By Capt. Steve Chaconas
Things are looking up, fellow fishermen! The fish are moving up to shallower water in the heat of the day, but not venturing too far from the drops. Open the tacklebox and use more aggressive lures, but with slow presentations.
Silver Buddy lures will still produce but will also indicate the mood of the fish. If they are really hitting it hard or taking the bait in shallower water, then other moving lures might work.
Try a 3/8-ounce Mann’s Classic spinnerbait with white skirts. Gold willow and Colorado blade combos allow slow retrieves and keep the bait on the bottom. Tie it on 12-pound test Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line. Cast to shallow areas with some cover and close to deeper water. A very slow retrieve will keep the bait on the bottom. If you can’t slow down enough, simply drag the lure with the rod, again very slowly. Fish will hammer this presentation.
Flat-sided tight-wiggle crankbaits will also work. Downsize your line to 10-pound and use red craw patterns. Make long casts and slowly crank. Keep the rod tip low to allow the bait to run as deep as possible.
If water is clear, use suspending jerkbaits. In shallow water, less than 5 feet, use smaller jerkbaits. Clown patterns show up with any light penetration. Adjust presentation to impart action and vary the length of pauses. Spinning reels allow 8-pound test line and easier casting, especially in the wind. For deeper water, use larger baits.
Freshwater Update
Rappahannock River
Big blue catfish to 35 pounds are being caught. Hickory shad and herring are in the river, along with a few white shad. A few fish should be caught from the Route 1 Bridge area this weekend. Tidal water bass and stripers are also taking small shad-colored crankbaits and plastic grubs and worms.
Shenandoah River
Finally fishable, smallmouth bass are taking live minnows. Crappie anglers are biting, and the catfish action is excellent.
Lake Anna
Bass are active. Crankbaits fished in 3-6 feet of water are also taking fish. Crappie are now congregated around beaver huts, bridges and submerged fish structures. Striper fishing is inconsistent, with most of the fish being taken uplake. baits and living rubber bucktails.
James River
Below the city, around the 95 bridge, some white perch are being caught on bloodworms. Catfish are taking cut gizzard shad baits in the outside channel bends of the main river. Striped bass are hitting Rat-L-Traps and crankbaits, as they start their spawning run. Largemouth bass are moving into the shallows, staging for the spawn.
Chickahominy River
Bass action is good, with the better fish holding on drop-offs and points, where tidal action is swift. Yellow perch are thick in the river, taking small crankbaits, spinners and plastic grubs. Catfish are active, with fish to 25 pounds being taken this past week. Herring and shad are taking small shad darts and small spoons. White perch are biting well throughout the river.
Chickahominy Lake
Bass and pickerel fishing is generally good, with minnows being the best bait choice. Bowfin action is excellent, with many fish in the eight-pound class. Crappie anglers are concentrating on the cypress knees with small minnows and tiny crappie jigs.
Buggs Island
The water level is at 302 and falling. Water temperature is in the mid to upper 40s. Some good catches of bass are being made on main lake points on jig ‘n pig, slow-rolled spinnerbaits and rattling crankbaits. Stripers are being caught from Buoys 2-8, Palmer’s Point, Keats, Eastland and Butcher’s Creeks on live bait and bottom fishing with cut shad. Crappie anglers are taking coolers of good-sized crappie from brush piles in 6-10 feet of water.
Smith Mountain
Largemouth bass fishing is good, with a number of fish weighing over five pounds being caught last week. Small stripers are being taken between the islands at the lower end of the lake in shallow water. Crappie are biting well on live minnows.
Lake Moomaw
Some nice trout are being caught, but smallmouth and largemouth bass fishing is also good, especially in the upper end of the lake.
Good Tuna Bite Off Carolina
It may be the slow saltwater season in Virginia … but it’s a great time to pull the cover off the boat and get things ready to go. Anglers have been hitting local flea markets and tackle shops for fresh line or a new reel or two.
It’s a different story in North Carolina. Things are really picking up offshore on the Outer Banks. March is tuna time! There has been an outstanding bluefin tuna bit off Oregon Inlet. The commercial guys did well and now the charters are collecting their one per year limit. Anglers from around the world show up to charter and take advantage of the limit. The yellow fin and black fin tuna bite is also picking up, limits have been caught recently. Some large Mako sharks (in the 300-lb. class) have crashed baits as well.
The short Virginia black sea bass season has ended and lots of scientific data was collected. Don’t forget, if you were issued a special permit you must report even if you didn’t catch or fish.
Virginia anglers have lots to look forward to over the coming weeks. By the end of March we should be enjoying some good tautog action. Atlantic mackerel will also be available. Local charter captains are taking advance booking for taugtog trips now, so if plan to go you should contact one asap.
As April rolls around the tog action will continue and flounder will become a possibility.
By mid-April the big black drum roll in. Bluefish and gray trout will also be a possibility. The flounder bite should continue improving and speckled trout will become more numerous. By the end of May plenty of large red drum will have made their way into the lower bay.
In June everything starts to peak, inshore and off! Black drum, red drum, cobia, croaker, flounder, gray trout, round head, sheepshead, spadefish, Spanish mackerel, speckled trout, small striped bass, mahi, yellow fin tuna and school size blue fin tuna.
Outer Banks Surf
Early in the week, there were reports of lots of puffers in Hatteras and a few at the Point, along with some scattered sea mullet and sharks.
The blow toads are plentiful at ramp 55 as well as some fairly nice Sea Mullet. Also the same was reported south of the point. Sharks and Skates were at the point.