In shallow water, they rule. As predators, they take no prisoners. They attack with vengeance. They are speckled trout. The King of the Flats.
And fishing for these silver, black and purple beauties is as good as it gets now on the Outer Banks at Oregon Inlet. Capt. Reese Stecher, a speckled trout specialists, is putting his clients on lots of fish, big ones at that.
Reese often fishes with Popping Corks, a technique that puts the bait just above the shallow grass beds and attracts fish with the popping and ripple effect created by the cork. A spec hears the commotion, races to investigate and pounds the jig or swimming mullet presented as bait. It is exciting, often non-stop action and a cat and mouse game to strike the fish before he spits out the bait.
If you are headed to the Outer Banks in the next couple months, check out the great fishing for speckled trout and try your hand with a popping cork. Capt. Stecher can be reached at Beach Bum Fishing, www.beachbumfishing.com,(252) 449-0232 or (252) 202-1701
Virginia Saltwater
Stan Cobb at Greentop reports that Spanish mackerel are still being caught throughout the bay. Anglers are catching fish from the Cape Henry area to Reedville. Trolling at 7 mph, with Drone and Clark spoons, on in-line sinkers or diving planers is the norm. Preferred colors can vary, however gold, green and chrome, and pink and chrome have been great so far. Plenty of drum and cobia are being caught throughout the bay also. Folks are still chumming for cobia with good success, but the sight casters seem to be catching more fish. With sight casting, sharks and rays can be avoided. Large schools of drum are being reported in the lower bay almost daily. It doesn’t seem to matter what is presented to them when they are up on the surface. They are in feeding mode, but they can be spooked, so a stealthy approach is wise. So far, this has been a much better year for flounder. Recently, during a tournament, a 3-fish limit weighing 18.80 lbs. took the prize. The winning team also had the big fish of the tournament, a 9.95-pounder. There have also been numerous fish in the 4-6 lb. range brought to the scales from throughout the bay. The Bridge Tunnel and the Cell account for many of the big fish. These two areas are also popular for spadefish. Areas with an abundance of cover will attract the spades. Using clam chum up-current from the structure is a great method for igniting the bite. Fresh clam can also be a key for success. Anglers fishing the lower Rappahannock are reporting spot and sea mullet. Ocean structures offer excellent angling opportunities for some of the same species that inhabit the bay. Among these species, are flounder, spadefish, and sea bass. However, not too many quality sea bass are found inside the bay. The deeper wrecks are better for the big sea bass, tilefish and grouper targeted by many angler. The charter boats are bringing in yellowfin, blackfin and big-eye tuna, and Mahi this week. White Marlin are also being caught
On OBX, the Nags Head surf is producing bluefish, sea mullet, croaker, and Spanish mackerel. The inshore boats are doing well with the Spanish.
Freshwater
The big news in freshwater this week was the 10.08 lb.-bass caught by Calvin Hunter on the tidal James River. The James, Chick, and Appomattox are all fishing well. The Chick has been hosting lots of bass tournaments lately, and the weights are impressive. A variety of lures are having great success. Crankbaits, Texas rigs, chatterbaits, and topwaters are all working. The upper James is at 4.6 ft. at the Westham gauge. Many are choosing to target the flatheads. The flathead bite has been better at night. Smallmouth anglers are mostly chasing their quarry with jet drives and canoes, to access the shallow water. Topwaters, soft plastic grubs on jig heads, flukes, and crankbaits get the nod from the upper river anglers. The dam areas, such as Bosher’s, and the Z dam, are hot spots right now. Many species can be caught there at any time. The Potomac River isn’t quite what it used to be, but good catches are still being made. The lack of milfoil hasn’t helped, but the hydrilla is redeveloping, and has become the dominant vegetation. Moving baits have been the way to go, rather than the vertical presentations. Rock structure has been the key to good bass catches on Kerr and Anna. However, docks can be a good pattern on Anna, still. Deeper brush is still holding fish, but most of the better fish have seem to prefer rock. Areas close to the main channel or creek channel have been better. The channel areas have been better for stripers, especially once the sun gets up and the fish regroup after the morning feed. During the night and first light will find the shallower feeders. The bridge areas are better for crappie at Anna. At Kerr, they are still using the deeper brush piles, which is why there are bass around the brush.
Potomac
On the Potomac, Capt. Steve Chaconas says that with the low tides in the morning, there will be topwater opportunities. Hollow frogs can be worked over grass mats, wood and even in open water. Over grass, shake in one spot, then move a few inches. Repeat this presentation until reaching a clear patch, then walk the dog presentations can trigger strikes. Make sure to use braided line and a medium heavy to heavy 7’ frog rod. Set the hook upwards when fish take the lure. Don’t count, set the hook once the fish takes it. You can watch the bait to see it disappear…set the hook. See the line move when the fish takes it…set the hook. Or when a fish tries to pull the rod out of your hands, set the hook. Squeeze water out of the frog occasionally to keep it floating high and to allow the body to compress when fish bite.
With topwater fishing, be quick to abandon if no bites or when tides rise and go just a bit deeper with Mann’s Baby 1-Minus, chatterjigs, and swim jigs. When tides get closer to full, move to docks and pads and work with jigs and soft plastics.
Lake Orange
The water temperature is around 90 degrees and the lake is stained as bass are starting to school on small bait fish on the upper end of the lake. Bass are being caught on topwaters and small crankbaits, Soft plastics are working well around the grass and any type of wood or brush piles in 8 to 10 ft. of water. Crappie are hanging around the fishing pier and brush in 8 to 10 foot of water, and are being caught on small minnows. Catfishing remain strong throughout the lake, but the midsection of the lake seems to be best. A few walleye have been caught on live bait down by the dam in deep areas around the rocks.