Lake Anna, Veterans Day Fising Tournament 2019
Nov 11, 2019 19:40:07 GMT -5
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Post by 31Airborne on Nov 11, 2019 19:40:07 GMT -5
This was the 8th annual VDFT, an event put on by the Martin Family - a wonderful group of Americans who put this event on as a way of saying thank you to veterans. Larry (Dirtman on some fishing sites) is an avid angler (a dang good stick btw). He's set up a 501(c)(3) to support this event. If you're a veteran or someone who wants to say thank you to vets, please consider coming up to Lake Anna next 11 NOV for 9th annual VDFT.
First of all, a huge THANK YOU to Team Dirt and all of the sponsors. The magnitude of Larry's efforts will never be fully appreciated. This a massive undertaking for a team, let alone one man and his family. Larry - your passion for this event and your devotion to our veterans is humbling. You don't have to wear a uniform to be a patriot. You, sir, have earned that title and then some. I was proud to be a part of this event again. I am honored to call you a friend.
Practice. For me, this weekend was my first real chance to test the rehab/recovery on the shoulder. I've had one-day outings here and there since the surgery but nothing like this past weekend (4 days total fishing). I am thrilled to report that I finished the weekend tired but pain-free. Has been a long time since I could say I fished pain-free. It is indeed a blessing.
I covered water from the dam to the upper reaches of the N. Anna arm in practice. I threw cranks, spinners, chatters, jigs, flukes, and a c-rig. The only thing I could get to repeat w/ any kind of regularity was the c-rig. Up lake, down lake, mid lake - didn't matter. The fish were all over a c-rigged creature bait. Points and deeper water docks were key for me. A dock on a point w/ deeper water (+10') on the front were money.
Saturday, while the coldest of the four I fished, was the best day for quality. Sunday was about as good for quality but the numbers were up a little.
TX day. Teamed up w/ John P, a fellow Soldier. After a quick conversation before blast off we agreed to start down lake. Our first stop was covered up by other boats so we motored a little further down lake into one of the feeder creeks. We started at the first set of secondary points in the creek and quickly banged out 2 fish - a short and a small keeper. We bounced back and forth to other points in the same creek, picking up another keeper. From there we made our way back up lake, hitting select points and stretches w/ deeper water docks. Around 11 we hit a bit of a jack pot in another feeder creek - picked up 2 solid keepers on the first secondary point we stopped on. A bit further in we picked up our 5th keeper. As we worked our way back out we stopped to fish an old concrete boat ramp and picked up our best fish of the day - a chunky 4.42. We continued a bit further up lake and hit a main lake point John knew well. Got bit almost right away but lost the fish after a few seconds. Only thing I can figure is bow in the line (wind had picked up a bit by then). Not 10 yards down got bit again, only to lose that one, too. Not to be out done, I lose a third fish not 5 mins later. I finally hook up and land a small keeper - doesn't help. We motored up to the mid lake area, hitting a few places I'd visited in practice. John bangs out a nice keeper that culls one of our punks. With an hour left we run up into the N. Anna arm and hit a series of main and secondary points I'd visited on SAT. Had a couple bites but no hook-ups. We called it a day after that and weighed our 4 cookie-cutter Lake Anna fish and the one chunky fish for 9.11.
Observations: 1) The Splits is about the break point for water clarity. Below it's ~typical Anna - 6-8' of viz. The further up into the rivers you go the more heavily stained the water. Maybe 2' of viz. 2) Water temps varied from 60 at HPM at launch to 55 in the N. Anna arm, to 66 vic the dam. 3) Bait was scattered downlake. It is everywhere and thick up in the rivers. I did see some schooling activity during practice but not during the TX. 4) Most of the fish we caught were in the 6-12' range, holding off of breaks. We did catch a few in practice and on TX day in 2-3' of water. Our big fish came out of ~6' of water. 5) Secondary points were better than main lake points. Points w/ tight contour lines were better than shallow tapered points.
Even tho' the quality was down today the numbers were up. And John and I had a blast. He is a good stick - thorough, focused, and eager/willing to learn. I look forward to fishing w/ him again. Was great seeing all of the VAO doodses today. Hope to see more of y'all now that I'm healthy. My focus will shift to SML, SoHo, and Kerr over the winter. Also have trips to The G and Chickamauga this fall - can't wait.
Again, thank you Team Dirt for another fabulous day and event. Team Dirt rox.
peace,
B
First of all, a huge THANK YOU to Team Dirt and all of the sponsors. The magnitude of Larry's efforts will never be fully appreciated. This a massive undertaking for a team, let alone one man and his family. Larry - your passion for this event and your devotion to our veterans is humbling. You don't have to wear a uniform to be a patriot. You, sir, have earned that title and then some. I was proud to be a part of this event again. I am honored to call you a friend.
Practice. For me, this weekend was my first real chance to test the rehab/recovery on the shoulder. I've had one-day outings here and there since the surgery but nothing like this past weekend (4 days total fishing). I am thrilled to report that I finished the weekend tired but pain-free. Has been a long time since I could say I fished pain-free. It is indeed a blessing.
I covered water from the dam to the upper reaches of the N. Anna arm in practice. I threw cranks, spinners, chatters, jigs, flukes, and a c-rig. The only thing I could get to repeat w/ any kind of regularity was the c-rig. Up lake, down lake, mid lake - didn't matter. The fish were all over a c-rigged creature bait. Points and deeper water docks were key for me. A dock on a point w/ deeper water (+10') on the front were money.
Saturday, while the coldest of the four I fished, was the best day for quality. Sunday was about as good for quality but the numbers were up a little.
TX day. Teamed up w/ John P, a fellow Soldier. After a quick conversation before blast off we agreed to start down lake. Our first stop was covered up by other boats so we motored a little further down lake into one of the feeder creeks. We started at the first set of secondary points in the creek and quickly banged out 2 fish - a short and a small keeper. We bounced back and forth to other points in the same creek, picking up another keeper. From there we made our way back up lake, hitting select points and stretches w/ deeper water docks. Around 11 we hit a bit of a jack pot in another feeder creek - picked up 2 solid keepers on the first secondary point we stopped on. A bit further in we picked up our 5th keeper. As we worked our way back out we stopped to fish an old concrete boat ramp and picked up our best fish of the day - a chunky 4.42. We continued a bit further up lake and hit a main lake point John knew well. Got bit almost right away but lost the fish after a few seconds. Only thing I can figure is bow in the line (wind had picked up a bit by then). Not 10 yards down got bit again, only to lose that one, too. Not to be out done, I lose a third fish not 5 mins later. I finally hook up and land a small keeper - doesn't help. We motored up to the mid lake area, hitting a few places I'd visited in practice. John bangs out a nice keeper that culls one of our punks. With an hour left we run up into the N. Anna arm and hit a series of main and secondary points I'd visited on SAT. Had a couple bites but no hook-ups. We called it a day after that and weighed our 4 cookie-cutter Lake Anna fish and the one chunky fish for 9.11.
Observations: 1) The Splits is about the break point for water clarity. Below it's ~typical Anna - 6-8' of viz. The further up into the rivers you go the more heavily stained the water. Maybe 2' of viz. 2) Water temps varied from 60 at HPM at launch to 55 in the N. Anna arm, to 66 vic the dam. 3) Bait was scattered downlake. It is everywhere and thick up in the rivers. I did see some schooling activity during practice but not during the TX. 4) Most of the fish we caught were in the 6-12' range, holding off of breaks. We did catch a few in practice and on TX day in 2-3' of water. Our big fish came out of ~6' of water. 5) Secondary points were better than main lake points. Points w/ tight contour lines were better than shallow tapered points.
Even tho' the quality was down today the numbers were up. And John and I had a blast. He is a good stick - thorough, focused, and eager/willing to learn. I look forward to fishing w/ him again. Was great seeing all of the VAO doodses today. Hope to see more of y'all now that I'm healthy. My focus will shift to SML, SoHo, and Kerr over the winter. Also have trips to The G and Chickamauga this fall - can't wait.
Again, thank you Team Dirt for another fabulous day and event. Team Dirt rox.
peace,
B