Mark Taylor

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

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Overview

Several days of warm, dry weather are setting us up for what should be a good fishing weekend.

With a full moon Sunday, lake and pond shallows will be crowded with spawning sunfish. Anglers who find concentrations of spawners will enjoy fast action whether they're throwing fly rod poppers, small lures, or hooks baited with worms.

The region's streams are coming into great fishing shape, which is good news for smallmouth bass anglers, as well as fishermen who are still spending time on trout streams.

River action for smallmouth bass should be good over the weekend. On the James River, anglers will likely encounter some fish with lesions as the not-unexpected annual fish kill is under way.

Lakes

Bass are moving toward summertime patterns on many of the region's lakes, where finesse tactics are becoming increasingly important.

Mike Burchett at Rockhouse Marina said drop-shot rigs are taking some bass at Claytor Lake, where it took less than 9 pounds to win the 23-boat Tuesday night tournament. Catfishing has been good.

Plugs continue to work for bass and stripers after dark on Smith Mountain Lake, according to Blaine Chitwood at the Virginia Outdoorsman. The action is tapering off, however. Shaky head rigs, Senkos and other finesse techniques are working on daytime bass, some of which are guarding fry.

Bluegill action should be excellent as the fish crowd the shallows to spawn.

Streams

John Zienius at Big Z's in Radford said fishing has taken back off on the New River as the water level has dropped to good levels the past few days. Zienius said he thinks bass are keying on crayfish, so imitators such as jigs, tubes and crankbaits should be productive.

Conditions are also favorable on the James River, but there are concerns about the fish kill. To this point it has been difficult to get a handle on the extent of the problems, which scientists continue to monitor.

Stocked trout waters offer decent action, but it's fading.

Saltwater

The Outer Banks surf has been producing good action for whiting and pompano.