It ain’t over till it’s over, but it’s just about over – rockfish season, that is. The season officially ends on Saturday, Dec. 31. Says Dr. Julie Ball: When anglers are able to get out on the water, some very large rockfish await within Chesapeake Bay waters. Although the bite for these super-sized fish is rarely off the charts, consistent action with fish pushing to over 45 and 50-pounds … [Read more...]

Kerr Reservoir Bobcats Lake Country Store reports: Even with water temperatures in the mid 40’s to 50s, bass fishing has been good. Most fishermen are using shallow running crankbaits, Ratt-l-traps, jerkbaits and jigs. Fish have been holding on red clay banks and rocky points in 1 to 8 feet of water. Reports of good numbers of fish and 5 fish bags from 14 to 19 pounds have been coming … [Read more...]

  From Mossy Creek   The Rivers It is hard to believe that it is December already. This is the time of year when we can sometimes have the best musky bite of the year.  We say sometimes because weather can be a big factor in just being able to get the boat in the water. If the weather plays nice enough and the rivers don’t ice over completely, the fishing can be awesome. The … [Read more...]

Mike Johncox at Riverside Camp says that nice size stripers are tugging on lines in the Chickahominy River. "We are catching plenty of 24-inch fish," he says. In addition, the catfish bite is still going strong with quite a few 20-30 pounders coming to net. Some even larger than that were also reported. The bass are being caught by anglers drifting large minnows at the mouths of major feeder … [Read more...]

Mountain Streams Winter weather is here and we have very low water conditions in all of Virginia’s mountain streams. We are giving the brook trout a break for the winter from guiding. This is just our personal choice to help protect our local populations of fish. Water levels are also very low and many fish are congregated in community pools until quality flow returns.  Guiding will begin again … [Read more...]

Hunter Spinks bagged this handsome buck in Fort Valley.   According to VDGIF Deer Program Coordinator Matt Knox, the opening weekend electronic data from the early muzzle-loading season listed below shows that hunters had a very successful weekend. The weather was very good, the first really cool to cold day and very little wind. The electronic running total is comparable to last year, … [Read more...]

Owing to a mild winter and an abundant mast crop last year, some really nice deer are being harvested this fall. Among them was this buck taken by Samantha Romano in Louisa County with her muzzleloader. “Sam” bagged her trophy last Sunday morning (yes, Virginia, you can hunt on Sundays). The inside spread measured a whopping 22 ½-inches.   Potomac River Another Great Week of … [Read more...]