drmnbig

I do agree with you...hence why I started this thread. In all seriousness, I'm a bankbeater. I can't figure out bottom structure to save me. Luckily I've been fishing this lake for years and I know the type of cover that I can usually fare pretty well on. This is making for a great debate and it's good to see what everyone has to say.

Do you prefer craws or what? The main question I have is how far do you let the craw hang behind the skirt? I'm always torn on how far to leave it out. I usually leave about 1/2" out. Is this too little or too much? I'm gonna probably switch to paca craws this year for trailers so this may help answer my question.

I take it that this is aimed more towards me. I stated in the beginning that I was curious about where his fish were coming from and saw him on several occasions fishing the same spots so I checked them out and found the brush. I also stated that I have not fished them during tournaments. As a matter of fact I fish very few tournaments and I have no doubt that most guys on here could whip me. I only fish for the fun and the thrill of the competition.

I hate freakin' deer around here also. I bought a brand new 06 F250 and with just 2000 miles on it I had one take out my mirror, front and rear doors and the front of the bed. Glad you weren't hurt!

There is nothing like the ride of a good deep-v boat. My first boat was a Lowe deep-v and I still miss the ride of that thing.

Once my wife and I finish with college it's out full intention to move to middle TN. After spending several vacations down there I'm in love with it.

Blue back that fades to white on the belly.

There is enough opinion on here that it may not be sportsman enough to fish someone else's "known" brush so I'll just continue shying away from it. I have learned a thing or two about where the brush is planted and used the underwater terrain as a key to find other fish so it's not a complete loss for me. BTW, for those of you that fish Anna you know there is little brush in the lake so just a small piece can hold a pile of bass.

That's kind of the way I see it. It's unsportsmanlike to not find my own fish. After getting whipped a couple times the curiosity made me try to figure out what they were doing.

I've got a dilemma. I've fished Lake Anna for several years and fished several tournaments there to only be hammered by a select few locals. After watching and then checking over areas where I've saw them fish on many occasions I've found several of their "planted" brush piles. Would it be sporting to fish these spots during tournaments or would it look bad to do so? I've been reluctant to do so because it is water that they've staked out and I'd feel like an intruder. When not in tournaments I've fished these brush piles and caught some nice bass off them. What would you guys do in such a situation?

Thanks Wayne. I figure the deep dock bit should be on at Anna right now.

Wayne, what kind of hooks do you use for wacky rigging? I'm planning on fishing wacky style for the first time this weekend on Anna.

You are focusing on the right thing...your families safety. I lost 3 family members to a fire a few years back and when I see someone lose their home it brings back terrible memories. You'll get back on your feet. Just keep being thankful you are safe.

Congrats! There is nothing in the world like seeing your baby for the first time!

I couldn't have wrote this better myself!

That sure helps build confidence since I'll be down on Sunday! What were the water temps like out there?

Watch my kids walk across the stage with their degrees in hand. Take a month long cross country trip with the wife and kids to see the Grand Canyon and the Pacific Northwest while making many stops in between.

Holy crap! I'm gonna pee myself if I read something else like that without going to the potty soon!

It could be the very cold winter we had this year. It was near zero at least a dozen times this winter. Weird thing is that our trees are out here more this spring than last. We've had some very sunny and very warm days here in the valley. Water temps in my best pond are in the mid 50's now with 60's in the shallows on sunny days. I'm gonna be on Lake Anna next weekend so that will really tell me how things are going. BTW, if you guys have any little ponds in the Chesapeake area that you don't mind giving up the location of please let me know. I've got family down there and we hit several local ponds but would like to try some more. They live near Lynnhaven and Volvo.

osbornj2, sounds good. If we met halfway we'd be around the James somewhere which only means another fishing oppotunity for me.

I'll happily take it in about 2 weeks. Got several trips planned to a couple of places. Nick, if you get it I guess I'll take it after you.

Welcome!

I'm right with you buddy. My most expensive combo cost me maybe $120 and I've got a grand total of 7 combos to fish with. My wife would absolutely shoot me if I had any more than that.

I look for recreational boating to come back up some this year. With fuel prices half of what they were a year ago it makes trips to the lake much more feasable. Where I live we are an hour from the nearest lake where you can run an outboard. This meant $80 round trip last year. Now it's a $40 trip or less. I for one will be making many more trips. I just dropped the boat off at the shop yesterday and talked to the owner. They said they have already surpassed the amount of business they had by June of last year. I'm going for the glass half full!!!!!

Great questions! It's better to ask than to get a ticket for trespassing. To bank fish you need to make sure you have permission to fish the property. This is not always easy to come by. There are literally hundreds of places in your area to fish....just ask. Just a state freshwater fishing license will do unless saltwater fishing or fishing on national forest which you'll probably not do.