JCrzy4Bass

Hey man, Don't feel bad. The public side can be very tough and frustrating. My dad and I have fished it over a couple handful of times and we haven't had the best luck. Though last year in the fall we found a few productive places. The biggest part of it is locating the fish and learning how they pattern on Anna. I would follow Teddy Carr's website and Charlie Bowles as they have them patterned up pretty well most times throughout the year. Their reports can be found on sturgeon creek marinas site, High Point Marinas site and by googling either of their names. Once summer patterns start you have to fish fairly deep on Anna. What's deep? Subjectively on Anna its anywhere from 15 - 25 feet deep. Believe it or not Charlie said in one of his recent seminars down at BPS you can't fish deep enough in the summer. You want baits that are gonna get down fast and work the bottom or close to the bottom when you find fish. He also said when you find one work that spot as good as you can because typically they will stack up. That's what I heard at the seminar at least. Deep diving cranks, jigs, drop shots, swimbaits, and other heavy lures such as plastics with heavier weights. Keep in mind sometimes these fish may suspend so you want to vary your fall rates until you figure out what they want. As far as spots go, there are alot of them on Anna and once you locate a few you should really focus on breaking them apart as good as you can. That's the best way to learn Anna. You can't figure it all out in one day, let alone a week. Other advice: Think outside of the box, remember to go natural as this is 90% of the time a pretty clear lake in most parts. There are coves and areas where water runs in where it can muddy up, don't know how good patterns like that work in late spring on Anna but it may be worth a shot to find off colored water if possible. Also go natural with your bait selection. Shad, herring and perch run the lake so those types of colors and lure imitators are good for starters. I forget what the primary forage is for bass but I'm sure shad are a good portion of their diet. If you contact Charlie Bowles he can let you know about that. I know early to mid spring which is probably fading fast (as summer approaches) jerkbaits, lipless baits, senkos and swimbaits are solid selections from what I've heard from other anglers. When summer gets here I'd go with some of the above mentioned baits I stated earlier. I am by far no expert on Anna and probably never will be, it's unforgiving most days, but this should be able to help you at least some what. Like I said use the resources (guides, locals, tackle shop folks, etc to help you out as much as possible). Also invest in a lake map. Later bro.

Simons turned into a fish catching machine... I think I'm gonna call him Robo-fish! Lol. Nice catches bro.

Go ahead Steve! Is that the spot we talked about over at Terrapin that one day that we both said we had hooked into nice fish at? Seems familiar. Those are some beautiful fish dude. Looks like you got it figured out for shore. All that anticipation to get out on the Potomac was worth it after all huh? I'm back out this am but hitting the shore over at the same place we fished last time we hooked up. Looking for some spawners but I'm thinking they might be a little shy this morning... we'll have to see. Be over there around 8:15 if you're interested. Great job though dude. I knew you'd get on em'. Congrats on a heck of a day.

Occoquan River where Dan mentioned at the Regional Park has some good fishing. So that pohick/occoquan pass may be worth it, it's really up to you. Do you wanna venture across river (not that bad a trip but on windy days... maybe not so) or would be fine to be contained to the occoquan and the bays (belmont, occoquan, gunston, accotink, etc) and make the occassional run to the main river (potomac) if you are fully gassed up. I know of some great spots on the Occoquan River that I could put you on if we get the chance to get out. Most of them produce probably 8 - 9 months out of the year. Hope this helps.

Hey man, where in Dale City do you live? I live around the Minnieville area and have fished probably every puddle in the area. Maybe we could hook up sometime and do some damage? I'm getting out tommorrow morning to fish for some spawners if you're interested. Pm me for details and location. Name is Jason.

I knew I wouldn't be counting you out for smallie action Andy We will get a date set probably early next month.

You wanna catch pick... go to Lunga. Period. Most pickerel in any lake I've ever seen. Throw swim jigs and cranks (lipless). Done! Lol. Anyway, Steve nice fish. What Preach said man, that's too dang on funny. That fish is like cheesin' for the camera lol. Good stuff. I didn't even know Anna had pickerel. Crazy. Can't wait to get out with you again bro. We need to figure out a date so I can take off work. Anna or the Potomac. Don't matter which to me.

Yo Andy, I just woke up this morning and got a pm from one of the guys on here who has his own boat and hes gonna take me out to Frederick that day so we will have to look to another as far as hooking up. I'll shoot you a call after work. Ps: Those spinners you sent me a pic of last nite look sick dude. I think the bait monkey is gonna have my number when I get paid on the 15th lol. If for whatever reason our plans fall apart I'll hit you up and keep you in mind dude.

I've heard seaguar is pretty solid. I always see their stuff in both Bassin' and bassmaster. Some guys who used to work at Boater's World before they closed down swore by that stuff. So anyway, I saw we all keep an eye on the guage (height) and the temps in reports and get something together when the time rolls around. I'd assume probably early - mid may. But I guess play it by ear.

Hey guys, just got word that I am gonna be off on this Friday since I work Saturday that particular week (rotating schedule with one - two sat's a month). Anyway, I want to go ahead and hit up either Lake Orange or Lake Frederick. I'm looking for someone to roll up with me, split rental and spend the day fishing. Orange is 35 for full day rental jon (w/ trolling motor and battery), I'd imagine Frederick isn't too much more. Both have a good shot at some big fish this time of year. Let me know fellas. I'm trying to put it up early so I get max amount of interest.

Dan, BPS and the Vanish stuff in that black/blue container. Those two I had a lot of frays, snaps and easy breakoffs with. Don't get me wrong, I know flouro can be used with a lot of applications in bass fishing. Just my experience with it. I do use P-line which has been pretty awesome for largemouth and haven't had any issues with it yet, just haven't tried it on smallies. I may this spring/summer. Just suffix elite has never steered me wrong on the rap. I fish it a lot during may - september. Maybe just the two lines i tested out?

Andrew: Pm Sent.

New, Trying to pm you but it says I'm now on your ignore list. Lol. So if you wanna look into it and let me know I can try sending again?

Dave, Any medium or medium heavy rod with a fast action is good. I'm short so I don't like longer rods but I use a 6' 6" and it does fine. 7' for wading may make for a harder time rigging up during the wade (without dunking your reel). You can get away with a medium in the river here because once the bass takes the bait a lot of the time the current and the way the smallie fights will help that hook drive further into the fish without a heck of a lot of effort. You still wanna set the hook obviously and be very careful to play the fish so it stays in the water. These guys are known for their aerial shows they put on! For line avoid braid as there are too many snags and you will be cutting off baits all day. I don't like flourocarbon a lot because the line sinks and with all the hangups and rocks and stuff the line gets caught up and beat up easily (imho flouro deteriorates quicker than mono). I like a line with some stretch and decent diameter. I use Suffix Elite 10 or 12lb mono (awesome for this type of fishing), but I have also used Trilene xtra tough and smooth casting as well and had plenty of success. Pick yourself up some gitzit tubes from walmart (they come in packs with tube weighted hooks already provided), if you want bigger fish buy some larger tube head hooks and some Strike King Coffee Tubes or Venom tubes. These things will get you bigger fish. Other baits: Mepps or Joe's flies inline spinners, 3 - 4" pearl colored grubs and small jig heads (1/16 or 1/8), plastic lizards, 4" senkos, or some finesse jigs. In my opinion you don't need much more in a smallie tackle box. Maybe some small hard jerkbaits and small spinnerbaits...

New, do you know of any access points (from shore without treking through a forest) north of the route on bridge that you can get to by foot? Not looking for specific honey holes just relative areas that have open shoreline. I know a lot of the shoreline is pretty wooded once you pass that campground on Falls Hill Ave. I usually fish this time of year down at the intersection of Falls Hill and River Rd along the paths there or a little further down on River Rd where it almost meets the tidal portion. Not much luck but I have caught some in the past. I just can't wait to wade, I was doing real well at a few different spots last year and have some specific cover pegged that almost always holds fish. Plus I'm sure those winter storms and flooded water this spring probably uprooted new trees and got more cover into the water. Should be good this year. You can shoot me a pm instead of throwing up info here if you want, or not. It's cool either way. But I can put you on some great wading spots this spring if you wanna help each other out.