Fishing Lake Anna

[Luna2406]

Planning on doing a whole day trip up there with a fellow kayaker. Read most articles that are on here about Lake Anna just wanna see if anyone has any tips of where to put in and where good places for kayak fishing is. Are bass already deep for the summer?  I've never been to that Lake so anything will help! Thanks guys!

[Nitrofreak]

Lake Anna,

This place fishes like no other I have ever visited, Lake Anna IMO is a finesse fisherman's paradise, while there are times when a crank bait, spinner bait, blades and others work well, the most commonly consistent bait is nothing more than a good old fashion worm and or creature bait, 3" or 12" nothing beats a worm and I will tell you why I believe this to be true.

When you think cranking Lake Anna, think about what you normally don't see others doing, sure the rip-rap produces numbers, it normally does but, how many do you see working something like a 10XD? or a big ol' swim bait? not many, it's a lot of work and a lot of anglers just simply don't take the time to understand the in's and out's of cranking, I am in no way saying that I am an expert at it, lord have mercy no, I am getting better at it though, I owe that to what I am learning here on this site and a lot of time on Anna, while the numbers are not where I would like for them to be, certainly the quality has picked up, cranking Anna is a slow go most of the time and certainly not one of the more productive techniques at least for me right now, unless you get on a good school of active fish here or hit a spot at just the right time it's a pretty difficult technique to catch fish on, this place see's a lot of angling pressure, especially around her banks, if cranking is your strong suit think a little deeper around areas like her rip-rap or around her stump fields when you consider cranking this lake and your day will be much more productive.

Spinners, are really good around the grass and lily pad fields as well as the occasional brush pile and beaver huts scattered around this lake, I like to throw these when the water is a little cloudy, I really like those with big blades that make lots of vibration and run them just under the surface, this year, with all of the rains have made the perfect spinner bait season, the waters up north in the upper reaches of the old river arms have produced really well in areas just like this, top water baits like buzz baits are right up there too and who doesn't like some top water action.

Lake Anna as far as her structure goes is for the most part pretty much barren on the bottom, they really scraped her clean before they flooded the place in 1972, a few scattered brush piles here and there placed in several locations all over the lake, you can find an occasional tree or an old fence line, there are some places where an old road bed or train tracks used to be, most of these have silted over and can be tough to locate, they are for the most part in the deeper waters of Anna, several underwater bridges still dot her bottom, some of the better structural foundations of old buildings and bridges are easily found in the Pumunkey branch however in much shallower water.

The number one pattern there is skipping docks, there are so many docks, always a reliable means of producing some memorable catches, remember that this lake is pressured, at times you can see one boat right after another skipping the same row of docks, you may have to "slow your roll" so to speak in order to get bit, look for the differences that will make one or more stand out , a dock that has rod holders may be a good give away, one or several that offer some cover between two docks in the form of vegetation,( those are always the best fun ), deep fronts usually equate to a good structural change, however you decide to break down this lake I would like to offer this for all who are only there for a day or those who fish from a yak or other limited means of transportation, the lake on her bottom is over a mile wide in places, given the amount of current and temps of the water returning to the power plant, the lower lake stratification can be as deep as 30 feet or may not actually stratify at all until winter, given the avg. depth is approx. 30 feet down there and over a mile wide, it can be pretty difficult locating fish with so much room to roam especially when your limited, the quality of fish is a trade-off, even though there are memory makers scattered throughout this body of water, your chances of catching a few good lunker fish are pretty good mid to lower lake, I always suggest fishing her upper regions for anglers such as yourself, it is not near as wide, near as deep, the fish can be much easier to locate as far as numbers are concerned but every once in a while up there your going to get one or more of those spectacular catches.

The 2 baits I always tie on are jig and pig combo's as well as a T-Rigged worm or creature bait, mostly it's a worm, the T-Rigged bait will take on many different looks in the course of a day there depending on how fast you want your presentation getting to the bottom and or not at all, how big you want your presentation to be and or how subtle, the bite on Anna is for the most part a very subtle one, a lot of times ( more so than not ) they will pick it up and not move an inch, other times they are pretty aggressive, the good news is that when you do get an aggressive strike it usually equates to competition in the area, be sure to saturate the entire area when that happens, I hope your good at line watching or your going to miss a lot of fish LOL !!

Good luck, be safe and God bless !!!

 

            

[Sam]

Try to find Teddy Carr's book, Fishing Lake Anna.

Outstanding!

[Luna2406]

We ended up going and putting in at lake anna's visitor center. Then we headed south along the rip rap then under the bridge. One thing I noticed was how aggressive and big the bluegill were, they were destroying my wacky-rigged senko. Almost every cast I was feeling the bluegill, sometimes they would hit so hard that they would pull my pole down haha so if anyone wants some good bluegill fishing this is the spot. We then went into an arm and tried to hit docks with no luck. We found ourselves in a 3-4ft flat and where there was structure I could see bass roaming but could not get them to bite. That was pretty frustrating. The only bass I caught was a small guy right off a grassline. Really wish I would have read all this before I went up there because I would have gone north instead of south to find some of those lily fields and grass mats. I would have felt more comfortable fishing that area. The lake being so clear also threw me off, im used to fishing stained to muddly lakes down here. I did try fishing drop offs near shallow water but had no luck, I was using a 7" ribbontail worm. We didn't stay long because the gentleman I was fishing with got really dehydrated and sick about 3 hrs in so we had to call it a day early. Really hoping to get out there again and try the north side of the lake.  @Sam, guess the whole one fish anna comment you said once stuck haha. @nitrofreak thanks so much for all that information ill take it all into consideration next time im out there!

[Nitrofreak]

The book Sam offered is a really good read and one I would suggest as well.

There is so much to lake Anna, areas that suit many angling skill sets and preferences each angler enjoys most.

I prefer trying to figure out her structural secrets more so than the rest of what she has to offer, not saying it's not enjoyable because there are certainly times when the productivity is worth hitting the visual cover, that's for sure !!

This is where I spend a lot of my time there, it's maybe not as fun and exciting as fishing the visual things that a lot of anglers really like but I enjoy this part of Anna the most.

 

 

 

 

[Avalonjohn44]

On 7/13/2016 at 9:42 PM, Sam said:

Try to find Teddy Carr's book, Fishing Lake Anna.

Outstanding!

Starting at $80 on Amazon. 

[Wayne P.]

Lake Anna

Bridge deck where a bridge was removed and new one built before the lake was formed:

Crappie on a boat dock:

Someone's brush piles:

 

[everythingthatswims]

If you have a kayak, fish the hot side! There aren't many big ones (although I can tell you there is at least one GIANT ) , but there are a pile of fish, and since it is private, there are less "recreaters" so boat wakes aren't as much of an issue this time of year. I went last month and we crushed them fishing drop shots in 20-35 FOW, lots of schooling fish on the surface as well. 

Put the kayaks in at dike 3, just carry them across the road and GO!

[WDinarte]

Man Mrs. Anna  looks to be  a good place to be skunk... looks like one of the reservoirs around my area. Lot of information here and many hrs. On the water from you guys, one day I have the plan to camp the lake and for sure I will be one more and NOT the last to try that lake...

[Nitrofreak]

5 hours ago, WDinarte said:

Man Mrs. Anna  looks to be  a good place to be skunk... looks like one of the reservoirs around my area. Lot of information here and many hrs. On the water from you guys, one day I have the plan to camp the lake and for sure I will be one more and NOT the last to try that lake...

Ya just got to have patience with her if your not able to skip every single dock in the joint LOL !!

She is a truly great fishery, my favorite place to fish all year long, you can fish deep, shallow, you can flip and pitch, you can cover a wide veriety of techniques and have a lot of fun doing so, patience, patience, patience, sometimes you need to move around a bit to find the more active fish but, she is a great place to go wet a line or two for the day.

[WDinarte]

18 hours ago, Nitrofreak said:

Ya just got to have patience with her if your not able to skip every single dock in the joint LOL !!

She is a truly great fishery, my favorite place to fish all year long, you can fish deep, shallow, you can flip and pitch, you can cover a wide veriety of techniques and have a lot of fun doing so, patience, patience, patience, sometimes you need to move around a bit to find the more active fish but, she is a great place to go wet a line or two for the day.

yeah... that is what we call fishing and like I always say, life is a learning process as fishing too. Great info here, thanks.

[Nitrofreak]

5 hours ago, WDinarte said:

yeah... that is what we call fishing and like I always say, life is a learning process as fishing too. Great info here, thanks.

Get very comfortable with a Carolina rig for that place, Anna is a prime candidate for that style of fishing, not a lot of anglers like it there but it is very, VERY effective ?

[Nitrofreak]

Sept 11-17

Fishing this ol girl this week was a pain but an enjoyable one, to find a single fish on the bottom would have been an exciting moment, needless to say fishing her was almost like everything was suspended, like fruit in a big bowl of jello, water temps ranged from 81.9 to 89.5, water clarity ranged from about 3 to 4 feet to a mere few inches, down lake a lot of the water was brackish, (that brownish looking color) but with visibility of about 4 feet in the areas I visited.

I learned a lot this week of how to fish for suspended bass with some success, I learned a lot from the cooler stained but oxygenated waters that flowed into the upper regions that I had visited also finding some success, I learned that fishing that skinny water takes a truly finesse approach, not just from your bait selections but from a mentality standpoint as well as a mechanical/methodical approach for an area, I fished everything from 45 feet to 1.5 feet of water, I went through 2 tanks of gasoline covering the entirety of this 9000+ acreage body of water to learn more intimately the importance of a never say die attitude.

I fished my strengths and she showed me my weaknesses, I fished my weaknesses and she gave me confidence in becoming a more versatile angler.

This lake is one lake that I will always have a soft spot for in my heart, she is forever my arch enemy, my nemesis and yet, my love.

She has given me life, she has inspired me to do more, push myself harder, to reach in and touch her very soul only to have my hand smacked away just like a childs hand in a cookie jar just before I could grab it and hold on, she would tease just a bit just like a girl to keep your attention then cut you from the family as if she's never known you.

Anna, I thank you for the lessons this week, I look forward to the change of season and the challenges of fall that you will give to us.

The fish I caught before the tournament this past week.

 

[Luna2406]

@Nitrofreak this was awesome man, I love the passion you have for fishing. That's what its all about, learning, trying and personally pushing yourself to be better. This year I focused on using worms and man its completely changed the way I fish. Just started trying shakey heads and I've had some crazy good days on the water. I love learning and I also love failing because it teaches me what not to do or how to better do things.

[Nitrofreak]

1 hour ago, Luna2406 said:

@Nitrofreak this was awesome man, I love the passion you have for fishing. That's what its all about, learning, trying and personally pushing yourself to be better. This year I focused on using worms and man its completely changed the way I fish. Just started trying shakey heads and I've had some crazy good days on the water. I love learning and I also love failing because it teaches me what not to do or how to better do things.

I hate failing it's aggravating as hell LOL !

Fishing is just a mindset, the skills you aquire takes work, the water you explore begs of education for the habitats below the suface, it's putting all of this together and having the patience to work through it which gives us as anglers the challenge and drive us in the pursuit of the ensuing reward.

Truly glad to hear that your learning and succeeding in your endeavors to become a better angler my friend, I thank you deeply for the kind words, I hope to someday meet up with you at some point and share some fish tales LOL !

Good luck and be safe !!!

 

 

 

[HistoryNerd27]

Since I haven't seen any reports on here lately I was wondering if anyone knows the clarity, temps, etc. on Anna right now. I'm taking a day off school and work tomorrow to get a day of fishing in and want to hit the uplake region to see if we can catch a few. Hoping the weather hasn't affected the fishing much. Thanks for any info guys!

[Sam]

On ‎7‎/‎19‎/‎2016 at 3:55 PM, Avalonjohn44 said:

Starting at $80 on Amazon. 

I sent an email to Teddy to find out if he has any copies available for sale.

Will let you know what he says.

[Sam]

Sorry guys. Teddy Carr just sent me an email telling me that the book is out of print and he does not have any copies.

Oh well, we tried.