Fiber Technology

 Collin, Brad, Doug, Dillon, Jeff, Jeffery, Earl, Mike and Jarred

 Nice school of Stripers

 Fighting a Striper

Some Stripers off to the right of the boat. 

Without side scan I would have not know they were even there.

Cloudy and Pleasant, Water Temperature 75* and Clear

Today Tony and I both had trips with Doug Myers and his company. We caught bait early and both started fishing at the same location. Tony put out a spread of boards and headed up and I put out a bunch of downlines and headed down. My boat went through 130 baits by 9:15 so I went and caught more bait. We came off the water at 11 this morning and had good results [for a weekend day]. Our boat caught about 70 Stripers and ended up with 17 keepers. Tonys boat caught about 20 Stripers and ended up with 12 keepers. Tony had asked his crew this morning if they wanted to catch numbers or size, they elected size. Their fish were nicer fish and Tony gave them what they wanted. Fishing is only going to get better daily from here. Looking forward for a great summer bite. It is not uncommon to catch hundreds of Stripers a morning, and this year should be one of the best in recent history.

Fridays Trips

 Chip and Tyler

DP's clients Curtis, Vernon, Steve and Ralph

DP and I both had trips this morning so we got out early to catch bait and picked our clients up at High Point at 5:30. DP headed one direction and I headed the other. We both set out spreads of boards and worked them for a few hours then later in the morning converted to downlines. Together both boats caught over 80 Stripers today. You could hear Tyler screaming in two counties at once today every time we hooked a fish up. Chip had tole me when he booked the trip that all he wanted was for his son to reel in a bunch of fish today. Well, we wore him out. Great day of fishing and beautiful weather on the lake today.

A few Pics

We must be using the wrong bait,

this Striper choked on a 1 1/2 pound Catfish

 Here is a screen shot of me pulling a bunch of downlines through a school Stripers.

 This is the same school as above with one of the baits hooked up 

fighting it to the surface.

A few scattered none feeding Stripers.

Some recent outings

 Jeff with a citation Bass caught this morning

 Guy, John, Jeff, Charlie and Joe

 Bob Hammond and his Motley Crew

Dink and Shane

No they are not mad, they are just from Pennsylvania.

Recent Catches

 Guide DP took his son Anthony out for some "catching" on Sunday. After they 

caught bait they found a school and limited out within an hour.

Yea, Anthony was stoked!

Cameron, Mac, Ben, Christian, and Alex

Guide Tony took these happy fishermen out on Saturday 

and put them on some nice Stripers. Although the weather 

was cold the fishing was Hot.

Ray, Ray, D+D

 Ray, Doreen, Dana and Ray

Sunny, windy and Cool, Water temperature 64* 

We got over an inch of rain last night and when I got on the water this morning to catch bait waves were crashing over the dock. Oh Boy, I had a lot to look forward to today! As I drove to find a place to get out of the wind I noticed most of the fish and bait positioned right over the channel. That is not a good thing, when they are over the channel they are not feeding. I set up in a creek with intentions of pulling boards over flats and points. My feelings came true, the first 6 or 8 fish were Catfish. When the Stripers are not feeding we usually catch Catfish and Punks.  I knew it was going to be a challenge to put fish in the boat but we were having action with hopes of fishing getting better. Eventually we started popping Stripers but mostly punks. We hung in there and finally caught keepers. Ray and Dana are holding up two Stripers that were hooked up at the same time. We all ended up having a wonderful day on the water and my crew had some fish to take back for the freezer. Perseverance beat this Blue Bird rising barometer cold front day.

Ron and Darrell

Cloudy and Windy, Water temperature 64* and Clear

Today the weather was changing yet again, high yesterday was around 80* and today the winds blew out of the East and air temps only got up to around 60* while we were out there. We got an early start and first pulled a shallow flat with boards. We caught 7 Stripers then traffic started to get up so I decided to make a move. These guys are down for the week so I took an hour to show them places to fish for Crappie as well as Stripers while they were here. By the time we were ready to fish again the wind was howling so I tried to set up in an area where I could somewhat control the boat in the wind and hopefully avoid boat traffic. The decision paid off and we were able to limit out by noon. I am still anxiously waiting for the weather to stabilize hoping for the Stripers to start a spawn so we can work on the larger Stripers that are in the lake. I am optimistic that in the upcoming weeks fishing will break loose and the lake will give up some of its 15 to 20 pound fish.

A Busy Weekend

Phil, Jeff, Kevin and Jeff

Sunny and Warm, Water temperature 64* and clear

Today was a nice warm day on the lake and it brought out plenty of boaters with it. I decided to pull boards till I couldn't stand it and we had pretty good success up till about 9:30. By then 40 to 50 boats had blown by us and naturally put the fish down. We converted to downlines due to the traffic and continued to have good success. We had over 100 hits today, caught in excess of 30 Stripers and the guys took home 13.

A funday on the water

Jim, Steward, Jerry, Bud and Doug

Cloudy and cool, Water temperature 56* 

I have off the water for about two weeks now spending time with my grandson during spring break. It was good to get back out especially with regular clients [and friends]. We started out pulling boards and worked flats ranging from 5 to 25 feet deep. We took quite a few hits [at least 40] and caught a lot of fish but only managed 4 keepers. By noon I had covered every pattern I could hit using planner boards so I made a decision to do something completely different. On the way to pick the guys up this morning at their dock I had noticed a lot of Stripers 20 to 30 feet deep. I decided to spend the rest of the day working downlines. We looked for fish on the Simrad with little success so I decided to simply pick a piece of structure and work it thoroughly. The move actually paid off with another 40 to 50 hits. Although we still got punked we did manage to catch eight more keepers. I believe the unstable weather conditions were the reason for all the short hits and lack of big fish today. All the strikes did make for a fun day for my crew and kept them on their toes reeling in Stripers. Looks like the weather may straighten out next week and hopefully we can start working on Spawning Stripers.

New Lake Anna Record Striper

Yesterday, April 1st, we took this lucky angler out down by the power plant and hooked him up with this nice Striper. The fish hit a 22 inch Gizzard Shad right next to the intake at the plant. After a 30 minute battle we finally landed him. Na, April Fools! The fish was caught in Arkansas by Mike Bennett. The Striper weighed 50.25 pounds. Great Fish, wish we had some here that size.

Ferguson Enterprises Vinnie Habib

Vinnie working out with a stringer of chunky Stripers

Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperature 50*

After all the wind, rain and funky weather we have been having Anthony took his long time friend Vinnie out yesterday. Future weather doesn't look much better, 10 day forecast has rain 5 of the days and wind in excess of 20mph 4 of the days. The guys enjoyed the spring day relaxing out on the boat and caught some nice chunky Stripers as well. Anyone looking for any Plumbing supplies, fixtures or appliances Vinnie is the best and certainly will hook you up! By the way Vinnie does wear shirts at work.

Email form a Client

Fishing March 26

Ross Halbersma

3/27/15

Jim,

If you wish to post this – you may….

Photo:  Ross, Hyo, and Jack  (Three Reverends)

I took Jim’s advice, rounded up two friends and went fishing.   Having fished with Jim twice in the past 18 months;  I have found his instructing helpful in the art of catching stipers!  I probably asked him more questions than a four year old boy could ever imagine.   (The first 27 years of my life where in Minnesota, and I do have experience in putting fish on the table year ‘round!)   So on Thursday I introduced my friends to catching bait;  hung lanterns at 5 a.m. and by sunrise, we  had netted about 75 blueback herring.   Having said our morning prayers, we set 9 lines from our fishing machine, and began the slow lake tour!  Our first hit was within five minutes.  The rain started at 8 a.m., and wind pushed us around with gust up to 20 mph.  Caught a few punks.  The fish seemed to be scattered all day, and yes, we fished from both sides of the boat!  As we headed into shallower water, we took some serious hits.  The 28 inch stiper discovered my hook in 6 feet of water on a down-line!   The 20 inch greenback found lunch three feet from the bank served up on a planer board!   As the afternoon sun emerged and the temps surged, we laughed, told stories, and just enjoyed good friendship!   Water temps measured 52 -54 degrees.  I have my calendar marked “fishing” for a few days in April for rest and renewal!   If you’re thinking about a fishing trip, give Jim a call.  He has some great guides who will introduce you to a whole new world.   - Ross Halbersma  

A couple of nice one's.

 Carson and Rick Hogue

Cloudy and Pleasant, Water temperatures 52* and Stained

I got out on the water this morning very early to catch bait and after 2 1/2 hours all I had to show for my efforts were 8 Herring. I met the guys at High Point at 7 then headed up to catch bait. I made 6 or 8 throws, filled the tank up and set out a spread of boards. Fish were not feeding well and all we fished was a half a day but the quality is better than quantity some days. The two fish they are holding hooked up at the same time. Carson boated his fish first then I started teasing Rick to get his up to the boat, he had already wrapped up two other lines and I was afraid it would break off. After the fish took him around the boat it rolled and we saw why he was having a problem getting the fish in. The fish weighed 17.5 and was 34 1/2 inch long. Not bad for Lake Anna, although 'tis  the season for big Stripers.

Chilly Morning

 Bobby [Hobo], Eric, Mike and Cheese and Rice

 Simrad shot of pulling downlines across a deep flat this morning laden with Stripers.

Another nice Simrad shot of us coming up on some pretty structure.

The weather still can't make up its mind. It was 31 this morning when we took off from the marina and 74 when we came off the water. Oh well, better than Ice! Guys are holding up 4 of the Stripers we caught around the middle screen shot. It was around 9am and the only way the guys could warm up was to reel in Stripers. Glad I could oblige them. Caught 15 Stripers today.

Challenging Day

JJ, Hamadi, Mike, Rudolph, John, Vallerie 

Sunny and Windy, Water temperatures 45 to 47*

Quite the challenge today. Started off with our dogs not letting us sleep last night. They were very restless and at 3am we realized why. My wife and I heard a rumble like a dump truck was driving up the driveway then ca-bang, it sounded like someone drove into the house. We knew right away it was a earthquake. Since we had the big quake and the aftershocks I have noticed the it really messes up the fishing and catching of bait for that matter. Bait was difficult but we started with 61 baits. I knew the wind was going to howl today so I hit a couple areas where I though we would get bit. The pattern I was working is very difficult to fish but we hung in there and enjoyed the morning. By 10:30 the wind was up and white capping everywhere on the lake. I went and caught more bait and tried to set up on a flat I knew fish were holding on. I would put a board or two out then a gust would come and we would get hung up. Half the time I was going backwards and the rest of the time we were going sideways. I struggled for 4 hours just trying to keep a few baits in the water. By 2:45 my batteries were smoked and we had to call it quits. We managed to take hits in the wind but it was extremely difficult  to control the boat. We caught 17 Stripers today, not bad for fishing in 30 mph winds.

Some fun Screen shots

 This shot is of a sunken bridge support that was knocked down prior to flooding the lake. You can see it clearly on the left of the side scan and on the right of the echo page you can see the remains of the two pilings. The small fish are Crappie.

 Here are some inactive Stripers. When I see these fish marking so clearly without any movement [Streaking] the fish are not biting. Remember them and come back later.

 A nice school of bait with inactive fish nearby.

The bait would be broke up if the fish were feeding.

Same deal, non catch-able fish.

All these pics look good, but don't expect to get bit. When bait are in tight balls 

and no motion from the fish it is hard to catch them.

Enjoy the pics and get out there and get you some!

Finally got back out, Oh what a day!

 DP holding a nice limit of Stripers

 

When you see this and have fresh live bait out

the results are below.....

 

 Total Chaos.....Every rod went down and we had to throw the fish into the boat and grab another and another. Rods and fish scattered from one end of the boat to the other. This is just a pic of the front of the boat! Since it was early in the day we released all of these Stripers and they all happily swam away. We left this school and went looking for other patterns.

 This is a school of Crappie on the left and some predator fish on the right .

 

 One of many Bass we caught today. A couple 

were Citation size. Would have been a massive stringer.

 This is a great shot from my Simrad, probably one of my most favorite shots that I have taken on the unit. I have the screen up top in Green on Side Scan. We had located pods of nice Stripers very deep in the afternoon in little depressions in 50 to 60 feet of water. After seeing numerous pods like this we put downlines out 2 to 6 feet off the bottom and hit some of the pods. The bottom 2/3rds of the screen is my echo page which on the left side I have on bottom lock showing the bottom water column up to 8 feet off the bottom. The right side of the screen is regular sonar set to a 50 foot scale. On the right you can clearly see all my downlines being pulled just off the bottom. Then towards the extreme right we come upon a pod of Stripers. Immediately all the lines get hit and you can clearly see us fighting the fish as we reel them up toward the surface. Notice all baits hook up! Chirp sonar is INCREDIBLE! With chirp I can monitor all my lines and bait off of one transducer in the rear of the boat. The separation and clarity is off the charts! I can actually view my baits swimming in fifty feet of water. The baits swim up and down as you can see on the bottom lock. When they get around fish they swim frantically until they meet their maker. We boated the eight fish DP is holding in the top picture off of this set, took a picture and called it a day. I popped the screen shot when all 8 rods were bent over. We were lucky to boat all the fish without loosing any or tying any lines up.

WOW, I am still high after a trip like that.

DP with the smallest Bass of the day.

Global Warming

March 6th, half the lake is frozen, coldest February I can remember. All boats clean, 50 rods and reels oiled and new line, trucks serviced, canceling charters. This is getting old. Only good thing is the house is 74 degrees. Feel sorry for the Stripers, once the lake thaws they won't stand a chance. I will be out every day hunting them down. Maybe next week.................!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Come on Spring

Cold

I could not stand it any longer hanging around the house so yesterday afternoon around 1:30 I hooked the boat up and headed for the lake. I put out at a private ramp downlake and rode around just seeing what I could see. I started off heading to the dam and 3rd dike area where I found the warmest water naturally, 48*. I went up to the 2nd dike and the water temp dropped to 44*. The pockets on the north side were the same. I went on up to Dukes [42*] then up to the mouth of Sturgeon where it was 39* with the backs of all the pockets frozen. No need to go up any further, too cold for me. All the upper lake is still froze. Hopefully some warmer weather will bless us soon so we can get back in action.
I popped a couple of screen shots yesterday, they are as sad as the weather is. I couldn't find anything worth stopping on in the few hours I was out. It was so disappointing I got off the water around 4. The upper shot was taken down by the dam. Although I did not fish these I am assuming the school of fish on the left are punk Stripers hanging around a ball of small baits. The vertical stack of fish on the right may have been white perch. In the bottom picture I was checking humps out downlake and found Bass hugging the hump in 20 to 30 feet of water. You can see them on the right hump. You can click on the picture to enlarge it if you want. Again, pretty boring but I had to get out. Looks like the rest of the week will be a replay of the last 8 weeks. Unstable.