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Michael,
Alec, Sam & Spencer
6/26
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David,
Craig, Colin, Ian & Josh
7/08
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This July
Fishing Report is furnished by
Jim Hemby
of LAKE ANNA STRIPER GUIDE
SERVICE
STRIPERS: The
days of July are Hot, the water temperature is Hot [90*], but
the Striper fishing is even Hotter and will continue to be for
the rest of the month. There are literally hundreds of schools
of Stripers roaming the lake feeding aggressively now. We
are seeing acres upon acres of Stripers ranging from above the
splits down to the dam. July is the month when any angler can
catch Stripers on the lake, just pick your preferred method.
Here are a few techniques to try to cash in on this great
fishery.
In low light conditions, the Stripers will be near
the surface busting on the small bait fry. When you see the
action, ease up to the school, cut your big motor off 100 yards
from the action and use your trolling motor to sneak up to the
school throwing Pencil Poppers, Chuggars, Spooks and plastic
jerkbaits on top working them as fast as you can. Please respect
your fellow fisherman by not encroaching on them in a manner to
spook the school. You can also throw Sea Shads and Berkley
Hollow body swim baits under these breaking fish to catch some
larger Stripers. A ¾ oz Hopkins spoon can also be cast a long
distance into the breaking fish and retrieved as fast as you can
across the surface. Vary your retrieve, occasionally letting the
spoon fall where you saw a fish boil and Hang On to your rod.
When the sun gets bright the fish will retreat to the depths and
that is when you must locate the schools on your Lowrance
depthfinder. Once you locate them you can use many methods to
catch them. Many anglers simply troll Deep Diving Redfins with a
Bucktail tied to the middle hook holder on a 3' leader. Others
troll umbrella rigs and drop rigs. Some anglers locate the
schools and vertically jig for them using ¾ oz. Hopkins Spoons
and Zoom Super Flukes rigged on a ¾ oz. jig head. Simply drop
the spoon to the bottom and jerk your pole up 2 to 3 feet and
follow the spoon back to the bottom. If the Stripers are
suspended , note how deep they are and measure out line to
present your spoon in their face.
The most productive way to catch Stripers this month is
to locate the schools and put downlines rigged with Herring
right in their face. Note the depth the fish are using and count
down your bait to that depth, engage your reel and get ready.
This is the tactic I use, it is common for my clients to
experience 200 to 300 hits a morning! When you use this method
you can't keep up with the constant and frantic action and this
method usually produces the larger fish. To view our daily
catches, visit my journal at www.JimHemby.com .
BASS: By
now the Bass have taken up residency in their summer haunts and
are predictable in their feeding patterns. In low light
conditions, fish top water baits [chuggars, prop baits, twitch
baits, etc.] on main lake points, flats and humps. Many fish
will school in the mouths of creeks and on structures especially
humps and ledges where baitfish are present. After the sun gets
bright the Bass will retreat back to the depths using stumps,
rock and brush piles, bridge pilings and ledges as cover. To
catch fish that don't see lures try fishing ledges that drop
sharply from 10 to 25'deep. Use your favorite lures [Carolina
rigs, worms, drop shots rigs, deep diving crankbaits, etc.] to
catch the Bass. Once you catch one fish you are likely to be on
a school where you can catch numerous Bass. Parallel the bluff
banks and Rip Rap along the dikes and the roadbeds early with
topwater baits and change to crankbaits in brighter conditions
to catch schooling Bass. Try fishing deeper than you ever have
to catch the larger fish. Up lake concentrate on structure
nearby the channels of the creeks. This is a great
“Structure” lake and now is the time of year when a
good depthfinder is essential. Later in the month Bass will be
feeding heavily in the backs of the creeks and all the way up
the rivers nearby the schools of bait, usually on the ledges of
the channels in water depths ranging from 2 to 8 feet deep.
CRAPPIE: Most
slabs have moved to deeper water now using bridge pilings,
brushpiles and ledges in 15 to 30 feet of water as holding
areas. Also try fishing the docks that have lights on them in
deeper water. Use heavier jigs or slip bobbers tipped with small
minnows to catch the slabs this month. On the private side of
the lake the crappie are stacked up under the bridges. The best
way to catch these fish is to use a tandem crappie rig with 2
minnows, drop the rig down to the depth you see the fish at on
your depth finder, and once you start getting double hookups
mark your line at your reel with a magic marker. You will be
able to limit out very quickly using this method, and have a lot
of fun in the process.
CATFISH: The
Cats have moved to the 20 to 40 foot depths and are feeding on
Herring now. You can use live bait as well as cut bait to catch
the fish. They are either behind or underneath the schools of
Stripers and can be located on your depthfinder as arches on or
just above the bottom on deep flats. There are so many good
eating size Cats in the lake, it is a great way to spend a
couple of hours catching fish and filling your freezer.
Many anglers enjoy eating Catfish but don’t like cleaning the
fish. Instead of skinning the catfish the old way simply fillet
the fish like you do any other fish, remove any yellow meat and
have a great fish fry.
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.
July
Lake Anna, Va.
- With water temperatures
in the upper 80s on the main lake fish have settled into predictable
summer patterns here on Lake Anna. Use this seasonal behavior to
locate and catch them consistently. Bass and striper are your best
bets now with catfish in third place on the popularity list.
Here's what you can expect for your next visit.
Largemouth
bass - Some schooling
action remains as bass feed very early in the morning on baitfish,
however, most of these schools now stay deep on some type of
underwater structure. Humps, rockpiles, brush piles and channel ledges
are holding large numbers of bass now. You can target them with a
crankbait and worm in the upper regions of the lake, shakey worm and
drop shot mid lake and down lake. A cast or two over the structure
right after arrival with a Zara Spook or Badonkadonk will determine
how active the school is. Always have this topwater ready in case bass
or striper start breaking within casting distance. Fish Structures are
excellent now as are bridges in the upper portion of the lake.
Exploring Terry's Run and the upper Pamunkey Branch with a crankbait
can be productive this time of year. The extreme headwater sections,
too, are worth an early morning visit as long as the water doesn't
drop more than the 7-8" it is already down now. Buzzbaits,
spinnerbaits, soft plastic jerkbaits and swimbaits are the choices up
there.
Striper - Almost
too easy once you find them now! Trollers, live bait anglers and
spooners are doing well. This week marked the first decent one for
topwater breaking action of the summer. Places to check include the
Dike I area, the mouth of Contrary and Mitchell Creeks, from the mouth
of Pigeon Run to The Splits and just above Stubbs Bridge. The Rose
Valley area should be turning on soon, too. Very early in the morning
the fish are breaking and can be caught on a variety of casted lures.
Once this phase ends, the fish will roam in schools for another hour
or two, then they will gather up and stay relatively static in 27-38'
of water. Live bait anglers can net live blue back herring at most up
lake bridges before the sun rises under a light and then use them on
free lines and down lines. Vertically jigging Toothache spoons has
picked up again and these jarring strikes can be memorable when the
Lowrance is lit up with arches. Looking for the schools is the key
now. Do not stay in one place more than 10 minutes if you don't get a
bite or the depth finder is blank.
Catfish - If
you cannot find the stripers, you'll find the catfish with the live
bait now. Fish from 25-35' deep with down lines near the bottom and
get ready. Channel cats are the most desirable fish now.
C.C. McCotter Catch the Latest on my Blog
www.mccotterslakeanna.blogspot.com
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