I caught my first fish when I was about 6, a small bluegill. I could only dream about catching a bass – any bass. When I was 8, I caught my first one, maybe 7-inches, but to me it was like a 12-foot blue marlin At 14, I caught my first decent bass, just shy of 16-inches and I was beyond excited.
The youngster above caught his nice bass at Lake Orange this week, and it was significantly larger than 16-inches. I don’t know if he was as excited as I was with my nice bass, but I imagine that he was. Also at Lake Orange, some nice walleye continue to bite along with crappie, which have moved to deeper structure.
In the major lakes, fishing is becoming more difficult with all the water skiers and jet-skis zooming around. The smaller lakes like Briery, Sandy Creek and Little Creek Reservoir are now more productive choices,
The James and Shenandoah rivers are returning to normal pool and the smallmouth bite has picked up.
Saltwater
Big cobia are now prowling the Bay waters and dominate the fishing scene. Some anglers are spotting the sleek fish cruising in the surface and are throwing plugs in their direction while others set up chum line and hope the cobia find the bait before the sharks. Bluefishing is excellent now, much better than past years. Spades and sheepshead are hitting along the CBBT. Big flounder are biting off Cape Charles and along the humps at the tunnel.
The recent hot spell has triggered the Spanish mackerel bite in the lower bay and along Virginia Beach
Yellowfin tuna are prolific off the coast.
OBX
Bluefish and Spanish are tearing up plugs very early in the mornings and again at dusk, but things go silent at midday. Nearshore boats, however, are catching both species by trolling through the schools throughout the day. Some big drum are being caught in the sound. Bluewater boats are returning with Big-eye tuna, yellowfins, Mahi, and Tilefish. A few boats are reporting sailfish releases.
