Tom Reisdorf at Angler’s Lane reports:
Jackson River Tailwater: Recent strong storms have brought the water levels up to ideal big fish levels. Kreelex streamers in silver, gold, copper and gold/copper fished on sink tips are the ticket right now. Period cicadas are all around the river right now and the big fish are taking them.
Brook trout streams: Recent rains have brought the mountain streams to fantastic levels for this time of year. Little yellow stone fly dries and purple haze dries are working right now.
Tommy Lawhorne at South River Fly Shop reports:
Water levels are great on the South River and in nearby Shenandoah National Park streams. It seems like there are going to be some nice holdovers on the Designated Harvest area again this summer. Public comment on proposed regulation change to Catch And Release Only for the downtown (DH) water is up on the VDGIF website. This change would go into effect on Jan 1 of 2017 and will make the current DH area in to Artificial Lure Only C & R.
The Special Regulations area is also fishing well with a report of a 19-inch brown being caught on Saturday. Trico’s are starting to hatch and terrestrial patterns like Tony’s Love Bug Beetle are bringing nice rainbows and browns to the net.
The North Fork of the Moormans River in the SNP fished very well on Sunday with high, clear water. Large bushy dry flies accounted for most of the brookies. The water levels in the Park should hold up well for at least the next two weeks, so stock up your dry fly box and head up into the backcountry for some great fishing!
Chickahominy River
Mike Johncox at Riverside Camp in Lanexa reports lots of catfish being caught on the Chick. Local campers, Don Monahan and son Glenn Thulen from Hopewell, took about 20 eaters home for dinner. All were caught on bait shrimp.
In the first evening tournament for bass, Vinnie Hughes and Thomas Meadows won 1st place with a 5-fish limit weighing 11-5. 2nd place was a bag of bass weighing 11-3 and caught by Garret Gouge. The big bass went 6 pounds, caught Chris Schroeder.
James River
Tom Reisdorf at Angler’s Lane in Lynchburg says that strong storms have raised the water to unsafe levels on the James right now, but by the weekend the river should be dropping to more seasonable levels.
Potomac River
Post Spawn slow down.
The best bet is to slow down and to pitch soft plastics into grass away from spawning beds. Take some shots around the bass beds as bluegill have moved in and a few bass are there to get even! Also a few snakeheads can be caught this way.
Water has reached the mid 70s and top water action is slowly starting to be effective.
Texas rigged Mizmo tubes, river craw and blue craw on 3/0 Mustad Mega Bite hooks. Use 14 pound test GAMMA Edge fluorocarbon line and 3/16 ounce pegged bullet weights. Bites are light, so watch the line. Lift and drop and be ready to set the hook when lifting too! Pitch to grass clumps.
But this is also time to bring out swim jigs, chatter jigs and swimbaits. Use 16 pound test Edge on medium heavy rods. Reel these baits through the grass and try a lift and drop presentation. For the jigs, go to craw or black/blue patterns. Baitfish colors for the swimbaits. The Mustad 1/8 ounce weighted swimbait hook with a 1/8 ounce pegged bullet weight allows this bait to crawl deeper in the grass. Engage grass and snap free.
Topwaters are in play too. With low water, try Lucky Craft popping G-Splash or walking Gunfish. Use 12-14 pound Copoly line or Torque braid. Fish over cover in clear water. Don’t put topwaters away during sunny days. With low water, try hollow frogs on 60-pound braid. Drag over grass and skip under docks.
Capt. Steve Chaconas is a guide on the Potomac River. info@nationalbass.com
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 70’s in the lower main lake on Wednesday.
Most blue cats and bullheads were on flats and channel edges in the main lake and scattered in creeks and hitting live minnows and cut bait. Some crappie were scattered in major creek channels, some were on cypress knees and along shorelines in the main lake, and most had accumulated on mid-depth wood cover and along drop-offs in the main lake. Active crappie were hitting live minnows, Wright Bait Co. and Southern Pro curlytail jigs, small tubes, Kalin crappie scrubs, and small swim baits. Small to medium yellow perch were scattered or in loose aggregates on some main lake flats and in channels and on flats in major creeks and were hitting live minnows, small swim baits, and small jigs. Small and an occasional medium bluegill and shellcracker were scattered or loosely aggregated along some shorelines in major creeks and in the main lake and were hitting flies, small jigs, Nikko nymphs, small swim baits, and live worms. A few clusters of larger bluegills were located in shoreline pockets in and near cypress groves and may have been spawning. Some bass, pickerel, and bowfin were along shorelines, on lily pad and hydrilla flats, and along drop-offs in the major creeks and the main lake.
Fishing with Capt. Conway, Jerry Davis had 53 bluegill, 1 crappie, 6 bass, and 2 pickerel. Capt. Bill Buck and Jack Trammell had 27 bluegill, 1 shellcracker, 13 crappie, 2 yellow perch, 4 bass, and 1 pickerel.
Little Creek Reservoir
Carson Grainer says that largemouth are attacking cranks and chatterbaits. Crappie action is slow but improving. Minnows and jigs are good baits. Not much word on cats, but some have had success with night crawlers. Lots of pickerel are going for cranks. No word on bream. The water level is low but rising, very clear and in the high 60s to low 70s.
Blackwater and Nottoway Rivers
Riverkeeper Jeff Turner says fishing is great on both the Nottoway and Blackwater right now. Bream on the fly rod is fun, catfish are plentiful and largemouth are easily taken. Top water lures are getting lots of action right now.
Lake Gaston
Holly Grove Marina says that the largemouth are hitting top waters early and late. Stripers are deep and are taking deep-diving plugs, Stretch 25’s and, sometimes bucktails. Crappie are schooling and biting like crazy. One angler landed 100. Cats are lurking fairly deep and will go for cut bait, chicken livers, clam snouts and shad. Bream are moving to the shallow, particularly in grass or around docks where minnows are a good bet. The water is in the mid to upper 70s, slightly stained and at a normal level.
New River
Shawn Hash reports a good smallmouth bite. Use cranks and jerks in running water and soft plastics on the flats. Muskies are “on fire” and “eating everything”. They have brought in a 40-inch muskie every day for the past few days. The water is high, green, in the 70s and at a “perfect” level.
Top New River
Richie Hughes of New River Trips reports that numerous thunderstorms discolored the Top New, Mouth of Wilson to Fries, last week. The water has not been high, therefore not affecting this year’s spawn, but it has made the fishing tough. The smallmouth are exiting the post spawn period, so fishing should be excellent. Just about anything in your tackle box should produce.