Look A Second Look At Your Favorite Lake And Maybe Yourself, You Might Find Something New.

[Nitrofreak]

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 !!!

[scaleface]

My local large reservoir receives a lot of pressure and the fish have learned to shun lures and bass boats.I believe depth finders are the biggest warning signal too bass.

[DavePNW]

A really good read, nice article!

[Nitrofreak]

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 !!!

[Nitrofreak]

A really good read, nice article!

Thanx !!!!

[shimmy]

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 think this little bit of information is perhaps more important than your whole write up (which was great by the way). Shoot, i only fish a 300ish acre lake (Beaverdam) when i have the time and have made serious new discoveries there a few months ago that i did not know in the four years i have bombarded this reservoir. Despite using my depth finder (crappy one), just experimenting with different areas and lures has made a bigger difference in my fishing than logically trying to understand the fish at times.

These northern VA lakes are brutal and i have been eating humble pie for the past 4 years. Still tastes terrible. But back to your point, these fish are evolving and you have to do something different, and that "different" thing does not have to always make sense.

[Zoff]

Good read!

[Bigbarge50]

Great stuff.... I know Shimmy's NOVA pain all to well.

I think pressure being a mindset is right on.... Every biologist says a fish does not have a memory more than a few minutes, at most. Yet as an animal they become conditioned.... So the same lure can be throw over and over again and be more successful than the previous guy I think if the presentation is different. Fish seemingly should not be able to remember that color crank coming through the area, but if the presentation you make is the same as the stuff they see everyday, well then your only chance is a hunger bite and not a reaction bite..... why would a fish react to the same thing they see constantly. If you can figure out what will trigger that reaction bite, when then you will overcome fishing pressure. I have no clue how to overcome jerks pleasure boating, or my enemy, the idiot on a jet skis, Outside of torpedoes

I also am in the same boat as shimmy..... a mediocre downscan is my electronic tool of choice. While it is a tool and I like it, it has not opened my eyes to structure and changes I thought it would. It is a learning process that never ends, at least until I get a newer better unit, then it starts all over. I think Nitro is dead right.... taking a new look at the bodies we are on should really help breather some new life into the bodies we are hitting.

Shimmy let's compare NOVA notes sometime.

[scaleface]

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 dont fish the big water anymore because I dont have a big enough boat. I mostly fish smaller public lakes where the bass are eager to bite. I use a small boat, electric motor, and sonar. There is not much competition and those who do try for bass usually dont know how to catch them. Pressured bass and unpressured bass are like two different species.

[Nitrofreak]

I think this little bit of information is perhaps more important than your whole write up (which was great by the way). Shoot, i only fish a 300ish acre lake (Beaverdam) when i have the time and have made serious new discoveries there a few months ago that i did not know in the four years i have bombarded this reservoir. Despite using my depth finder (crappy one), just experimenting with different areas and lures has made a bigger difference in my fishing than logically trying to understand the fish at times.

These northern VA lakes are brutal and i have been eating humble pie for the past 4 years. Still tastes terrible. But back to your point, these fish are evolving and you have to do something different, and that "different" thing does not have to always make sense.

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.

Good read!

Thanx buddy, our fishing trip helped put this in perspective this past weekend.

Great stuff.... I know Shimmy's NOVA pain all to well.

I think pressure being a mindset is right on.... Every biologist says a fish does not have a memory more than a few minutes, at most. Yet as an animal they become conditioned.... So the same lure can be throw over and over again and be more successful than the previous guy I think if the presentation is different. Fish seemingly should not be able to remember that color crank coming through the area, but if the presentation you make is the same as the stuff they see everyday, well then your only chance is a hunger bite and not a reaction bite..... why would a fish react to the same thing they see constantly. If you can figure out what will trigger that reaction bite, when then you will overcome fishing pressure. I have no clue how to overcome jerks pleasure boating, or my enemy, the idiot on a jet skis, Outside of torpedoes

I also am in the same boat as shimmy..... a mediocre downscan is my electronic tool of choice. While it is a tool and I like it, it has not opened my eyes to structure and changes I thought it would. It is a learning process that never ends, at least until I get a newer better unit, then it starts all over. I think Nitro is dead right.... taking a new look at the bodies we are on should really help breather some new life into the bodies we are hitting.

Shimmy let's compare NOVA notes sometime.

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 !!

[shimmy]

Great stuff.... I know Shimmy's NOVA pain all to well.

I think pressure being a mindset is right on.... Every biologist says a fish does not have a memory more than a few minutes, at most. Yet as an animal they become conditioned.... So the same lure can be throw over and over again and be more successful than the previous guy I think if the presentation is different. Fish seemingly should not be able to remember that color crank coming through the area, but if the presentation you make is the same as the stuff they see everyday, well then your only chance is a hunger bite and not a reaction bite..... why would a fish react to the same thing they see constantly. If you can figure out what will trigger that reaction bite, when then you will overcome fishing pressure. I have no clue how to overcome jerks pleasure boating, or my enemy, the idiot on a jet skis, Outside of torpedoes

I also am in the same boat as shimmy..... a mediocre downscan is my electronic tool of choice. While it is a tool and I like it, it has not opened my eyes to structure and changes I thought it would. It is a learning process that never ends, at least until I get a newer better unit, then it starts all over. I think Nitro is dead right.... taking a new look at the bodies we are on should really help breather some new life into the bodies we are hitting.

Shimmy let's compare NOVA notes sometime.

Hey partner, yeh there are a lot that feel our pain. Especially those who do not fish the potomac or occoquan. Even then, the Occoquan can be nasty if you don't know what your doing from what i hear. Quanjig has put his time on it and i think he is a bundle of knowledge for anyone that wants to learn that place. As for Beaverdam, I have filmed many of my outings out there the past two years (even though this is my 4th year fishing it-finally got a kodak playsport 2 yrs ago). I have caught 50+ fish over 4 pounds (yes i weigh them-which will be on film as well) on the Bdam the last 2 years and am putting a collection of the best footage with all of the spots exposed, boat positioning, approaches, and the lures being used and will post online on the Tube for people who struggle out there. I am not saying that i am "the" expert out there but i have been fortunate enough to learn a lot out there and want to share with the good fellas like you how to catch the 4+ bass almost everytime out there. I have failed way too many times and lost a lot of self-esteem in the process but i believe after people watch the video, they will enjoy it and hopefully learn whatever they may not know. Caught several 23+ inches out there as well and have some good footage of some of them and the spots. Would probably be suicide to post the video now since i will still be here for another year given how small the reservoir is but my goal is to give other people the honey whole experience by watching the video. When i got here, i wanted so badly for someone to just take me out and share some hot spots or help me get onto some good fishing since i knew little about the lakes around me and did not have a boat at the time. Two years ago, i decided that i wanted someone in my shoes to have the opportunity to have a honey hole experience and my video will probably make a lot of people happy while ticking off the few who know the lake pretty well. Don't really care. Given the high amounts of 4 plus fish in this lake, i think the lake will be just fine. Another thing is for sure though, this lake can beat the crap out of you if you don't know where you are going, hence the little pressure it gets. Furthermore, every time i feel like i know the lake i learn another spot and feel like an idiot once again. Anywho, i'll post the video first on this section and throw out a bone to whoever is interested.

[Zoff]

Thanx buddy, our fishing trip helped put this in perspective this past weekend.

Excellent. Glad I could be part of this.

[quanjig]

Shimmy, the res is truly one of my favorite places to fish and one that I have put a lot of time and effort into much like your beaver dam exploits. I have a more difficult time showing people the "spots on spots" on the res because in this area of NOVA, people wil literally dessimate an area known to have a large group of good fish! Burke lake is another place that got a lot of my attention when I got my first fishing vessel, the bass pro shops bantam 3X plastic pontoon! But back to the original question/mental approach that nitro has brought forth. I think in the last 5 years that I have been fishing, I have realized that if you are not keeping up or adapting to how the fish change from season to season, you are going to suffer with poor outings and disappointing results. The biggest changes I have made have been to concentrate on making good decisions while on the water. When to move what to throw and what I need to do to get the results I think should be resonable for that day of fishing. At times, we all need to take a step back and analyze how we approach fishing certain bodies of water and understand "we have a limited amount of time on the water, how can I make the most of it!" I have also had many much better anglers than I help me learn this great passion and I would be lying if I told you I figured all of these things out on my own!! I try to learn a little bit on each outing and never go home feeling beat or bettered by that little green trout!!

[Wayne P.]

I fished Lake Anna in the 1970's and yes 50+ bass a day was quite common. Small bushes all over the lake were bass magnets where you could catch a dozen on just one of them that was on the creek channel drops. The chain pickerel were very numerous too. 3# - 4# crappie were not unusal either.

That is the nature of a young lake.

Electronics will help you learn where and when the fish are and they don't scare the fish either. That is just one of those myths that fishmen use as an excuse for not catching. Having the right electronics allows to you fish where the fish are, and not just be random casting. The "spots" will be where the fish are, not where one was caught last year, last month, last week, or yesterday.

I was there a couple of weeks ago and scanned this rock pile. It was "coated" with fish, mostly crappie. I motored over it several times at different angles to check it out before fishing it to see what they were. I then scanned it again as I left and they were still there almost like when I first scanned it.

[scaleface]

I use my electronics because I'm a better fisherman with them. Highly pressured bass dont bite as well as unpressured fish. This I believe is fact. My opinion is the stealthier the angler is , the more success he will have. I think that slamming tackle boxes, scooting coolers , fish flopping on the bottom of the boat , trolling motors and DEPTH FINDERS ... all contribute to the fish knowing you are there. Should you not use trolling motors and depth finders? Of course not. But dont think for a second that bass cant hear sonar.

Ive been lucky enough to have several times fished for bass that have never seen a lure . Big smallmouths have followed me around like a pack of dogs. Dont dare let a lure dangle in the water or you will lose your combo. Introduce bass fishermen and the game changes.

Saying that "sonar does not scare bass behavior is a myth" is an opinion not a fact. I do not share that opinion when it comes to bass that have been bombarded.

[Nitrofreak]

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.

[Wayne P.]

That is one of those deals if you think it makes a difference, it does. If you think it doesn't make any difference, it doesn't. That goes for lure colors, fishing line types and colors, scents, etc.

[Nitrofreak]

I fished Lake Anna in the 1970's and yes 50+ bass a day was quite common. Small bushes all over the lake were bass magnets where you could catch a dozen on just one of them that was on the creek channel drops. The chain pickerel were very numerous too. 3# - 4# crappie were not unusal either.

That is the nature of a young lake.

Electronics will help you learn where and when the fish are and they don't scare the fish either. That is just one of those myths that fishmen use as an excuse for not catching. Having the right electronics allows to you fish where the fish are, and not just be random casting. The "spots" will be where the fish are, not where one was caught last year, last month, last week, or yesterday.

I was there a couple of weeks ago and scanned this rock pile. It was "coated" with fish, mostly crappie. I motored over it several times at different angles to check it out before fishing it to see what they were. I then scanned it again as I left and they were still there almost like when I first scanned it.

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.

[Hanover_Yakker]

Great read - I also fish Lake Anna, but primarily on the warm water side. Another lake that I fish has the same scenario with regards to pressure, that being Sandy River Reservoir. It hosts a local Bass Pro style tournament frequently by the local club on top of the consistent pressure of the locals. Every time I have fished it and the bite is "off", I change up my approach and pick apart an area as thoroughly as possible. This approach has paid off twice for me in the past two tournaments I participated in. The first one earned me 1st Place and a free kayak (which my son absolutely loves), and the second one earned me another 1st Place and $500 (which was donated back to the charity that sponsored the tournament).

[Wayne P.]

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.

I use Humminbird Side Imaging.

I am so used to just using that technology that I rarely even use traditional 2D sonar unless I am using vertical presentations.

I use it at the console and bow. It shows me what is away from under the boat as well as what is under the boat. While I am fishing, I scan the area to see where the fish are so I am fishing where the fish are, not just random casting. Basically I "sight fish" all year, at all depths. In shallow water, with regular sonar, the bottom coverage is very small, but with the Imaging technology the coverage is whatever the Side Imaging range setting is (up to 360' on each side of the transducer).

I think I have posted this screen shot before with my trolling motor mounted transducer and bow unit.

This is a shallow water image where I was fishing a creek channel on the right side and I didn't have to run the trolling motor into the fish to see where they were. There is a school of small baitfish in the creek and at the top of the image (the white streaks just being recorded) are some bass. I caught two of them after I saved that image.

Note: the water depth where the boat is and the range setting---

[Nitrofreak]

I really need to upgrade lol !!!

Great read - I also fish Lake Anna, but primarily on the warm water side. Another lake that I fish has the same scenario with regards to pressure, that being Sandy River Reservoir. It hosts a local Bass Pro style tournament frequently by the local club on top of the consistent pressure of the locals. Every time I have fished it and the bite is "off", I change up my approach and pick apart an area as thoroughly as possible. This approach has paid off twice for me in the past two tournaments I participated in. The first one earned me 1st Place and a free kayak (which my son absolutely loves), and the second one earned me another 1st Place and $500 (which was donated back to the charity that sponsored the tournament).

Nice job, great post, I love what you did for the charity !!!!

[Nitrofreak]

The "spots" will be where the fish are, not where one was caught last year, last month, last week, or yesterday.

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 !!!!

[Nitrofreak]

I learned something this past weekend fishing with Quanjig at the Res, that is to be prepaired for anything, I thought I had enough to get a couple of nice fish but infact I was way behind the curve, the dropshot should have worked to both of our strengths but the Res was so loaded with shad where we were, we did not really stand a chance for the bigger bite, I left my pointers at home thinking my Rapala DD would get them pretty good, but to no avail, and what else did I leave at home? my spoon, if I would have had that bait with all the shad they were chasing we could have loaded the boat in a hurry, at least I feel like we would have, the water color was perfect along with the little bit of choppy surface, the creek channel we fished had a beautiful bend where we were with a shallow leading up to a good cover area the shad may have been using, the bass were pushing the shad into groups, some were boiling the surface, the DD 100 Quan had, proved to me that there is no better info than right from the source.

Be prepaired for anything, it seems that even the locals that fish there a lot were surprised by the amount of bait fish the bass had pushed into this one general area, eventhough there were some really nice fish caught by these guys who know their waters, there was so much left on the table for me as to "what if".

Looking back now actually helps me prepair for the future and next time outings with friends, so be prepaired for anything when you go, you might just have the best day ever !!!

[quanjig]

I think we did fairly well considering we were down electronics for the better part of our morning!! Thankfully a friend told us the shad were packed in that area! Once the graph fired up, we got into position to get some nice bites! The res in the winter can be feast or famine, but the old saying of find the bait, find the fish held true. We moved around to try and find another bite but the bait was not nearly as abundant in other areas we tried. I felt I needed to show Nitro some more of the res and left the fish to try and find fish, big no no! No harm no foul, we had fun and we both took a lot away from the trip! All outings should be treated as learning experiences and we both got education about December fishing! All told, like Nitro said, you have to try and be prepared for anything!!

[Nitrofreak]

I think we did fairly well considering we were down electronics for the better part of our morning!! Thankfully a friend told us the shad were packed in that area! Once the graph fired up, we got into position to get some nice bites! The res in the winter can be feast or famine, but the old saying of find the bait, find the fish held true. We moved around to try and find another bite but the bait was not nearly as abundant in other areas we tried. I felt I needed to show Nitro some more of the res and left the fish to try and find fish, big no no! No harm no foul, we had fun and we both took a lot away from the trip! All outings should be treated as learning experiences and we both got education about December fishing! All told, like Nitro said, you have to try and be prepared for anything!!

That was not a big no no !!!!

I had a blast covering the water that day, had we not done that then I would have not met a few of your friends, and I would not have a chance to fish against you in a tourny or two LOL !!!! non of which I would ever use against you by the way.

I was so glad to have had the opportunity to see the Res for what she was, you don't know how excited I felt about that place even after I left, I needed that time to just practice, dude, you saw how rusty I was, it was the time we used to talk with one another, there were so many reasons to the good that it far, far, far outweighed the reasons not to do that.