McCotter’s Lake Anna Guide Service Fishing Late March Forecast

Lake Anna, VA –   We are now in the transitional pre-spawn season with the harsh winter just a memory. Everyone is anxious to get out on Lake Anna now that we have warm and sunny days. Bass, striper and crappie are currently getting prepared to spawn so fishing shallow will be or is the overall pattern depending on the weather conditions. Sunny days and warm nights mean fish will be shallow. Cold fronts push fish back to staging areas. Here’s what you can expect on your next visit according to guide and marinas around the lake.

Largemouth – Late this month, at the lower end of the lake, the big ‘uns will begin spawning and you’ll find them in three to six feet of water due to excellent visibility and sun penetration. The mid lake region will have some spawners soon, but probably by the start of April. Up lake will not have any spawners until the full moon in April possibly.  Visiting anglers will find catching bass easier now in the shallows throughout the lake. Top lures until fish spawn will continue to be suspending jerkbaits, the Dave’s Tournament Tackle Tiger Shad Lake Anna Special spinnerbait, a soft plastic jerkbait, shaky worms and lipless crankbaits. Fishing wood in the form of docks and stumps in the mid and lower end of the lake is productive. Up lake, focus on willow grass lines, docks and rocks.

Crappie – Specks will also begin spawning throughout the lake with the highest density of specks found in the upper portions of Terry’s Run, Pamunkey Branch and North Anna River. Fish the docks, rocks and willow grass edges with slip bobbers and minnows and small jigs. The mid and down lake regions also have crappie, and they tend to be larger, but there are fewer of them due to the lack of shallow structure. Beaver huts, docks and brushpiles are what you target in these regions.

Striper – Striped bass fishing has been excellent on Anna this year. Marchl is a transition month for these fish as they are moving into the extreme upper portions of the tributaries to spawn. You job is to find them feeding on the way up river. There are so many striper in the lake now you often bump into them accidently bass fishing. Good traditional areas include the flats and points above and below Stubbs Bridge, the S-turns of the Pamunkey, upper Terry’s Run and in the North Anna from Christopher Run up to the mouth of Gold Mine Creek. The amazing run of fish at Dike III continued into mid-March, so there might still be striper there too this month on the way into the hot side.

Casting lures has become increasingly popular with Anna’s striper anglers. Top April baits will be a soft plastic jerkbait, a Super Zara Spook and a swimbait. If you want to pull bait behind your boat, side planers and corks with live shad and herring (in that order) is productive, too.

McCotter’s Lake Anna Guide Service will be busy this month putting clients on all three of Anna’s major gamefish. Hat trick trips for all three are available. C.C. McCotter notes the crappie fishing should peak in the first two weeks of April, if you are planning a visit. He thinks the biggest largemouth spawn will be around the April 28 full moon. Striper fishing in April can be spotty if you don’t know where the fish are. Check out his blog at www.mccotterslakeanna.blogspot.com for daily reports, photos and video of his trips. He has very limited personal openings at the end of May, and plenty of associates ready to take you this month.