Fresh water, saltwater, ocean and sounds, if it weren’t for striped bass, there wouldn’t be much in the way of a fishing report.
In Virginia waters, Chris Bait and Tackle on the Eastern Shore says that fishing has picked up quite of bit. School sized stripers in the 16- to 30-inch size have been caught by anglers fishing between Bouys 38a and 40. Bucktails, metal jigs and casting lures have been the baits of choice.
Reports of trophy fish are also on the increase. Anglers working near Buoy 42 up to the Rappahannock light tower have been very successful using live eels trolled behind Planer boards at a speed of 1.8 to 2.3 mph.
At Nags Head, Capt. Reese Stecher and parties continue to have success within stripers.
“The sound season for Rockfish (Striped Bass) is open and they are still biting,” Capt. Stecher advises. “We left them biting two and three at a time again on Saturday afternoon. I repeat, they are biting!”
Anglers can keep (2) fish per person over 18 inches until the end of April. They are biting both at Oregon Inlet and up the sound.
“Most of the fish we are catching have been on artificials, but there have still been some live-bait bites,” Reese notes. “ There were Stripers at Oregon Inlet up to 31 inches along with lots of 19 to 20-inch keeper fish. You have to be on the west side of the bridge to keep them at 18 inches. It’s a minimum of 28 inches on the East side of the bridge. And, all the sudden, just when we though that fishing at the sound bridges was going to slow down, it has heated up. Boats have caught limits up the sound every day. On Wednesday they were snapping. It was as good as we have seen over the past month. Yesterday the boats that fished got them again. Good fish, too, with fat keepers up to 26 inches. We just need some people in town to go experience it. Maybe we will get lucky and they will still be here between Christmas and New Year’s.”
Contact Reese Stecher, Beach Bum Fishing at www.beachbumfishing.com
Green Top Reports
Green Top pros agree with the promising striper report. Says Greentop’s Stan White:
Bay anglers are having quite a time catching Rockfish. This week there were reports of a 59, and 60-pounder. Eeling is accounting for the majority of the big fish. The area of 42 has been good for all sizes of Rockfish. Anglers have reported encountering large flocks of diving birds, and casting bucktails among them with success on every cast. Those fish ranged in size of 22- 34 inches. Areas north of 42 have been excellent also. Inside the Rapp is still producing solid fish for those pulling swim shads, and tandem rigs. 6-inch baits are still working well. Reports from the York have been on and off this week. The reports of Speckled Trout have declined. They are still available, but it’s usually the die-hards that chase them, so the reports will not materialize. The offshore bite for sea bass has been and is still good for those targeting them.
Freshwater
At Lake Anna, stripers are active around dike 3, where the water temperature is a couple of degrees warmer than the rest of the lake. Surface activity is limited on the main lake, but the stripers do surface. When they do, Cordell Redfins are taking the big fish. Better fishing is coming from downlake, near the dam. Bass are located on the main lake points. Fishing small baits very slowly off the points, into the deeper water, is accounting for some good-sized largemouth bass. Trophy hunters are using live jumbo minnows.
The lower James has cleared up and has 38-degree water on the main river. The pits tend to be slightly warmer, especially the barge pit, behind Dutch Gap Landing. Chick Lake is fishing well, as it usually does this time of year. A recent tournament was won with 18.5 lbs. The upper James is at 5.86′ at the Westham gauge. This is an ideal level and color. Foul weather days often bring the strongest bites for the Smallmouth. Crankbaits, jerkbaits and jigs work best on any given day. Large minnows are always a good bet also. Lake Anna bass bit well during the snowstorm on Sunday. 23.73 lbs. was the winning weight for a 5 fish limit. Nate Kendrick won the big fish pot wait a bass weighing 6.91lbs. The Stripers at Kerr Lake are being found from Goat Island to Nutbush Creek, in the first thirds of the major creeks. Butchers, Eastland, Mill are some of the better-known areas. Sandy River was good to William Wooden over the weekend.
At the Chickahominy River, crappie and yellow perch are the main attractions. Although bass are being caught by skilled and patient anglers, most of the fishermen are after panfish. The mouths of feeder creeks and the steeper-dropping banks in the backs of the larger creeks are the holding areas for largemouth bass. Crappie and yellow perch are holding on wood cover in 10-15 feet of water. Live minnows and small grubs and jigs are the ticket for the panfish, while live minnows, small grubs and jig ‘n pig baits will take the bass.
At, Buggs Island largemouth bass may still be caught in 3-4 feet of water on Speed Shads and square billed crankbaits. A stop-and-go retrieve is working best. Crappie are hovering around deep brush piles. Vertical jigging minnows over the brush piles will produce the better fish. Striper fishing picked up, with most of the fish being taken downlake, trolling Cordell Redfins and free-lining live shad.
Striper action is hot at Smith Mountain. Lots of 8 to 10-pound fish are being caught daily, with a couple over 20 pounds. Surface lures are taking the fish early and late in the day and live shad at other times. Most of the fish are holding at the 20/25-foot mark during the day, but are coming up to feed on the surface in the backs of coves at dawn and dusk. A good depth finder will locate the schools of shad, with the stripers among them. Live shad are also taking their share of smallmouth and largemouth bass from rocky points and brush piles throughout the lake.