So far this year, the James, Shenandoah and much of the New River have been simply unfishable. If it hasn’t been dumping 2-inches of rain in a day, it has been blowing hard, creating difficult conditions. The coming weekend (barring unexpected downpours) will likely offer the best fishing of the year. It’s the first of May, the smallmouth are ready to spawn and they are hungry.
The water will be a little high and somewhat stained, but that is often beneficial to anglers. Hit one of these rivers this week and you may tangle with your best bass of the year.
Trout Streams
The deluge of rains that have made for difficult conditions for smallmouth anglers on our major rivers have created near-ideal situations on our trout streams. The brookie streams are full of water, bugs are hatching and anglers are scoring. Reports from the Bull Pasture and Jackson River (above Moomaw) indicate plenty of holdover trout from early stockings. The fish are well dispersed throughout the streams and are taking most any bait, lure or fly thrown their way. The Jackson below Gathright continues to be bombed with high water flow from aggressive releases by the Corps of Engineers. The spring creeks in the valley, though a little milky, are beginning to produce nice catches.
Potomac Report
Spawn week?
The cold snap dropped water temperatures into the upper 50s. Muddy water and high winds made for a tough fishing week. That will change this week.
Water should get into the mid to upper 60s by the end of the week.
Spawn should start on Sunday. Clouds start the week with 60-degree days before warming and clearing for the rest of the week. Highs into the upper 70s by Sunday.
Muddy water will dictate slow presentations. One that worked well last week was a shaky head stickworm. Tie a 1/8-ounce Mizmo Barb Wire jig to a green pumpkin 5-inch Quiver Stix. The Barb Wire has a screw-on keeper. Cast on 10-pound test GAMMA EDGE on casting gear, or 10-pound Copoly on spinning gear. Shake or drag, moving bait slowly.
If water isn’t too stained, try lipless cranks like craw patterned Lucky Craft LV RTO. Tie to 12-pound Edge and slowly crawl over gravel banks or over grass tops. Crank Lucky Craft 1.5 over wood cover.
Carolina rigs cover water with a 1/2 or 3/4-ounce egg sinker threaded on 30-pound GAMMA Torque Braid with a 12-pound test, 24 inch, Edge leader. Use a 3/0 Mustad Mega Bite hook with a HardNose Lizard. Drag slowly and stop. Use a sweep hookset. Soak soft plastics in garlic Jack’s Juice Bait Spray.
For bedding bass, cast or pitch Mizmo tubes with an insert head or try a drop shot with an 8-inch leader. Keep baits in beds as long as possible to entice strikes. Beds will be hard to see with muddy water.
Capt. Steve Chaconas is a guide on the Potomac River. info@nationalbass.com
Lake Orange
The water is clear with temperatures in the mid 60’s. The fish are in all phases of the spawn. The bass and crappie are especially active. Crappie are being caught on jigs and small minnows. Largemouth bass are up shallow in 2-4 ft. of water while other groups of bass are still out in the 8-10 ft. range. Bass are hitting on soft plastics. Bluegills are jus now getting in the position where they’re ready to come up shallow. Some nice walleye were caught all over the lake this week on live bait.
Catfish are being caught throughout the lake on live bait and chicken livers. Contributed by Darrell Kennedy of Angler’s Landing (540.672.3997)
Lake Anna Update
Guide Chris Craft
Bass- The bass throughout the lake have made their move to the shallows and are taking a variety of baits. The cold fronts this past week have pushed them back slightly, but with the warm, stable weather in the forecast, they will move back up in a hurry. Currently, we have all 3 stages of the spawn going on and I believe it will continue for just about the entire month.
Look for fish around stumps, rocks, beaver huts, laydown trees and willow grass throughout the month. On cloudy days, moving baits will put them in the boat, My two favorite search baits this time of year are a Dave’s Tournament Tackle Tiger Shad Spinnerbait and a Damiki Armor Shad soft jerkbait. My personal preference for the Tiger Shad is a ¼-oz, double-gold willow combination in either the Purple Tiger or Blue Back Herring color. Put these baits in the willow grass and retrieve them just under the surface above the grass. When you get to thin pockets, holes or on the edge of the grass, kill the bait and let it flutter down. This triggers a reaction that bass cannot resist. Fish the Armor Shad in the same places at the spinnerbait and do the same thing in order to get that reaction strike. On Sunny days, I stay with more natural colors like Pro Purple & Pro Blue, on overcast days I like White Pearl and White Silver Flake. Rig them weightless TEX-POSED on a 4/0 Gamakatsu Hook, let the fish tell you what cadence they want. Start off with a twitch-twitch-pause and let the bait sink completely out of sight before twitching it again.
On bright sunny days, slow down and pitch plastics in, around and under grass and boat docks. The Deep Creek Lures Stump Thumper and Jr. Razor Beetle are two of my favorites. Rig them on a shaky head or Texas rigged. Arson 3/8-oz. Arky Head Jigs are another great choice to entice bites from fish that are not very aggressive.
By the end of the month, top water walking baits like the Damiki Rambler and Paycheck Baits Repo-man baits will put post spawn fatties in the boat. Dmiki MTB Noisy Buzzbaits will also start to play a role in my choices. The bluegills will start to spawn by the end of the month, 1.5 and 2.5 squarebill crankbaits in bluegill patterns are always ties onto my Izor-line this time of year. The bass will cruise these beds and wait in ambush around boat docks or anything else they can hide around and like a lightning bolt. They will pick one bluegill out of the pack and strike through the bed and give a little payback.
Crappie- The first wave of the spawn is over for the mature females, the second wave is just days away and we will be able to catch numbers of these tasty vittles for a few more weeks in shallow water before they go deep for the summer. The males are protecting nests and are very aggressive right now. They can be caught in a variety of locations on a variety of baits. Beaver huts, willow grass, laydowns and boat docks in 2-10 feet of water will be the best locations. Small minnows & Kalin 2-inch curly tail grubs are my choices in colors like John Deere Green, Wally World, Green Weenie and Black/Blue Chart Tail.
After the spawn, look for them to be on bridge pilings, deep brush piles, deep boat docks with lots of shade, At this time, small minnows rigged on a slip bobber will be your best choice to catch fish.
Stripers – The “linesides” are making their way back down lake from their springtime spawn run. Live bait like blueback herring and gizzard shad are producing numbers of fish for the folks willing to get up early and catch their bait. For those of us that prefer to cast to them, Broken Back Redfins cast to shallow flats and points will produce very violent strikes from the hearty fish. Damiki Anchovy Shads rigged on a 1/4oz Jig Head slowly retrieved will also put them in the boat for you.
Chickahominy Lake
Capt. Art Conway of Conway’s River Rat Guide Service (804-746-2475) out of Ed Allen’s Boats and Bait reported that Chickahominy Lake mid-day water temperatures were in the mid 60’s in the main lake and the high 60’s to low 70’s in the major creeks on Wednesday (4/29/2015). The lake level was about six inches above the top of the dam. The water was moderately brown and slightly cloudy in the lower lake.
Blue cats were scattered throughout the lake and creeks and were hitting live minnows and cut bait. Crappie were in several different patterns and were biting moderately aggressively. A fair number of crappie were in loose schools in the main lake on flats, frequently near creek mouths, usually at depths of 8- to 12-feet. Some crappie were on shallow to mid-depth wood cover in the main lake and in major creeks. A few crappie were in the major creeks scattered along the channels and near spawning areas. Active crappie were hitting live minnows, Wright Bait Co. curlytail jigs, small tubes, and small swim baits. Some nice yellow perch were in loose aggregates in some creeks and on main lake flats and were hitting live minnows and small jigs. Bluegills were starting to accumulate near shorelines in some areas of major creeks and the main lake and were hitting flies and small jigs. Some bass and pickerel were on lily pad flats in the backs of creeks and in shallow bays in the main lake and were hitting live minnows, spinnerbaits, swim baits, stick worms, and jigs.
Fishing with Capt. Conway, Bob and Jackie Maybury and Sharie Marwitz had 2 bluegill, 17 crappie, 1 bass, and 1 pickerel. Terry Rivers had 23 bluegill, 1 warmouth, 3 crappie, 1 yellow perch, 1 roach minnow, and 1 bass. Tom Porter had 13 bluegill, 10 crappie, and 4 yellow perch.
Saltwater
Chincoteague
Capt. Bob’s in Chincoteague reports: “Wednesday’s fishing trip with Brian Spath and Timmy Brack of Pasadena, Md. was successful. We fished down around the Four Mouths area in 9′ – 15′ of water on the outgoing tide. The water temp was 57/58 degrees. We were using Y Knot Custom flounder rigs in white and chartreuse with 4″ white and Chartreuse twister tails. We had a total of 12 keepers ranging from 16 1/4″-19 1/2″ with a fair amount of throwbacks”.
Virginia Beach Report
By Dr. Julie Ball
At last! Catches are improving most everywhere as the spring fishing scene finally comes to life.
Tautog is still the biggest draw this week, as the bite within Bay waters continues to sizzle. The season closed on the 1st of May. Excellent catches are coming from the structure and pilings of the Bay Bridge Tunnel and several lower Bay wrecks. Anglers using fiddler crabs and blue crabs are experiencing steady action, with easy limits of fish ranging from around 4- to 8-pounds. Scattered catches to 10-pounds are also coming from these same areas. The larger togs continue to come from offshore, deep-water wrecks, but the action is much slower, with both sea bass and cod also competing for offerings on these structures. Sea bass will remain out of season until May.
The flounder bite is still emerging in lower Bay waters. Scattered keepers are rewarding those who put in their time along the Eastern Shore seaside inlets, – Oyster, Magothy Bay, and Back River Reef. Some decent flatfish ranging up to around 21-inches are coming from both Rudee and Lynnhaven Inlets on strip bait and minnows. This action should continue to improve as the water warms up.
Red drum remain active along the barrier islands of the Eastern Shore, with some nice fish taking offerings mostly among the breakers off Smith and Fisherman’s Islands. Peeler crabs, blue crabs, and bunker fished on the bottom will give you a chance at tangling with a bull red. Although the action is not hot yet, the red drum bite will only improve over the weeks ahead. Some smaller black drum are also hitting in these same areas.
The lower Bay Rivers are giving up good numbers of croaker, while Little Creek, Ocean View and Buckroe anglers are finding medium-sized hardheads on bloodworms and squid, especially at night. Casters working the surf lines along the oceanfront are also finding some willing croaker recently, along with some nice snapper-sized bluefish. Big bluefish are also thrilling anglers within Rudee this week. Puppy drum are hitting in Rudee, Lynnhaven, and Little Creek Inlets on topwater lures and grubs. Folks will likely show little interest when the Bay trophy striped bass season begins on May 1st, but if you plan to target these fish, be sure to get your trophy striped bass permit and review the changes in this year’s rockfish regulations.
Tilefish, grouper, black-bellied rosefish, and other deep-water species are still available in water over 50 fathoms near the Canyon. As the dogfish begin to move out this month, more boats will venture out to try their luck.
Offshore action is heading our way as boats running to Carolina are finding a mixed bag of yellowfin tuna, blackfin tuna, and bluefin tuna. Gaffer dolphin are beginning to show, along with scattered wahoo. A few boats from Virginia will test some warmer water moving into range near the Cigar this week in hopes of finding tuna.
Nags Head
TW’s Report: On Wednesday, the beaches south of the bridge caught sea mullet, and blow toads. Surf fishing was slow on the northern beaches. Sea mullet and blow toads have been reported north of the Oregon Inlet Bridge. Parker Jones used a grub and caught a 4 lb. bluefish in Kill Devil Hills. Pier fishing is getting better every day.
Avalon Pier had Sea Mullet and Puffers; Nags Head Pier had two 28-inch Puppies late yesterday. Jennette’s scored with bluefish and shad. The Outer Banks Pier reported blues, sea mullet and blow toads.
Jed and Raymond Williamson were fishing on the Miss Hatteras Headboat and had a great day with triggerfish. Shawn Pennington fished the Kitty Hawk beach and caught a citation 1.6 pound Sea Mullet. The action at Little Bridge is improving. There have been a couple of 17-18 in caught.
Oregon Inlet
Oregon Inlet Fishing Center had twelve boats to go out Sunday and the fishing proved to be great. All the boats returned with no fewer than 8 and up to the limit of yellow fins. Five boats caught up to four dolphin, four landed a mako shark, one boated an albacore, and two landed wahoos, one weighing 47 lbs.
On Tuesday, one boat fished despite the wind and had great catch of 17 yellow fin, three dolphin, and one mako shark.
Monday, one boat set sail and brought in 8 yellow fin and three dolphin. Near-shore boats caught sea mullet, sand perch and blowfish over the weekend.
Hatteras Surf
Wednesday was a beautiful day, reports Red Drum & Tackle. Ramps 43 and 44 had sea mullet and blow toads. Avon had sea mullet and blow toads. Big sharks were caught at the Point.
On Tuesday, anglers at Ramp 55 caught bluefish on metal, along with sea mullet, blow toads and a few drum. The Jetties produced sea mullet and toads.
Monday’s report noted that Ramp 44 and the jetties had sea mullet, blow toads, and bluefish. The Point had bluefish, big sharks and a couple of big drum. Jason Wendling caught and released his first big drum measuring 42-inches.
Hatteras Offshore
On April 29, Juanice and LaWanda fished with Godspeed Charters and had a great day offshore. They caught a nice variety of fish including a dozen gaffers, six blackfins (including a citation 20 pounder) and a wahoo. On April 27, Capt. Wilson reported some nice gaffers caught that morning. Big blackfins came to the top in the afternoon.
