited Greg then went out and filled the bait tank with water. 25 minutes later we were on the way to the lake. We had a short window to fish in, it was going to start raining hard around 2 and Ethan had to get back early for a practice this afternoon. Bait was tough, after a couple of hours we took what we had and put them out. All we really wanted to do is get out of the house and see the kids reel in a couple of fish. Ethan's first Striper was the first one to hit and he did a fine job of getting it into the boat. We popped a picture of it then Anthony hooked up and showed Ethan how a pro reels in a Striper. They traded turns reeling in fish for about an hour and a half till a nice fish hit our outer board. DP thought we were hung up but when he picked the rod up the fish tried to pull it out of his hands. He hollered for Ethan to come grab the rod but when DP handed it to him there was no way  Ethan could hold the rod much less turn the handle. DP passed the rod to Greg and he wrestled the fish to the boat where we netted it. I put it on the scale and it was a little over 16 pounds. The fish was in very good shape so we released it along with all the other fish we caught with the exception of the four fish the kids are holding. We all are having Striper for dinner and released enough fish for dinner for 20 if someone can catch them again.

Some recent Lowrance pictures

 This is a picture of Gizzard Shad in the water column between 10 and 25 feet deep. You can see on the upper left screen that I had been marking it for quite some time. We caught no fish in the bait but about 30 yards outside the bait we started hooking up.

 This is a shot where we caught Stripers shallow on planner boards. This was early in the morning after a warming trend nearby rocks and boulders. We were hooked up with 3 at a time when I took this picture. The sonar side shows what appears to be just bait but the structure scan shows Stripers hovering over a rock pile.

 Here is a shot of me dropping down a downline with a sinker and a 5 inch bait. You can easily see the sinker and bait descending then I engaged the reel at 34 feet. Within 15 seconds a 12 pound Striper hit the bait and the fight was on. A couple other fish streaked off the bottom to watch the fight.

This is a brush pile in 19 foot of water that has bait on the left side of it and fish on the other. We hooked up with a 22 inch Striper and a 16 inch Crappie over this structure. The brush was definitely holding fish but I did not turn back to investigate what kind we were seeing on the Lowrance.

Tristen and Stone

Cloudy and Cold, Water Temperature 47*

What a difference a day makes....Yesterday 75* and beautiful, today 30's and cold. The weather did not dampen these guys spirits too much today. They enjoyed reeling in these and other Stripers this morning. Tristen caught the big fish of the day which was right up on the bank. We took numerous hits today but seemed to hook up with only about half of our strikes. I think everyone is ready for Spring, Old Man Winter need to call it quits and let the water warm up.

Spring Break Striper Fishing

 Luke and Tom

 Luke with the Big fish of the trip

 Doug, Tom, Luke and John

Thanks Grand Dad

John wanted to treat his grandsons to an enjoyable time on their spring break so he brought them down from Massachusetts  to see the sights in Washington and to spend a few days out on the water catching fish. This was not the best week to fish as far as weather is concerned but these were some tough guys that are use to cold weather. The top two pictures were taken on Wednesday. The weather could have not been any worse. The temps never got out of the 30's and it rained the whole time we were out there. To make matters worse bait collection took 4 to 5 hours to catch the kind of bait we needed. They hung in there and boated some nice Stripers. Luke is holding a Striper over 14 pounds, the largest of the trip. These young men were excellent listeners and boated everything that got hooked up. The weather slowed fishing up this week due to the water temperature dropping 4 degrees since the weekend. We never had any times when they were here when we would hook up with numerous fish, very uncommon for this time of year. If the weather would straighten out and warm up a little these Stripers on the lake will turn on and fishing will be excellent due to the hard winter and bait kills we experienced. Look for some incredible stringers in the upcoming weeks! Luke and Tom will have some good memories of their Spring vacation.

The Cyganiewicz's

Cloudy, WINDY, Pleasant, Water Temperature 46* 

My hopes for today's fishing weren't very high this morning when I got up and saw that bright full moon then the wind blew my hat off. The wind, the moon and boat traffic on the weekends were three challenges that I was not looking for. To worsen the morning I had to throw for 4 hours to catch the bait that I wanted to use. So by 10 I finally had the bait to work with so we set out a spread of planner boards ready for action. We started taking hits and boating fish but the wind was not our friend today. Where we would catch a couple fish right in the wind which would not allow me to control the boat the way I wanted to resulting in not being able to re-fish the area. Thankfully my clients were fishermen a knew my challenges and were happy to have their family together to enjoy a day on the water catching some fish. By the end of the trip we had taken plenty of hits and caught a few nice Stripers.

A great afternoon of fishing

Joel, Michael and Eric

Guide Brian took these fishermen out for a afternoon of catching Stripers on Lake Anna earlier this week. The bite was definitely on because in a short time they boated about 20 Stripers. These are some very nice fish the guys are holding. Its time to book your trips, we have been constantly catching good stringers of Stripers and the fishing and weather is only going to improve. We are running 2 fully rigged 22' boats that capable of handling 6 anglers fishing up to 18 rods at once rigged with the natural live bait the Stripers feed on daily. Its been a long winter, call [540 967 3313] or email [Jim_Hemby@hotmail.com] to reserve a day on the water with myself or one of our 4 excellent guides.

A Taste of Spring

Hawley, Joy and Bill

Sunny and Warm [75*] 

Today I got out early and hung a light, picked the guys up at 6:30, caught bait and went fishing. All I did was look for a place where there was no boats and set out a spread. I told the guys that with the extreme weather change we were just going to pull baits till we found the fish and that is exactly what we did. I fully expected to have 40 hits today and catch 30 fish but it just never happened. We took about 25 hits and caught 16. Although the fishing was not what I expected the weather was incredible today. Good things never last and by the looks of things the weather is going to change big time. The guys had a good day on the water and had plenty of fish to take home today.

George, Michael, Ross, Jason and Charles

Cloudy and Pleasant, Water temperature 45* and Clear

This morning we picked up our clients and filled the bait tank up quickly. We set out a spread of boards trying to put a pattern together but we would catch a fish over the channel, then one in the mouth of a creek, then one up on the bank, never any serious bite but we hung in there and caught a stringer full of fish. The highlight of the day was when we boated two Stripers on one rod. Hopefully tomorrow the fish cooperate a little better so we can catch some larger fish.

Josh Shaw

 Two Bass reeled in at the same time

A couple of Stripers Josh cought

Cloudy, Cold and WINDY, Water Temps 42* to 46* 

This is a weekend Josh has been waiting for for a long time. He called me many weeks ago about renting a house on the lake and fishing a couple days to celebrate his BACHELOR PARTY. The day finally arrived and although the weather sucked for fishing he was pumped to go so I got up early and caught bait then waited for them to arrive from Md. I picked them up at their dock around 9:30 and we looked for a place where we could get out of the wind but there was no such place. I set up in an area where the waves were white-capping and as I was showing them how to deploy the baits we got hit. We got that fish on board then I showed them again how to put the baits out but before I could bait another rod it hooked up as well. It was extremely windy and very cold so it didn't take long for the guys to get cold today. I made a move after about an hour and that is when Josh hooked up with these two nice Largemouth. He reeled in a fish that was hooked up on a board and tangled with another line on the board that was in front of his. There must have been another bass following the hooked up Bass and it hit the bait that was tangled in his line. When he got it to the boat I netted them both in the picture above. Although the weather was so poor and we only fished a few hours they had a great time today. I got them back to their house early so they could get ready for the festivities this evening. We are scheduled to go out in the morning but I believe it will be a late start again. I will bring some Advil for them tomorrow.

The calm before the storm

 Steve, Bobby, Karen and Bobby

Bobby's Citation Bass

Partly Cloudy turning to rain, Water Temperature 44* to 46* and Clear

Today we caught bait early this morning then picked up our crew about 6:45. This morning was post-frontal and I thought the bite would probably be hindered by the approaching cold front. Yesterday morning Guide Anthony fished boards getting plenty of hits and pull backs but not many hook ups so I decided to try something completely different. I ran downlines on breaklines and started to boat fish. Anthony was out again today pulling boards so if the board bite got going he would let me know then I would convert over which we did. The front definitely affected the bite today, we would see little fish on the Lowrance and never got into any good feeding opportunities. The highlight of the day was Bobby's 22" 7 1/4 pound Largemouth Bass. We boated about a dozen Stripers and 3 Largemouth.

Scott Levy and his HVAC Posse

Sunny, Cold and Windy, Water Temperature 44* and Clear

Scott booked a trip a couple of weeks ago for him and some of his co-workers and was dead set on going out today regardless of what the weather would be. I warned him about the cold and wind predicted for the day but that did not slow these guys down. I think they thought that if they drank enough alcohol the night before that they couldn't get cold in 20* weather with 20 mph winds. Once they got out and started catching fish they started to get cold so they resumed where they left off at 3am this morning by recharging their heat pumps but after a couple hours the wind got up and they needed to go to auxiliary heat [the car] so we called it an early day and got off the water while we could. It was all good because they had a ball catching fish for a couple hours and kept enough to have a great dinner back at the rental house this afternoon. I felt fortunate to catch fish today with the weather conditions and Bluebird sky's in the short time that we were on the water. I am ready for some warmer weather to come to Virginia.

Brian and Mike

Mike had these two hooked up at the same time and got them both in the boat.

Cloudy and Cold, Water Temperatures 40* to 46* and Clear

I was scheduled to fish yesterday but I decided to change the date to today due to the winds. I got out early to catch bait which was somewhat difficult this morning but I managed to put 120 beautiful baits in my bait tank. I met the guys at the dock at 9 this morning, they had a few issues to deal with before they got to the lake. We set up pulling planner boards over various depths. I positioned my boat right over a break line putting my baits anywhere from 5 feet deep on the shallow side out to 30 feet on the outside. We started taking hits on the deeper side which dictated how we were going to fish today. I dialed right in on the pattern and we proceeded to hook up with fish after fish. We would have 4 or 5 hits within 30 seconds then go ten to fifteen minutes and do it again and again. By 1 o'clock we had a boat load of fish and got off the water which was a relief because it was cold out there. Mike is holding up two of the 6 fish that hooked up in less than a minute span. We got all the fish in the boat tangling a few boards in the process. That was a great end to a good morning fishing for Stripers on Lake Anna. 

A Great Day on the Water

 Chris, Brian, Roger, Harold and Terry

Roger

Sunny in the morning turning cloudy, Water Temps 38* to 45* 

Brian and I got out real early this morning and caught a beautiful tank of bait then picked the guys up at the crack of dawn at their dock. We set up a spread of boards and pulled some shallow flats early down lake with little success so after about an hour we made a move. We hit another area working depths from 10 to 40 feet deep taking a few hits and catching 3 Stripers and a bunch of Bass. That wasn't getting it so I decided to make yet another move to another area. As we were setting out the baits I reminded the guys that when one line gets hit it is very likely many will take hits. Two minutes latter everyone on board was reeling in Stripers. After boating the fish and the guys regaining their composure we baited up again and hit the same area. Ditto....every rod hooked up again. The guys were digging this and so was I. We rebaited and I pulled our baits over the area again but doubting if we would have that kind of action on the third pass. We had broke off and lost some nice fish on the first two passes and I knew the fish would not tolerate this kind of pressure. We hooked up with 3 or 4 more Stripers then but the Stripers had enough and vacated the area. By now the wind had got up and we were down to a couple dozen baits so we went and loaded the tank up again and pulled an area out of the wind for about a mile with little success. I told the guys to get the baits in because I wanted to fish an area where I knew fish were regardless of the wind. We set out another spread and popped 4 or 5 real quick. I kept on going and hit 2 other areas where we had plenty of action. Today we had a lot of action. We caught 25 Stripers keeping 18 and caught and released 6 or 8 Bass. Everyone had fun today and will take home some good memories and plenty of fish for the table.

Converting a Bass fisherman to Stripers

 Man this fish is heavy!

 Ducks first Striper of the afternoon

Cloudy and Cold, Water Temperature 39* to 42* and Clear.

Yesterday [Monday] I had enough of staying around the house so I called up Anthony and Duck to set up an afternoon trip out on the lake. We all met around 1 at the lake then went to find some bait. After about 1 1/2 hours of looking and throwing we had enough to fish for a couple hours. Duck loves to catch Bass so I set up in an area where he could catch some which made him very happy as you can see in the bottom photo. After an hour of looking for Bass Anthony and I had enough so we decided to put Duck on some real fish. We hooked him up with the 10 pounder in the middle picture and he fought it for four minutes to land the fish. He was OK with catching the Striper but it fought a lot harder and was much more difficult to put in the boat. We were having fun with Duck watching him wrestle with Stripers but it was getting late so we decided to hit one more area for a couple of minutes right at dark. We had 3 or 4 very nice Stripers boil on some of our baits then Duck hooked up with a nice one. All Duck could do was hold onto the rod as it pulled drag but he eventually slowed the fish down when it was about 100 yards from the boat. Now the battle began for him to get the fish to the boat. The fish had his way with Duck swimming from one side of the boat to the other tangling a couple of lines but in the end Duck prevailed and won the fight. Anthony took the fish off the hook, handed the fish to Duck for a quick photo then released the fish back into the water to fight another day. The fish was 34 inches and weighed 15.4 pounds, a nice healthy Striper. Duck may have hooked and landed that Striper but that Striper definitely hooked Duck and may forever change his mind about fishing for Bass.

Nathan's Birthday

 Thursday morning driving over 208 bridge...Ice as far as you can see both sides of the bridge.

 Nathan with a nice Striper

 Nice winter Bass

One of many Bass caught today

Sunny and Cold, Water temperatures Frozen to Sturgeon, 41* at at Dukes and 45* at the Dam

Yesterday [Jan 30th] is Nathan's birthday and he has been celebrating it for many years by spending the day fishing Lake Anna with us. He is an avid fisherman and enjoys the outdoors regardless of the weather. Speaking of weather, we had some interesting challenges to make this trip happen. Last year when we went out it took 4 hours to catch bait before we could even begin to fish so I called Carlos at High Point on Wednesday to see if the ramp was open and it was. We caught some beautiful baits on Wednesday evening and were ready for action Thursday morning. Woke up and it was 1 degree so we decided to meet and hour after daylight to get started. The picture of the lake was taken as I was going to High Point to put the boat in. The lake had frozen completely over night! Two inches of ice prevented us launching there so we got on the phone and went to plan B.

After contacting one of our guides [Anthony] we secured another ramp to launch at further down lake. Upon arriving there we were met with 2 inch's of snow and a 1/4 inch of ice on the ramp. Nathan ran to a local store, bought some rock salt and 30 minutes later [10:30] we were in the water. Although we had bluebird skies and the water temperatures had fallen 5 to 6 degrees in less than a week we managed to catch 4 or 5 Largemouth and 7 Stripers. We went downlake to the warmest water we could find but never saw a fish on the depth finder. It looked as though there were no fish in the lake. We set our spread out and simply pulled over all depths of water to catch a few fish. I can't wait for warmer weather to melt the ice so we can get back mid lake and start catching some winter Hogs.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN

Good Way to start the New Year

 Walt

Cloudy and Rain, Water temperature around 40*

I have been off the water for over a month now Hunting and enjoying the holidays and today is my first day back. After seeing the water temperature I knew I had to use some very small baits and fish SLOW so we went and caught bait then looked for some fish. We didn't have long to fish so I concentrated my efforts around the areas where bait was the thickest. As you can see by the shot of my Lowrance we were working ledges nearby deep water. The line at 15 feet was our downline as it came over a school of very nice Stripers. What happened next was mass chaos. Hard to handle a bunch of downlines hooked up to Stripers over 10 pounds! We caught our limit and came off the water before dark. Not bad for a short afternoon of fishing. I am back in the saddle again and ready to have a great year of fishing for Stripers on the Lake.

If anyone is interested in fishing with us this year my grandson's baseball team is raffling off a full day charter with me for up to 6 anglers. You have less than a month to get in the raffle. Details are on my previous post of Dec.16.

Just in time for Christmas

   Here is a great idea for my clients, journal followers and friends. I am giving away a full day charter for up to 6 anglers to be used anytime in 2014 to raise money for my grandsons travel league Baseball team. The Blue Ridge Titans Baseball 9U Division needs to raise money for the upcoming season and are raffling off a trip with me to help generate some funds. The price for a raffle tickets is just $20 each or 3 tickets for $50 and goes to a good cause. This is an opportunity to take or give a trip to someone who already plans on going out with us in 2014  or to someone who always wanted to for 1/32nd of the cost of the trip. The sale of the tickets ends on February 14th, drawing is at the annual Blue Ridge Titans dance on February 15th and winner notified by February 22nd. 

  

 If you would like to get a chance to win you have a couple of easy options.

You can copy and print the ticket, fill out your required information and mail the stub to:

Blaire Conner

Blue Ridge Titans 9U Division Fundraising Coordinator

6613 Clarkes Meadow Drive

Bealeton, VA 22712

 

You will be notified by email of that you have been entered.

You can use pay pal to pay for your tickets. Simply follow the instructions below and we will notify you via email that we received your payment and that you are interred into the drawing.
Directions: 

Go to www.paypal.com and enter your log in information (you will need to set up a free account if you do not already have one).

Click on buy, then make a payment.

Fill out all of the required information.  For "their email' enter brtitans9U@comcast.net, click continue.

If you know someone on the team you can contact their parents who are selling the tickets.

Thank you for your support and have a Wonderful Holiday.

Get Well Brother Tom

 

Mike, Bob, Jason, Tim

Thursday, December 5th, Cloudy and Warm, Water Temperature 47* and Stained.

Guide DP took this motley crew out on Thursday before the storm to catch some Lake Anna Stripers. They got on fish early but also got busted early by other fisherman forcing them to leave the productive area they were working. After catching 6 Stripers right off the bat they had to struggle the rest of the day for 4 more fish. They still enjoyed the day but their thoughts were with Tim's brother Tom. The weather forecasts some cold and nasty weather moving in which will turn off some fish in the upper portions of the lake.