Russell Holmes, a Beaverdam regular from Richmond, reeled in 9 yellow perch citations over the weekend. He fished alone away from the crowd on the north side of the lake. Russell released every single fish caught alive and well.
Park Supervisor Michelle Maynora-Hostinsky says the water is 40 degrees and the pool is full. Numerous citations were caught last week, including bass, crappie and yellow perch. Crappie are still schooled and active in deeper water. Bass are making an appearance on the drop offs. The bass are active and hitting hard.
Beaverdam is a 350-acre reservoir supplying water to Fairfax County. The reservoir is located in Loudoun County on Route 659 north from Route 50.
Chickahominy Lake
Capt. Art Conway of Conway’s River Rat Guide Service reported that Chickahominy Lake mid-day water temperatures were in the mid to high 40’s on Wednesday.
Fishing with Capt. Conway, Tom Porter had 10 crappie, 1 yellow perch, 1 blue catfish, and 4 pickerel.
Little Creek Reservoir
The walleye bite is very good. Try cranks and jigs, fished about 15 to 20 feet down. Not much word on bass, but a few have come in on cranks and night crawlers. No word on cats, crappie or perch. Chain pickerel are hot, taking “anything and everything.” The water is in the mid 50s, low and very clear.
Kerr Reservoir
Bobcats Lake Country Store notes that crappie are on two different patterns, depending on what part of the lake you are fishing, from Clarksville downstream the fish can still be caught vertical jigging with bucktails around brush and other structures on ledges and points. On the upper end of the lake in creeks, such as in Bluestone and Buffalo, fishermen are beginning to haul in some nice catches of fish by tight-lining jigs and minnows in 5 to 12 feet of water around drop offs and shallow flats.
James at Lynchburg
At Angler’s Lane, (434) 385-0200, Davis Stanley says smallmouth fishing in the James is slow. Still, you might get lucky with Senkos, cranks or jigs. The water is high and very cloudy due to recent rains, with a temperature in the lower to mid 50s.
Trout Fishing
Angler’s Lane says the Jackson is just too high to fish safely. Don’t risk hypothermia for a trout. Things should settle down soon
Brookie fishing in the mountains is “okay”. Try a small streamer, small nymph or dry fly. The water is 40 degrees, high and fairly clear.
In the Valley, the stocked and delayed harvest streams in the Valley are high due to recent rains, but the upper reaches are still good. The mountain brookie streams are too cold to fish.
New River
Muskies are picking up, and as water temperatures warm this week, they will really get going. Try blades, bulldogs and soft plastics. Smallmouth are slow.
Shenandoah River
The water is clear, 46 degrees and at full pool, but slow action
Lower James
Monster blue catfish are hitting cut bait in the area around the Dutch Gap Power Plant. Walleye have started their spawning run, and a number have been taken between Dutch Gap and the Route 95 Bridge. Crappie are still biting well in the barge pits around Dutch Gap. Smallmouth and largemouth bass fishing is slow
Lake Anna
Better bass fishing is available on down lake points on jig ‘n pig, plastic grubs, live minnows, jerkbaits and crankbaits. Crappie are available to knowledgeable anglers using small minnows and tiny jigs. Stripers, to 15 pounds, are being caught on Sassy Shads, fished under the roving schools of shad. Better fishing is coming from the area from Sturgeon Creek to the dam.
Potomac
Fish are moving a bit shallower and this is allowing the use of more aggressive presentations.
Warmer temperatures and longer days have pushed water temperatures into the 50-degree range!
Look for the warmest water and try new Lucky Craft Slim Shads. These baits get down quickly, stay in the strike zone, and have a lot of action at a slow speed! Also try suspending Lucky Craft Bevy Shad and Pointer jerkbaits. The key is line – 8 pound test Edge or Copoly. Target areas near drops up to 6 feet deep.
Silver Buddy blade bait lures continue to pull fish off drops. Cast to shallow ends of drops and allow the bait to reach the bottom. Work with short burps and semi slack to the bottom. Take note of the depth and focus there. Follow up with Mann’s 3″ avocado Stingray grubs and Mizmo 4″ curl tail grubs. Use 1/4 once ball head jigs. Stay away from weedless versions as they make it just a bit tougher to set the hook.
Virginia Saltwater
Dr. Julie Ball
As Old Man Winter continues to tighten his hold along the Mid Atlantic coast, the grumbling among anglers continues to rise. It seems the winter fishery is not showing much promise due to closed fisheries, and the slow or nonexistent action.
A few hopeful anglers continue to search the oceanfront for striped bass. But, again, coastal striped bass are missing in action. One local charter captain suggested that perhaps the migration pattern of these fish has changed over the past few years, completely circumventing the inshore Virginia coastline.
As for Bluefin tuna, it’s anyone’s guess, with rumors of some sightings and another report of an undersized releases.
Speckled trout action was decent within local inlets until recently. Before the latest freeze, some keepers up to 21 inches were taken, with the best luck occurring with Mirro-lures or GULP Shrimp. The tautog bite is hit and miss. Some catches are coming from within Bay waters along the Bay Bridge Tunnel as well as various Bay structures, The tog bite on both inshore wrecks and deeper structures has been good, with reports of tog up to 7 pounds responding to green crabs. Big bluefish and sea bass are still a possibility in some of these same locations, but the sea bass season is now closed. Dogfish are also becoming an issue in these locations as they settle into the area.
With the nonexistent inshore rockfish bite, anglers may turn to deep dropping when the weather allows. The Norfolk Canyon and its edges are a good place to look for deep-water bottom dwellers such as blueline and golden tilefish, grouper, and black-bellied rosefish. Dogfish are also becoming a nuisance in these deep-water areas, which is making these catches more challenging.
Nags Head
Zilch in the surf. Too cold. Water temps are in the mid-60s.
Hatteras Surf
A beautiful day on Wednesday, but no fish – unless you count dogfish sharks. Plenty of them. On Monday, a few sea mullet and blow toads were beached.
Hatteras Offshore
Boats out of Hatteras Harbor sailed last Saturday through a heavy morning fog. Tuna fishing was good for both Yellowfin and Blackfin. King Mackerel were biting below the shoals. Some Amberjack were caught as well. There was also a lot of shark activity.