The South River Fly Shop in Waynesboro reports that the Shenandoah Valley Trout Unlimited has now stocked the South River twice since October and will be funding a third stocking later this spring on the South River Catch and Release section.
Keven Little says the river was running at 350cfs, well within the range of good fishing. Midges and caddis have started hatching on both the Catch and Release and the Fly Fishing Only sections. Anglers have been reporting rising trout on the midges and mixed results on the caddis hatch. The best results have been on #14 and #16 Hot Butt Caddis Emergers, #14 Snowshoe Caddis, #16 Electric Caddis Variant, and Arlie’s Gnarlie Caddis larvae. Big trout are hitting large streamers such as #4 Mudd Buggers, Sculpzillas, and Schultzy’s Sculpin. Fans of Euro nymphing will find that 250-350cfs is prime flow and John’s Tung-Stone, Wall’s Worm, Perdigons in bright colors, and Tungsten G6 Caddis are putting plenty of trout in the net.
For more information, contact southriverflyshop.com.
Freshwater
Stan Cobb at Greentop says that bass fishing has gotten better over the last week on the lower James. A catch of 19-lbs. took first place, and second place also had 19-lbs. The weights were extremely close.
The Chickahominy River continues to produce great catches of bass, along with crappie right now. The Chickahominy is also producing yellow perch for those targeting that species. Many of the tidal rivers are also yielding yellow perch. The Pamunkey always seems to be behind the others, for some reason. The James has received a lot of rain, bringing up the levels again, so be careful on the lower James, as much debris makes its way down. With the mention of the rain, the upper James has become difficult again, to say the least.
Now is a great time to target musky on the New River. A number of fish were reported over the last week. The bass at Kerr Lake are starting to bite better, especially after 3-4 days of warm weather, which we had last week. A bag weighing 20-lbs. was reported as the winning weight from last weekend. Look for crankbaits and lipless cranks to draw more strikes now as we approach March. Jerkbaits and swimbaits should always be tied on and tried. Stripers are still being caught from points in 4-12-feet of water in Eastland Creek, Butchers Creek, and Mill Creek. Swimbaits have been effective.
On Monday, a 22-lb bag. of bass was weighed in at Sturgeon Creek Marina on Lake Anna. Anna bass are responding to jerkbaits, swimbaits, spoons, and also jigs on the warmer days. Crappie are being caught from the bridge pilings. Look for a move to brush soon. It has been slow for the stripers so far. The Christopher Run area is usually good in February. Anna’s walleye run is now underway, along with other large lakes that have them. Shallow flats should be targeted, as they can be very aggressive. Don’t be surprised if stripers are caught along with the walleyes. The smaller lakes and ponds are producing nice catches of bass, crappie and pickerel.
Saltwater
Black sea bass continue to bite well on offshore wrecks for those who make the trip. Anglers are returning with full coolers of these extremely tasty fish. Some are also targeting tautog with success. Bluefin tuna are making a better showing and that fishery will get better in March. Some have been caught that dressed out at over 500-lbs. Windy conditions have kept many boats docked, so reports have been low. Along the surf at Hatteras, blow toads are being caught, along with some dog sharks. Offshore, Hatteras boats are finding dolphin and blackfin tuna when they can get out.