Nitrofreak

Good thing, looks like we are going to need them for sure, wind and rain for Saturday and lots of wind on Sunday ?, I wish you all the best and be safe !!!

I firmly believe that fronts seem to have an uncanny ability to know my fishing schedule... say uummm, you by chance aren’t visiting Virginia anytime soon are you?? ??

The last time I have been able to make it over to the lake with any frequency at all was a few years ago and that was my experience as well, all of the shallow pockets up in the northern stretches were dotted with pan fish where I would normally find bass on the beds, the further north I went the warmer the surface temps got, from the top to the bottom there is a significant difference that showed up on my units, just judging by what I saw and experienced up north I believe they very well could be done already, it certainly seemed that way.

I fished her yesterday (Sunday) surface temps were in the low 60’s close to the dam, water clarity was roughly 5 to 6 feet in a lot of places, mid lake surface temps were mid 60’s all the way into the backs of creek arms, clarity was roughly 3-4 feet, up lake temps were mid to upper 60’s, clarity was about a foot to a foot and a half. Bass in the lower ends to mid lake are pushing up at the mouths of major creek channels, some were paired up already, the first major pockets in almost all of the lower sections had some quality fish on them but they were not in any mood to participate, the upper sections appear to have already been done with the spawn, I graphed some fish that seemed to be just hovering around some deeper lay downs and on some of the flats in those areas, by next week the upper regions should be producing some quality bites again, I did fish some of the grass that was just starting to turn green and managed a couple of swipes (nips more or less) at my spinner bait, that’s a good sign of things to come, there will be lots of pressure up there soon I suspect so be prepared to finesse them as well. I have a tournament next weekend there and will add to this post with updated conditions. Thanks for reading and replying to the thread guys, best of luck and be safe !!

Glad to hear your club had such a great turnout for your event and really happy to see that you did well with your finish, congrats on that effort my friend !! I went out yesterday to do some scouting for next weekends tournament event, I covered everything from Valentines to the top of Terry’s Run, to the top Pumunkey, to the top of Anna stretch, I got a ton of bites but it was like they were just doing it to intimidate the bait so I picked up a dropshot and Berkley Bottom Hopper worm, I tied on a mini flipping skirted jig also and started sticking them that way but still lost a good bit, it was an awfully hard day of fishing, I may have managed 9 pounds max for my best 5 on the day, I saw what you saw as well so I hope things change by weeks end, knowing Anna and my luck there however, I don’t expect it to ?? Thank you very much for your valued report buddy !!

Things defiantly change quick on that body of water but if it remains stable it should be good, let us know how you get along tomorrow my friend, best of luck and be safe !!!

I’ve heard things are really doing well on Anna, haven’t been there yet but I will be in two weeks, a friend of mine said he broke the 20lb mark for his first time and he has been fishing her for many years, we will see how much it changes in those two weeks ? Hope you had fun my friend and caught a big ol bag of bass.

I wish you the best buddy, let us know how you get along if you would please !!

Mid lake this time of year is usually good, the back Pigeon Creek usually produces as well also, the main lake point to the left of Pigeon is one in which you will probably want to investigate as well as all those little pockets on that stretch all the way up to the splits may be really good too.

Your very welcome Dave, I have a tournament this weekend at SML, otherwise I would be at Anna, I may make it there the following weekend which will be the 17th, you in a yak tourney out of CR?

How did you get along with your tourney ??

Great job !!! I hope I can get the opportunity to revisit the private side again this season before it ends, I want to explore the deeper areas that I did not get to see on my last visit there. I appreciate you sharing your day with us !!!

Let me know when your coming, I have 3 tournaments coming up on the public side, I post conditions as well as areas in this thread of all my trips there, April 24th, 25th, May 8th are my tournament dates.

We did my friend, after he and I were talking about the day I think the one thing we took away from that first day is that we felt confident about our choice of areas that we selected before we left the house, there were a good number of boats fishing those same areas, the takeaway for us is that it drove us to explore some new water. Thanks for the reply Dwight !!!

Two day club tournament with each day being a separate tournament. Day one water surface temps were in the mid 50’s with a front moving into the area, water conditions were calm and stained roughly about 10-12” my partner started out throwing crank baits and landed three bass in the first 10 minutes and then it was like a light switch and the bite just stopped, I focused on pitching with skirted jigs and soft plastics and mixed in fishing out with a Carolina Rig, I caught a friggin 5 lb. striper doing that which is a first for me, I never thought a striper would hit a Carolina Rig ? All day we had boats that would pull in on us and I told my partner that I felt like we were fishing behind others whenever we made a locational change, come to find out there was a BFL tournament that day so it made sense why I thought that, anyway we managed 9.01 on the day and out of 28 boats we survived and finished somewhere in the top 10, not sure exactly where since we have not seen the final results from the day but 4th place was a 10 something bag so we feel like we were in there somewhere close which is good for our points standings if we did. Day 2 Started out with a waiting period under the bridge to wait out thunderstorms that were passing through, once we got to our starting spot I started out with crank baits and got three in the boat in the first 10 minutes and again it was like a light switch and the bite just stopped, winds were at this time ripping across the lake at 15-25 so we focused on fishing areas/banks that were being hit with the generated current and picked up two culls but we still needed a good kicker to be competitive we felt, we made a change in the area we wanted to fish so we ran north to fish a split and found a few secondary points to focus on, my partner hooked up with a 5.68 in the last minutes which was enough to give us the win with a total of 13.97 on the day which was just ounces ahead of second place, it was an exhausting day but in the end it was well worth the effort. Nichols spinner baits, Berkley Pit Boss and Bottom hopper worms, Spro crank baits, Dirty Jigs swim jigs, Luke Clausen’s Dirty Jigs designed Shaky Heads, Strike King Thunder Cricket, structure bug, Blade Minnow and Twin Tail Menace, Missile Baits Ike’s mini flipping jigs, Zoom speed craws and Buckeye lures mop jigs are all the baits I used over both events. Thanks for the read and I wish you all safe journeys !!

PS: keep an eye on those creek channels for brush piles in and around the channels ?

I do not get to fish the hot side all that much and since you only get a shot at being there for a short time I would suggest this, if the water level is down like it was a couple of weeks ago then pick up a Carolina Rig and fish the channel swings, I fish it with Zoom lizards, speed worms, magnum trick worms, magnum speed craws and do pretty well there most of the time doing those things. hope you enjoy your visit and be safe !!

Just finished our two day tournament here, we primarily stayed in Butcher Creek area with a visit each morning to Carter Branch near Cooper Island. Water temps stayed in the mid 50’s, storms were sever at times with heavy rains which changed the water clarity constantly but averaged roughly anywhere from 8” to 12” The best bite was early morning and turned off very quickly, some seemed to have already spawned others are heading in, secondary points in long creek arms were key during our events. Hope this helps with your upcoming time on the water there. Good luck and be safe, let us know how you do !!!

One of the interesting aspects of this lakes hydrology on the public side (larger side) is the reverse current that the plant generates between dike 3 and the plant that is located North of the dike, when the pumps are really taking in a lot of water the currents that are created make for some pretty good fishing at times in those surrounding areas. Its just one of those little quirks that make this lake so interesting to fish.

I have had a hiatus as well, things being what they are in life sometimes get in the way of what we find great pleasure in, but then again, it tends to make things better in most cases when we are able to get back to those things. Best wishes !!!

Just had our first club outing yesterday on the hot side, my partner and I finished with 9.14, we caught a bunch but not what we were wanting to catch ?? We had near 30 entries give or take a couple, winning bag went just over 12 pounds, 5th place was a 9.40. I believe we finished 6th on the day but I will have to see the final results to know for sure. The day started breezy and cold and then mid day it turned warm and almost dead slick calm, the water temps stayed near the same all day ranging in the upper 50’s, water clarity was roughly about 1.5 feet, we tried fishing a couple of good structural change areas that had cover (brush) associated with it but to no avail, in the morning we attacked the wind blown shore line and picked up our first two, one being a 2.5 and the second a 4.25, then it was like a light switch and we had to make adjustments, we spent some time off shore and some time skipping docks and various lay downs scattered in deeper water areas as well as some shade lines that we could find. All in all we had a great day, we just missed out on a top five and just missed big fish by .02, an awesome start to the 21 season. @TOXIC Neither of us, my partner and I, get to fish the private side of Anna with exception to club outings so it makes it challenging to say the least, it’s good that we get the opportunity to be able to fish over there, hopefully, eventually I will cover enough of that water to be able to find a couple of those spots in which you describe ? It is defiantly different from the public side. @Sam Gaston is a place I have only seen once, well, maybe twice if you count that our club tournaments are two day events with each day being a separate tournament, I can attest to the mud hole that place can be, especially on the main channels, truly sorry to hear that it was a disaster my friend but as you said, Anna in April can be a rewarding outing, I hope that she renders you a big bag buddy !!!

Visited Lake Anna on the hot side this Saturday, very rare occasion to fish that side but defiantly enjoyed the opportunity because it has been a very long time since I was last there, we were checking the boat and getting ready for my clubs tournament season to begin next weekend, ended up catching a dozen LMB and two really nice Crappie. I must be getting old because that first trip really made me aware of muscles that did not get a workout over the last few months of inactivity from the boat, man I was sore ?? I guess standing on the trolling motor all day in the windy conditions did not help, I certainly could have made a good poster boy for one of those Captain Morgan photos I suppose. All in all it was a great day to knock off the rust and make sure things were in good working order. Who else’s season is or has already started here in Virginia?

All went well, I specifically went to look for areas, the trip was successful with a dozen bass to our credit, 1.5-2.5 range water temps started in the back of a creek were pretty dang chilly to start the day but quickly warmed, near the outlet (pond one) were mid to upper 60’s with about a 1.5 foot of visibility, we fished mostly wind blown points all over the hot side but explored some deeper options also, (pond two) water temps were in the mid 60’s until you went back in the creek arms then they dropped significantly into the mid to upper 50’s with about a foot of visibility, (pond three) was not visited by us this past Saturday. We as well caught multiple species on the day, dropshot, skirted jigs, worms, crankbaits, spinnerbaits. I truly hope you enjoyed your trip to Florida and I thank you for posting the update !!! Thank you much my friend !!!

I am heading over to the hot side tomorrow to make sure the boat is in shape and to do a little fishing as well, anyone have any reports on the conditions?

The Hot side of that lake is much like river fishing with all of the currents that change daily when I get the chance to fish it, I too have seen larger bass in the late winter periods up shallow (or shallower) depends on the generation of the plant mostly, but they weren’t up there to spawn, they were up there to primarily feed on the bait that moved up into the warmer pond areas, it is interesting if that is what they are actually doing this time of year for sure !!!