Anthony and Doug

Guide Anthony put Doug on some great fish today. These are only a few of the ones they caught, all others were released to fight again. These are the first eight fish of the day weighing 60 pounds. I bet if they could have culled their catch today they would have been closer to 80 pounds. Nice Fish!

Bill and Barry

Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperature 53* and Clear

Another tough day for bait this morning for us, we had to throw for 5 hours to catch the bait we wanted. Once we caught the bait we set them out and started hooking up immediately. On our first pull we had 6 or 7  on but only landed a couple of them. We fished for about 2 hours then decided to go catch some more bait and try someplace different. This time bait was easy, a couple throws and we were ready. We put out a spread of boards and the fish wanted them. Although we did not start fishing till 10:30 we had plenty of Striper action.

Jim Woodbridge and Ed Foreman

Sunny and Cool, Water Temperature 56* and Clear.

We threw for bait this morning for about 2 hours before we had enough baits to start fishing. We put out a spread of boards working ledges and took 3 or 4 quick hits. We kept on going taking strikes but the fish were not very aggressive so we would only hook up with about half of them. We decided to go catch some more bait which was a mistake. After throwing for about an hour we hung up two nets and ended up having to leave them in the lake. We took what we had and set up in a different area pulling shallow flats but after an hour with only one fish we had to go. Again we caught more bait and I set up nearby where we caught the bait. The bait was the right size and the fish could not resist them. Within 30 minutes we had more action than we did the whole day. Jim and Ed had been out with me many times and had been patient throughout the day knowing what could happen and it did. It ended out being a great day on the water with some good old clients.

Nice to see this when fishing for Stripers

 This is a school of Stripers [the wide arches] that had surrounded a school of Gizzard Shad [the smaller dashes in the middle of the blue down scan screen] and were feeding aggressively.

Here we have school of bait up on a point with Stripers feeding just off of the drop off. The Stripers eventually moved up onto the point and chased the bait up onto the surface busting bait in about a half acre area. We banged them on planner boards here.

This is a picture of us throwing for bait. The left screen shows Large Gizzard shad. Side scan [upper right] shows the bait better on the right side because the net is falling down and into Giz on the left side spooking some of the bait. The net can be seen with bait inside of it on the center left side of the side scan and 16 to 22 feet deep on the down scan. This also demonstrates how a net collapses as it falls. When the net hit the water it was fully open [10' radius opened to 20 foot circle] then as it falls the weights sink faster than the material causing the net to collapse. If you had a longer rope the net would eventually close completely, making catching bait in deep water very difficult.

Jerry and Michael Logan

Cloudy and Warm, Water Temperature 58* and Clear.

Today felt like a special day. Being cloudy and the weatherman calling for rain I expected boat traffic to be minimal but the sweet thing that happened today was that we had a tank full of bait before daylight which would allow us to be fishing at the crack of dawn. We put out a spread of baits and started taking hits immediately. The action continued for about 3 hours then the wind turned from the SW to the NW. Well you might as well been fishing with no bait on your hook because the fish turned off and would only roll the baits, they were still there but not eating. It didn't matter much because we had our limit and wanted to get in before the rain hit. Jerry has been watching my posts on this journal and was dieing to get out and try it so today was a special treat for him to catch Stripers on Lake Anna with his son Michael.

Pfizer Group

Dan, Marc, Phil and Drew

Sunny and a Beautiful morning, Water temperature 56* and Clear.

Marc had some management over to his lake house to do some work for a couple days and wanted to cram a few hours of fishing in between  some of the conference calls so he booked us for a morning trip. They worked a little after breakfast then got in the boat and fished for a couple hours before having to get back to eat lunch before more conferences. They kept these fish for a nice dinner tonight and hopefully the break they had out on the lake this morning was some good R and R for them. Today the weather and scenery on the lake was breathtaking.

A fun afternoon

 Nick and Tom

Tom

DP took Nick and Tom out this afternoon and put them on these nice Stripers. The Stripers are jamming Big Gizz now.

Birthday Bash

 Drew

 

Guide DP took a crew yesterday and these are a coupe pics of the day. 

 Mike Migliorini took his son Cole and some of his buddies out to celebrate Cole's 18th birthday.  Despite being 2 hours late getting to the boat ramp (too much cake and ice cream late last night), the guys managed to catch some nice stripers. Today's conditions were tough but we all had a great time. Here is Drew with one of his fish and the other pic is a shot of the live well that one of the guys took.

A great day in woods and on the water

 This, Plus

 This, Equals

 A nice Stringer of fish,  Anthony and DP

Anthony

Yesterday [Saturday] morning DP and his son were up in a tree stand watching deer casually walk by. Anthony told his dad that he would like to go catch some Stripers so a few hours later they were out on the lake. After catching bait DP found what is pictured on the Lowrance pictures and hooked up with the fish that are on the stringer. It didn't take but a couple minutes to limit out. I am sure Anthony slept good last night. What a memorable day for father and son.

Wow some nice Stripers!

Earl

Cloudy and Warm, Water Temperature 60 to 65* and Clear

It was such a beautiful day today we decided to go out for a couple hours and fish for Stripers before the weather got bad tonight and tomorrow. Bait was finally easy to catch which only took about 5 casts before we had a full tank. We checked out 3 different patterns and areas to see which had the better fish. Well we found the right one. We took over 30 hits and boated more than half the fish. These were the first eight we caught and kept, certainly not the largest fish of the day. We played the lake turnover today and it payed off with the best catch of the fall so far. We were also able to enjoy catching the fish today because we did not get busted, no one saw where we were fishing or encroached on us. I expect catches with live bait to only get better. Looks like it is going to be a great November.

Scotty, Brent and AJ

AJ

Sunny then Cloudy, Water Temperature 63* and Clear

We met at High Point at 6am then went to catch bait. This morning we filled the tank up with big Gizzards before daylight, first time in a few weeks that we had enough bait to start fishing at daylight. We popped 3 Stripers right away but the cold front did its thing and made us work for Stripers the rest of the day. AJ is pictured with a nice Striper that he caught on a planner board this morning. This cold front will probably turn the lake over and after a week the lake should really turn on.

Jeff, Jason, Lee and Steven

Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperature 68* and Clear

We started the morning off looking for bait. As I was cruising by the park I heard something strange so I slowed the boat down. The sound was a Coyote howling up in the field. We listened to him for a couple minutes then moved on.  

Yesterday was another difficult day for bait collection, I threw for about 3 hours to get enough Big Gizzards to go fishing. We went to an area of the lake where there were no boats and set out a spread of boards pulling flats and humps nearby a mouth of a creek. After an hour of waving boaters away from my spread so they would not run over my lines and boaters running through the areas I wanted to work I decided to reel everything in, throw the baits away and go elsewhere. This time I changed tactics and looked for deeper fish and worked them with downlines. The move paid off, we found Stripers and every time we went over them we would have numerous hook ups. We got busted there from the guy who we had to wave off of our spread earlier. He had followed us from one arm of the lake to the other arm, saw us reel in a fish, turned around and trolled his motor right over the point where we were catching Stripers between us and the bank. Sometimes I wonder if these inconsiderate fisherman intentionally want to spook the fish we are working or are they just clueless? Needless to say we did not catch another fish on that point the rest of the afternoon. Although he ruined the fishing he did not ruin our day, we had fun on a beautiful day on Lake Anna.

Pastor Mike Edwards and Floyd Furr

Cloudy and Pleasant, Water Temperature 67* and Clear

Met the guys at 6 then went out to catch bait. Today bait collection was better than previous days, we had a nice tank full of bait by 7:30. We set out a spread over an area that we had caught fish a couple of days ago but did not take a hit. We saw some birds working around the splits so we went to them to check them out but as we were getting ready to wet some baits another boater came over and ran his big motor right over where the fish were putting them down and turning them off. They idled around over the shallow flat for a few minutes to insure the fish would not eat then left. We had enough of that, we looked elsewhere where there wasn't a boat in sight to fish. We found an area with some fish and worked it till we ran out of bait. It was a very nice day today on the water and we met some new friends to make the day even more enjoyable. The leaves are turning on the lake and next week should be gorgeous out on the Lake.

A successful day in the rain

 Tom, Dan and Steven

Nice Fish

Tony took these hardy anglers out today for a wet day of fishing. Although the water temperature has dropped 5 degrees since it started raining Tony put a pattern together that proved to be successful.

Mike, Michael, Stephen, Jameson and Gary

 Jameson's first Striper

Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature 77 and Clear 

My crew wanted to go out early this morning to see what catching bait was all about so we picked them up at 5am and hit the water. With the warming water temperatures bait has repositioned which made bait collection quite challenging. Our first set up was over 20 to 30 foot flats pulling a mixture of boards and downlines. We popped one fish after about 15 minutes on a board and continued to pull the area. Once I got out into a main thoroughfare I noticed a lot of Stripers on my Lowrance and alerted the crew to get ready. We started hooking up and worked the area till the boat traffic ran us and the school off the ridge we were working. We went and caught more bait then set up over an area where there was actually little boat traffic and plenty of fish on the Lowrance. We started hooking up again but got busted by a troller in a pontoon boat. I knew we were in trouble and warned everyone that this guy will circle us like a Buzzard spooking this school because he has done it many times in the past. He was true to form and circled in closer and closer till I couldn't steer my spread without tangling up a whole side of boards. By now the skiers and Jet skiers were using our boat as a bouy to ski around so we moved on. We knew the fishing was over but we hung in there for a couple more hours just to pop a couple more fish. Four year old Jameson is pictured holding his first Striper that he had ever caught. Even though boat traffic got bad today the Conner boys had a great day on the water and took home plenty of memories.

Rob, Michael and Jack

 The sun coming up this morning

Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature 73* and Clear

We got out early this morning, caught bait, picked the guys up before daylight then went looking for fish. I went to set up pulling a large mid lake flat so we stopped about a hundred yards prior to the flat to get our baits out. We had only put a couple in when I looked at my Lowrance which was full of fish. The downlines started getting nervous, the boards were rocking, then the guys started running for the hooked up rods. We landed a few fish but this school was the only school we saw for the rest of the day. We worked hard catching a couple fish here and there and ended up having a good day and a lot of fun. The bottom picture of my Lowrance shows a small group of Stripers on a ledge we went over. A 5 pound Striper hit a downline, Michael fought the fish to the boat and we landed it. You can see in the blue down scan picture the streak off to the right of the group of fish. The Striper came up out of the group, took the bait and as the boat was pulling away from the group Michael wrestled the fish in which is the "streak". Today fish were hugging the bottom in small groups on ledges in 15 to 25 feet of water.

Smoked 'Um

Jimmy and Jim

Cloudy, drizzle, rain, Water temperature 75* and Clear.

Guide Tony took the Jim's out today for a day of "Catching" on the Lake. The bad weather must have kept most boaters off of the Lake which was a good thing, Tony could fish where he wanted to without any boats to spook the fish he was working. As you can see by this heavy stringer the fish are now in their fall patterns and feeding up before the winter hits. They lost count of how many fish they caught but they had a great day. Looks like Jimmy is having a problem holding up his side of the stringer. Live bait is the ticket for stringers of Stripers like these on the lake, and this is only the beginning of a live bait bite that will last for many months to come. There are plenty of punks breaking on the lake now for artificial fisherman to cast to but most of the fish are less than 18 inches.

Brian and Rob

Sunny and Beautiful, Water temperature 76* and Clear.

The day did not start out on the right note, my clients had to go to another marina this morning to get fishing licenses which made them a little late and we had to throw for bait for 5 hours before we could start fishing. I had mentioned to the guys when I was showing them how to reel the fish in using circle hooks that sometimes when one fish hits they all get hit. Well 10 minutes later while we were still trying to get baits in the water it happened, everything hooked up. This is a great time of year to spend a day out on the lake, cool mornings, beautiful skies, bent rods and good people. 

My  Office

Crazy Weekend

 Andrew

 Gavin

OOPS! 

Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature 82* and Clear

Yesterday [Sunday] we picked our clients up at 5 then went and caught bait. We set up over 32 feet of water working a ledge that was holding fish. We made a couple passes on the area taking hits and catching a few Stripers. We were about to hit it again when a guy in a Bass boat who had no clue how to trim his boat out came porpoising right through the small area we were working. Naturally that turned the fish off there so we had to move on to work other areas. Andrew and Gavin are pictured holding the first fish of the day that they caught. The bottom picture was taken on the point at the mouth of pigeon creek. This weekend warrior drove his boat right up over the rip rap and 10 yards up onto the bank! You can see the prop marks going through the rocks and digging out the dirt going up the hill. Hopefully no one got hurt. This and other inconsiderate boaters are reasons to fish during the week, not only is fishing better then but the lake is much safer, serene and enjoyable. 

Labor Day Bass

Sunny and Hot, Water temperature 82* and Clear

I had promised my grandson Michael I would take him out one morning this weekend fishing and expected to take out another dad and son but never heard from them so I called Anthony and we hit the water before daylight. We knew the boat traffic would be horrible so we caught bait and agreed to stay out only for a couple hours because I did not want any drama today with boats. We set up and pulled an area for 100 yards but we did not like it so we wasted our baits and hit another area. We had got our spread out and were ready to hit the juice when I looked up and here came a skier right at us. We were up against the bank but it did not matter to them, they kept coming and circled us for 30 minutes. Michael could of had some fun reeling in a skier but it is a holiday weekend and people are simply clueless when they get around the water. We laughed it off, got our baits in and made another move. This time we set out downlines on some fish I saw on a ledge and hooked up. The first fish was a nice solid 5 pound bass. Michael wrestled it in, Anthony took the fish off and I snapped a picture. Before I could take another shot another rod bent over. Anthony yelled to Michael to give me that Bass and grab the other rod. I threw the Bass overboard as Michael reeled in yet another nice Bass, this one well over 6 pounds. Both Bass were chunky and healthy, obviously they had been eating well. The second Bass appeared to have just spawned, its tail was tore up, red and almost bleeding! We popped a quick pic then released the Bass back into the water where we caught her. Mike asked if he could go swimming because it was starting to get hot and Anthony jumped right up and emptied both bait tanks, we couldn't get off the water quick enough, we knew what the day was going to be like and welcomed the call from Michael to quit fishing. I should have taken a picture on my Lowrance of the Bass, they were stacked up on top of each other right on a ledge in 22 feet of water next to the main channel, text book summertime pattern especially with bluebird skies and massive boat traffic.