Mark Taylor

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

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Overview

The past week's weather pretty well sums up the challenges of fishing in the spring.

Temperatures swing wildly. Wind howls one day, lays down the next, and howls again.

Fishing action often mirrors those wild swings.

"There's no rhyme or reason," said James Cassaday, who runs the Conrad Brothers Marine U.S.A. Bassin tournaments at Smith Mountain Lake.

Take the five fish Cassaday and partner Mike Ratcliff put in their livewell during Sunday's tournament.

"We caught them five different ways," he said.

As weather conditions settle down as spring progresses, fishing patterns will become more consistent. Until then, those who adapt will fare best.

Lakes

Mike Burchett at Rock House Marina reports that bass fishing has been good at Claytor Lake, where the father/son team of Jason and Earl Adams won a weekend tournament with a six-fish bag weighing 22.9 pounds.

Lucky Craft jerkbaits and the ima Flit have been working well, said Burchett, who added that crappie fishing also has been good. Striper fishing has slowed.

Striper action has been inconsistent at Smith Mountain Lake, where live bait on planer boards is taking some fish. Swimbaits fished on points will produce some stripers, too, reports Mike Snead at the Virginia Outdoorsman. Bass fishing has been spotty, but should improve as the water warms and more fish head toward the shallows in preparation of the upcoming spawn.

Bass and crappie action can be excellent on smaller ponds, especially after a couple of days of mild weather.

Streams

The New River continues to produce some big smallmouth bass. Shannon Wheeler at Gander Mountain said the Cheeseburger jig was responsible for a couple of recent citations. Fishing on the James River has also been decent.

Trout stocking continues in earnest. Among the waters getting fish this week was the Roanoke River, which was stocked in Salem and Roanoke on Wednesday.

Saltwater

Flounder fishing has continued to improve in the lower Chesapeake Bay, with drifters catching some nice fish.