Our September speaker will be Walt Cary, the creator of Walt’s Poppers.
Walt Cary
Join us in August with local guide, C.C. McCotter of McCotter’s Lake Anna Guide Service, who will discuss fishing for largemouth bass and stripper on Lake Anna.
C. C. McCotter
C.C. McCotter, the founder of McCotter’s Lake Anna Guide Service, has fished Lake Anna for the past 30 years and began guiding 24 years ago. Long since over his competitive fishing days, C.C.’s passion now lies in teaching others, a philosophy obvious after just a few moments on the water. From the tournament contender to a father and son out for some quality time, McCotter takes care of them all. He is the most experienced fishing guide on Lake Anna.
McCotter unofficially started his guide service during the summer of 1989 when he guided his very first “clients” for gas money. In 1990, he finished college and fished weekend tournaments taking several top finish plaques home. By 1992 he switched totally to guiding. In the next five years, the fledgling guide service grew to over 200 days on the water a year. By 1999, McCotter added associate guides to handle the demand that was coming from all over the Atlantic region.
The guide service’s philosophy from the start has always been to offer the best product available for a reasonable price. It is this drive for customer satisfaction and the landing of some huge fish that has made the guide service so successful.
Clients have caught largemouth bass up to 10 pounds with C.C. and countless striper and crappie. The MLAGS founder has been featured in BASSMaster, Fishing Facts, BASSIN’, CRAPPIE, InFisherman, Virginia Game & Fish, Woods & Waters, and many other magazines. McCotter’s vast storehouse of Anna knowledge comes from living on the shores of the lake with his family since 1986.
His dedication to and stewardship of Anna is also evident from his directorship of the annual Fish Structure Enhancement Program. He and his fellow volunteers have created or enhanced 12 Fish Structures in Lake Anna. Another project McCotter initiated, the annual Lake Anna Cup Invitational, grew to 76 teams in 2009 and has become one of the most prestigious events on the lake.
Commenting on his guide service, C.C. stated: “We are totally immersed in guiding and caring for Anna. That’s it. My philosophy is to fish one lake, try and master it, and then teach others. What makes Anna so special is that if you can learn to catch fish here, you can catch them anywhere.”
McCotter is a founding member of the Concerned Bass Anglers of Virginia, a member of the Virginia Outdoor Writers Association, and is sponsored by High Point Marina, Anna Point Boat Sales, Nitro Boats, Mercury Outboards, Pure Fishing (ABU Garcia, Berkley, Fenwick, Spider, Mitchell), Humminbird Electronics, Dave’s Tournament Tackle, Anna’s Marine Center and TRACKER Boats.
Author, sportsman, photographer, and conservationist Bruce Ingram will share his deep knowledge about fishing for smallmouth bass at the PRSC meeting on July 27. You can usually count on Bruce to sprinkle in lots of interesting, and sometimes controversial viewpoints, on fishing, so even if you’ve read his books and heard him speak in the past, Bruce always makes it an interesting evening.
Bruce Ingram
When not teaching English in the Botetourt County, Virginia, school system, Bruce spends much of his time fishing, hunting, birding, and enjoying the great outdoors. He has been an outdoor writer/photographer since 1983. His extensive knowledge is reflected in the many books he has published, including the James River Guide, New River Guide, and The Shenandoah and Rappahannock Rivers Guide. One of Bruce’s recent books, Fly and Spin Fishing for River Smallmouths, covers how to catch smallmouth on fly and spinning rods throughout the year, plus such topics as conservation easements, riparian zone creation/protection, taking kids fishing, canoe camping, birding by canoe, and much more.
Bruce’s books on the James, New, Potomac, Shenandoah and Rappahannock Rivers cover a wide range of float trips available on these rivers, plus information on access points, rapids, fishing hot spots, and trip planning. Basically, paragraph by paragraph, mile by mile, Bruce takes you on a trip down these rivers, so that when you go on your own trips, you will have a safe, productive fishing experience. You’ll have the opportunity to purchase signed copies of Bruce’s books. As an added incentive to buy a book or two, Bruce will be giving away soft or hard plastic lures with each purchase. The only catch to this offer is if the particular lure works, Bruce would like members to send me an e-mail; if the lure is a dud, no need to send one.
In addition to his books, Bruce has also placed some 2,100 articles in magazines and some 2,400 photos. He regularly writes for such magazines as Virginia Wildlife, Wildlife in North Carolina, Whitetail Times, Turkey Country, Turkey & Turkey Hunting, Game and Fish Publications, and many others. Bruce and his wife, Elaine, recently co-wrote a book titled Living the Locavore Lifestyle, about ways to live a sustainable lifestyle by hunting and fishing for food, gathering wild fruits and nuts, and raising a garden, chickens, and fruit trees. It also contains a number of essays on the joys of hunting and fishing.
You can learn more about Bruce Ingram, as well as purchase his books, by visiting hist website, Bruce Ingram Outdoors. For those of you able to attend the July meeting, this should be a very interesting and informative evening. Bruce plans to speak on fishing parts of the Upper Potomac River that not many of us get to. These include Paw Paw to Bonds Landing (13.5 miles) and Bonds Landing to Little Orleans (8.5 miles). Bruce says “the first float is the most beautiful on the Main Stem;” it is isolated and lightly fished. The second float is very good, too. Class I rapids are the max on the entire junket. Bruce says: “This is a true bucket list float.”
Bruce will also discuss other floats, including Taylors Landing to Snyders Landing (4.5 miles), Snyders Landing to Shepherdstown (4 miles), and Shepherdstown to Dargan Bend (8 miles). You won’t want to miss Bruce’s talk on these little-known floats.