Right now, is a great time to catch a mess of crappies (as seen from this Lake Orange catch). The fish are through spawning, they’re hungry and well spread out. A small minnow is your best weapon. The water temperature at Lake Orange has dropped from the mid 70-s back to the upper 60’s. Bass are cruising and catfish are biting nightcrawlers, minnows and chicken liver.
Sprouting vegetation in the lakes means grass frogs will catch some bass, and maybe a snakehead or two. Last week’s rains cooled the waters in the upper James and raised levels a bit. Smallmouth action is very good right now. Stripers in Smith Mountain and Anna are hitting topwater baits in the early hours and are going for live bait as the sun comes up. Rains also helped the trout streams to return to decent levels and plenty of rainbows, browns and brookies are being stocked for willing anglers.
Saltwater
Big bluefish continue to bend rods from Hatteras up into the middle Chesapeake. The ocean, however, is producing the largest fish. Most gamefish have now returned to the Bay and catches of all species are on the increase. Cobia and big red drum are biting near the CBBT. Flounder action is improving throughout the Bay. Lots of croakers are being caught as well as some stud sheepshead. Offshore anglers are catching Mahi and lots of black sea bass.
OBX
On the Outer Banks, the piers are reporting sea mullet (some pushing 2 lbs.), blues, croakers, puppy drum and perch. It’s specks, puppy drum and blues back in the sounds.
The offshore boats have been catching plenty of gaffers and bailer-sized Mahi. Billfish catches are on the rise and a few Wahoo found their way into coolers.
