Post by 31Airborne on Sept 17, 2017 13:24:28 GMT -5
We had a perfect weekend weather-wise for the 10th anniversary of this event. Not sure of the head count but believe we had somewhere around 50 heroes and their families join us for a day on the water. Once again the Outdoor Recreation Heritage Fund did a superb job of piecing things together. Was especially good seeing Gunny Critcher up and around after his back surgeries.
Practice. Had two old Army friends come down for this year's event. We enjoyed a day of fun fishing on FRI. A Lake Anna local was kind enough to show my friend Jerry around Anna while my other buddy Todd and I tried to make the stingy bastages bite. The bite wasn't exactly on but we had enough bites to keep it entertaining. Todd had the big fish of the day - a nice 4-7 LM caught on a t-rigged critter bait. The rest of our bites were the typical Anna cookie-cutter keepers and knotheads. Flukes, crankbaits, and soft plastics did the trick for us. Secondary points were the ticket for us.
WW event. I was teamed up w/ Zach from Chambersburg, PA. He's a Marine who was wounded in 2010 during a tour in Afghanistan (Helmand Province). He'd fished before but not for bass. Thought it would be a tutorial kind of day until I saw him make his first cast - a perfectly placed skip that went all the way to the back of the dock. Todd and I immediately called him out for sandbagging us.
We hooked up quickly on our first stop, landing a nice keeper fish on a fluke from off of a grass line. Then it was quiet for the next 2 hours or so. We eventually found a few active fish and managed to round out our limit on squarebills and medium runners. All of these bites came on secondary points and adjacent transition lanes. Our 5 weighed 6 lbs.
Observations. 1) Water temps stayed between 75 and 79 degrees. The cloud cover on SAT kept them down a bit but things warmed up quickly once the sun came out. 2) Water level is 2-2.5' low right now. No issues launching but you do have to be careful to mind the offshore structure. Some of the stuff usually under water is now exposed or just under the surface. 3) Downlake is pretty clear (maybe 5-6' of viz). There's a tannic kind of stain to the water reminiscent of water I've seen in FL and LA. Not real brown but enough to notice. There's also some sediment in the upper end of the water column - pollen, late algae bloom, maybe early signs of the turnover. Dunno. Just guessing. 4) First breaks were key for us and many of the folks I talked to at weigh-in. Fish were holding in 2-6' and tight to the break. There weren't a lot of bites but the ones we had were no doubters. 5) The cloud cover on SAT had the fish scattered a bit. You had to cover water, period. Pick up a fish here or there then move on. Was a little easier to target them on FRI. Fish were holding in the same sorts of places but were bunched up a bit more. 6) Docks did come into play on FRI. Docks w/ deeper water (+7') were best. Docks on or near a points were money.
Was an honor having Zach aboard. Look forward to fishing w/ him again soon. He's studying to become a gunsmith. Has already built custom 1911s, ARs, and is now working on long guns. The security of our nation lies in the hands of young people like Zach. I, for one, am greatly comforted.
peace,
B
Practice. Had two old Army friends come down for this year's event. We enjoyed a day of fun fishing on FRI. A Lake Anna local was kind enough to show my friend Jerry around Anna while my other buddy Todd and I tried to make the stingy bastages bite. The bite wasn't exactly on but we had enough bites to keep it entertaining. Todd had the big fish of the day - a nice 4-7 LM caught on a t-rigged critter bait. The rest of our bites were the typical Anna cookie-cutter keepers and knotheads. Flukes, crankbaits, and soft plastics did the trick for us. Secondary points were the ticket for us.
WW event. I was teamed up w/ Zach from Chambersburg, PA. He's a Marine who was wounded in 2010 during a tour in Afghanistan (Helmand Province). He'd fished before but not for bass. Thought it would be a tutorial kind of day until I saw him make his first cast - a perfectly placed skip that went all the way to the back of the dock. Todd and I immediately called him out for sandbagging us.
We hooked up quickly on our first stop, landing a nice keeper fish on a fluke from off of a grass line. Then it was quiet for the next 2 hours or so. We eventually found a few active fish and managed to round out our limit on squarebills and medium runners. All of these bites came on secondary points and adjacent transition lanes. Our 5 weighed 6 lbs.
Observations. 1) Water temps stayed between 75 and 79 degrees. The cloud cover on SAT kept them down a bit but things warmed up quickly once the sun came out. 2) Water level is 2-2.5' low right now. No issues launching but you do have to be careful to mind the offshore structure. Some of the stuff usually under water is now exposed or just under the surface. 3) Downlake is pretty clear (maybe 5-6' of viz). There's a tannic kind of stain to the water reminiscent of water I've seen in FL and LA. Not real brown but enough to notice. There's also some sediment in the upper end of the water column - pollen, late algae bloom, maybe early signs of the turnover. Dunno. Just guessing. 4) First breaks were key for us and many of the folks I talked to at weigh-in. Fish were holding in 2-6' and tight to the break. There weren't a lot of bites but the ones we had were no doubters. 5) The cloud cover on SAT had the fish scattered a bit. You had to cover water, period. Pick up a fish here or there then move on. Was a little easier to target them on FRI. Fish were holding in the same sorts of places but were bunched up a bit more. 6) Docks did come into play on FRI. Docks w/ deeper water (+7') were best. Docks on or near a points were money.
Was an honor having Zach aboard. Look forward to fishing w/ him again soon. He's studying to become a gunsmith. Has already built custom 1911s, ARs, and is now working on long guns. The security of our nation lies in the hands of young people like Zach. I, for one, am greatly comforted.
peace,
B