The Bream Reaper

anyone have any tips on finding some deeper fish right now on Anna? general areas? i'm assuming still a few weeks out from the first phase of spawners. was out this past saturday and could only locate stripers in deeper water and small bucks shallow...

Was out right before the outskirts of Matthew came through...I usually love fishing before a front/storm during summer months, but it may have been too much this time of year and the fish seemed to be pretty finicky. Sounds like Chop didn't get much of a read with high winds and equipment failure, but i'd hope the fall bite is back to normal by now or at least by this coming weekend. I caught one 2# fish on a crankbait in probably 15 ft of water off a secondary point (I think pretty close to where a couple creek channels intersect) last friday and that was the only time i got bit all day. threw a lot of different things with no luck. saw a few schools of nervous shad getting back in there shallow mid-afternoon. Just couldn't figure out how to get the green fish underneath them to bite. I would say before last friday I've had some of my most productive days out there...so hoping the storm just put them in a funk and all is back to normal by now. not sure that's helpful but all i got!

Went out yesterday morning from about 7-11:30. Best five went around 12#. Busy morning out there but no one in my favorite spots right there around fountainhead. saw a lot of boats on PW side but not many on Fairfax county side (they may have been catching them too on PW side, but that's not where i was). I didn't get bit until about 8:30 and then it turned on a little bit. a couple well over 3# and the rest were in the 1.5-2.5 range. Everything came off of submerged cover in i'd say 6-10 foot of water dragging craw type baits (black and blues). water was slightly stained and water level is LOW. my favorite time to fish the rez is right around the corner!

i'm playing hookie and getting out there on friday. last time out (about a month ago) caught 5 at a few spots (relatively shallow - probably no deeper than 10ft) just above FH. biggest went 4ish and the smallest was 1.5ish. It was a stringer I'd take any day of the d**n week out on the Potomac (but pretty average on the rez)! conditions were a little better for a shallower bite that day though....good cloud cover.

anyone know if they are renting jon boats out of fountainhead? I've called over a couple times and haven't been able to get anyone...

have they started renting jon boats out of FH yet?

has anyone been out lately? Quan when is halls classic? I'm trying to get out w/a buddy this sunday...hoping we can catch em shallow all morning.

yea I think with rain runoff and the lower temps the shad schools will be way back in there by the weekend. I'm trynig to get out Sunday morning before the 1pm games start to see if I can chase some bait around. I don't plan on going too far from FH either. Quan, yall have a tourney this coming sunday?

I'm a big believer in using FC leader when finessing w/spinning gear. Line twists drive me nuts and I also feel like I get better castability out of braid main line. I pretty much always use 15lb power pro braid (i like red because I can see it better) for main line and anywhere from 6-10 lb FC for leader. Unless water is incredibly clear (which is a rarity in our local waters) I don't think leader needs to be much longer than 2ft. W/casting gear, only time i use ANY leader at all really is carolina rigging, and usually I'll have like 50lb braid as main line and a mono leader (mono because I think it keeps the bait up off the bottom a little better because of the bouyancy of mono). If you decide to go with braided main line, only thing you need to do differently when rigging is either put athletic tape around the arbor or use some mono as backing line so the braid wont slip on you.

I 2nd (or 3rd) that. As someone who rents a jon boat and has no electronics on board, the topo map is critical for me. I always have it in my bag when I go out on the rez. A lot of key bottom features and depth changes can help guide you...especially when it's August.

All great info. Thanks Quan, et al. So i am considering getting a kayak. Hokie, Riva and Chop, any suggestions? Thinking about firing in on that Jackson Big Rig but I want something I can transport on top of my Pathfinder. Also want something stable enough that I can take out on some bigger water (and potentially salt water)...and also that I can bring my 70lb dog with me and he won't tip. Just had our first baby last week, so the kayak is my compromise with the wife! Concerned about transport and ease of launching if I were to launch out opt Fountainhead or maybe even Bull Run if I purchased a launch pass. What do y'all think?

We did well Saturday morning from about 6-11:30am. Kind of an anomaly though with the rain/overcast, but for whatever it's worth we were catching quality (2-3#ers) pretty regularly all morning in anywhere from 2 - about 7ft of water. They were chasing swim jigs and soft plastics. We stopped at every main lake laydown and point (even better if it was a point with a laydown) from FH to the old dam. Slowed down with a stick bait and picked off a giant up on a point closer to old dam in about 6 or 7ft of water if I had to guess.

If you're more accustomed to fishing shallow right now, keep an eye out for bluegill beds fishing.

Congrats on the win Jig! That's a really nice stringer. Whats yalls club record, 25 or so? I'm going to put some time out there this weekend. If you see me in a rented jon boat throwing DD22's, carolina rigs and football jigs up near the old d**n till my arm and hands cramp up, share some words of encouragement please.

Had a solid numbers day today chasing shad schools in the creeks. specifically the creek up by the old dam and down by the pier at fountainhead. lots of shad swirling around WAY back in those creeks. took me about 2 hours to figure out how to catch them but threw a DD10 or 12 maybe underneath the schools of shad to catch them. no quality (maybe biggest was 3#...MAYbe) but solid quantity. I tried throwing soft jerk baits and spinnerbaits and swim baits and chatter baits in the schools at first but that wasn't working. so went with the deeper diving crank bait when they were suspended out in deeper water and then threw a square bill when the shad moved closer to cover. probably caught 15 keepers from about 8:30am to 2pm.