The Chickahominy Lake near Providence Forge is one of the most productive lakes in Virginia. The 1,230-acre impoundment that serves as the water supply for Newport News has lots of cover in the form of lily pads, cypress trees and channel mouths. Anglers at the Chick never know what they will catch. The lake’s inhabitants include largemouth, crappie, shellcrackers, bluegills, yellow perch, channel cats, blue cats, bullheads, flatheads, stripers, gar, bowfin, fliers and some really nice chain pickerel. Below is Capt. Art Conway’s report on current conditions.
The mid-day water temperatures were in the high 70’s to low 80’s in the lower main lake and higher in the major creeks on Wednesday.
Most blue cats and bullheads were on flats and channel edges in the main lake and scattered in creeks and hitting live minnows and cut bait. Some crappie were scattered in major creek channels, some were on cypress knees and along shorelines in the main lake, and most were accumulated on mid-depth wood cover and along drop-offs in the main lake. Active crappie were hitting live minnows, Wright Bait Co. and Southern Pro curlytail jigs, small tubes, Kalin crappie scrubs, and small swim baits. Small to medium yellow perch were scattered or in loose aggregates on some main lake flats and in channels and on flats in major creeks and were hitting live minnows, small swim baits, and small jigs. Small and an occasional medium bluegill and shellcracker were scattered or loosely aggregated along some shorelines in major creeks and in the main lake and were hitting flies, small jigs, Nikko nymphs, small swim baits, and live worms. Some bass, pickerel, and bowfin were along shorelines, on lily pad and hydrilla flats, and along drop-offs in the major creeks and the main lake. When active, bass and pickerel were hitting live minnows, spinnerbaits, swim baits, stick worms, crank baits, jerk baits, and jigs.
Fishing with Capt. Conway, Jack and Rob Dietrich and Chuck Narozniak had 9 crappie. Lynn and Margarita Wolverton and Sue Gill had 11 bluegill, 8 crappie, 1 white perch, 1 striper, 1 blue cat, 1 pickerel, and 1 bass. Karen Anderson and Carolyn Conway had 65 bluegill, 1 shellcracker, 1 flier, 1 crappie, and 1 bass. Roy Lee had 1 bluegill, 6 crappie, 1 yellow perch, 1 pickerel, and 5 bass.
Shenandoah River
By Ed T of Front Royal Canoe
On May 30, the South Fork was at a fairly high level, the higher end of the “normal” level. It was a bit pushy and not many rocks showing. There was a breeze to get down the river, and I hardly stuck a paddle in the water. It was just float and fish. As I’ve pointed out in past reports, when the water is fast and stained, it’s time to get out the action lures like spinnerbaits and crankbaits. Soft plastics are darn near impossible for these situations. I caught two or three smallmouth with a #3 Mepps spinner with a gold blade, but I only used the spinner a few times. The rest of my fish were caught on medium-sized crankbaits. I used various colors of the Bandit 100 and Bandit 200 crankbaits. The bite was good from the get-go, and I scored with several smallmouth in the State Park. The bass were scattered and roaming around chasing food, a typical behavior for the high water we’ve seen lately. I had to search a lot of water with the crankbaits. There was not a strong pattern as to where the bass were, but I got most of the better ones in the slack water pockets below rock ledges.
On the other hand, I caught plenty of nice smallies in the flat areas as well. About the only area that was not working was along the banks. Bottom line? You just search all over the place with crankbaits. The bass were hungry and aggressive, really slamming the lure. During the morning I lost two crankbaits to large bass that just tore it off in the blink of an eye. There was not much chance to get the drag loosened. It’s a catch 22 situation. You’ve got your drag set tight so you can set the hook, but then you have about two-hundredths of a second to loosen said drag when a lunker hits. Otherwise, it will make short work of your little monofilament fish line. Also, the fish takes off with your lure. I did manage to land an eighteen-inch smallmouth in the second set of rapids below the State Park. The morning fishing was pretty good; I had fifteen bass by noon. The size was all over the place. About half of my catch was less than ten inches, but there was also a nice chunk of good size fish as well. By the same token, I was kissing off crankbaits at a rather alarming rate. By noon I’d lost two to big fish and one to a snag. The bite remained about the same in the afternoon, with good, steady fishing. I never caught a bluegill. I think the crankbaits were a little large for most of them. It was a nice hot, sunny day and the fishing was decent, overall a fine afternoon. I managed another eighteen incher in a hole past a ledge just up from the twin islands. I tossed the plug back into the same hole and pulled out a seventeen-incher just moments later. Did that feel good or what? I managed to catch twenty-one more smallmouth in the afternoon. Everyone was out to play, big guys and little guys, everyone was hungry. So over half my bass were less than ten inches, but I got several fourteen inchers and a few bigger. I also managed to go through three more crankbaits. I watched a very large bass fly out of the water with my crankbait in its mouth, flip its head hard to one side and swam away with yet another one of my lures. By this stage in the trip, those Bandit crankbaits were getting rather precious. I had already lost a fourth to a snag. Near the end of the trip I lost the sixth and final lure to a snag and had to finish up the trip up with spinners. Sure helps to have a few extras when you start losing the one type of lure that seems to be working. I lost a lot of lures, but what a day. Yesterday was definitely the best day I’ve seen this year. The water is nice and warm now, so even if the conditions are not what one usually sees this time of year, the smallmouth are hungry and biting hard. If the weather will just play nice for a change, you should get out on the South Fork and catch yourself a few.
Local Lakes
The Rivanna Reservoir, Beaver Creek Lake, Chris Greene and Lake Albemarle are all clear, full of water and giving up fish. Bass are coming shallow both early and late. Bluegills are in various stages of spawning, some are on beds, and some have finished. Crappie have dropped out to 8 to 12 foot depths, but will work the edges of beaver huts.
Catfishing in all of these lakes is picking up. Best bet is Beaver Creek with crawlers or chicken livers.
Lake Orange is a hotspot now for catfish. The state stocks catchable size catfish once a year at the lake and the fish grow quickly with a good forage base. Anglers are landing limits of 10 each in a matter of hours in the early part of the day.
River Update
The James (cross your fingers) is in fishable condition. Bass are still spawning – males are guarding the nests while the big females have dropped off the shoreline. Some big flatheads are stirring in Scottsville.
The New River is n excellent condition and has a great smallmouth bite underway, including good top water activity.
Trout Streams
The stocking program is now complete, but with all the high water, there are lots of holdover trout remaining in streams like the Jackson, Bullpasture, Rose and Robinson rivers. Brook trout fishing in the mountain streams is excellent with lots of aquatic insects on the rise.
Best bet this weekend is the South River in Waynesboro.