Super User everythingthatswims Posted June 5, 2018 Super User Posted June 5, 2018 I got back from the FLW college National Championship on the Red River this Friday, and I was ready to go remember how it felt to catch some fish! I needed one rest day, but Sunday's forecast was rainy with a high chance of topwater. Lake Anna isn't a lake I enjoy fishing at all, I rarely go there besides in the winter, but with the fish being post spawn, and the conditions that I would be fishing, I decided to fish in a Sunday morning tournament that one of the marinas hosts all summer long. Lake Anna in the summer is pretty much a topwater for an hour then go finesse fish on brush piles from what I can figure, and I don't like that. The rain and clouds meant I could throw moving stuff the whole time which I committed to completely, I didn't even have a spinning rod rigged up. Our first stop of the morning after takeoff was at a marina for gas, the one we launched in didn't have ethanol free! After filling up, I put the trolling motor down and started fishing. I put a 2lber in the boat on a super spook within 10 minutes, and got on a pretty good bite for the next half hour, landing 4 decent fish in the 1.5-2.5lb range. They were all on two flat main lake points, which made perfect sense for herring eaters. I fished a couple more similar places after that with no love, so we headed to a creek to fish two pockets that historically have held nice fish this time of year. I always see the bass in these pockets, but can never catch them. I figured the conditions may give us a shot at getting them to eat. On the way into the pocket, we saw a 3lber cruise by that showed no interest in a senko, pretty typical for that spot. I then looked towards the bank and saw a bass lying motionless on the bottom, nosed up to a seawall. I told my buddy Ethan to cast to it, he had a senko in hand already. The fish moved towards the seawall when it heard the senko hit the water, but still didn't know where it was (behind his tail). Ethan twitched the senko a couple of times and the fish spun around, two more twitches and the fish bit. He was a little ugly, but ended up being our 2nd best fish of the day and our 5th fish. I bet most people wouldn't have thought to sight fish in the rain, but you can almost always stumble across a sight fishing opportunity if you are observant! I hooked up on the spook on my very next cast after netting his fish, which was a decent upgrade, putting us at about 10-11lbs. 10 will get a check almost all summer in the Sunday morning tournaments, so at this point we needed to go find a big one. It was 8am and we weighed at 11, so we had a good chunk of time to make it happen. I stuck with the super spook and decided we would stay on the main lake, I knew we could catch a bunch staying in creeks and pockets, but in a 5 hour tournament, you don't want to be looking for upgrades of ounces. Fishing for kicker bites is something I need to improve on in my tournament fishing, so this was good practice for that. From 8:00 to 11:00 I had two bites on the super spook, and hooked one of them. It was almost a 5lber, and was big fish of the tournament! We ended up with 15.15lbs, getting edged out by less than half a pound. It felt great to get back in the groove after a brutal week in Louisiana. Red River gets a 2/10, would NOT recommend! 19 Quote
Fairtax4me Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 Awesome job dude! Anna is one of those lakes I've never been able to figure out, and I don't plan on going back anytime soon, at least not to fish for LMB. 1 Quote
Super User everythingthatswims Posted June 6, 2018 Author Super User Posted June 6, 2018 14 hours ago, Fairtax4me said: Awesome job dude! Anna is one of those lakes I've never been able to figure out, and I don't plan on going back anytime soon, at least not to fish for LMB. For me, when I go fish, I try to always learn more that will help me for tournaments in the future (and bass fishing in general). I have yet to learn anything on the cold side of Lake Anna that has helped me anywhere! The bass are so weird there. I catch fish all over the country and it all makes sense. Not Anna. The hot side on the other hand, is my go-to place when I need to learn! 2 Quote
Super User TOXIC Posted June 6, 2018 Super User Posted June 6, 2018 In my guiding experience on the cold side there are a LOT of wolfpacks and in the summer because of all the boat traffic, they pull out and hold on brushpiles and structure. Seems you did just fine!! Traditionally the feeder rivers uplake hold the bigger fish but they are harder to find. 1 Quote
Super User senile1 Posted June 6, 2018 Super User Posted June 6, 2018 Nice work! I enjoy your accounts of your fishing escapades as I think they are useful for those who need to learn how and why they choose certain strategies on the water. Even an older gentleman like me can pick up reminders of things not to forget while on the water. 1 Quote
Super User N Florida Mike Posted June 8, 2018 Super User Posted June 8, 2018 Cool story and Good job! Quote
Super User everythingthatswims Posted June 8, 2018 Author Super User Posted June 8, 2018 On 6/6/2018 at 8:43 AM, TOXIC said: In my guiding experience on the cold side there are a LOT of wolfpacks and in the summer because of all the boat traffic, they pull out and hold on brushpiles and structure. Seems you did just fine!! Traditionally the feeder rivers uplake hold the bigger fish but they are harder to find. I know big fish come from up lake, but my brain has a hard time accepting the fact that in a herring lake there isn't a population of big fish down in the lower end. They HAVE TO BE THERE! I want to find some anyway Quote
Fairtax4me Posted June 8, 2018 Posted June 8, 2018 On June 6, 2018 at 8:24 AM, everythingthatswims said: For me, when I go fish, I try to always learn more that will help me for tournaments in the future (and bass fishing in general). I have yet to learn anything on the cold side of Lake Anna that has helped me anywhere! The bass are so weird there. I catch fish all over the country and it all makes sense. Not Anna. The hot side on the other hand, is my go-to place when I need to learn! Haha! That may be part of my problem. The main issue for me is the amount of traffic on that lake. If I'm out on a ski boat or on a pontoon drinking, totally fine with the traffic! But when I'm fishing... It's just plain obnoxious. I guess I just prefer the serenity of a smaller/less traveled lake. Quote
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