"A thick line sends out harmonics or sounds to the fish as it cuts through the water much like the wind whipping around a piece of line stretched out tight in the air. The thinner line also has less visibility and my leader is even smaller, so that if I do lose anything it is just the terminal tackle, the hook and bait and not the planer," he noted.

Shad and herring can be hooked through the nose with a red circle hook and a trailer treble hook, which should be tied to the circle hook. The circle hooks allow anglers to simply pull the rod out of the holder and reel the fish in. Circle hooks also are good conservation tools as the fish will almost never be gut hooked.

A quality baitcaster reel spooled with plenty of line and equipped with a bait clicker is essential to proper trolling of live bait. When the clicker goes off and the drag begins squealing, the angler knows the fish is hooked. A 7-foot, medium-action graphite rod with a fast tip made of fiberglass is our expert's choice in a rod for striped bass fishing at Anna.

If the fish are feeding aggressively at Lake Anna, artificial lures can also work, and anglers have a variety of choices. Some of the most popular lures that work very well at Lake Anna include Storm's Wild Eye Shad, Bass Assassin's Sea Shad, Sassy Shads and other swim baits. As the water cools and the fish begin hitting the surface in October and November while chasing bait, Redfins, Zara Spooks and other loud and attention-getting surface chuggers will work very well.

Anglers without a boat can access great fall fishing at the Dike 3 Fishing Area on Route 622 in Louisa. This area offers the bank-angler good access to feeding stripers at dawn, dusk and at night. On overcast days, the bite may continue well into the day at times. Night-anglers will hang a lantern above the water to attract the herring to the outflow and light, which in turn draw the stripers. Freelining bait in the current flow with the use of a long rod is a good technique.

Another good bank-fishing area is Lake Anna State Park, which has miles of shoreline that can be hiked to access Pigeon Run and Ware Creek. Pigeon Run is known to be a popular area for baitfish to congregate year 'round. The same can be said of the mouth of Ware Creek.

What constitutes a good day of striper fishing at Lake Anna? Beginners can feel good about themselves if they boat five nice stripers in a day of fishing. Considering that the fish average almost 6 pounds, the stringer is pretty hefty at the end of the day. Hiring a guide to learn the lake is an excellent way to hone your striper hunting skills and make your personal outings more productive in the future. Hemby considers his average day to be 10 to 15 fish. A really good day may be 20 or 15 really large fish.

Consider the good eating you will have at the end of your trip. VDGIF stocks the striped bass in Lake Anna with the intent for anglers to harvest them. The fish do not spawn successfully due to the lack of current in the lake, so do not feel bad about harvesting a nice meal.

To learn more about Lake Anna's stripers, consider giving our local expert a call at (540) 967-3313.

Ramp Fees at Anna are generally $6. There are good ramps all over the lake.