Mark Taylor

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

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Overview

The weather the past few weeks has felt a lot like March, and the fishing has been a lot like you'd expect in March, too.

That's not such a bad thing, actually, as March fishing action can be great even if the weather is less than pleasant.

Bass in lakes are moving into the shallows as they prepare for the spawning season, and can be taken on a wide variety of lures and bait. Crappies are also rising from the depths and staging near shoreline spawning cover. River smallmouths are also becoming more active.

Trout fishing is also good, both on waters getting stocked fish and those with wild trout that are keying on insect hatches that are improving by the day.

Lakes

Striper fishing has been good at Smith Mountain Lake, with anglers boating lots of fish in the protected 26- to 36-inch slot, and a few bigger fish. Action has slowed a bit the past few days but should improve with warmer weather. Live bait behind planer boards has been productive, with lines closer to the banks producing the best catches, reports Dewayne Lamb at Captain's Quarters Marina.

Bass fishing continues to improve, reports Al Galliher at the Virginia Outdoorsman, with shallow lures such as crankbaits and spinnerbaits taking fish.

John Zienius at Big Z's tackle shop in Radford reports that bass fishing has been solid at Claytor Lake, with jerkbaits working well. Striper action remains fairly slow.

Crappie fishing remains steady on most area waters, and really should improve in the next week or so as waters warm and fish head into shoreline brush to spawn.

Streams

Smallmouth action has been steady on the New River, reports Zienius. Bass anglers are also tangling with quite a few muskies in the 5- to 10-pound range. James River smallmouth action has also been good.

Trout fishing has been good on stocked waters.

Saltwater

Windy conditions have continued to stymie fishing action on the coast. When boats can get out in the lower Chesapeake Bay, they are finding good numbers of keeper flounder, as well as some nice tautog.