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.

Bobby Level

Sept. 12th, 2007 : Water Temp. 83* and falling.

A cold front blew threw last night and finally we may start to get some cooler water temps which will turn the Stripers on. I caught both Herring and Gizzard Shad this morning and ran the Gizz on 8 planner boards and a Bobber while running the Herring on 7 downlines. I kept Bobby busy going from rod to rod but he handled it well, catching a dozen Stripers releasing them all. The cold front probably did not help the fishing today but the forecast is calling for much cooler weather for the next couple of weeks, surely pushing the bait to the banks and to the backs of the creeks.

Al, Zach and Maddie Matarazzo with Jonathan Reigle

August 30, 2007 : Party Sunny and warm, Water Temp 84* and clear.

Picked Al up at his dock at 5 and went and caught 100 Herring then went and caught 30 Gizzards. Set up on a few groups of Stripers but just like the 3 previous days the fish were not hungry in the early AM hours. Went and picked up the rest of the crew and went fishing for a couple of hours. Set up on a school in 25 ' , worked them for 10 minutes and realized they were not going to hit so we left them and found some more . Put downlines on them and got two of them in the boat before the school spooked. Hit a couple of more areas before finding a flat with numerous groups of Stripers stacked on the breaks. We worked these fish for an hour before my clients had to go in for lunch. Clients kept 4 fish for a lunch and released the other fish caught today.

Bruce Riddle

August 29th, 2007 : Partly sunny and warm, Water Temp 84* and Clear.

Picked client up at 5 am this morning and went and caught about 150 Herring and a few Gizzards. Set up on a 25' flat and pulled it with 8 planner boards, 8 downlines and a bobber, rigged with assorted baits. We worked a stretch for an hour and a half, seeing fish but only getting a few hits. I was talking to John on the radio and he was seeing the same thing as I was , just single fish and nothing looking like it wanted to feed. Since the fish on Monday did not feed till 9 I decided to go catch some more bait so we did and loaded up the tank. I looked on some deeper flats and found a school and set out the same spread as we had out before. The fish were in the right formation to feed and I knew it wouldn't be long before they did so we hung in there and after 10 minutes the lake turned on. We had numerous hook ups and I called John over to join in . The screen was lit up and fish were actually breaking all around us. John came over and we all were hooked up at once and the action lasted for at least an hour.I decided to move , we had 35 baits left and I wanted to see if I could find another school in the same pattern and drove a mile and a half and found a larger school. We put downlines on them and they got hit as soon as we engaged the reel. I put the largest bait I had in the tank on and it lasted about 20 seconds before it hooked up. Bruce fought it for 20 seconds, pulling drag all the while. The fish got off, as some of the Hogs do , but we knew we were in some quality fish. We fished this school till we ran out of bait. Bruce is pictured with the first Striper of the day, releasing all the fish he caught. Today we had well over 100 strikes and I lost count how many Stripers we actually caught. John and his crew had a good day trolling , keeping a few for the freezer and releasing the rest.

Glen, Allen and Anna Harris with John Chadduck

August 29th, 2007: Here is a picture of John and his clients today with a nice stringer of fish. See above entry for details.

Deno and Kerri Barcia with Mike Tainsh, Al Vacla and Robert Gande

August 20th, 2007 : Rain, lightning and cool, Water Temp 83* and Clear.

Picked clients up at 5:30 with a major thunder storm rocking the skies west of us and it started to pour . Went to where I have been catching bait but the weather front had made it move. Looked for about an hour for bait and finally caught it over 30 feet of water balled up. I was very concerned about the day, not just being a nasty day for my regular clients but with the barometer crashing and moving the bait I thought it may have influenced the Stripers as well. Decided to start off with Planner boards this morning and ran a 15' flat with Gizzards and Herring. Worked it for 25 minutes with Kerri taking only one fish so we went looking for downline fish. Looked on several 25 to 35' flats , saw plenty of fish but all were spread out horizontally, nothing bunched up. Kept looking till we found lots of Stripers , put Herring in their faces and they would not eat. Went and found another school with similar results. The crew got cold and we went and got coffee to warm us up , went out and caught some more bait and looked some more. Couldn't find what we wanted so we decided to go back to where we fished this morning and got almost there when Dino spotted a couple of breaking fish. I turned around and we set up on them and the fish cooperated. It was a long day today, clients had 90 strikes, caught 17 Stripers and a few Kitties. Tomorrow they are forcasting a possible tornado in the area.

Eric Fonda, Larinda Robinson and Steve Walker

August 18th, 2007 : Sunny, Windy and pleasant, Water temp 86* and Clear.

Picked clients up at High Point at 5:30 am and went and caught 200 herring. Pulled boards and downlines 0n a 30' flat this morning. A front blew in at daylight and the wind was howling so I had to go to just downlines. The Stripers were schooled up in a 100 yard area and stayed there for 2 hours. We had 175 hits by 7:50 and went and caught 200 more Herring. The wind let up enough to start hitting the main lake so we fished 3 other flats from 30 to 40 feet deep and caught fish everywhere. We fished till we ran out of bait again and called it quits. Today we had well over 350 strikes, clients boating 31 Stripers and 8 Catfish.

Bobby Level and Clint Cochrell

August 17th, 2007.

Partly cloudy, Water temp 88* and clear.

Picked clients up and went and caught bait. Set up in the mouth of a creek this morning and got a few hits on downlines and caught a nice Striper on a Gizzard on a bobber. We had a large storm blow through last night and it seemed to disorient the bait and the fish. I checked numerous other places and did not see what I wanted to see so I moved to a deeper flat and located plenty of fish. We had 200 hits in about a hour and a half but the fish were hitting short. We ended up fishing ledges and putting Herring in their faces at 35' and caught a few more. Over 300 strikes today, caught only a dozen Stripers and 6 Cats.

Earl Mielke with guests Roland, Thierry, Yannick, Christian Schweizer and Mike Siber

August 16th, 2007. Sunny and warm, Water Temp 88* and Clear.

Got out before daylight and went and caught 200 herring. Before I could leave to go pick up my clients the water erupted around me with Stripers as far as I could see. I got a free line and tossed it out with a Herring on it at as soon as it hit the water a fish blew up on it. I reeled it in and tossed another Herring out and got Jammed again and repeated the same scenario 4 more times before I just had to leave to pick up my clients. Got them in the boat and raced back to the fish, told my clients how to set out downlines and never slowed down until 8:15 when I completely ran out of bait. Went and caught 200 more Herring and looked at a few more places but the buzzards were eyeing me so I left and went someplace completely different away from the other boats. It took about 5 minutes for me to find a school and we put the baits in their faces and they responded by attacking our baits. By 11am we had had another 100 hits and Earl said he had to make a choice, whether to stay and keep fishing or go home to save his marriage. You see he is having a party for 35 people this afternoon at 5 and his wife needed him home to help get ready. His guests from Switzerland said in their country the women prepare for the parties while the men enjoy life and I aggreed with them but Earl decided to get his Butt home [not only for his marriage but to take a nap before the party]. Plenty of action today and plenty of Stripers to take home for the grill.