Virginia anglers would certainly love a few more weeks to wrestle with some 50-pound plus rockfish, but the season ends this Sunday. With the colder water dipping into the lower 50’s, huge schools of bunker bunched up and anglers watched for the birds to direct them to rockfish ranging from schoolies to 60-pounders.
Hopefully, the ocean fishing striper season will take up the slack, but so far, no reports of fish off Virginia Beach.
Outer Banks
Bitter cold weather ground any fishing action at Nags Head to a screeching halt.
At Hatteras, it was cold and nasty on Wednesday, but fish were caught. There were puppy drum and black drum beached on The Point, black drum and speckled trout caught at the jetties, and speckled trout and gray trout along with some sea mullet and small blues at Ramp 34. Some speckled trout were reportedly caught on the south facing beaches.
No charters fished out of Hatteras Harbor.
Potomac Tips
Capt. Steve Chaconas
Last week was a super winter fishing week. The water temperature set the fish up for a good bite and air temperature made it comfortable.
The Silver Buddy bite in protected bays around Wilson Bridge is strong. New Quantum 7:1 Vapor casting reels were spooled with 10-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line. Cast 1/2 ounce silver lures to 3-foot depths and allow to drop. Subtle lifts about 4 inches and semi slack drops produced bites on the fall. The faster reel combined with a stiffer cranking rod allowed for loading the rod for a straight up pull set. Hook sharpening is the key to sticking fish and not losing them.
Try Mizmo tubes with a 1/4 once insert head and Mann’s 3-inch avocado Stingray grubs on 1/4-ounce ball head jigs. Exposed hooks make it easier to stick cold-water fish. Another bait is a 3/8-ounce Punisher hair jig with a small chunk trailer. Soak all baits in Jack’s Juice Bait Spray. Downsize to 6-pound test Edge tied to 10-pound Torque braid. Tie leaders to braid, running from the reel handle to about 5 inches short of the rod tip. This allows pitching without knots going through rod tips and keeps knots from reaching the spool when making a cast.
Warmer areas fish more aggressively. Cast baitfish pattern Lucky Craft Pointer 78 suspending jerkbaits on 10 pound test Edge. Make slight taps and pauses, upsizing to the 100 in water deeper than 5 feet. Pointers work best when water is clear, the sun is out and with a slight chop.
Chickahominy Lake
The water temperature at the Chick has dipped into the low 40-s, but the fish are still biting.
Fishing with Capt. Conway, Tom Porter had 16 crappie, 6 white perch, 2 pickerel, and 1 bass.
The Big Lakes
Stripers are being caught at Anna, Buggs Island and Lake Gaston. Trolled lures and vertical jigging tactics have been effective. Breaking fish at dusk are going for splashy, topwater lures.