OK, the first outing on LKA didn't go as planned . . .

               I'm awake already!

So, I was awake at 4:45 AM and just clearing the eye stuff when the phone rang.  Should have been the alarm, but .  .  .  Bill Fowler was on Kerr and the high wind and lack of adequate baits in the tank prompted him to cancel his travel to LKA.  With only a couple dozen baits in his tank, there wouldn't be numbers for 2 boats.  I sent a text to Marcus to see what his druthers were.  In Bumpass, the weather was overcast and threatening rain, but no wind.

The return text said that my crew was on the way, bait or no bait.  Got the Sea Pro launched and we were on the water at 6:30, a half hour late.  Marcus and Nathan were anxious.  Stopped at dike 2 to see if there were baits, but the sonar wasn't working?  Tried to get the trolling motor to run, but it had power and wouldn't rotate.  An impossible situation!  Kept playing with the remote and finally got the head to rotate so there was direction, but I'd drifted into 0 depth.  Fired the outboard, bad idea, and headed for deep water.  Bump, and another bump, obviously the motor hitting rocks. :(  OK, clear and on our way to Fish Tales to get bait.  Marcus loaded $25 of jumbo shiners on the boat and we had to wait for the 55 degree bait to increase somewhat near my bait tank.  Finally got the baits in my tank and we were off again.

Today's crew:  Marcus doing the selfie, Nathan on the left doing the bird, and Joy at the helm.

Nathan's first keeper of the day.

Right outside the no-wake area, we saw many arches, finally did an about face and dropped baits - nothing.  So, went up the river toward the destination called the "SPLITS".  All kinds of boats across from JET's Island, so we looked there for a few minutes.  Not seeing much on the sonar, we opted to get on with the planned Pete's thoughts.  Saw Himbey's pontoon leaving High Point while we headed up river.  He kept on going  above Jet's and we didn't see him until later in the day.

Up the North Anna River to the Rose Valley Cove, but didn't see much.  Dropped baits anyway just in case the stripers were scattered.  No luck!  So, headed back through the "S" curves to the Splits.  Tried toward Jet's for a bit, but nothing.  Then headed back to the starting area just outside the no wake markers at Fish Tales.  I decided to do the drop offs  on the way and Nathan picked up his first keeper of the day.  That was it .  .  . and then Hemby's pontoon motored toward us.  Of course we would love baits!  About 4 dozen very nice hardened baits.  Got new striper location info - at the mouth of Marshall Creek.  Hemby's associate had taken clients to the area twice earlier in the morning and limited.

Back up river to Marshalls Creek and found deep water just down river from the mouth that had tons of arches.  Picked up one dink and continued to get hits - catfish type and boated several 10 inchers.  Finally opted to go into Marshalls Creek and picked up a large catfish for the cooler.  Back to the deep water where all the arch activity was.  Still only catfish hits.

Getting late and Marcus had to be at his house by 3 PM.  Got to the dock in time.  Nathan helped me unload gear and he was on his way.  Nathan was a happy fisherman because he caught the only keepers of the day.  I didn't fish, only tried to get the boat going.  Marcus only got small catfish for toss back.

Exhausted, I didn't have the energy to clean the bait tank.  The boat is still in a location where the hose will reach.  But, Saturday after the fish day, each time I decided to get to the boat, monsoon rain fell.  Now Sunday and it seems clear after continued T-storm all night.

Bill Fowler and crew fished Kerr with a limited bait supply and boated a couple of stripers and blues.

First time on LKA with the Sea Pro 2015

OK, finally got a crew for Friday 26 and it is hot with forecast afternoon T-storms.  Bill Fowler is to meet me with his Sea Pro and his crew, Jammie.  My crew is Marcus and friend.  This will be like the blind leading blindly.  Pete gave me lots of encouraging instructions for finding the stripers at this time of year and where the bait might be at 4 in the AM.  Fortunately, Bill will be bringing bait with him. :)

                Pete's Derosario's admonitions for where to drop baits:

So, you got my email about bait etc. If I were going to put together a summertime gameplan here is what Id do. Early morning I would check out between Rose Valley Island and Rose Valley Cove. There is a nice "sandbar" between the island and the northern shore that seems to do well. That whole area could be holding fish.

Next place I would check is a bit down lake, at the points and mouth in front of Marshalls Creek. Then follow that coastline downlake to Boxley Point. If no love there, Id swing across the lake to the lighthouse. There is a bunch of rocks/riprap on the point that I speak of, and it is the entrance to Pigeon Run. I would check that point/channel and head down pigeon just a bit. Dont waste too much time here, if they are there, they are there. If not...........

Coming out of pigeon Id head back uplake. Its called fisher point. Id check out that point, and swing tight as you head uplake and stay maybe 30-50 yards off the bank. It is a little setback from the main channel and they just LOVE to hang out in there. Wish I was there now, actually. Follow that bank up to Bohemian Bay. If no luck there keep on moving until you make it back to the splits, swing right and check all the turf outside of the state park. Lot of water to cover, but with sidescan you are bound to find the schools of daytime herring and the lurking stripers beneath. No go? Keep on moving and check out the up lake side of Jetts Island.

So by this time,you should be doing quite well. If not, hopefully the baits are still frisky. Now, its time to find the deeper channels. One of my favorite 10-11:30 spots is the channels that swings in and out in front of High Point marina. By this time you will see the stripers at 25-35' deep, hopefully active. This channel should produce from here up to the splits. 

When boat traffic gets very heavy look for anywhere the water is deep (30'+) and NOT in the main travel paths of boaters. A perfect example of this is the channel that runs between Big Ben flats (Rose Valley Island) and Paynes Shore (which is the downlake bank from Rose.)

If, and only if NONE of this works for you guys, you have two options. Go up to Tims for some stiff drinks and bitching, or head downlake to the Sturgeon Creek area. Your guesses are as good as mine down that way!!!!!!!

                                      Pete Derosario's thoughts on bait:

Wish I could be out earlier on Friday. Its hard to hit the water at 9am when it is getting so hot by 12. Yuck.

Anyways, it has been a while since I have been on the lake. But, fortunately I have figured out the summer patterns pretty well over the years. If you are to catch bait here, you need to hang about 2 hours before first light, or 2:30-2:45before sunrise. I will throw 30 mins. after I hang and if no herring, MOVE!!!!!!!!!! To another bridge we go. Right now 208 and stubbs are where I would be. If you get there and someone is throwing net, just ask them how the herring are. If they say they have only caught a few (and you believe) DONT HANG THERE!!!!

Anyways, once you get bait, in the morning the mouths of creeks and points are where I would focus my efforts. Maybe have a board or two out, but focus on stripers bouncing in and out of the thermocline (with downlines). This time of year we look forward to finding HUGE schools and rocking them until our baits are gone and coolers are full. I like to start at mouths and points from the state park, rose valley, and all the way up to 208 bridge. Normally, but 10am, the stripers move into the channels. Lots of times you will find them between splits and 208 hammering on baitfish in and out of the main channels.

If you have no luck in this area, you can keep moving down to sturgeons creek. I dont really like fishing this side of the lake because there is a LOT of water in this area. But, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Happy New Year 2015

Well, for some it's a  happy time for many things.  At LKA, the VA-Outdoors forum for stripers is a waste land of nothingness.

During the summer, I worked on electronics and got both the Simrad and Lowrance installed as I thought it would work.  Sitting, I could see under the units.  Standing, I could see over them.  In actual use on the Chesapeake Bay, the smallish Ram mounts wouldn't hold in rough seas.  Well, rough for my boat.  The God of the sea wouldn't cooperate and kept my boat off the water for most of December.  Only got on the water for about 7 of the 22 days.

Also missed the forward trailer bunks and the bow slid off to the port and damaged the structure scan mount at the stern.  Wasn't a critical fix for the bay, Now, it's too cold and too much sleet to get out and fix it.  Also had the bow cable part while trying to haul the boat to the stop on the trailer.  Tied a knot in the cable through the hook and it's still holding.  The new cable still sits in the cab of the truck.  Certainly isn't doing much good there.

Bow navigation light decided to stop working and I tore it apart only to find that the bulb croaked.  Had a back up, but it happened to have different contacts? :(  Finally figured out how to modify the back up bow navigation light and now have a functional back up. :)

Didn't have a graph installed for the Lowrance that would show the bay contour lines.  At the NCBoatShows held in Doswell, VA, Green Top supplied the Navionics plus.  Had a difficult time getting it to load with my system 7 and google installed.  Finally found the fix in the Help area as only the download screen would repeat without loading.  Had to find the toggle that allowed the "plug-in" for the program.  Guess a computer savy would have figured it out in seconds, but it took me hours to accomplish the deed.

Also changed the TM batteries to Interstate 29s.  Would have rather installed sealed batteries, but time and $s wouldn't permit.  Hopefully these will last at least a year.  I wanted the Deka Intimidator AGM 31, but .  .  .  Now, I'm also considering the Sears Dihard Platinum that is a knockoff of the Odysse.  Guess there's a battery for every wallet!

My fishing buddy got back from Kiptopeke after having boated only one striper.

Back in Norlina, NC, Bill got on the water most every day and limits stripers.  Kerr (Buggs Island) allows posession of 2 @ 24 or more inches.  He says that he uses alewifes and threadfins when available for his cast net.  Other times, he uses jumbo shiners.  Uses a combination of free lines, planers, and downlines.  Much as would be used on Lake Anna.

Nice fat january Stripers!  The Nutbush launch ramp is pictured.

Meanwhile, at Lake Anna (LKA) nothing is happening that can be posted on the VA-Outdoors striper forum.  

What about the bait?

Well, it's coming med May and I've not been fishing for months.  But some things are progressing in a positive manner.  Bill Fowler got his Gobbler a few days ago and then rewarded himself by going crappie fishing (caught 50).  I got my 2013 striper citation for the 54 # 1 oz cow.  Of course, it was actually a team capture, Team B & J Cows!

Hemby is still slaying stripers, but I don't have a clue where he's gettin it done.  www.blog.jimhemby.com  His report for May 8 says he was getting gizzards off clay banks in daylight.  He usually hangs a light under a bridge about 4 AM.  He was pullin boards over 15-20 foot flats and couldn't get baits out before taking hits. In April, maybe due to the hard winter, bait was really difficult and took hours even for the experts. 

Two weeks ago, mother nature dumped several days of rain in a few minutes on the lake and filled to cover the local docks and set lots of boats loose in the lake.  Only a day or so to drop back to normal pool of about 250 feet above sea level.

During the interim, I got the Lowrance HDS 9 touch on the console and ran the transducer lines over the deck.  Broke one lead off trying to pull the old and decided not to risk major wiring damage by pulling the new lines under the deck.  Since I had a HDS 8 transducer mounted on the left of the prop, I remounted the HDS 8 head above the 9 and also remove the Navico gps to give me better view of the water while underway.

I found a gimble for the Lowrance and may install it under the 9 so it can swing off to the side to provide a wider view over the bow.

Tried launching the Sea Pro a few times, but it will be near impossible solo at the community dock.  Doesn't seem like I'll be doing much fishing from the boat.  Maybe need to do another charter with Hemby!

Jim Hemby, a great guide and resource

Arranged a charter with Jim Hemby for March 11th that promised to be a great day on the water.  Just a few days earlier, the forecast was for 10 inches of snow, more snow, etc.  Then a few great shirt sleeve days after the sun was out.  But, the 10th and 11th of March was forecast to be 70 or so degrees.  The morning chill felt like freezing and wind made it feel even colder.  But, the fish-god smiled on us and Jim Hemby got us on some decent stripers.  We launched at Hunter's Landing.  After that, my knowledge of the lake wouldn't let me know exactly where we were at any time.  Seems like the stripers are staging for a false spawn, not yet schooled, but up river and can be on the feed.

I see Sams Flats in the Pamunkey Creek down to the "S" turns.  Think we did Terry Run up by Days Bridge and maybe Foremost Run.  Pretty sure we did Dillards Bridge for bait.  Might have done Plentiful Creek and bait at Stubbs Bridge.  Well, all maybe.  One day, I'll have a navigation app for my I-Pad that can make a trail for later interpretation.

You can check blog.jimhemby.com and http://www.jimhemby.com/guides/guides.html
to get information from the source rather than my brain pharts.

I think Jim Hemby has several guides fishing the lake simultaneouslyPossibly others were fishing the North anna River above the Holiday Bridge.

While the rig for striper fishing with planer boards is usually pretty straight forward, Jim Hemby does it his way. The top hook is for smaller  herring and the bottom mono/treble hook is for larger gizzards.  

Still have to see if the downline setup is identical to what I've always used.

Now finding that the fishing reports on Jim Hemby's blog is really a great tutor.  Gives  his technique and sonar screen shots over near the past 10 years.  Like a report for every season and location on Lake Anna.  Well, some of the reports are for the 4 legged variety.

Understanding the Lake Anna connumdrum

Well, trying to understand Lake Anna and striper fishing is best illustrated by reading   http://mccotterslakeanna.com/lake.htm  Don't think additional information about this lake is practical or needed.  The professional guides seem to be top notch on this lake, well worth a charter.

Finding http://va-outdoors.com/forum.php  was a heaven sent encounter and opens contact with the fishermen of Lake Anna.

During the interim, I'm still trying to learn cast net for bait.  Unsual lake as the private side is much warmer than the public side and the alewife cold kill doesn't happen on the private side, maybe.  Rumor is that the private side will have more bait, blueback, gizzard, threadfin, and alewife.  I think this means that the peanuts will be transferred from the private side  to the public side at Dike III.  Not sure why any sane striped bass would ever leave the damm area where the water temp, oxygen, and bait are in such abundance.  Gotta be some monsters roaming the deep!

                                   And so it goes for now, Feb 2, 2014

How to toss a cast net . . .

OK, likely I got most of my facts wrong about Lake Anna, but do have time to make adjustments.  The cast net is critical for my striper fishing success.  Given my lower back and left shoulder rotator cuff problems, I've decided to toss using a lefty technique http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CYPUVZYgv3o that seems easier and requires less rotation than the modified Calusa method I've used in the past.  Yet, the loads are somewhat similar and don't require the lead line in mouth.  My partner uses a shrimp toss that I've never mastered above the taco stage.  Yet, Bill Fowler and  his nephew Matt get it done with ease.  Maybe the strength of youth?

The 5 gallon tub has a small amount of lake water and a cup of rock salt.  The baits I catch are dropped in the tub until I get time to sort them.  The salt begins the hardening so they can survive in my bait tank.  My partner Bill employs a 4 foot green fluorescent lamp to gather baits before daylight.  On Kerr, the Nutbush Bridge provides high current water that seems to attract baits before daybreak.  I need to find out if Dike III has a similiar attraction to baits.  In March on Smith Mountain Lake, the alewifes and thinfin were attracted to dock lights and the gizzards were in the back of coves.  

I prep my tank with a couple cups of rock salt and a handfull of calcium chloride.  Some source told me that the calcium chloride helps the baits respiration?  My Creek Bank tank is quite old and I've learned where/how to get suitable filter media.  I usually over load my tank and also must run an air stone.  At 30 gallons, I'm very limited for numbers of baits when and if I can net them.  Hmmm, I think I need a bigger boat and a 50 gallon bait tank!  At times, I try service station shiners, but I've seen how distasteful the stripers are to digest them.  Watched the stripers on my sonar rise off the bottom to the baits and then settle back to the bottom.  So, they are my  last resort.

I also use Shad Keeper and an antifoam.  Never really liked the nonfatskim milk for the purpose.  I do try to change the water as needed to keep the baits lively and also use frozen quart bottles of water to cool the tank water at times.  Sometimes, it is just a bag of ice from the service station .  .  .

When I can't get bait, I visit one of the several groceries in NC that sell shad.  Greg Patterson is the man that does the work.  Yet, at $10-12 a dozen, this method for bait is limited by my wallet.

I'm supposing that there is a thermocline on Lake Anna?  Much of the year on Kerr, the stripers are locked in above 30 foot depth and summer at least 10 feet down.  My productive spots are sometimes where the bottom rises to 30 feet with holes where the stripers do their thing.

The reports I read for Feb 1, 2014 indicate that the shad kill is underway due to the cold.  Think most all fish are sluggish and just sit on the bottom and wait for the dying shad to drift in the current to their open mouths.  Hard to encourage 'em to take a frisky shad that they  have to work for?  Not sure how long this situation lasts, but other reads mention that striper fishing picks up about the beginning of March.

I learned that wipers (white bass) are being stocked in Lake Anna.  Also, I think huge stocks of stripers.  Wonder if it will result like in Kerr that there were too many hungry fish that limited growth of all.  But, Kerr has that nasty gill maggot .  .  .

Guess I better get with some exercise or I'll never get the net cast over baits.