Potomac River Report
By Capt. Steve Chaconas
Our slight water warm-up to near 40 will be short lived as the weekend cold front blows through. Cold nights around 20 will make ramps treacherous – so be careful.
Walking the banks along Four Mile Run, the water is around 50 and clear. Make long casts parallel to the bank with Lucky Craft Pointer 78 suspending jerkbaits. Use 6-8 pound test GAMMA Edge fluorocarbon and Quantum EXO spinning gear. Also in this area try Mann’s new 3.75 HardNose Reel N Shad swim baits on the same gear. A slow retrieve with twitches will trigger strikes.
If you can get out in areas like Occoquan Park, head for drops with Silver Buddy lures. Work gently and allow to fall on semi tight line. Take your time. Watch your line. Feel for fish and play them to avoid pulling hooks out of the fish.
Otherwise, try Mann’s 3-inch avocado Stingray grubs on a 1/4-ounce ball head jig. Same rod set up. Cast and gently lift bait and allow gliding toward you and dropping to the bottom. Work this very slowly, even stopping at times. Mizmo curl tail grubs and tubes with insert heads also work. It’s best to fish with an open hook as detecting strikes can be tough, and the exposed hook makes it easier to stick fish. Soaking soft plastics in garlic flavor Jack’s Juice Bait Spray will encourage fish to hold on longer.
Capt. Steve Chaconas is a guide on the Potomac River. info@nationalbass.com
Little Creek Reservoir
Parks Supervisor Robbie Belch reports that the water temperature is 43 degrees and clarity is very good.
Beaverdam Reservoir
Contributed by Park Supervisor Michelle Maynora Hostinsky. The water temperature is 40 degrees at 5 feet, the pool is high and the grass is gone. The fish bite has been awesome at the lake despite the cold temperatures we have been experiencing. Yellow perch are still thick on the drop offs and they seem to be easily enticed with a white twirl tail. The perch have had an early spawn this year; they were protecting their fry a week before our big snowstorm. Crappie have been biting as well, but it’s hit or miss. They are not schooled up yet, but spread out. Twelve-inch length citations have been measured at the Ranger Station during the month of January, we even measured a 22-inch crappie, so big it looked like a flounder. The bass have been biting, but not in large numbers. Most of the bass fishermen have been coming to the lake to get their hooks into some of these perch. The bass were also tempted to spawn early, when we were experiencing some of those warmer days in January, luckily the cold weather came in just in time to make them retreat back to the deeper waters. The old timers say when the daffodils bloom the bass will spawn, and the daffodils were ready to bloom before the snow. A few large bass have been caught on the north side of the lake, as always, biting on the old school heavy metal. The north side has been holding more ice on the lake and is not as easily accessible as the main entrance. We are expecting a few more cold days in February but it does not seem to scare away the hardcore fisherman, some will say they catch their biggest fish on the coldest days. There are fair-weather fishermen and then there are The Fishermen.
Chickahominy Lake
Capt. Art Conway of Conway’s River Rat Guide Service reported that Chickahominy Lake mid-day water temperatures were in the very low 40’s in the lower and upper main lake on Wednesday (2/10/2016), and will drop over the weekend. The lake level was about 8 inches above the top of the dam.
Blue cats and a few bullheads were in channels and winter holes and were hitting live minnows and cut bait. Crappie action was still slow throughout most of the lake due to the cold water, but some small schools were moderately active late last week and early this week. Most crappie were in loose schools in the main lake in channels and on channel edges, usually at depths of 8 to 15 feet, and frequently in the neighborhood of wood cover. Crappie in areas with current were in eddies and backwaters out of the main currents. Numbers of active crappie had not appeared yet in the creeks. When active, crappie were hitting live minnows, Wright Bait Co. curlytail jigs, small tubes, Kalin crappie scrubs, small swim baits, jigging spoons, and blade baits. Small to medium yellow perch were scattered or in loose aggregates on some deeper main lake flats and in channels and were hitting live minnows, small drop shot baits, and small jigs. Only an occasional bluegill or shellcracker was active along the deep edges of hydrilla flats, on mid-depth wood cover, or in channels and very lightly hitting live crickets and worms, small blade baits, and small plastics on drop shot rigs. Most bass and pickerel were on deeper flats and in channels in the main lake, but some bass, pickerel, and a few bowfin were along drop-offs in the major creeks and were hitting live minnows, spinnerbaits, swim baits, stick worms, crank baits, jerk baits, and jigs.
Fishing with Capt. Conway, Tom Porter had 15 crappie and 4 white perch.
Upper James River (Bent Creek to Watkins)
Local angler Russell Stiltner reports. In the weeks following winter storm Jonas, chilly temperatures and near freezing water temperatures kept most anglers away from the James. February has started off fairly warm and water temperatures have climbed back up into the low 40s. Water levels on the James are also quite high. Bent Creek is currently just over 6 ft., but it should be fishable by the coming weekend. Cartersville levels are slightly higher than Bent Creek but it should also be fishable at landings near Cartersville this weekend or shortly after. Anglers lucky enough to get some time on the James in latter January and early February have struggled for the most part; muddy conditions and cold water temperatures have contributed to a tough mid winter bite, but there is hope for March and April.
Buggs Island
Bobcat’s Store Reports:
Crappie: Fish are on two 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 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 on shallow flats.
Catfish: Blues have been hitting pretty good on the upper end of the lake above Clarksville. The best method for catching these fish is by anchoring on shallow flats outside of the river channel on the main lake. Fishing on the bottom using cut shad and cut crappie. You never no what to expect. The next bite you get might be a 5 pounder or it might be a big one over 50 pounds.
Stripers: Fish are in most of the major creeks feeding on shad. They can be caught live-baiting with shad and jumbo minnows or by casting lures to them. Fishermen are getting good numbers, but keepers have been hard to come by.
Bass: With water temperatures in the mid 40’s and up to 50 degrees, fishing has been good. Most fishermen are using shallow running crankbaits, Rat-l-traps, jerkbaits and jigs. Bass have been holding on red clay banks and on rocky points in 1 to 8 feet of water. Reports of good numbers of fish and 5 fish bags from 14 to 19 pounds have been coming in.
Smith Mountain Lake
Captain Travis Patsell reports:
Bait fishing will be very productive for stripers right now. Large gizzards pulled behind planer boards will be effective for larger stripers. Catching the gizzard shad can be the difficult part. The larger the cast net the better. Alewives and peanut shad will be an easier option and can produce larger numbers. Fish them on all methods. Downlines, planers and lite lines. Look for fish deep down in the middle of the rivers.
New River
Tangent Outfitters reports that muskie fishing is very good right now. Bulldogs are a good bet to land your lunker. The water has been changing from day to day due to snowmelt and rain.
Virginia Saltwater
Dr. Julie Ball reports: Winter storm Jonas ushered in the cold season with all its frigid fury, disrupting most fishing endeavors last weekend. And although folks are now starting to venture back out, the fishing scene has little news to offer.
The coastal rockfish season has not developed, and the outlook seems less than favorable for a turnaround. Bluefin tuna hunters have spotted big schools of fish offshore, and reports indicate fish are still active out north, but no catches have occurred in local coastal waters. And as water temperatures continue to drop, this season’s window of opportunity to intercept these fish is closing in. A few anglers are still fishing for rockfish off the Eastern Shore in the Bay with hopes of releasing fish for fun, but with poor results.
Other than a few rumors, bluefin tuna have also been a no-show so far, but hopeful anglers continue to search for signs of tuna activity off Virginia as the weather allows.
Speckled trout action is still behind for the season, but anglers were finding some respectable trout in Lynnhaven and Rudee inlets prior to the blizzard. Reports have been limited since the storm, but with a decent weekend on the horizon, anglers are hopeful for good results.
Tautog is pretty much the only game in town. Although the tog bite in Bay waters is beginning to slow with the cooling water temperatures, some decent fish are hitting for anglers on a few Bay and inshore structures. Deeper water wrecks are still producing the larger fish, but reaching them can be a challenge this time of year. When boats can get out, anglers are finding some nice fish, with a few tog weighing over 11 pounds. Sea bass will also take your offerings on many of these structures, but they are still out of season.
Boats venturing out to scour the deeper ocean floors find nice blueline tilefish up to 17 pounds. Black sea bass will also hit your baits. Even with the dogfish population on the rise, persistent anglers are also finding barrel fish and black-bellied rosefish mixed in with the tilefish. Other species such as Grouper and Wreckfish can also provide some variety along the Canyon walls.
For more info check out Dr. Ball’s website at www.drjball.com.
Nags Head
Little action at Nags Head. Thursday was cold and sunny. The ocean was calm with a little chop. Some snow is in the forecast for Friday. West winds at 20 and the water temp is 41 degrees.
No report on offshore fishing.
Hatteras Surf
No report of any fishing on Wednesday – too cold. Some black drum were caught at the Jetties last Friday. No reports on any offshore action.