By now, all of Virginia’s stockable lakes and streams have received at least one stocking of trout courtesy the Game Department. With hunting season in full swing, many sportsmen overlook this fishery or some may assume “It’s too cold.” But it’s not. Trout will feed in very cold water, down into the 30’s, but the bite is slower. It may be tough to draw a trout to the surface with a dry fly, but they will gobble up a juicy nymph if one happens by. Fish deep, fish slow, and hey, fish often.
The following streams were recently stocked.
Bedford Co.: Liberty Lake (12/02)
Augusta Co.: Lower Sherando Lake (11/30)
Floyd Co.: Goose Creek (11/30)
Frederick Co.: Hogue Creek (12/01)
Patrick Co.: Dan River (below Powerhouse) (12/01); Rockcastle Creek (12/02)
Rockbridge Co.: Irish Creek (12/02)
Rockingham Co.: North Fork Shenandoah River (11/30)
Warren Co.: Happy Creek (12/01)
Wythe Co.: Stoney Creek (11/30); West Fork Reed Creek (11/30)
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Chickahomny Lake
Capt. Art Conway of Conway’s River Rat Guide Service (804-746-2475) out of Ed Allen’s Boats and Bait reported that Chickahominy Lake mid-day water temperatures were in the high 40’s to low 50’s in the main lake on Wednesday. The lake level was about even with the top of the dam. The water was medium brown and very slightly cloudy in the central lower lake.
Blue cats and a few bullheads were in channels and winter holes and were hitting live minnows and cut bait. Moderate numbers of crappie were in loose schools in the main lake on deeper flats, channel edges, and channels, usually at depths of 7 to 15 feet, sometimes suspended, and frequently in the neighborhood of wood cover. Active crappie were hitting live minnows, Wright Bait Co. curlytail jigs, small tubes, Kalin crappie scrubs, small swim baits, jigging spoons, and blade baits. Some small to medium yellow perch were scattered on main lake flats and on flats in creek mouths and were hitting live minnows, small jerk baits, and small jigs. Most bluegills and shellcrackers had moved to the deep edges of hydrilla flats, to mid-depth wood cover, or into channels and were hitting live crickets and worms, small blade baits, tubes, and jigs. Most bass and pickerel were on deeper flats and channels in the main lake and were hitting live minnows, spinnerbaits, swim baits, stick worms, crank baits, jerk baits, and jigs.
Fishing with Capt. Conway, Tom Porter had 22 crappie, 1 pickerel, 1 striper, and 3 bass.
Potomac River
Slow Down!
Fish are still eating, but the moving lure bite is slowing down a bit. Speed is key with slow being best. Lighten up line for long casts and deeper presentations.
Water temperatures will start the week in the upper 40s but dropping to lower 40s by the end of the week. Rain likely until Thursday, with highs all week only in the low to mid 50s with overnights cooling to upper 30s by the end of the week.
Fish will position on drops. Target low tide cover in these areas with Lucky Craft Flat Mini DR cranks. Red for cloudy days and chartreuse patterns for sunny days. Use 10-pound test GAMMA edge and make long casts along edges. Slowly crank to contact cover and pause.
Jig heads with Mann’s 3″ Stingray grubs, Mizmo 4″ grubs, and shaky heads are working with very slow presentations. Use ¼-ounce heads on all of these to keep baits still and to control the speed. Beefing up the baits for shaky head to 5-inch stickworms creates more vibration with little movement. Use 3/16-ounce weights on the drop shot rigs. Soak all soft plastics in garlic flavor Jack’s Juice.
Punisher Hair jigs with bulky craws like Mizmo Swamp Monsters on 10-pound test GAMMA Edge fluorocarbon line can also be dragged along the drop off edges. Allow the bait to sit and shake. Then crawl and stop frequently down drops.
It’s also time to pull out the Silver Buddy lures on 12-pound test Edge. Cast to shallow areas of drops and burp down and pause. Do not overwork this bait.
Capt. Steve Chaconas is a guide on the Potomac River. info@nationalbass.com