Stan Cobb at Greentop reports that crappie fishing has been very good this week. Numerous 2-plus pound fish have been weighed in at Sturgeon Creek Marina at Lake Anna. At least one 3-pounder was weighed in at Bobcat’s, caught from Kerr Lake. The stripers are very active at Anna and Kerr, as they are performing their spawning rituals. Bass are spawning just about everywhere, especially the lakes. Sixteen pounds won a recent tournament on Anna. Anglers on Kerr report widespread bedding bass. Post-spawners are even being caught from smaller lakes and ponds. Look for the bluegills to begin spawning soon in many areas. The bass bite in the Chick and James has been strong, and should continue to improve throughout May. Many of the catches are occurring on soft plastics, but spinnerbaits and chatterbaits have also been effective. The blue cats have been biting strongly in the tidal rivers, with many of the reports coming from the Rappahannock River. On the Rapp, folks are still catching a few white perch and shad. The upper James is looking good, and hopefully, will remain fishable for a length of time. Things have been frustrating for the smallmouth anglers on the upper James, to say the least. Early May can be tricky, as the spawn usually happens at that time.
Lake Orange water temperatures are in the mid to upper 60s. Bass and crappie are in all phases of the spawn. Crappie are still in shallows feeding on minnows, key in on shoreline brush. Bass can be caught on topwater now in low light periods of the day, otherwise, soft plastic and stickbaits seem to produce best. A few walleye have been caught this week in shallow water with live bait. Catfish have been caught up lake on livers, minnows and worms
Saltwater Report
In Virginia, tautog fishing is good to excellent. Look for them around underwater structure. Captain Craig Paige and crew on the Paige II enjoyed good tog action this week. The Virginia season closes May 15th, so get out soon as you can.
Flounder, speckled trout and bluefish are starting to bite inside local inlets. There were some nice keeper size specks caught in Rudee Inlet this week. The best flounder catches are still coming from Wachapreague, Oyster and Chincoteague on the Eastern Shore. A few flounder have been caught along the CBBT. Numbers will continue to improve as the water warms.
Sheepshead are already being caught in the bay. Their numbers will increase in May and peak in early June. The best baits are fiddler crabs or mole crabs, fished very close to structure.
Red drum are on the shoals at the mouth of the bay, Latimer Shoal and the shallow bar near the north end of the CBBT. Next month as the water warms and the number of fish increases, anglers will begin having success sight casting near the islands of the CBBT.
Black drums are still along the shallow channel ledge running from Fisherman’s Island to north of Cape Charles. Look for boats anchored close together near Kiptopeake, the Cabbage Patch and the Concrete Ships.
Anglers fishing off the Virginia Beach Fishing Pier are catching some blues, trout, small black drum, roundheads and a few spots and skates.
Virginia offshore anglers are catching sea bass, blueline tilefish, golden tilefish, snowy grouper, black belly rose fish and dogfish sharks. Make sure to keep up with seasonal regulations for each.
On the Outer Banks, citation sea mullet and pompano were weighed in. Cobia were caught from the beach on opening day. Spanish showed up at the point. There are loads of bluefish everywhere and sea mullet and pompano scattered up and down the south beaches. Frisco anglers caught two King Mackerel between 28”-30”.
On the north beaches, there are plenty of bluefish, trout, sea mullet, spot and croaker.
One offshore boat from Pirates Cove sailed and caught Yellowfin and some Tilefish. TW’s Nick Walke fished with Capt. Aaron Kelly and caught nice size Drum nearshore.
OBX pier anglers are catching bluefish, mullet, spot and small trout. Jennette’s had bluefish, spot, trout and small flounder.
Hatteras surf anglers are catching mostly sea mullet, sharks and blow toads. They are still picking up a few citation red drum at The Point in Buxton along with some puppy drum. There have been some very nice pompano caught in the surf to the south.
The yellow fin tuna bite off Oregon Inlet remains very good and now you can add mahi mahi to the list. Captains are finding a nice class of fish with a few gaffers in the mix.
The charter boat Rock Solid ran across some cobia on the ride in from offshore. They were able to land the first reported cobia at the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center this year.
Fishing out of Hatteras Inlet, anglers took advantage of the beautiful weather on Wednesday. Cobia showed up for the first of May and the bite was hot! They also got on Bluefish and King Mackerel. The Red Drum fishing slowed down today, but Black Drum were biting. Offshore anglers got on a good Dolphin bite, along with some nice Blackfin Tuna. A few Wahoo were mixed in and a Sailfish was released.