Spawn is on at Lake Anna

[Bigs]

Just spoke with Teri Olinger over at Warbirds and he said the bass are bedding and have been since at least last weekend. So I'm headed back in a few hours for the weekend. I'm gonna fish saturday and sunday. The bite should be fantastic and landing some 4+ pounders shouldnt be a problem as long as I can find the coves where these hawgs are hiding. Any tips on the best baits to use on bedding bass out there ? The water temps should at least be in the high 50's all over the lake and much warmer the closer you get to the power plant. I'm also gonna hit up dy ke one for some of the fish that havent started spawning yet. Should be a blast. Any mature folks wanna bring a boat down then send me a message, I already have at least one other forum member coming down with his boat tommorow. Let the good times roll.

[rondef]

I watched a Hook and Look show where they were doing some bed fishing and they caught a lot of bedding bass with the Rage Tail baby craw on a jig head.

[VolFan]

Craws with a green tint to hem or bluegill imitators always work good forme on beds.  Don't you feel like it's too easy when they're spawning in that clear warm water at Anna?  It's almost cheating, you don't really have to earn alot of the fish...But there are some hogs in there

[Jake Freeman]

I would take "to easy" in heartbeat right now!  I hope you kill em Steve!

[NOVA Angler]

Post some pics.

[Sam]

Fishing the hot side or the cold side? 

[5bass]

Fishing the hot side or the cold side?

There's no way its the cold side. I was there two Fridays ago and the water was in the mid-high 30's.

[Bigs]

Warm side is where I go since I have a cabin there. And well, the bite wasnt quite on. Some club rented a house there and had their own private tourney. There was about 15-20 boats and all were in an area the size of a football field maybe. It wasnt fun for me but I did manage one decent size fish.

RockvilleMdAngler brought his skeeter out and tried his luck too. He had more hits then me but only managed one fish also. My partner caught two fish.

I saw no bedding bass so Im not sure where they were but we couldnt find them. We were in that area to the right of Dy ke one where the water was 64 degrees back up in that cove where theres alot of good boat docks/boathouses to fish.

My usual spot on dy ke one didnt produce either. I had to use my anchor cuz the wind+rip rap= wrecked boat if you arent fast with the trolling motor, I didnt wanna spend my day turning the boat around every 30 seconds.

My fish came on a super light shakey head which was impossible to fish in the high winds esp with the 6 pound test I use. I did have one fish all the way up to the boat where it somehow broke off my texas rigged rage tail anaconda. It was somewhere between 3-4 pounds, I almost pulled an Ike and went nuts but I controlled my anger  :-X

The highlight of the trip had to be when my newly built daiwa pixilla/mbr842glx combo fell in the lake I grabbed it within 5 seconds of fallin in, it was fine. We were gonna fish today again but one of my dogs got very ill last night so we packed it up and came home today.

I'll be back out there this coming week and next week. If anyone wants to bring their boat then contact me. I wont have any open space on my boat tho. It's def a good time and there are alot of 7-8 pounders in there for the taking. My neighbor caught a 7.5 pounder last February out there and has caught dozens of 5-6 pounders as well. I just gotta learn more out there and develop the ability to find the fish more often. It is a tough fishery but well worth it.

[Dan:]

Sounds like you guys missed the "fantastic bite." Weather should get better soon.

[NOVA Angler]

Warm side is where I go since I have a cabin there. And well, the bite wasnt quite on. Some club rented a house there and had their own private tourney. There was about 15-20 boats and all were in an area the size of a football field maybe. It wasnt fun for me but I did manage one decent size fish.

RockvilleMdAngler brought his skeeter out and tried his luck too. He had more hits then me but only managed one fish also. My partner caught two fish.

I saw no bedding bass so Im not sure where they were but we couldnt find them. We were in that area to the right of Dy ke one where the water was 64 degrees back up in that cove where theres alot of good boat docks/boathouses to fish.

My usual spot on dy ke one didnt produce either. I had to use my anchor cuz the wind+rip rap= wrecked boat if you arent fast with the trolling motor, I didnt wanna spend my day turning the boat around every 30 seconds.

My fish came on a super light shakey head which was impossible to fish in the high winds esp with the 6 pound test I use. I did have one fish all the way up to the boat where it somehow broke off my texas rigged rage tail anaconda. It was somewhere between 3-4 pounds, I almost pulled an Ike and went nuts but I controlled my anger :-X

The highlight of the trip had to be when my newly built daiwa pixilla/mbr842glx combo fell in the lake I grabbed it within 5 seconds of fallin in, it was fine. We were gonna fish today again but one of my dogs got very ill last night so we packed it up and came home today.

I'll be back out there this coming week and next week. If anyone wants to bring their boat then contact me. I wont have any open space on my boat tho. It's def a good time and there are alot of 7-8 pounders in there for the taking. My neighbor caught a 7.5 pounder last February out there and has caught dozens of 5-6 pounders as well. I just gotta learn more out there and develop the ability to find the fish more often. It is a tough fishery but well worth it.

Try any topwaters?  My club had a tournament there last year about this time and several people did well on Ricos.  The other bait that produced well was a Megastrike shakey head jig with a green pumpkin power bait finese worm.  My partner caught a 4+ on a deep diving crankbait along a roadbed.  I caught a few fish on a Carolina rigged lizard.  Too bad you didn't run in to one of these....

http://mccotterslakeanna.blogspot.com/

[Bigs]

I had some ricos in my bag and had thoughts of using them but passed them up. I should try them in a week when I go back. I noticed alot of guys in other boats were throwing shakey heads but of course I left my heavier shakey heads behind and only had super light ones out on the boat with me, I wasnt thinkin bout the wind. I caught one on a green pumpkin damiki air pocket worm that just arrived at warbirds. Picked up a pack to see how I liked them. First cast with it I caught this 1.4 pounder. No prize fish but considering it was a new product I was tryin out and my first cast with it, not bad.

[Bigs]

Heres one I caught last week in the same spot, a lil under 3 pounds. This one I caught on a zappu wacky head with a 4 inch senko. Its about the average size fish on dy ke one but I know theres 5 pounders in those rocks. I just gotta figure out the right presentation to nail those big boys.

[Wayne P.]

Steve, if you use a weightless wacky rigged finesse worm on the East end of the rocks just before it starts getting real shallow, that will produce the bigger ones. You may find some several yards off the rocks in that shallow area.

[Dan:]

where'd my post go? oh well, Steve, have you thrown anything other than finesse baits? If the water is warm, maybe you should try something other than slow and small.

[Bigs]

Steve, if you use a weightless wacky rigged finesse worm on the East end of the rocks just before it starts getting real shallow, that will produce the bigger ones. You may find some several yards off the rocks in that shallow area.

Wayne I trust your opinion esp since you have probably fished anna alot more then I have. I'm still learning. Those pics were taken at the east end of dy ke one right where it's 8 feet deep or so. I tried the very end where it's real shallow and had no luck, but I didn't fish it a whole lot. Next time I will just anchor down closer to the end and work that entire area. I been using senkos and flick shakes on a 1/8 ounce zappu wacky head. I think I'll take your advice and try it weightless also.

And are you suggesting finesse worms like the zoom finesse worms ? You're not talking about senkos I guess ? And what about the west end of dy ke one? I still haven't gotten down that far yet. There's so much area to cover that its easy to get locked into one part and never leave esp when you're catching fish.

Dan, I have tried other stuff besides senkos and small jigs. I have tried 1/4 ounce white spinnerbait, shallow crankbaits, creature bait, Carolina rig with a 7 inch worm, cicada blade bait, shakey heads, poppers, and maybe a few other things that I cant recall at the moment. If I were a good crankbait angler then maybe I could put some in the boat but I haven't had any luck. I know ppl have caught big ones in there with carolina rigs but not me. I have only caught fish there on the wacky jig head/senko combo and on a shakey head and that's it.

Anyone with experience fishing that part of the lake, I appreciate any input you have to offer up.

[Wayne P.]

Steve just an unweighted Zoom finesse worm. You can try the Trick worm also but the finesse worm produces best. There is no need to be in a hurry to get the bait to the bottom by adding weight, the hook is enough weight.

If you go far enough away from the rocks in the shallow area and get into the current, you may want to add some weight to overcome the current. When they are spawning, that is not an issue since they will be closer to the dike.