Mark Taylor

Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.

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Overview

The cold snap that rolled through the region over the past few days slowed down the fishing for many species, but now that we're warming up nicely, things should be back on track by this weekend.

Even though current forecasts are calling for rain Saturday, that shouldn't really hurt the fishing. In fact, overcast conditions might actually lead to better action.

With the approach of Sunday's full moon, this weekend will probably see a big wave of bass move onto beds in area lakes and ponds. It's early in the spawning season, and we'll be seeing bass on the beds for the next six weeks or more. But this weekend has potential to offer excellent sight-fishing not only for bedding bass, but for bass cruising the shoreline shallows.

Trout fishing remains solid on stocked waters. So many streams and ponds are getting fish regularly that pressure is not too bad after the first couple of days after stocking.

Wild trout waters are seeing some decent hatches of early-season mayflies and offering some good dry fly action.

Lakes

Mike Snead of the Virginia Outdoorsman in Moneta reports that light-colored flukes are producing good striper catches. The shop continues to struggle to keep crappie minnows in stock, proving that the panfish remain a hot target. The recent drop in water temperature into the upper 50s drove some crappies off shoreline brush and to depths of 6 to 9 feet, but look for fish to get back into the shallows this weekend.

Jerkbaits are producing decent bass action at Claytor Lake, reports Mike Burchett at Roadhouse Marina.

Streams

Smallmouth bass action has slowed some on the New River because of low and clear water conditions, but some big fish are still available. A Tangent Outfitters client had a 6-pound, 4-ounce smallmouth Wednesday. Jerkbaits remain a popular choice on the river, and are also producing some nice bass on the James River.

Saltwater

Flounder fishing has been sporadic in the lower Chesapeake Bay, with some boats finding good fish and others struggling. Tautog action remains good around the islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

The Outer Banks offshore fleet hasn't been able to get out much lately because of poor weather. On days when they can reach the Gulf Stream, tuna action has been solid.

The Outer Banks surf has been producing a mix of stuff, from bluefish to puppy drum and blowtoads.