Lake Anna Kayak Fishing

   This week, I have been to Lake Anna twice to kayak fish with my two younger brothers. The earlier you arrive, the better. If I could get there before the sun came up, I would. The fish in Lake Anna feed much more early in the mornings, and boat traffic is more relaxed. We put in at Hunters Landing both days, and fished the bridge right next to the ramp, as well as Stubbs Bridge about a mile down lake from there. Under the bridges, we tight line troll with carolina rigged trout magnets about 3 feet below a 1/4oz weight. We caught piles of crappies both times, although the average "keeper" was only 9.5" with the occasional 11 or 12 inch fish here and there. White catfish also take the trout magnets, and are fun at first, but after your hands have been slimed up 5 or 6 times, it gets annoying. Schools of white perch also pass through every now and then, but they are only 4 or 5 inches long (great bait though).
   We also fish a spot near Stubbs Bridge that all the striper guides fish, but we target catfish since we haven't been able to get any herring for bait. The catfish can get so thick that if you fish more than one rod, things get messy. I had three 15-18" channels on at one time, and surprisingly managed to boat all three tangle-free, but they were quite destructive once I put them in my kayak. For the catfish, we just use carolina rigs with a #6 hook and a piece of cut bait, cut herring is the best bait, but they definitely will pick up a piece of bluegill (which are readily accessible on every bank of the lake). Last time, we tried dropping "spent" herring that the guides had pitched into the water after they died, and my brother Ewing boated a small 16" striper. We also had some very large "mystery fish" double rods over and somehow avoid a 5/0 circle hook. Next time we go back, we are planning on targeting striper, with heavy tackle, and hopefully we can catch some herring on sabiki rigs, but if not, we will just buy some big shiners at the bait shop. We will be fishing downlines, which is basically another name for tightlining, because you slow troll herring behind a 1-2oz egg sinker much like you would troll minnow for crappies. I would really enjoy landing a few stripers from a kayak, that would be an absolute blast. Thanks for reading!

Yesterday's catch, 32 keeper crappies, and 15 keeper channel catfish. We also released lots of bluegill, white catfish, and small crappies.