Last week, Ronnie Williams fished in a Tuesday Night Tournament out of Sturgeon Creek at Lake Anna and put a bass weighing 11.03 on the scales. Naturally, he won the Big Fish Category. Eleven pounds is a serious size bass. The winning bag of 5 fish totaled 20.9 pounds. Stripers are also biting at Anna, but mostly in the wee morning hours and again at dusk.
Night fishing is also becoming popular at Buggs Island, for slab crappie.
All of our rivers are now in good shape. Smallies are hitting on the Shenandoah, the Upper James and the New and the lower James and the Chick are giving up lots of quality largemouth. Live bluegills are attracting bites from big flathead catfish on the James, all the way from Scottsville to Hopewell.
Lake Orange
Fishing remains very good at Lake Orange, according to Darrell Kennedy of Angler’s Landing (540.672.3997) The water temperature is in the mid-to-upper 80s and the lake is stained. With bass feeding on bait fish, they can be caught on topwaters early during low light periods. Soft plastics will entice the bass bite during the mid-part of the day. A few nice walleye have also been caught in the mid-lake region on stick baits and nightcrawlers. Crappie are in the 10- to 15-foot range feeding on small minnows and jigs. Catfishing remains strong throughout the lake on chicken livers, clams, and shrimp.