It’s now official. Jeffrey E. Dill boated a 68 pound, 12 ounce flathead catfish on May 25 at Lake Smith, setting a new record for that species in Virginia. Blue catfish typically run larger, but a 68-12 flathead is nothing to sneeze at. Lake Smith, in Norfolk, is located across Northampton Boulevard from the Little Creek side of Lake Whitehurst. The lake’s 193 acres average only five feet in … [Read more...]

Catfish don’t mind a little hot weather. Sometimes they feed later in the day or into the evenings, but feed they do, especially at Lake Orange. Lake Orange is owned by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, which annually stocks the 130 acre impoundment with catchable size channel cats. The limit is 8 per day and some anglers have been known to catch quick limits at first … [Read more...]

I’m going out on the limb here and predicting this will be the best weekend so far this year to catch a smallmouth bass in Virginia’s rivers. The reason I say this is because fishing in a flood zone is usually not productive, and that’s what we’ve had to endure for the last two months. This week should be a good one. Smallmouth will be hungry and sight feeding for the first time. They will be … [Read more...]

The tuna take their sweet time moving up the Atlantic Coast into Virginia waters, but they have finally arrived. In last week’s Virginia Beach Tuna Tournament, 97 boats turned out. First place went to Reel Emotion with 172.4 lbs., second to Wired Up with 160.2 lbs. and third went to Reelin’ N’ Dealin’ with 154.8 lbs. Team Reelin’ N Dealin’ caught largest single tuna at 104.9 lbs. The largest … [Read more...]

If even a single smallmouth bass spawns this spring, it will be a miracle. Rivers have been high and out of their banks on a regular basis. Bass need a small window of opportunity to lay their eggs, have them fertilized and then guard the nest, but there hasn’t been that window. It is likely we will lose an entire class of fish, but I’ve read that if the smallmouth get just 2 or 3 good spawns in a … [Read more...]

All the rain has made for poor conditions recently, with many trout streams out of their banks, but prospects look good for June and July. Rivers like the Jackson, Bull Pasture and the Tye still have lots of holdover fish, they well dispersed and anglers will have summer opportunities where few usually exist.   The Rivers The upper James, Shenandoah and Rappahannock are currently … [Read more...]

Cobia. One of the most splendid game fish in all of saltwater. They winter as far south as Florida, then make their way up the coast in the spring, slamming baits off of Charleston and Myrtle Beach before reaching Hatteras waters and heading north. Last week, the cobia arrived en masse at Oregon Inlet and skipper Reese Stecher and clients were on hand to take advantage. “At first we could see … [Read more...]

Just as fishing was turning on, the heavens opened this week, turning rivers into chocolate. Before the rains, here’s what was happening.   Rappahannock River Like all rivers in Northern Virginia, high and muddy water is on the menu for the weekend. Big blue catfish have been taking cut shad fished on the bottom and the outside bends of the river. Creek channels are also holding lots … [Read more...]