Debbi and I made a trip down to Lake Anna, VA this past weekend. The plan was to hook up with a guide and catch a mess of crappie. It's that time of the year!
We drove down on Friday, which was Debbi's birthday. We took the "scenic route" and avoided Rt 95 and 81 altogether. It was a great drive. Took about 4 hours.
On the way, we stopped in Culpepper, VA. Cool little historic town. We ate at a really nice restraunt called Hazel River Inn. The food was really good. Debbi got to eat some fried oysters...she LOVES those :)
We spent the night at Lake Anna's Lighthouse Inn. Not a very fancy place, but it was clean, quiet...and right at the marina where we met our guide.
We fished with Chris McCotter of McCotter's Guide Service. Chris is a really nice guy and knows the lake very well. We will definitely fish with him again.
So, we get out on the lake, it's calm, about 55 degrees and overcast...not too bad. We got to the first spot and wouldn't you know it...Miss Debbi catches a crappie on the first cast! Oh boy, it's going to be one onf those days that she kicks my butt! We catch a few small fish and move on...
About an hour into the day, a dark cloud came into view. Clearly, there was a storm getting very close. Chirs made a quick and good decision, to high tail it back to the marina. We literally beat the storm by just minutes. So, we hung out in the marina store for 20 minutes or so and let the storm pass. I was pumped, thinking that the rest of the day would be clear...well.
The temp droppped about 10-15 degrees and it stayed windy the entire day. Poor Debbi froze her butt off and actually stopped fishing. Chris and I kept banging away at it, but this was a typical spring cold front that really makes fishing tough.
We ended the day with something like 30-4o crappie. We took 15 home to eat.
Although the fishing was pretty tough, we met a new guide, made a new friend, ate some good food and enjoyed another adventure together.
Folks, this guy can really fish. If he'd been here a week later he'd have been talking about all the bass and big crappie we caught. What didn't mention was that he hooked, fought and landed a 10.5-lb. carp on a crappie pole (6-lb. test) and jig and made it look easy. Not many clients can do that! He did everything I asked and exceeded my expectations in a client. Thanks for making a tough weather day into a "save", Brett.
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