This is the week the fish and the anglers have been waiting for! Spawning fish are shallow and coming up in waves. Fish can be caught in pre-spawn and full-spawn this week.
The full moon, water temps steady in the 60s, and blossoming azaleas have encouraged nature to take its course. Great week ahead, with daytime highs in the low to mid 80s and overnight lows around 60. Chance of rain late Wednesday.
For pre-spawners, target scattered cover away from flats or banks
with riprap or seawalls at higher tides. Try Lucky Craft 1.5 crankbaits in chartreuse or Shad patterns. Use 12-pound test GAMMA Edge fluorocarbon line. Use Pointer 100 suspending jerkbaits if water is clear. Cover water and flats!
Carolina rigs can also cover areas with sparse grass. Make long casts and slowly drag and stop. Use lizards soaked in garlic flavored Jack’s Juice Bait Spray. Torque braid main line with 12-pound test fluorocarbon and a 3/4-ounce weight.
Three good lures to target the spawners are tubes, drop shot and
shaky head. Rig the Mizmo green pumpkin tubes with an insert head on 12-pound GAMMA Edge fluorocarbon line. Pitch to cover, including docks. For shaky heads, use 1/8 ounce Mizmo Barb Wire heads and a Doodle worm in watermelon or green pumpkin. For drop shots use a 2/0 Mustad Mega Bite hook and a 1/8-ounce weight on 10-pound test.
Don’t forget to fish a 5 inch green pumpkin stickworm rigged Texas style on a 3/0 Mega Bite hook or wacky rigged with a rubber O-Ring and a number 2 Mustad Octopus hook on 12-14 pound fluorocarbon line.
Capt. Steve Chaconas is a guide on the Potomac River. info@nationalbass.com
Lake Anna
Mike Dunges weighed in a 6-0 largemouth on a Senko worm to take the lead in the Big Fish Series for May, underway now at Anna Point. Crappie are still shallow and taking jigs and minnows and the striper is strong with topwater early and late and live bait and trolling tactics working throughout the day. Bream are on the beds, but the bass are mostly finished with the spawning ordeal.
River Report
Guide L/E. Rhodes had this report: This past week saw the conditions improve which gave us the chance to get after some smallmouth. Although we had to battle strong winds and then pouring rain we found some quality fish. On the Shenandoah we boated several smallmouth up to 17 inches. The average size being 13-15 inches. We also managed three nice largemouth one went an even five pounds and two that both were 6.14 lbs. on the Boga.
The fishing on the James was just as good. Had four fish in the 17 to 19-inch range and two over the 20-inch mark. All these were caught on the fly rod and a size 4 Crittermite. This is a awesome new fly introduced this past winter by Chuck Kraft. Chuck had been keeping it quiet since around 2007 by decided to share it with anglers this year. If you want I will tie some for you just contact me for ordering info at ler@hatchmatcherguideservice.com.
Trout News
Mossy Creek Fly Shop reports that Mossy Creek near Bridgewater is in excellent condition. Large browns are taking tricos early and sulfurs later in the day. Overall, mid-day has been the best time to be on the water. T.R. Priebe noted that crickets, hoppers, and elk hair caddis are tearing up fish. He had a 10-plus fish day in just a bit over 4 hours – a few were bigger than 14″.
Stocked Streams. All the Virginia trout waters have been stocked at least once this spring and conditions are ideal. Trout are well dispersed. Best bets continue to be the Jackson and Bull Pasture, each of which are stocked every other week.
Tailwater streams, such as the lower Jackson, have been largely unfishable much of this spring due to continued rains and heavy releases by the Corps of Engineers.
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 mid-day water temperatures on the Chickahominy Lake were in the mid 70’s in the main lake and the high 70’s in the major creeks on Wednesday. The lake level was a few inches above the top of the dam. The water was light to moderately brown and very 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 aggressively. Some crappie were in loose schools in the main lake on flats, frequently near creek mouths, usually at depths of 8 to 12 feet. A moderate number of crappie were in small schools on shallow to mid-depth cypress knees, wood cover, and weed beds in the main lake and in mouths of major creeks. A few crappie were in the major creeks scattered along the channels. 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. Bluegill 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, Ted Antol and Jim Atkinson had 5 bluegill, 1 shellcracker, 16 crappie, 3 bass, and 1 pickerel. Jim Barnes had 7 bluegill, 2 shellcracker, 8 crappie, 1 yellow perch, and 1 white perch.
Lake Moomaw
Local angler Bill Uzzell, notes that Lake Moomaw is providing lots of action for both smallmouth and largemouth bass. Smallmouth up to 6 lbs. are being caught throughout the lake on a variety of lures. Largemouth up to 8 lbs. are also being caught throughout the entire lake as well. Popular lures include jerkbaits, swimbaits, jigs, and crankbaits. A recent tournament 5-fish limit went 25.96 lbs. Recent heavy rain this past week has flooded the lake and slowed down the bite. Conditions should improve in 3 to 4 days. I see a lot of trolling for trout but have yet to confirm any results. No reports on crappie or yellow perch. Water temps are in the mid 50s. Remember that a parking permit is required. Daily permits are available at the boat ramps. Annual permits ($50.00) can be purchased at the Highlands Chamber of Commerce in Covington or the Bolar Marina store on the Bath County side of the lake.
Lake Orange
Darrell Kennedy of Angler’s Landing says the action is improving weekly at Lake Orange. Bass are finishing their spawn while crappie are both spawning and in a post spawn mode. Both species are shallow. Catfish action is picking up and a few walleye are coming to the scales. Bluegills are moving in on the beds.
Chickahominy River
Mike Johncox of Riverside Camp reports quite a bit of crappie action this past week. “They are around tight to the cypress stump knees. Gary and Shirley Belk from Newport News got limits every day and all nice sized and caught on jigs,” Mike said.
Bass action been decent but no big ones have been weighed. “We had two groups in for their annual fishing getaway and used extra large minnows to land caught bass and catfish. The biggest bass were 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 pounds respectively.”
SALTWATER
Tidal Rappahannock
Capt. Dick Whitehill says the croakers began showing up in the gill nets last week. The bite should be underway by this weekend. To book a trip, contact Capt. Whitehill at 434-978-1941 or check out his website at www.misskarencharterfishing.com.
Virginia Beach
Dr. Julie Ball
The local spring saltwater fishing scene continues to heat up nicely as the waters warm. Anglers are watching the developing red drum fishery closely as reports of scattered catches of big reds caught off the Eastern Shore barrier islands continue to filter in. With the upcoming full moon this week, experts are hopeful that conditions are prime for drum activity, encouraging a boost in the action over the next several days. The best offerings for these fish are peeler crabs, blue crabs, and menhaden. Smallish black drum ranging to around 35-pounds are active in these same areas with the red drum. The black drum bite will continue to evolve over the next few weeks, and larger fish will become more common.
Tautog action was going strong, but the skids on the tog fishery went into effect this week. As of May 1st, tautog season is closed until September. Prior to the closure, anglers were loading up with respectable fish from structures all over the lower Bay, and bigger fish were becoming more active on the offshore wrecks. As for wreck fishing, tautogs are no longer an option, but anglers can look forward to the black sea bass season reopening on May 15th.
The flounder bite took an upward turn before the recent blow, but now the muddy water may create a setback. As is the usual trend, the shallows and backwaters of the Eastern Shore area are leading the way in flatfish catches. Folks trying their luck out of Oyster and Wachapreague are finding some decent limits of nice fish, with some flatties pushing to over 5-pounds boated this week. Rudee Inlet is also reporting some flatfish this week. Drifted strip baits and gudgeons are still the mainstay bait combination for this popular species.
Pier anglers are thrilled with a decent showing of croaker along the lower Bay and oceanfront shorelines, with a smattering of Taylor and snapper-sized bluefish to round out catches. The folks at the Ocean View Fishing Pier report that the best croaker action is still at night on bloodworms and squid. Bluefish are still the word inside Rudee Inlet, where anglers are experiencing good catches of decent blues, with some fish pushing to over five pounds.
For those who are interested, as of May 1st you can now target rockfish within Bay waters, but be sure to review the regulations since they have recently changed. For the 2015 season, you are allowed only one fish per person, and the fish must stretch to at least 36-inches long. In addition, now you must also possess a no-cost Trophy Season Permit to target striped bass.
The deep water off the Virginia coast is still producing nice blueline and golden tilefish, black-bellied rosefish and grouper in over 300 feet of water. Plenty of dogfish are still ready to compete for your bait, but these pests will begin moving out soon.
Offshore anglers are still enjoying the tuna bite off Carolina, with 30 to 40-pound class yellowfin tuna and gaffer Mahi keeping the fleet busy lately. Bluefin tuna and blackfin tuna are a possibility off Virginia once boats are able and willing to make the run.
Chincoteague
Bob Long from Reading, PA fished with Capt. Steve on The Polly-O and caught four nice flounder ranging form 16 to 19-inches. Best action was on an incoming tide. So the flounder bite is well underway at Chincoteague.
Eastern Shore
Croakers and whiting are biting, but the big news is the flounder bite, according to Chris Bait & Tackle. Flatfish to 6 pounds have been weighed in.
Nags Head
TW’s Reports:
Surf anglers are beaching sea mullet, bluefish, toads and skate.
We have NE winds at 13 and the water temp is 53 degrees.
In the sound, fishing is slow from the Little Bridge on the Nags Head/Manteo causeway. There was one keeper flounder reported.
Anglers fishing the Oregon Inlet Bridge are catching blues.
Avalon Pier had a good run of bluefish and trout to three pounds.
Nags Head Pier reported bluefish; Jennette’s anglers scored with sea mullet and blues. The Outer Banks Pier had sea mullet, shad, toads and bluefish.
Nearshore boats reported great catches of Bluefish.
Oregon Inlet
Ten boats left the docks on May 6 with promising weather. They came back with dolphins – one boat had a limit of 40. The gaffers ranged to 43 lbs. The boats also caught yellowfin tunas. A few parties returned with limits. One sailfish was landed. The nearshore fleet is caught bluefish and the Oregon Inlet Head boat also caught bluefish, sea mullet, and pigfish.
On May 5, six offshore boats took to the ocean and returned with a slew of dolphin (one of the boats had 48). A white marlin and a sailfish were also reported.
Hatteras Surf
Red Drum & Tackle Report
Wednesday was an average at Hatteras all the bluefish you wanted to catch at the Point, caught on both bait and metal. Sea mullet off Ramps 38 and 49 along with a few toads were beached. Over 15 big drum came from the Point yesterday evening along with a 30-pound cobia. Big Sharks have slowed down and rays have taken their place.
On Tuesday, it was bluefish all the way from Rodanthe to Hatteras Inlet on bait and lures. Sea mullet on north and south beaches were caught with blow toads mixed in. Puppy drum at Ramp 30 and a few on ramp 55 were landed.
Hatteras Offshore
Capt. Dave Wilson of Godspeed Charters said gaffer dolphin fishing was great on May 6. “After an hour or so, I pulled away from the edge and skipped baits. I was hoping for a blue marlin bite, but had to settle for a 42-pound wahoo.”
“On May 5, the water and conditions were fine but I was surprised that we didn’t have any more action than we did. I spent most of the day over the hundred, and scrapped out a handful of gaffers, but we never saw a marlin. We did make a quick drop for a grouper, too! There was pretty good blackfin action to the east.”