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This August
Fishing Report is furnished by
Jim Hemby
of LAKE ANNA STRIPER GUIDE
SERVICE
STRIPERS:
This has been one of the hottest years on record, water
temperatures have been near 90° all of July, but the Striper
fishing has been hotter than the weather. Va. Game and Inland
Fisheries have done a spectacular job of managing the lake and
our catches this year reflect the incredible fishery. We have
been catching our limits all year, and in July we have been
limiting out usually before 9am. August fishing should prove to
be as good but the Stripers will be moving more working their
way shallower and to more oxygenated waters.
A few patterns are very reliable this month, concentrate
your efforts from Sturgeon Creek down in 20 to 40 feet of water
and above 208 fish will be active in 10 to 30 feet of water.
Fish will be moving toward the backs of creeks and further up
lake following the bait migrations especially if we experience
some cooling rains. There are still many schools of Stripers
breaking on the surface throughout the lake, down lake around
all the islands and mid lake up on the banks and in the pockets.
Most any bait will catch these fish but Pencil Poppers and Pop
R’s will work the best. The deep bite is still on and once you
locate the fish on your depthfinder you can troll Deep Diving
Redfins, drop rigs or umbrella rigs to catch fish. You may
have to use lead core line to get down to the fish, down lake
the fish are suspended between 30 to 40 feet deep. If you plan
to troll up lake keep your baits running about 20 feet deep.
Some days the Stripers will move right up on the bank to feed,
especially in low light conditions.
I have been locating up to a half dozen schools a
morning, the fish feeding well till about 9am then shutting off
till the afternoon hours. Both Herring and Gizzards will catch
Stripers this month, we have been using the Herring on downlines
when the fish are deeper and the Gizz on boards to catch the
larger fish. Stripers this month relate well to ledges, if you
can not located them over flats crisscross over ledges in 20 to
30 feet of water till you see the arches on your depth finder.
Later this month Stripers will move into the current at Dike 3
and can easily be caught on Pencil Poppers.
BASS:
There are two basic patterns to rely on this month that will put
Bass in the boat. Main lake points, humps, roadbeds and
bridges hold Bass with numerous techniques catching fish. Deep
diving crank baits are working well now along with 10 to 12 inch
worms rigged either Texas style for cover or Carolina style for
covering larger areas. If you prefer shallow water fishing, Bass
are feeding heavily in the backs of the creeks on humps, rocks,
stumps and ledges. The fish will be extremely shallow up the
rivers and creeks. Shallow running crankbaits and spinnerbaits
work excellent in these stained waters. Bass will be up on the
flats when they are aggressively feeding and will pull back to
the ledges of the creek or river channel in adverse conditions.
The baitfish will tell you where the Bass are, find the bait the
Bass will be nearby. Good areas that are holding Bass are at the
bridge in Contrary and also the humps and ledges back by the
proposed golf course, all the way up the rivers as far as you
dare to travel, back behind the bridge in Christopher Run, the
back of Terry’s, and main lake fish are schooling on many of
the fish structures.
CRAPPIE: Nice
Crappie are being caught on the bridges, ledges and deep docks
that have brush underneath them. At night, Crappie are all over
docks with lights on them. I can’t keep the Crappie out of my
net when I am throwing for bait in the mornings. Later in the
month the fish will move very shallow and can be caught in 4 to
10 feet of water. They will be feeding on Threadfin Shad about 2
inches in length. Keep your baits small this month to imitate
the shad they are feeding on.
CATFISH: Cats
are everywhere feeding on everything in sight. Simply use a fish
finder rig with either live minnows, cut bait or stink baits
fished on the bottom. They love this water temperature and are
probably the easiest fish to catch this month.
www.JimHemby.com
JimHemby@hotmail.com
540.967.3313
This Report is
furnished by Chris
McCotter of
McCotter's Lake Anna
Guide Service
www.mccotterslakeanna.com
540.894.9144.
Late-August
Lake Anna, VA - Get ready for schooling fish and topwater action
because this part of the season has begun here on Lake Anna. Seagulls
and terns are present in several locations around the lake now. Find
them and you'll find fish nearby. Water temperatures have dropped back
to the mid-80s and the backs of creeks are cooling nightly. Here's
what you can expect on your next visit.
Bass - The guides that fish for green fish know that many of Anna's
bass school like stripers. They do this to feed in packs on the
plentiful threadfin shad and blueback herring throughout the lake.
While you can find schooled largemouths from the upper end to the
lower end of the lake, the lower end tends to harbor more schools.
While it might seem like the fish are in open water, they are actually
schooled according to how current positions them on underwater points
and humps. Baitfish are drawn to the current where they can feed on
plankton and enjoy the higher oxygen present in moving water. Find
some current, some underwater humps and points and you'll find the
bait, birds and bass schools in the coming weeks. The region from the
power plant down to Valentine's Cove is the top zone for this pattern.
Top lures will be Badonkadonks, Super Spooks, the Berkley Jerkshad,
the Berkley Realistix Minnow, the Berkley 3" Ripple Shad and the
Toothache Spoon.
If you prefer not to fish for schooling fish, you can
target bass in the upper North Anna, Pamunkey Branch and Terry's Run
using crankbaits and shaky head worms. Underwater rockpiles, docks,
bridges, willow grass and brushpiles are all holding fish now.
Striper - Did you know that 201,000 fingerling Chesapeake Bay stripers
were stocked back in May here? Yep, lots of stocked fish each year
have made Lake Anna's striper easier to find for everyone and it's
been an enjoyable summer. You'll find these fish schooled according to
size in the coming weeks - the smaller fish in often acre-wide schools
breaking on the surface in the mornings, the bigger fish in smaller
schools, sometimes on the surface, but more often a bit deeper until
the cooler weather of fall. Get out early in the morning and start
your striper search at places like Rose Valley, Big Ben Flats, just
above and below Stubb's Bridge, just above and below the 208 bridge
and down around the power plant. Don't go too far back into any creek.
The majority of the fish are still on the main lake now. An
afternoon/evening feed will develop by the end of the month, too.
Casting lures and trolling tends to work better now than
live bait until the water cools again in November. Use topwaters you
can cast a long distance, small swimbaits (See above) and Toothache
Spoons to cover all sections of the water column. The stripers are
still moving around a lot and can be caught on the top and in 38' of
water within a five minute period at times. Look for seagulls to
reveal where schools feed in the mornings. They arrived in mid-August
and will stay through the winter. Expect plenty of 18-21" fish
this month and the occasional good'un up to 10 pounds. Hot zones could
be the mouth of Plentiful Creek, the flats in front of the State Park
beach, Ferrari's Corner Pocket of Big Ben Flats and the Window Pane
and don't rule out some action way up around Gold Mine and Duck In
Hole Creek near the end of the month.
Crappie - At some point next month these fish will return to the docks
in the upper region of the lake. Until then you can fish deep for them
using slip bobbers and minnows around bridge pilings and deep brush.
McCotter's guides prefer to wait until they firm up in cooler water
and make for better eating.
Book your fall trip now as dates are going quickly.
Report generated by the guides of McCotter's Lake Anna Guide
Service
540.894.9144.
C.C. McCotter Catch the Latest on my Blog
www.mccotterslakeanna.blogspot.com
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