Until two weeks ago, the brookie streams throughout the state were on fire. Now, not so much. The streams are getting a little “boney” said Tommy Lawhorne at South River Fly Shop. Water flows are down and the fish are spookier. There are, Tommy said, still some nice holdover trout through the downtown section of the South River. Tommy reports a good trico hatch around 8 am, and then it’s … [Read more...]
James River Action
Finally, the James is fishable. In fact, it’s in near-perfect condition, running a little under 4 feet, ideal for this time of year. The smallmouth are biting, but so far, no citations reported at James River Runners in Hatton. With all the up and down swings in water levels, not all of the smallmouth have finished spawning. They’ll keep trying and hopefully reproduce a good year class for … [Read more...]
Croaker Bite is On
Middle Bay Fishing Charters www.misskarencharterfishing.com Rappahannock River Croaker fishing remains excellent according to Capt. Dick Whitehill aboard Miss Karen’s Fishing. Stripers are not cooperating. Flounder and Spanish mackerel should be appearing soon. A trip with Capt. Whitehill makes an outstanding Fathr’s Day present. Call him at 434-960-5411 Virginia … [Read more...]
The Cobia are Here!
Dr. Julie Ball says cobia hunters in North Carolina are still reporting excellent catches this week as they intercept schools of fish heading north. But this week, both sightings of schools of cobia as well-boated fish confirm their arrival in local waters off Virginia. This trend will only improve over the next months. Although the bite is not as crazy as it was a week ago, the drum bite … [Read more...]
Action On The James
James River/Scottsville Chris Wilkes at James River Runners Hatton Ferry reports that after a slow spring, fishing-wise, things are looking up on the James River. “I've had a few reports of great top water action on some of the smaller rivers where temps are probably a bit higher, but still they are still few and far between on the James,” Chris noted. “The big ones are starting to wake up if … [Read more...]
Stripers at Anna
It was a one-for-the-record-books striper trip for Jim Hemby, a striper guide at Lake Anna. Here is his report for Saturday May 9: Today Tony and I both had trips with Doug Myers and his company. We caught bait early and both started fishing at the same location. Tony put out a spread of boards and headed uplake, and I put out a bunch of down lines and headed down. My boat went through 130 … [Read more...]
Big Fish Time!
This is the week the fish and the anglers have been waiting for! Spawning fish are shallow and coming up in waves. Fish can be caught in pre-spawn and full-spawn this week. The full moon, water temps steady in the 60s, and blossoming azaleas have encouraged nature to take its course. Great week ahead, with daytime highs in the low to mid 80s and overnight lows around 60. Chance of … [Read more...]
Local Rivers Clearing
So far this year, the James, Shenandoah and much of the New River have been simply unfishable. If it hasn’t been dumping 2-inches of rain in a day, it has been blowing hard, creating difficult conditions. The coming weekend (barring unexpected downpours) will likely offer the best fishing of the year. It’s the first of May, the smallmouth are ready to spawn and they are hungry. The … [Read more...]
Wahoo at Hatteras
Capt. Dave Wilson aboard the Godspeed Charters said they had beautiful weather and great fishing on Wednesday. “When your first fish of the day is a citation, 41 pound wahoo, you gotta believe it's gonna be a great day,” he remarked. “We wound up catching three wahoos before moving offshore to look for yellow fins. The gaffer dolphin found us first, so we whacked a bunch of them. Towards the … [Read more...]
Four Fish Are Better Than None
Ed T. of Front Royal Canoe had this report for the South Fork of the Shenandoah: First trip of the year for me, finally got back on the river. Really nice day weather-wise. Started out a little cool, but turned into a beautiful spring day. The river had come up about ¾-foot and was quite stained. The water temperature had dropped some as well. Chalk all that up to the rains upriver last Tuesday … [Read more...]