Nitrofreak

I think the question should be what has'nt it done? Everything you said is true, there is no better way to release nor any better way to get yourself frustrated, bass fishing is a mindset in all aspects of the game, the rubix cube does not even come close, well, with the exception of both being a puzzle. It's everything rolled into one big ball, there is nothing like finally unloading your boat, putting on the PFD and heading out to your first spot, the first time your boat is on plane for the first time of the new season, the first fish, all of these feelings are renewed every trip on the water, and so is the soul renewed each and every time as well. The friendships we make, the chats we have, the arguements we discuss, are all parts of growing into better well rounded fishermen and women, but the end result is always the same, we learn something from someone that will help us all to become better, better anglers and better people. Some good comes from the net, such as this place, it's home to a lot of us, it's freedom to express some of our emotions from a not so good day on the water and having someone make your day with a responce that gives you a new outlook for the next trip out, being able to come back and share your results from what you have learned and finding that this community supports you with your new skills or helps you dissect the faults and try again. Fishing has done a lot of things for a lot of people, for a lot of us, our church is being on the water at sunrise on Sunday mornings or any morning for that matter, looking at what we have to enjoy for the short time we are here, closing your eyes for a brief moment and giving thanks just before that first cast, it's watching your children catch their first fish and feeling the same emotions they are at that moment, only to realise that moment never really leaves you, it's realising the bond of family becomes much stronger when connections like these are made and wishing these moments will last forever. I can't say that fishing to catch fish has been as big of a success as I want it to be, but fishing in and of itself has been a blessing. Good luck and be safe !!!

Same here Equipment: Skeet Reese MH 7'-2" rod with a Quantum Reel loaded with Spiderwire 50lb braid. Technique: All of the above, But my favorite is to rip it out of grass and let it fall at the edge.

I can promise you guys these things are amazing and built to last, I have several of these jigs from Mike, 2 in the Big-O series, these things are overkill for the money you pay !!! Just be ready for a headache with all the options you have to choose from, but don't worry, he is always right there to help, try getting that service from other suppliers !!!

I am a little late with the congrats, but I wish you a very happy, belated, anniversary, thats a lot of dedication to one another and it speaks volumes for the kind of people you are, I wish you both the best in the years to come.

Easy there now big boy LOL !!! I have fished that lake with ice on my fishing rod, temps in the teens, and snot cicle's hanging from my stache LOL !!! Nice vid by the way !!!

We might be able to make that happen if you are really interested !!! it's one he## of a cold ride but one usually worth taking !!!

Really nice job Quanjig !!!! Hanover, Anna is a great place to be even in the dead of winter, the warm side or private side is a place not all of us have access too, glad to hear of your success there, The exit from the private side into the public side is where I like to spend a lot of time in the winter ( Dike 3 ) I have seen and fished temps there in the teens and the water will be in the low to mid 60's, it's weird, your hands are freezing and the fish are warm lol !!!

Congrats !!!!! Thoughts and prayers for a healthy and safe delivery for your family !!!! Hope you can join us, it will be in the fall after school is out so the youngsters can join us as well, late August or sometime in September is when we are disscussing, but the date will be decided at the first of the year for one of those 2 months.

It is a beautiful spot for sure, I could not find any camping close to the res. unless I went to Briery Creek, which is also a beautiful place, we did however include Briery Creek as one of our choices for the Meet and Greet, but it got no votes. We will include it again next year as one location, each year we want to go to a different spot in Va. to have a chance to fish and have some fun with friends and family, we are trying our best to get families more involved with an outing such as this one. We started out with Lake Anna this year, even though we did not get the turn out we had hoped for, we had an awesome time, we are looking to give non-boaters a chance to fish waters they may not otherwise ever have the chance to fish, the camping and other things like the picnic we have after the day of fishing allows people to talk and get aquainted with other anglers and their families, we had support from this site and some of our associated sponsors on this last trip and we were able to give out door prizes, but the best part was having fun fishing and meeting with other members. We must find areas that allow all of us to do everything we love to do, along with a gathering area for the families to be able to sit down for a meal together, State Parks are one of Va's greatest resources for allowing us to do just that and one we felt should be included in our decision making process. There is a poll for the Meet and Greet for this up coming year, the top 5 areas that everyone voted for are there, The Potomac, the Occoquan, Smith Mountain Lake, are all in the running right now and which ever place has the most votes is where we will have it at, as of right now, the votes are 4 to 4 with SML and the Potomac tied up, the Occoquan has 2 votes, the end of the voting will be the last day of December, January 1st we will start making plans for the location, this allows everyone time to save funds and make the appropriate reservations needed for the upcoming event. The info for all of these places are listed in the thread with the poll "Locations for the 2013 Meet and Greet" we unfortunately did not get a lot of input but we did list just about every body of water we could think of, so your input would be greatly appreciated and we look forward to metting you should you decide to participate

I looked at this post again, and this particular part of the post caught my eye, one of the most common sayings you hear most frequently is "Most of the time, most of the water has no fish" if we think about this, there is a lot of water we randomly cover with unsuccessful days, "patterns" and "spots" bring new meaning to this equasion, at least imo, "patterns" can mean a couple of different things, one example could mean the pattern the fish are in, ie..a seasonal pattern, this roughly translates to where the fish "should" be during a period of time and what we expect in return is to locate fish doing what we expect. How often have we gone to our favorite body of water expecting to find fish doing what they should be doing and actually find them in a seasonal pattern? if we fish our favorite waters everyday we may see this pattern develop, but lets face it, not a lot of us have that convenience, hence we loose track of what the fish actually are doing, "fishing where the fish are" equates to "spots" don't they?, really nice point imo. For years, "spots" to me were productive places that the fish will often travel through, or stop off at, or stage in, as we traveled through seasonal changes and I personally would expect fish to be in these locations and a lot of times they are, yet, if you think about it, that means I am being focused in on one pattern in one or two spots, leaving many other patterns out on the table, one example, we could fish bait balls by ripping a spoon up through the ball and make the bait fish scatter allowing the spoon to fall back down through the bait ball and landing some nice fish in the process, this is one "spot" with a very viable pattern to catch multiple fish, we are in every sence "fishing where the fish are" and not where we think they will or should be. Spots now become clearer in my mind as to what I should be looking for, instead of, what I expect to see, being focused on finding fish first and then fishing instead of randomly casting an area will make us more productive with our limited time on the water. Very nice point Wayne and thanx !!!!

That chart is wrong, it is down more than any 5 feet, when we were fishing, we could have litterally fished under the boat docks, I am 6 foot tall and the water line on the dock was at eye level and that was standing on the bow of the boat yet, I would be FUMEING as a property owner.

Alright it's 4 to 4 between Smith Mountain Lake and the Potomac, we now have 2 votes for the Occoquan, November is all but done, we have only December left to cast your vote, so if you are interested get your vote in !!!!!

I really need to upgrade lol !!! Nice job, great post, I love what you did for the charity !!!!

Make sure the engine is straight up and down, the drain plug is removed, moth balls do work very well, at least they have for me. As for the fishing, were you fishing vertical or casting out past them? Dropping a jig vertical should have made them bite, vertical would have allowed you to keep the bait in the strike zone a lot longer too, one thing I wish I would have done when we went the last time just never thought about it. As windy as it was I am suprised you went out, is the lake still down?

Great example of taking another look at the waters your fishing, exploration with updated electronics, finding structure such as this can be crutial to locating bass and when they use this as a stopping point along the way, or as a holding area where they always seem to be, I myself have often heard that myth of sonar driving the fish away, I have fished both ways with it on and off, and have found no difference, the point of fishing a particular structure one day and the next there is nothing, that in itself should make you want to learn more about where the fish went and why, updated electronics can be very useful in your success and the process of locating fish. I have not fished for crappie, so I have no input as to wether or not "Motoring" over a location will disturb that particular species, it would seem that it did not phase at least this particular group the way it has done for bass in this lake, I can tell you that I have found it to be true for LMB in areas that do get pressured on structures just like this one you have posted, at times, I can go over to that structure after watching a fisherman pull off the spot and find them to be suspended just outside of that structure and watched as they slowly made their way back, from seeing this for myself, I do however feel "Motoring" over or too a spot does create a disturbance the bass have become aware of and does effect the bite. After fishing her in the 70's and 80's what is your observations fishing her now, compaired to the past? sure sounds like she was a lot of fun back then. What about boat traffic? was she always this crowded in the summer time?, it seems she has gotton more popular in the past 10 years then ever before.

Remember? we should never forget !!! Everyday I am thankful, as is my family also, for the men and women who stand to protect and serve this nation of ours, your many strong individuals that we call our Military that are away from home and are serving, and to the ones who have served, may God bless you and keep you all safe, thoughts and prayers to our Military and all of their families !!! Happy Thanksgiving !!!!

Wayne, What do you have for electronics? I love the pics you show us all the time !!! While I was there the last time I found a lone tree on the bank of the old river channel, I have been over that spot a hundred times and never bothered to pay attention as to why that spot was so productive.

We can read books and try to gather all the information we want, but what do books really teach us when we get right down to it? Theory right? In theory that is the best equasion for colors, in theory everything that works for everyone else with the same circumstances you have should also work for you, but that is not always the case, yes you can take the lighter days, brighter colors, darker days, darker colors approach and it will work just fine, you are correct with the equasion. But if you take that approach, you start to get into variables, for example, clear waters on a slightly overcast day, then what??? Keep it simple, Green pumpkin as a color for example, one of the best natural colors and most widely used colors on the planet imo, now lets take the Senko and start with the Green Pumpkin, you fish it one day and it's sunny out, you get several fish on it but the next day it's a little overcast and the fish bite it but not like they did yesterday, instead of changing baits completly and going to a black or darker color, all it may need is a little red flake to turn the bite on again. Start with one bait, in a natural color would be my suggestion, buy that same bait with small changes to it like, red flakes, green flakes, added to it, just a small difference can make all the difference. Learn to experiment with small changes first before you start changing baits and colors all together, take the time now that you have and profit from this and it will not confuse you so much later down the road, color choices for other baits will be more cost effective down the road as well as you start to build confidence and explore new techniques in the future. Good luck and be safe !!!

I too am in the automotive industry, I know what the end of the month means so we will try to work around that for ya !! We may try to do a 2 day event, not sure yet, but I am sure we will work hard on trying to get everybody a ride.

If everything made sense we could paint a perfect picture and everyone would understand it, since we don't live our lives like this nor should we expect the fish to be the same, in a perfect world the fish would be where we expect them to be and a lot of times, beleive it or not, they are, we have a tendency to overthink and not relax enough to give the fish a fighting chance nor do we give ourselves the chance to understand. Thanx buddy, our fishing trip helped put this in perspective this past weekend. Electronic equipment is something we can't all afford, so how else would we go about taking another look? by being on the water right?, your eyes along with all the other senses you have even your instinct tells you a lot more than your electronics can at times, don't allow yourself to be focused on technology alone, how do we think we got this far understanding the basics of how fish travel, how and when they spawn, these studies were from a different era a long time ago, electronics were not even around then during early studies of this species, I am not saying that sonar is not an answer by any means, they are extremely advanced and can be extremely useful, but if you do not have access to a resource like this then focus on your surroundings and trust in yourself, turn the sonar off if you feel it necessary and let the rig tell you whats down there, blind people see the world a whole lot more clearly than we do as people with perfect vision, take a moment and learn from them if you so desire, close your eyes and reflect on what the rod in your hand is transmitting, I promise the jet ski's and all the jerks around you will just disappear and you will become more focused on your enviroment. Just make sure your not too close to shore if you try that last part though LOL !!

Take into the concideration that you are reading what works all over this country, it does not work for everyone everywhere all the time, all of the information is ment to help you be a more succesful angler by knowing and sharing what all of us have found. Quite often it is still the simplest things that still catch those stubborn little fish that drive us nutt's, you have already said you catch fish, but have trouble only on given days, the senko is a fish bait that will catch them on the most stubborn days there are, don't overthink, if you have a senko tied on just start simple, change the senko and fish it weightless, or add a small amount of weight and change your technique, pick it up off the bottom and let it sink again, fish it T-rigged, fish it wacky rigged, just play with what you have already and explore that bait to it's fullest potential, then look into other baits if you want to. Get comfotable with fishing one bait and knowing what it can do for you before get overwhelmed, patience and lots of it !!!

Thanx !!!!

I really can not say that the sonar has played that big of a roll, I have fished with it both ways, on and off, it may for you, but here it has not, this lake does get a ton of pressure as well, especially the areas everyone knows about, I can tell you this, I have fished areas before like other tournament anglers have, fast and get the he## out, I have also watched as others fish a known good spot, one angler rushes in right behind another, then someone comes in slow and quiet and spends a little time methodically picking that area apart and pulls fish off of it. A second look at a spot such as this one from just an observance standpoint helped me to become a better angler, pressure is what you make of it, it's a mindset imo, your mindset must be different from others, find that difference and you will find fish scaleface, they are there !!!

I would like to share a look at my favorite lake I have recently looked over again, ( Lake Anna Va. ) or A.K.A. " One Fish Anna" This lake was formed in the early 1970's the dam closed her gates in 1972 to start forming the lake that will provide cooling water for the new Nuclear plant that has been built for Va. power. I did not fish that lake in the 70's and 80's but local stories tell of 50+ bass in a day's time, not just by one fishermen but by multiple fishermen on the same days, this made me ask myself these questions, so just how did she get the name "One Fish Anna"? and why is she so tough to fish today if she was that fun to fish way back when? Well here are my thoughts on the lake, she is now an older girl but not too old yet, and reading these forums and posts and putting together my own past experiences and knowlage of her history of this lake may help you to have a better day at ol' one fish Anna, and lakes just like her, I know I am excited to give her a different look and a lot of effort this coming season. Even though she turned ONLY 40 this past year she has changed a lot, most all of her milfoil grass is gone now with the exception of a few patches here and there, at least from what I have seen, her structure really has not changed a tremendous amount but her cover sure has, some of her smaller pockets that used to hold bass have silted in and now the bass have moved on to other locations, the beating her banks take with all of the heavy boat traffic in the summers, and from severe storms, have eroded away in areas and have allowed some big trees to fall into the waters, some in just the right spots too !! Some attributes help to keep fish in her lower parts of the lake active even in the dead of winter, and boy they can be tough to find with her almost being a mile wide at the bottom, the plant sits just 5 miles up stream and gives this lake a reverse current from the water being pulled in from the plants enormous cooling pumps, fishing the break lines and drops here in these areas, you must think open minded, they have a lot of room to roam, she's anywhere from 115 feet, which is the deepest part I have seen, to less than 5 feet deep in the wide open areas at the bottom, and the tempratures remain warm from the heat generated by the plant compaired to the upper potion of the lake just 17 miles away, bass now seem to be making the move to the upper portions of the lake just like you read in every artical about every older lake, that usually means her structure is not what it once used to be, and I too have found that to be somewhat true, most all of my catches seem to be in the upper portions of the lake, from the splits all the way into each of her branches with the old Anna river being the most productive, although the mid lake section is still really good to fish, it seems the lower end has become less productive over the years and you really have to spend some time with her to find them and her secrets. Even with all of these changes, one thing remains the same, the bass and how they evolve, the bass over the years have become a custom too loud boat engines and they know that it's time to move out from their favorite cover when someone pulls in with the big engine, since the lake has changed and the bass have adapted to changes in the lake so too must we change, pulling up on a spot with the big engine running will no longer be an issue, at least not with me, 100 yards will be as close as I dare come before shutting her down to ease in with my trolling motor, once I am within casting distance, no longer will I just throw in a lure and hope for the best, I will however hit my target precisely and at a low angle and fish it like I am supposed to, thoroughly, no longer will I question my abilities, I am going to be a lot more confident, not just in my abilities but in my baits that I use and the techniques in which I will use each one, it's not the bass that have physically changed over the years, it is us as fishermen that have caused them to develop and be aware of dangers to their survival. Bass still use structure like creek beds with deep verticals to get to their spawning grounds here in the spring, they still use primary points and humps to stage during the warming periods to adjust to changing water pressures and to start to feed for the upcoming and daunting task, they still use secondary points and cover along the way as stops as the waters warm to spawning temps and then travel along the shallow flats to find their one true love and create life for another generation of bass, in this respect they are still somewhat predictable because this has been their way of life since their beginning, only this generation of bass, as others before, will have the updated information to pass along to their fry, just as they have been evolving since a long time ago as well, with each generation of bass comes an updated generation of newer bass, ones that are wiser to the sounds of threat's we pose as fishermen. While the argument can go on for ages that bass do not have the mass to learn in their brains, however their instinct for survival is forever evolving and that part of their DNA is passed down from generation to generation, so their ability to process danger is also to be passed on and taught to the young little fry. While this lake has evolved slowly over the years, her bass have become more in tune with a few of the dangers, I feel that we too must evolve, and learn from what the fish are telling us, with all these changes, one question keeps coming to mind and that question is, what is the one thing that has never changed that will help clue us into what these bass are doing? What is the one constant that equates to finding bass? one thing that is still the same and always will be, find the bait fish and you will find the bass, knowing this little answer means that if you find the bass and pay close attention, you will begin to see the structure they use to travel, find the paths of structure and you will find the lathargic giant's in the dead of winter you have been looking for, now look at the path they just used to go from deep winter haunts to shallow spawning grounds, pay close attention and you will have a much more successful summer finding fish that are or seem to be scattered everywhere, you will be a much more successful angler when it comes to fall too, because they do the same thing all over again in search for food to fatten up for the long winter ahead as they travel back to that same hump, that same point, that same vertical structure, that same old creek bed, they may not be the same old bass but it's still the same old structure. Slow down, pay close attention, and open your minds, they are there !! Make time to take some time to explore this coming spring, don't take your fishing gear if don't want to, if you do, just take it to learn what attributes the lake bottom has to offer and you will begin to understand why this path is so important to them, read everything you can and start putting the puzzle together piece by piece and you will find more fish in more productive places than you will or could have ever imagined, you will start to understand why one point is productive and another is not and when, why one cove holds more fish than does others. This coming season begin to make a New Years resolution, and take a new approach to fishing your favorite waters, be confident, remain confident throughout, explore new areas and new depths, explore new ways to fish, go, look for those bait fish and follow them around, follow them into the shallows and out to the open waters, as you do look at the structure and cover that surrounds you on and under the surface and make notes, compare this new structure to a good lake map and you will see whats been in front of you the whole time, these notes will stay with you for a good starting point on any body of water as you go through seasonal changes, you will start to understand what to look for and when to fish and how for how long. Take this up and coming season and make some changes for yourself, be confident, be stealthy, be pin point accurate, and most of all be patient with your new learning curve, the more time you invest will equal more and on average larger fish for your reward. Hope that helps !!! Good luck and be safe !!!

At our age we should be glad we feel anything at all LOL !!!