Lake Anna Information

[James Ovelmen]

Fellow Fly Rodders,

My family is renting a house on Lake Anna for the week of
Thanksgiving. My dad has already booked a guide for a couple of days
for stripers/rockfish and crappie. I also plan to do some fishing
without the guide. We may rent a bass boat or some kayaks. I was
wondering if anyone in the group had fished Lake Anna before and could
share some their experience. Any information about the lake, flies to
use, techniques, spots to try, etc. All I know is that it is a very
large reservoir with a "warm-side" and a "cold-side."

I will post a fishing report for the week when I get back.

Thanks,

James

[Ernie]

Lake Anna is a very nice fishery but I have found it tough for the
long rod. Most fish will be deeper at that time of the year.

Are you going out with Chris McCotter? His reports will give you some
idea of what they are doing. http://www.mccotterslakeanna.blogspot.com/

Some of the other guides fish for stripers with live bait (slow
troll).

Which side are you staying on?

Ernie

[James Ovelmen]

I just got back from spending Thanksgiving with my family and my gf's
family in a rental house on Lake Anna, Plentiful Bliss. We stayed on
the cold side (the warm side is made up of three bays in the lake that
are damed up and receive the warm water discharge from the two nuclear
reactor). I fished the the Sunday befroe Thanksgiving and then the
Friday and Sat. after, all half days with guides.

On Sunday, It was my dad, Chris Craft (a guide with Chris McCotter's
group), and me. Here is Chris Craft's blog on our day:
http://mccotterslakeanna.blogspot.com/2010/11/november-21-flukes-flies-with-ovelmans.html.
We had a great time fishing with him. He put us on an active school of
Stripers (sorry, rockfish) in the morning and then about 10:30 we
switched to Largemouth bass. All the Lgmouths were pretty small, and
even though the Striper action had cooled off we probably should have
stuck with it instead of transitioning to bass.

Friday and Sat my gf's stepfather joined us to fish with Chris
McCotter. We hit the warm side on Friday and then the cold side again
Sat. Both days were pretty tough. Friday no stripers and just a few
small bass. Sat. I got two stripers, neither were keepers, and two
decent bass.

We mostly used sink tips and white decievers, EPs, or clousers and
then spinning or light casting rods with flukes and vertical jigging
spoons. Both guides were very good and knew how to control the boat
for fly fishing, ie slow and with a cross wind. While we had worse
fishing with McCotter, I dont think it was due to lack of skill or
knowledge in fact he is the lead guide. He would put us on a school of
fish and they would either just not eat or we would get one and then
the school would disappear. Overall it was a fun trip with the family,
but I think the water needs to cool a bit more for the bite to really
be happening down there.

On Oct 31, 9:55 am, James Ovelmen <jovel...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Fellow Fly Rodders,
>

> My family is renting a house on LakeAnnafor the week of

> Thanksgiving. My dad has already booked a guide for a couple of days
> for stripers/rockfish and crappie. I also plan to do some fishing
> without the guide. We may rent a bass boat or some kayaks. I was

> wondering if anyone in the group had fished LakeAnnabefore and could

[James Ovelmen]

Quick note to add, most of our hits and fishing were done in the top
1-3' feet of water. And when we resorted to vertical jigging, we seemd
to hav eless action.

On Nov 29, 3:21 pm, James Ovelmen <jovel...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I just got back from spending Thanksgiving with my family and my gf's
> family in a rental house on Lake Anna, Plentiful Bliss. We stayed on
> the cold side (the warm side is made up of three bays in the lake that
> are damed up and receive the warm water discharge from the two nuclear
> reactor). I fished the the Sunday befroe Thanksgiving and then the
> Friday and Sat. after, all half days with guides.
>
> On Sunday, It was my dad, Chris Craft (a guide with Chris McCotter's

> group), and me. Here is Chris Craft's blog on our day:http://mccotterslakeanna.blogspot.com/2010/11/november-21-flukes-flie....

> > James- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Dan Davala - Founder/President]

James,

I thought this was an excellent and very thorough report. Thank you
for sharing it with the club, and GREAT JOB getting some fish on the
fly!

-Dan

> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[Cave]

Can you eat the fish out of Lake Anna?

On Nov 30, 9:07 pm, "Dan Davala - Founder/President"

[James Ovelmen]

Yes, and they taste great. We ate several rockfish in the 20-24 inch
range (I think thye have to be over 18 or 20, I just dont remember
now) and several Lg mouth bass (No size limit).

Quick note on nuclear power, it is the safest form of power (ie
causing zero direct deaths in the US as opposed to coal or natural gas
which have both had many fatal accidents) and puts out less radiation
than a coal plant during normal operations. Obviously, when removing
spent radioactive waste from a reactor produces a lot of waste, but if
contained correctly is not released into the atmosphere. Meanwhile
burning coal does release radioactive material directly into the
atmosphere.

[Cave]

James thanks for the food tip. Was the nuclear power safety shot-out
something I missed? Or is that just your sign off signature you always
end with?

[Daniel Robertson]

I think it's more to do with misconceptions a lot of people have about
nuke power. There's a plant on the lake so it scares off a lot of
would be vacationers

I work in the nuclear industry and sometimes catch flack for it.
Something tells me he may as well.

-Mooky
無気

Sent from my iFail

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[James Ovelmen]

I was just responding to the question about eating the fish out of
Lake Anna, assuming that the quesiton was asked because of the two
reactors located on the lake. Also, the guides on the lake feel the
reactors do keep anglers away and it really shouldn't. I do not work
in the nuclear industry, but I did write a chapter on nuclear power
for a published report on the future of energy in the US.

On Dec 6, 10:18 am, Daniel Robertson <dj.mo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I think it's more to do with misconceptions a lot of people have about
> nuke power. There's a plant on the lake so it scares off a lot of
> would be vacationers
>
> I work in the nuclear industry and sometimes catch flack for it.
> Something tells me he may as well.
>
> -Mooky
> 無気
>
> Sent from my iFail
>

> > .- Hide quoted text -

[Cave]

Interesting. I was not aware, Thanks for the heads up. I just assumed,
since everything around DC is inedible up, that Lake Anna fish would
be as well.

I might have to hit this place up.

[Paul Brooks]

I was looking for a video example of how to tie a Merkin Crab. I found this historic account of the fly's history. Hope you find it as enlightening as I did.

http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/50059960

[Stephen Christopherson]

Very interesting indeed, both the history of the fly and the history of
the term. -steve