Nitrofreak

LOL !!! ... And just what is it your supposed to be doing ?? Huh ? Huh ?Theisman ??? Seriously ?? That would be like Joe coming back to lead the Jets LOL !! By the way ... Theisman could do it and manage to keep every single hair in it's perfect place !!! BAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!! HTTR BABY !!!! WWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!

That's going to be an awesome game !! A lil payback maybe ?

I know you are big guy , it's all in fun , but by having RG3 on the side is what I was referring too when I said the best thing happened to the team today , Cousins is made for this pocket offense and IMO a much better match . I'm waiting for next week against the Eagles , SHOULD they put a game together like this one , and I am referring to the plan and execution , and get their timing a good bit better , this could be a better than 500 season for them .

HA !! Yes , but the best thing for the team happened today , not flawless performance but still it should put some confidence in the team , I think from all the reports , they expected the skins to win today but not like this game was , don't worry , I'm not overly excited , just happy for today , can I at least have that much ? LOL !!!

FINALLY !! Redskins put it together today , still showing timing mistakes , I think they let a few opportunities slip away but the defense was stellar !!!

Since you are going to be in Luray here is a link to some guides and a canoe outfitter if your interested . http://www.shenandoah-river.com/canoe-kayak-tube-raft-rentals/fishing/

I really like a larger flutter spoon for those occasions , or a near weightless super fluke , both work extremely well IMO . Good luck and be safe !!!

The biggest problem anglers face on Anna is not paying attention to detail , not all fish are deep at Anna , although you can find a quality bite deep , your timing must be accurate , the struggle you have is the same as a lot of anglers , myself included , unless you do your homework , fish Anna everyday , pay a guide to go out , which if you choose to get a guide I would suggest you talk to Chris Craft there at Fish Tales at Anna Point , lots of great people there !! Every trip out at Anna is going to be a learning experience , good or bad , you must take what she is giving you and learn from it , document it , mentally or notably in a log , the summertime bite at Anna is slow , your presentations should be slow to match , the morning bite is furious , you need to be ready to take full advantage of that as well , once it turns off , it's like a light switch , literally ! If your stuck to fishing shallow waters or safer waters due to heavy boat traffic and such , try finding some areas loaded with docks on bright sunny days , teach yourself to skip baits under them , learn to let them soak and move them slowly , even though the water is hot and the fish become lethargic , keep in mind their metabolism is still high and must eat , that's something you have in your favor , if you find a good spot and they are not in the mood to eat , move on and come back to it in an hour or so and try again . Unless you have good quality equipment which can make all the difference in the world , it's difficult to pattern Anna , there are still ways to pattern fish there though such as casting behind a boat that just moved through etc... In given times of the seasons . I use primarily green colored baits for my plastics , this time of year though when the bass are on shad , then shad colored baits work best especially when they are aggressively chasing shad , if your not out there everyday learning something , it's difficult for sure , stay focused , be patient , don't move too fast on those high pressure days !! Hope this helps !! Good luck and be safe !!!

My vote would also be for Anna , the Anna river arm should be getting pretty exciting right about now , we have had a few cooler nights which usually groups up the shad there , if you go , focus your attention on some of the wider coves that have a fair amount of grass at the mouths , if you can find ones that have stumps and lay downs mixed in , even better ! I'm heading there for vacation next week , looking forward to less big boats and jet skis now that the children are back in school , should be a great time !!! Good luck and be safe !!!

http://www.virginia-outdoors.com/lakefrederick.html I'll find some info on the Shenandoah and post it too !

Sam nailed the guides posting , if your in front royal there are a couple of amazing places you can hit up there , Lake Fredrick is one , it's highly pressured but the bass are usually memorable , fish slow , I use jigs and swim baits there and usually have pretty good luck , the Shenandoah River there has some great Small Mouth fishing in Front Royal as well !!!

Report , June 28th at Lake Anna Va . Water temps at the surface 87 give or take a degree depending on where you were , stained to partly stained , overcast early and bluebird skies as the mornings progressed . I was there for 4 days total , fished a friendly tournament on that Saturday . Results ended up finding the larger schools in shallower waters even though most of the bait fish were congregating out of deeper / clearer waters . Pre-fished Thursday night , Friday morning , Friday afternoon , finding 4 spots total to fish out of Saturday morning to early afternoon . Saturday morning stayed overcast with a very slight breeze up until around 11:30 am , I netted 11 fish total during that period in one spot , as the sun came up and became bright , I switched baits and chose a different approach . Top water baits early , spinner baits , top water walking baits , and weightless flukes around grass , as the sun became brighter , jigs , 3/8oz. , T Rigged worms , shaky heads , all were productive , all baits were either weightless or 3/8oz. or less . Top fish on the day was a 5lb. even LMB with a 4.12 coming in a close second , ended with a 19.12 lb. bag on the day , not what I wanted but it got me the money anyway LOL !! Here is my best 5 on the day , the 5lb. came on a buzz bait , the 4.12lb. came on the jig .

Friend of mine caught one early two years ago , haven't seen any pics since , it was about 4 years ago I did this , they were still there at that time , not many but they were there . I didn't know they quit stocking them , good to know they will be stocking them in the river though , I never really fished for them at all but I hear they are fun to catch .

Haha !! It's funny you should mention that , down by dike 3 at night you can shine a spotlight in the water and it would pick up the eyes of the walleye , weird site to see , but cool !!

I'll see if I can help you out DD and have it make sense to ya .This is the way I understand it to work , the receptors in the basses eyes help to cue the pigment cells in their skin . Input from the eyes help to trigger hormones in their skin to move pigments either closer or further away from the skins surface . Areas with good cover and or vegetation or even both adds up to darker defining colors with more pronounce sensory lines and if I am not mistaken , whiter bottoms . When they hang out in open areas like suspended over deeper water they tend to be lighter in color , this means their only cover is a school or open water , waters with no vegetation and only have rocks or wood or shallow waters that are clearer , they tend to take on a much darker appearance more toward a black . If you look at the bass in my avatar , it was caught in an area of Anna that has good vegetation and lots of cover , pretty greens and a Snow White belly . This is pretty much all I know of the color platforms and why some are the colors they are , hope that helps . Good luck and be safe !!!

I don't think there are any free ones to launch from unless you know Someone with a private ramp , most all the ramps close up early , around dusk or dark , if you want to stay longer and enjoy some peaceful nite fishing , you can launch from the state park , their gate will open to let you out after dark . Good luck and be safe !!!

First of all congrats !! Senko's are a great bait for those really really finicky days , not a bait I really like to fish with very often . One of my favorite quotes is " it's far better to throw the wrong bait in the right place than it is to throw the right bait in the wrong place " If your not catching fish , the Senko is a great way to build a little confidence , it also takes a tremendous amount of patience to fish , especially if your fish are deep , which they most likely are depending on what part of the country your in , if your going to limit yourself to soft plastics , I would allow yourself the worm and creature bait selection to be on the boat as well with a Texas rig or a Carolina rig . Good luck and be safe !!!

Great advice ! Glad to hear it wasn't any worse than that !

Good to see Sam is still our information guru !! He always has some of the most informative posts for our anglers . I like your post bream !! Very nice indeed !! An interesting point you make about that being the most productive pattern , I think the biggest reason that pattern works so well or is the most productive is because that's what most do at Anna , it's pretty rare to see any boats on the main lake fishing those deep breaks and bends , summertime boat traffic is Insane , especially on the weekends , during the week it's pretty manageable though , if ya get the chance to explore during the week I'd take it , lots of good cranking opportunities , if your familiar with her the night crank and spinner and top water bites are awesome !!

Your welcome man , just keep in mind to fish the indifferences , timber , look for something different , a piece of timber at a different angle from all the others , that's not to say don't fish the whole area because there may just be something under the surface that holds such an opportunity , the break lines , your looking for the sudden changes , for example , the grasses edge to some form of solid structure , like pea gravel , hard clay etc ... Bass love to associate themselves with hard bottom , could be stumps , could be rock , you just have to take your time and look around to find em , keep a good log of the conditions , water and weather , me personally dark days , darker waters = darker baits , brighter days clearer water = brighter baits , although this is not always the case , it makes for a good base of what to start with , you'll just have to experiment to find what they want . Good luck and be safe !!!

Ooooooo man , flashbacks !! ... At least what I can remember of them !

That would be cool , but honestly , how much would you really learn other than what they do at that one particular body of water , they are pros for a reason , most of what you can do is build confidence in yourself , which I feel strongly that you can and will do , just take your time and try to understand as much as you possibly can , take it easy , build confidence in a few baits at a time , understand what works in what conditions and where and you will grow into a great angler !! Good luck and be safe !!!

Hope you get much more input , but I am still looking for a map myself , if it's not available on line , county records should show the area before it was flooded , the DNR can help you with what bait fish or any other stocking info you are looking for . Good luck and be safe !!!

Good info right there , there is a lot of cover in the lake close to the dam , lots and lots of lay downs , good rip rap at the dam , one point in particular about the middle of the lake , I have not topo'd the lake yet , this is an interesting quest !!Since the water is stained , baits that make noise or vibration baits , Jigs , black and blue with rattle tabs , I personally like dark baits for dark waters ,1/2 oz to start , medium size trailers on the jig , a little bulk to help with the sight of the bait , spinners with Colorado blades will give good vibes for them to target , willow leaf will give off flash but not a lot of vibes , if all you have is silver willow leaf blades , run them as close to the surface as possible to reflect as much sunlight as possible , especially on windy days with the spinner baits , crank baits really need to make contact with the cover or structure your fishing , use cranks with rattles , you can fish the lay downs with square bill cranks , a little slow mind you since the water is deeply stained , you want the fish to have time to find the bait but not enough time to decide if the bait is real or not , a little time to experiment with speed , make sure your patience is in check , the rip rap along the dam would be excellent to bump a jig around or a crank bait or a spinner bait , make sure you and your boat are Parallel to the bank , it's important to look for the breaks along the rip rap , as in look for the changes where the rocks end under the water and you have a few scattered boulders or rock piles , fish these areas methodically , take your time , again , since the water is stained , the fish need a little time to find and hone in on it's target . Hope this helps !! Good luck and be safe !!!

How do you approach this body of water if I may ask ? What baits do you use ? Colors etc.. and what are the conditions you use them in ? How pressured is this body of water , lots of anglers daily ? Maybe we can be of more assistance , just how stained is stained ? Dark brown water , muddy water ? It helps to know as much as possible when we have to envision what others see clearly .