By Dr. Julie Ball
Most news is centered around the weather, which seems to be the most interesting thing going on right now since choices are limited on the saltwater fishing front.
Ocean striped bass are still a no-show in Virginia’s legal waters. These fish are wintering so far off the coast, it’s not likely inshore anglers will encounter them again until they return to the Bay to spawn. In the Bay, catch and release is a possibility if there is any interest.
Since the speckled trout population suffered a huge blow last winter, not much is happening on the backwater scene. Some anglers are reporting releasing various sizes of striped bass in the Elizabeth River and lower Bay inlets as a consolation prize for their efforts.
With the limited selection of species to target right now, a few anglers are heading out to open water to target tautogs when the weather allows. But at a limit of three fish per person, motivation is low. Crabs work well for bait, but with crabs scarce, folks are using alternative baits such as green crabs, Jonah crabs and clams. Of course, the trick is finding a structure not fished recently. Some big tog are around, along with numerous black sea bass, but sea bass are out of season. Bluefish and cod are also a possibility on these same wrecks, especially for those using clams.
Boats venturing out to deeper water between blows are still finding decent catches of blueline tilefish along the 50-fathom curve areas, with lots of big sea bass as a by-catch. Remember to toss the sea bass back since that season is closed. Deeper areas along the Canyon edges are showing more activity with blackbellied rosefish, golden tilefish, and a variety of grouper and barrelfish. Dogfish continue to make fishing in deep water a challenge.
Nags Head
Dead, dead, dead, dead! Nothing happening.
Hatteras Surf
On Wednesday, Red Drum & Tackle reported some Puppy Drum caught at Ramp 55 and Pole Road. “Our friend Pat from Ohio caught a fat one, upper end of the slot. On bait, too! A few Bluefin Tuna offshore for the brave souls from Hatteras Inlet.”
On Tuesday, there were reports of a herd of porpoises running puppy drum up and down the beaches. Some smaller pups were caught by anglers along with a few slot-sized fish. Everyone is eager for the weather to break favorably.
Hatteras Offshore
Little activity to report, though one boat braved the conditions and went offshore. They returned with Blackfin Tuna and some bottom fish (Amberjack and Sea Bass). Another offshore captain reported Bluefin Tuna and Yellowfin Tuna to the north.
The Trout are Ready
As a warming trend passes through Virginia this weekend, it might be a good time to pick up a fly rod or an ultra light spinning rod and go trout fishing. The Game Department has been busy, stocking streams and lakes between snowstorms and the fish are well spread out. Plus, the cold water prevents them from quickly grabbing every bait in sight, so there are plenty of fish to catch.
Below are some of the recent waters to receive new stockings.
Lee Co.: Martins Creek (2/16); North Fork Powell River (2/16)
Russell Co.: Big Cedar Creek (2/17)
Tazewell Co.: Little Tumbling Creek (2/17)
Washington Co.: Big Tumbling Creek (2/17)
Albemarle Co.: Scottsville Lake (2/9)
Augusta Co.: North River (Gorge) (2/12); North River (Natural Chimneys) (2/12)
Bath Co.: Cowpasture River (2/10); Jackson River (Rt. 623) (2/11)
Botetourt Co.: Middle Creek (2/8); North Creek (2/8)
Buchanan Co.: Dismal River (2/8)
Fairfax Co.: Accotink Creek (2/10); Holmes Run (2/10)
Frederick Co.: Paddy Run (2/9)
Henrico Co.: Dorey Park Lake (2/11)
Henry Co.: Smith River (Dam) (2/12)
Page Co.: Upper Passage Creek (2/9)
Richmond (City of): Shield Lake (2/11)
Rockingham Co.: Briery Branch Lake (2/10); Hone Quarry Lake
Shenandoah Co.: Passage Creek (2/11); Peters Mill Creek (2/11)
Warren Co.: Happy Creek (2/11)
Wise Co.: Middle Fork Powell River (Appalachia) (2/8)
Freshwater Overview
With the snow and rain we had last weekend, most rivers in Virginia are extremely high and unfishable. Warm weather this weekend, however, could stir up the pot. Look for perch and crappie to begin hitting and it won’t be long before largemouth bass begin patrolling the shorelines looking for potential spawning sites.
In the meantime, as Capt. Steve Chaconas suggests, get your tackle boxes organized, change line on your reels and get ready to rumble. Spring is on the way.
Tackle Inventory
Forget about going out this week. Icy waters and boat ramps. Brutally cold temperatures as well.
Water is in the 36-degree range. Freezing overnight, highs only in the low 30s. Snow on Tuesday and a slight warm up into the 40s and in the mid 50s and a chance of rain on the weekend.
So what to do? Get tackle ready. Water will be warming in the coming weeks. This week look in your tackle box and stock up. Mizmo Doodle worms and 1/4 ounce BarbWire shaky heads. A couple of Mann’s 3/8-ounce Colorado/willow spinnerbaits.
For drop shot, Mustad 2/0 Mega Bite hooks, 3/16 and 1/4 ounce Water Gremlin BullShot weights, and Mizmo green pumpkin Doodle worms. Mann’s Stingray grubs, 3-inch avocado and 1/4 ounce ball head jigs. For all soft plastics, a can of Jack’s Juice Garlic Bait Spray to add scent and flavor to baits.
For hard baits, stock up on Lucky Craft Pointer 78 and 100 suspending jerkbaits. The clown pattern and Aurora black along with a few shad patterns should have it covered. Same applies with Lucky Craft Bevy Shads.
For line, a few spools of GAMMA Edge fluorocarbon in 6, 8, 10, and 12 pound test. This line can be used for spinning and bait casting reels. Medium action spinning rods for the drop shot, shaky head and tubes, 6-8 pound test. For the jerkbaits, 10-pound test is best on a medium heavy casting rod with a soft tip. In windy conditions, a similar spinning rod.
That should fill your tackle box. Warm weather is only a few weeks away.
Capt. Steve Chaconas is a guide on the Potomac River. info@nationalbass.com
Lake Anna Forecast
By Guide Chris Craft
The Lake Anna Largemouth will be in a full-blown winter pattern at the beginning of March. They will be schooled in the mouths of major creeks waiting for the water temps to move up a bit. Look for them on main lake points close to deep water.
As we get closer to the middle of the month, the bass will start making their move to early spring areas, secondary points, boat docks, willow grass beds and shallow rocks. Towards the end of the month, it will be a full early spring pattern and the fish will be shallow most of the time, with the exception of a cold front.
The Crappie will remain in their winter patter just about all month. Then, they will start to pull away from the deep brush piles and bridge pilings about the third week of the month. Until then, you can catch them on small minnows around the many bridge pilings in the lake. Look for them in anywhere from 6 to 25 feet of water.
On bright sunny days, you can find the schools up in the water column and possibly willing to chase artificial bait. Two-inch Curly Tail Grubs rigged on 1/16-oz. jig heads are my favorite. By the end of the month, the water temps are much warmer and the fish have really pulled up shallow. They will start to stage in front of willow grass beds, beaver huts and boat docks.
The Stripers will start to get more active as the water temps warm into the middle 40’s, especially in the up-lake region. The best time will be on sunny days, late in the afternoon and into evening. Suspending jerkbaits work best for me at this time of year.
Early in the month, locate the fish on your electronics in the mid-lake region and drop spoons and blade baits to them. Birds on the lake can and will give locations away of feeding stripers under the surface.
Down lake in the Dike 3 area, you can catch them a number of ways – vertically jigging spoons and blade baits, suspending jerkbaits and four-inch swimbaits rigged on 1/4oz jig heads. There are numbers of small, sub-keeper sized fish in this area, but there are also some keepers to be caught.
Hold on to that rod tight while striper fishing, the “Wiper” (white bass/striper hybrid) that were stocked in here a couple of years ago are getting near that 20″ minimum size to creel, and they are very strong. You can tell the difference between them and a striper by the broken lines on their side.
Lake Level- Full Pool
Water Clarity-
Up Lake- Stained
Mid lake- Slight Stain to Clear
Down Lake- Clear
Water Temps-
Up Lake: Mid 30’s
Mid Lake: 39-43
Down Lake: 41-44
Dike 3: 49-51
Chickahominy River
Mike Johncox at Riverside Camp says there has been little activity because of inclement weather, but this warming trend should trigger both crappie and yellow perch. Mike says he expects the big blue cats to be biting as well.
Chickahominy Lake
Capt. Art Conway out of Ed Allen’s Boats and Bait reported that the mid-day water temperatures ranged from the high 30’s to the low 40’s in the lower main lake, the high 30’s in the upper main lake, and the low to mid 40’s in the major creeks on Wednesday (2/17/2016). The lake level was a few 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. Crappie schools were largely gone from the winter holes in the main lake in channels and on channel edges and had not yet appeared in the creeks, but should be there soon. Active crappie had been hitting live minnows, Wright Bait Co. curlytail jigs, small tubes, Kalin crappie scrubs, and small swim baits, and these should work when the crappie appear in the creeks. Small to medium yellow perch were scattered or in loose aggregates on some main lake flats and in channels and were hitting live minnows, small drop shot baits, and small jigs. Some bass, pickerel, and bowfin were along drop-offs in the major creeks and when active were hitting live minnows, spinnerbaits, swim baits, stick worms, crank baits, jerk baits, and jigs.