Its like fishing the dead sea

[Nitrofreak]

Hey anyone out there ever fished lake Anna in Va.?

[Red Bear]

you may have wanted to post this in the southeast section for the board, im sure there are some guys there that can give you good advice on lake anna

[Bigs]

Lake Anna is great. I fished there on the private side alot over the winter and caught alot of fish, mostly 2 pounds and under. The cold side(public) is chalk full of 5-10 pound bass. They are about to be spawning there if they arent already. Im headed back down next week for some spawning action. It takes time to figure that place out tho, its not like the potomac river where anyone can go out and catch at least a couple bass. There is very little grass there btw, it's mostly wood, rocks and fishing points. If you're into target fishing then the boat docks always produce but I tend to see smaller bass around the docks unless they are bedding.

[Dan:]

That's exactly what I thought when I first fished the warm side. There is NOTHING in that lake. Besides the occasional stumps, rip rap that doesn't go too deep into the water column, and boat docks there's not much to look at. I think the best bet would be to find some underwater structure.

[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.

[dauberangler]

I read an article not to long ago about Lake Anna.  It basically stated in the 80's fishermen could go out and catch as many as 40 bass a day.

After they flooded the lake a lot of the vegetation and grass beds were destroyed which is what a lot of the fish rely on for food and shelter.  Take that away and it becomes a lot harder.   It still is a great place to fish mostly if you know someone with some experience on the lake.   Nothing brings me more joy then to sit on my friends dock at night in silence and just catch whatever wants to bite

[Sam]

Get this book by Teddy Carr:

Fishing Lake Anna with Teddy Carr

540.854.4271

Then get the GMCO map of Lake Anna.

Finally, get some colored pens and get ready to mark up the map.

If the phone number is not working you can Google Teddy Carr and go through his web site and guide service to get the book.

One more suggestion. Go out with Teddy as your guide on Anna.  It is a lesson within itself.

And that's why we call her "One Fish Anna."        

[stratos 375]

I'll have to agree with the crowd that says she's tough. I was never a regular there and have only fished it maybe 40 times or so over 30 years. Even back in the mid 80's , it was no picnic. I will say, some guys do well there on a consistent basis, but I was never one of them. The last tournament I fished in my life was there in 1992, probably 50 boats, I was very surprised to take second. It's just plain tough.

I did one of two things there, I ventured all the way to the back of the 2 major arms and looked for off color water, and went against all advice of fishing deep. I seemed to pick up fish once in a while. The only other pathetic strategy I had was to hit secondary rocky points all day long, and just figure it was a statistical thing, enough casts, and you'd eventually drag your jig in front of one. They are there for sure. A few times I was lucky enough to get a pass to the hot side, seemed like a different lake entirely. One time stands out in particular, It was Superbowl Sunday, fish bustin on top all over the place and eatin Pop-R's like candy.

[Bigs]

A few times I was lucky enough to get a pass to the hot side, seemed like a different lake entirely. One time stands out in particular, It was Superbowl Sunday, fish bustin on top all over the place and eatin Pop-R's like candy.

I know people talk about the hot side like it's got no bass but I did well there over the winter. All it takes is to be there for several days in a row to find a pattern in a few good areas and you can slam fish. My buddy Mike has been catching 20-30 bass a day on both the hot and cold sides lately. I usually catch small ones out there but it's still fun regardless. I wouldnt say it's a good place for a novice to go and try to catch numbers tho, thats for sure.

[Sam]

(Steve), if you know what you are doing on Anna you can do well.

Partner and I caught over 11 pounds (9 keepers within 18 bass) and ended up 4th in the tournament.

Our 3.97 big fish was not big enough to win the big fish pot.

They are in Anna. You just have to know how to get to them.

I suggest going to Teddy Carr's site and read his posts and consider going out on One Fish Anna with him.  In addition, his book, Fishing Lake Anna, is outstanding. 

[Nitrofreak]

Thanks for all the info you guys since you have posted i have made 2 trips back to the lake and have had success but I can say the private side is better, I have a friend that has property there BUT I may have found an answer I have only tried it once and it worked very well, If it continues to work well I will share it with you.

I want to be sure it was no fluke

[Under the Radar]

I want to be sure it was no fluke

Is this a clue?   

 

[Nitrofreak]

OK , ok I have gone to lake Anna a LOT and have been successful but the most I have ever caught there was 10 in one day on the cold side or the public side whichever you prefere and on occation come home empty handed but on my last trip there I started the day as I always do top water and spinners and move to live bait in the middle of the day,  Well nothing was happening and I mean nothing, As a matter of fact it was so slow my wife decided to take a nap, Well the nite before I had soaked my lures in some fresh shrimp and put them in a container and kept them cool and all of a sudden I started to catch fish. These fish were actually picking the bait up and holding on to it longer so I changed back to the non scented baits and tried another spot low and behold nothing, I stayed in that same spot and switched back to the scented bait and it worked again, I did this repetedly through out the day and caught 28 fish off of the scented bait, Now was this a fluke? Im not sure, But I want to try this again the next time im there.

[Bigs]

that's something I would have never thought of. If it works then stick with it.

[lazeebum]

What is the difference in the public side and private side if you are in a boat?

[Dan:]

What is the difference in the public side and private side if you are in a boat?

The two sides are separated by dikes. The one side is basically walled off from the other.

[Nitrofreak]

You can only fish the private side if you are a guest, There is no other way to get into the private side unless you have a guest pass and launch from there.