At a fishing tournament at Smith Mountain Lake last week, two anglers weighed in their catch of 5 bass totaling 36.88 pounds. That’s an average of over 7 pounds per fish. The big one went 9.49 pounds.
Wow!
Crappie are biting everywhere as they move shallow to spawn. Buggs, Gaston, Anna, Smith Mountain, and the Chick are all hotspots. The shad run is improving daily with warming weather and more fish on the move upriver. Stripers at Buggs Island are also on the move and will soon invade the Staunton and Dan tributaries to spawn.
At Lake Orange, water temperatures are now in the lower 60s with bass and crappie starting to spawn. It should be a great couple of weeks fishing. Catfishing has picked up as well. A few big bluegills have been caught with nightcrawlers.
