CrazyFluker

I fished my first tourney at Anna last weekend and I didn't do very well, my buddy did okay. We caught 4 total for only 6.5lbs. 3 out of the 4 were in areas with stumps, the other was off a dock. The winning bag was 18.79lbs. I have only fished Anna a few times but really like the lake. I hope to fish it more and hope to learn more from my buddies out there in the future. I'm a big fish in the little pond I live on but a small fish at Anna lol.

Hi, I live on an electric motor only lake and have the old dual Minn Kota Neptune motor setup with the control module on my pontoon boat. Each motor is a 48 thrust. I have replaced the control module and have to keep having the motors rebuilt which is not cheap so I have come up with an idea but has left me with more questions than answers, so hope you all might be able to help... I am thinking of replacing the dual 48 thrust Neptune setup and control module with two independent hand controlled trolling motors with higher thrust and extend the wiring to throttles on my console. The motors will just replace the other two so the steering assembly can be utilized. I will have to extend the wiring and replace the hand controls to two throttles. Anyone have any experience with this type of modification? Any help or push in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. I may contact my boat guy but I know he won't be cheap and thought the more I knew about this the better. If I have done a poor job of describing my plan or left out important details please feel free to ask any questions. I am finding a few things on the net but nothing like exactly what I'm trying to do. Thanks! Chris

I fished for 6 hours yesterday at Lake Montclair in Northern VA and neither my buddy nor I got even a nibble. I used a jig about 95% of the time and 5% jigging a spinner bait. I tried hitting all of the woody cover and docks but blanked out. About a third of the lake is still iced over with water temps as high as 39 degrees. I think I'm going to hold off until March to get back out there, well unless we get some nice days again lol.

Nice trailers. I love the orange tips. I may get into pouring them too. Can you share what mixes you use? Thanks

I use the palomar religiously but will look into the knots you all have posted. I have used the knot Shaw Grigsby shows as the best for FC but with my buddy telling me the palomar is all I needed I went back to the palomar. Shaws is a knot where you cut the two ends of the loop off, are you all aware of it? I know I screwed up by reeling her in too fast. If I would have let the drag stay where it was and let her run for 30 seconds or so I have to think it would have tired out but dragging her to the boat quickly left her with too much energy and after seeing me shot under the boat doubling my rod over and snapped quick. [Edit] Shaw calls it the "Double Pitzen" Last time I looked into it he didn't know the name. Here is a video of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxX3--DHQYE

15lb SeaGuar InvisX FC

I pretty much try all the colors but think Watermelon has been best for my lake and funny the water is normally a greenish or brownish. Arkansas has a great flash in my lake. I've done a dip in chartreuse, then with spike it markers, paint the top blue which makes it green and Orange up the belly. I haven't caught a lot with the painted up color scheme but it looks cool like a bluegill, which I thought would've done better. I like them with the Gomakatsu 4/0 weighted hook (1/16) and my all time favorite is on a 1/4oz scrounger. I just hooked at huge bass on one but lost it at the boat, which I whined about in another post lol.

So I'm fishing my local lake that I have been fishing for two solid years and hook a huge bass. At first I didn't think it was more than 5-6lbs, which is big for me. The drag started to go but I tend to loosen them up from time to time so screwed up and tightened it. I reeled the fish in fairly easily, thinking maybe its a cat or a pickerel since it didn't bust thru the top. I get her to the boat and OMG its huge, I can see her and she's maybe 2.5' and she sees me and darts under the boat, doubling my rod over and snapping the line. Awhile back I had a big drop shot on and put a Rage Tail frog on it and something hit it hard, shot under the boat and when I pressed the release it felt like it just let go. Again my drag was too tight. So I've at least had one huge bass on the hook but blew it. I never felt a bass with this kind of power and have caught just under 5lbs. I've learned my lesson and will be setting the drag to go on anything bigger than 4lbs. I told my buddy about it and he gave me a lashing for being a goofball. He says if the bass isn't under a dock or in cover to let the bass go and keep tension but let her run. I've only been fishing really hard for two years so am still very new to fishing. The nice thing is I have hooked two big fish, one bass for sure, and I saw a huge bass a few weeks ago that I couldn't believe. I think I am close to landing one and am so stoked. Anyone with similar heart breaking stories? Any advice? [i posted this in the fishing reports - Mods, please delete that one. Sorry.]

Don't know what is but I would contact my local fish and game. I'm sure they would like to see it, might know something and if not, may look into it.

I use the Gulp Alive Concentrated marinade. It stinks! I place a couple drops on a paper towel and drop into the bag of goodies I plan to use the next day.

I live in Prince William County (PWC) just south of you and can give you a couple ideas. Im assuming you don't own a boat so you might want to start with the Occoquan Resevoir. You can rent a jon boat for like $38 for 5 hours and have at it. $80 and you can go all day. I've rented out of Lake Ridge (PWC) but you can rent boats on the Fairfax side too. The lil electric motor isn't fast, it's like 45 thrust I think, but it is fun to fish there. I know a few people that have fished the Occuquan river lately, which is below the reservoir and I've heard they've had some good luck shore fishing. There's Burke lake and if you get a boat the Potomac is a fun river to fish but I've never fished it from the shore. You can rent boats at Lake Anna too, it's about an hour south but good fishing. Good luck.

I use braid for my jigs and don't use a leader but I do use a leader when using braid for drop shot, Carolina rigs and shaky head and I use 15lb SeaGuar InvisX FC. My biggest fish of the weekend was a 3.3lb LMB Saturday with the jig without a leader in stained water.

I fished Anna Friday, we caught most fish around rock. Drop shot caught the most fish. We were on the public side though.

I totally agree on the jig. I have a rod dedicated to jigs. And I love the Fluke on a weighted hook, weightless hook and my favorite is the scrounger head.

Not sure if its been said but I'd try a shakyhead. I like the way they stand them up.

A little more info might get you more replies. Does he fish from the bank or a boat? How old is he? Megabass Pop Max is a great top water bait. It's a little pricey so he might appreciate a bait he wouldn't spend his own money on. I know I was skeptical with $20+ baits so went with the top water and am happy I did. I've caught a lot of bass on them and only lost one in two years.

My buddy fishes Anna a lot, over July and early August he was struggling a bit but here lately he's been catching better bags. The water is still warm but dropping and will continue. I would think it will only get better from here on out. He won't give a lot of info has he's always fishing tournaments so not worth asking lol. I know he prefers the middle of the lake, staying away from the clear and the mud.

Scrounger heads are my favorite. Using with Super Flukes and it is my main confidence bait. Watermelon, Arkansas Shiner, white and baby bass are my main colors. I dip the tail tips in Spike-it Chartreuse garlic.

I do have a few Megabass Pop Max. I wouldn't buy their divers but feel top water is safer. I have caught a lot of fish on the pop max so will keep buying them. The hooks are really sweet, it casts nicely and I love the action, it walks nice, has a cool steady retrieve that allows the body to fill up with air and makes a burping type thing releasing the air, as well as makes a good pop. And I got a Bass Pro gift card for Xmas so bought two of the Jackall Girons. After using a couple times bought a lure retriever to ensure I have the best chance of keeping them. So far the lure retriever has saved a lot of money.

The first advice I got when getting into frogs was to bend the hooks out. It does make it less weed less but I think it helps with hook set. And trimming the legs down will allow the bass to take more of the frog and not just grab onto the long legs hanging way out the back.

I've heard the owner of Sportsman Marine may be a guide. He's out of Woodbridge VA, he is a great electric motor repair guy and does a lot of fishing on the Potomac, you could try him. His name is Todd (703) 583-0300. If he isn't a guide I'm sure he can point you in the right direction. If he can't help you I have another guy that would probably know of some. One thing I would say is, be careful at the mouth of the Occuquan at the Potomac. The currents there have killed a lot of people and the Potomac river can turn rough quickly. I would be a little hesitant to get out on the Potomac in a kayak. The Occoquan should be fine as most of the creeks. Aquia creek has a lot of snakeheads.

I got the pen and it works like a champ. I just sharpen them every few fish or if I get it caught up and it takes about two seconds to sharpen them back into place. I've even sharpened new hooks out of the box. I've been able to bring hooks back from the dead. It is amazing and for $6.95 I'm about to buy a few more for spares. It's funny, I've sharpened my buddies and he over shoots his casts a lot and even if they land on a dock they rarely come off lol. Thanks again, this is one of those great tricks you just don't know about until someone fills you in.

The last few weeks have been tough on my lake. The temps have been high with the water in the mid 80's. I did catch a 3lb and my buddy caught a 5.5lb last weekend but it's been a few weeks of trying to figure them out. Yesterday had one bass chase my bait up to the boat and turn away. Then a couple of perch messing with it. I keep seeing guys catching these little 6-8" bass but I really don't want tiny fish, 3lb and up is what I'm after. I think next month things will get a lot easier but I use this time to "try" to think outside the box and try other things. The patterns change but they will eat if you can figure out the combination.

I like both. Sometimes I get irritated with people on my boat but sometimes I like the company. I usually offer my kids or a buddy the chance to go, if they can't, which is pretty common, I go alone and enjoy the peace and quiet.