Big Browns on the South
Tommy Lawhorne of South River Fly Shop in Waynesboro went on an electro-shocking expedition with the Game Department biologists and said they shocked up a 25-inch brown trout. Tommy said the fish was as fat as a non-Tom Brady football and in perfect condition. Tommy estimated the fish at 7 to 9 years of age, indicating good survival conditions throughout the year on the South.
Tommy also said that the water has never exceeded the 70-degree mark, even in low water, hot-summer conditions. The Game Department shocked a total of 122 trout in a one-mile stretch, ranging from that one huge brown down to a 5-inch, stream-bred rainbow. They netted a number of 14 to 16 inch trout, mostly browns, as well as 8 native brook trout, which had washed downstream.
The Delayed Harvest regs kick back in on the South on Oct. 1, when private interests will restock the stream. Currently, the water is low, running 34 cfs, but anglers are hopeful that this week’s rainfall will add much needed water to the stream, as well as to cool it down.
South River Fly Shop has moved to its new, larger location at 323 Main Street, three doors up from the old location. Call Tommy at 540-942-5566 for current conditions and guided trips.
Excellent Conditions on the James River
Conditions could hardly be better for a smallmouth trip on the James River at Hatton Ferry. The river was at 2.7 last Monday. The release was a modest 240cfs. The water is clear after an early week rain and an ideal 67 degrees. Bass are taking top water and plastics. The larger females are moving close to shore looking for crawfish, where wobbling crankbaits are effective. Big flat head catfish continue to bite below Scottsville. Live bait (chubs) and bluegill heads are choice baits.
Potomac River
Favorable Tides
Grass continues to break up, making fish more accessible. Falling morning tides provide better opportunities. Water temperatures are falling into the mid 70s. Beautiful fall weather with highs under mostly sunny skies in the mid to upper 70s. Cool start with overnight lows in the mid 50s.
Great time for hollow frogs like Mann’s Goliath on 60-pound GAMMA Torque braid. Use long rods, make long casts and set the hook fast! Cast over thinning grass, over holes and over dead grass remnants. Slow twitches. Follow up with a weightless stickworm on 20-pound braid and a Mustad Mega Bite 3/0 hook. Cast to missed blow-ups. Also give poppers like Lucky Craft G-Splash a shot to finesse fish into biting. Stay with this until fish stop biting.
Move a bit deeper as the tide comes in and use crankbaits. For shallow applications, crank Mann’s Baby 1-Minus in the same areas on Edge fluorocarbon line. With more water, Lucky Craft BDS 4 will run deeper. Hang both in grass and snap free. Also tie on chatterjigs with black blades and craw pattern skirts and trailers.
Otherwise, fish deep, hard grass edges. Texas-rigged Mizmo tubes with a 3/16-ounce weight pitched to these edges work too. Also try weightless stickworms wacky style with 2/0 red Mustad weedless wacky hooks. Allow baits to go to the bottom and watch line on the drop.
Find water with some color to it and stay away from crystal clear water, as these fish are a bit spooky. Here you need light line and smaller, natural finesse soft plastic trick worms.
Capt. Steve Chaconas guides on the Potomac River. info@nationalbass.com
Buggs Island
Bobcat’s Store in Clarksville recently weighed in a 112-pound blue catfish, one of many big cats to show up at Buggs Island Lake. The big ‘un went for a live goldfish and was caught above Clarksville. The striper bite is picking up steam with lots of 8 to 10 pounders being caught on topwater lures, both early and late in the day. Anglers trolling deep-diving plugs are catching stripers throughout the day. Bass are moving to the backs of the creeks and the crappie bite is picking up as well.
Shenandoah River
Ed T out of Front Royal Canoe filed this report on 9-22, following a float from the State Park to Karo Landing. The weather was overcast and 72 degrees.
“The river is shallow through much of this section of the South Fork of the Shenandoah, I had to get out and drag the canoe over a couple of the worst spots. Lots of rocks showing. Algae and grass seemed somewhat diminished, but I still spent considerable time cleaning off lures. The water is cooling down and the bite is picking up.”
“I used a #3 Mepps spinner (gold blade) for almost all my morning fishing. My main pattern was to work the spinner around the rock ledges, but I also had pretty good luck fishing the slack water pools near the banks. The smallmouth were very active and aggressive. Only problem I had was that the bass fought so hard they shook the lure loose. I caught some small bass, but I would say about two thirds of the count were ten to thirteen inches. I was also fishing 4″ Bass Pro Senkos (green pumpkin), but that only produced a couple of fish. The morning fishing was quite nice, with steady results and decent sizes for the most part. I caught over twenty smallmouth and about a half dozen bluegills by noon. Then, they started hitting the Senkos, first in the deeper water in front of the housing area, then even better in the rock ledges that followed. Most of the bites came after I let the Senko just drift along the bottom, but often it only took a few seconds for a hit. There was one ledge in about three feet of water with a large hole in one spot, almost like a little cave. I kept drifting the Senko around that hole. The end result was a fourteen, a fifteen and a sixteen-inch smallmouth, all in a pretty short time. I fished that series of ledges for an extended period, the fishing was so nice it was really hard to force myself to get on down the river. Switching to mostly Senkos upped the size somewhat. Most of my fish were in the ten- to twelve-inch range, and a few thirteen inchers. I also caught some nice size bluegill with the Senkos. I still tossed the spinner occasionally in shallow spots, and I did get a fourteen-inch smallmouth that way, late in the afternoon. The afternoon fishing was mighty fine. Caught over thirty smallmouth. No big ones, no lunkers, but enough medium size bass to satisfy. Speaking of lunkers, some of the guys that work for Front Royal Canoe Co. scored some big smallmouth last week. I saw a photo of one – a twenty-one inch smallmouth. You might think I was jealous. Well, yeah, I was. Anyway, fall fishing is well known for producing lunker-size smallmouth. So what are you waiting for? I’m headed out of town for a couple of weeks, but I urge you to get in on some fall fishing on the South Fork.
Lake Anna
The water temperatures are dropping at Lake Anna, bringing bass closer to shore. Crappie have yet to make their major move to shallow water – should be soon. Stripers are beginning to concentrate at The Splits, surfacing each morning and afternoon. Deep trolling and jigging tactics work in the meantime.
Sturgeon Creek Marina has some exciting events on the horizon. On Sat. Oct 3, the Lake Anna Elite Series offers 100% payback. Tournament hours are from 7 till 3. On Sun. Oct. 4, it’s the Lake Anna Youth-Adult Series from 8 till 2. On the weekend of Oct. 17/18, it’s a two-day Elite Series with a Sunday cookout. Contact Chris James for details at 540-895-5095.
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 low 70’s in the main lake on Wednesday (9/23/2015). The lake level was about 4 inches above the top of the dam. The water was light brown and very slightly cloudy in the lower lake.
Blue cats and a few bullheads were scattered throughout the lake and were hitting live minnows and cut bait. Moderate numbers of crappie were in loose schools in the main lake on deeper flats and channel edges, usually at depths of 6 to 12 feet. A few crappie were scattered singly or in small schools on shallow to mid-depth cypress knees, wood cover, and shoreline weed beds in the main lake and in mouths of major creeks. Active crappie were hitting live minnows, Wright Bait Co. curlytail jigs, small tubes, Kalin crappie scrubs, and small swim baits. Some small to medium yellow perch were scattered on main lake shoreline flats and were hitting live minnows and small jigs. A few bluegills and shellcrackers were in small loose aggregates scattered along shorelines, around cypress trees, and just out from shorelines in the main lake. Other larger bluegill had moved out to mid-depths, especially around wood cover. Bluegills and shellcrackers were hitting live crickets and worms, flies, and small tubes and jigs. Some bass and pickerel were on lily pad flats and along shorelines in lower reaches of major creeks and in shallow bays and some shorelines in the main lake, while other bass and a few pickerel were on deeper flats and channel edges in the main lake. Bass and pickerel were hitting live minnows, spinnerbaits, swim baits, stick worms, and jigs, with some topwater action early on many days.
Fishing with Capt. Conway, Carolyn Conway had 35 bluegills, 2 shellcrackers, 1 yellow perch, and 1 roach minnow.