everythingthatswims

I took my kayak to the hot side of Lake Anna today, I would have fished the main lake but there was a tournament today, in addition to the weekend crowd when most of Central VA is packed into a 5,000 acre lake, and as much as I like fishing behind people......... Turns out I made a pretty good choice, today was a blast! Most fish had moved up and were extremely shallow. Shallow, crystal clear water, and skittish fish may not sound like fun fishing to some, but I love it. I fished sunup to sundown, and ended up landing 52 bass. I also kept track of my best five (12.47lbs). Most fish today were 12-13", I only landed four fish over 2lbs. The biggest fish of the day was hanging out near a boat ramp in the back of a cove, and after presenting both a senko and a shakey head to the fish, I left for a few minutes and returned with a drop shot, which she was very fond of. I guess she had just spawned out, because she was 21" long and only weighed 3&1/2 pounds. The main baits for me today were: Keitech Swing Impact Fat 4.8" weightless/weedless, a shakey head, and a senko. I would cover water with the swimbait and cast to targets or fish that I spotted with the other baits. I'm still not sure how 12" fish were eating that swimbait with ease!

In January I caught a cheap 6'6" Med. Casting rod with a lews reel on it in perfect condition. Retail value of the setup was over $100 In Florida last spring my little brother caught a Tern while freelining a pilchard. We saw that it had a band on its leg. After unhooking the bird we took the band off and called it in, the bird was banded in North Carolina!

I've used weightless stuff on 20lb fluoro before, the line is so heavy that it can make the bait sink and give it a little different presentation than a bullet weight or weighted hook. Mind you this is in my neighbor's pond that gets no rest from me so I have to do stupid things to show them something I haven't before.

I will use small spooks and poppers during prespawn/spawn. Typically they aren't committing well enough to throw a frog (and I'm sure someone out there crushes pre spawn fish on a frog, this is just my personal experience) so I stick to stuff with trebles. If you find a colony of bedding crappies, topwater can be very fun haha.

Ibuprofen

I wish huddlestons were the expensive ones

Don't get me wrong, I love bass fishing too, but the salt is just something else. And if I had a choice, I know darn well which one I'd pick.

You caught this one's more attractive older sister

Fish in those rivers eat a lot of shiners and little creek chubs, that bait does a great job looking like those

Weedless wacky head with a trick worm, compact flipping jig, war eagle double willow spinnerbait white skirt silver blades, Super Spook Jr, and maybe a swim jig. I typically fish rivers with very clear water deeper pools can be 6-8'

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AWlnKrBNLF0 start at the 7 min mark, and look at how many times I change direction on the fish so that I'm always pulling against it and not with it, like bluebasser said. It looks ridiculous but she never got her head above water, and that was a 4lb plus fish on a short line.

Fall has been the best time for me by far, but they work year round in the right conditions. Keitechs rock, I use swing impacts and the swing impact fats fished single and also on an a-rig some. As @Bluebasser86 about keitechs on an a-rig!

I have two pointers, and half a dozen mid to low end jerkbaits in my box. Guess which ones produce fish.

Swing Impact Fat has a lot more action than the Swing Impact. When I want a more subdued action, especially in cold water, I use the swing impacts. They are a lot cheaper too! There's something special about those baits that makes me not care about the price.

Prom? I have a state qualifier on Gaston that day

Bluebird skies and a high pressure system had the fish doing something I sure couldn't figure out. Two babies, one brown one and one green one was all I ended up with, but it was the first brown one of the year! When I was throwing the swimbait, the largemouth knocked a ton of slack in the line he hit it so hard and my heart skipped a couple beats until I swung and he skidded in across the surface.

Lake Anna is a prime example of how bed fishing and moving bass around is okay. There are tons of tournaments in the spring, not to mention recreational anglers who bring fish to the ramp in a livewell for photos. Very large population of healthy bass with a wide distribution of size. Tournaments can be won by staying on the trolling motor and fishing whatever creek the marina is in.

Dang, 41 degrees is COLD! Good job!

Let me guess, the only one that didn't eat a senko is the one you're holding

As always, pre spawn has kicked off to be a very difficult and frustrating time for me. I am catching plenty of small bass, mostly 12" and under are the only ones willing to eat. Most of the fish I see are in 2FOW or less and are VERY easily spooked. The only thing they will eat is a wacky rigged worm, a senko actually sinks too fast! Many of the fish will mouth the bait and spit it out without really showing much enthusiasm. These are not bedding fish. I saw a fish in the 7-8lb class this morning with her dorsal almost sticking out of the water and she didn't even pay attention to a bait being twitched in front of her nose. Does this stuff happen to anyone else? I always hear about a great pre spawn bite and aggressive fish, I just never see it! this is what the ones that will eat look like, anything 2lbs or better will either shy away or not commit to a bait, but I am seeing them.

The s waver is a great bait. People are afraid to throw it because it's "big". I'm very okay with them thinking that....as they sling their a rig out there one more time. Eager to see what you get with that bait this spring! Nice fish!

1/4 lipless, wacky rig, Shad rap, and oddly enough I was getting them waking a weightless 4" swing impact around dead pads from last year

They've got black spots....Must be a good lake

But you get both

Nice fish!