Mark Taylor

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

Recent columns

• Hunter's diet takes heavy planning
• Amateur Freeman returns to Classic
• Several factors affect deer moves

• Column archive

Overview

Those of us who got used to cooler-than-normal temperatures in May have gotten a good taste of summer these past few days.

Over the next few months we'll be seeing plenty of these warm, muggy days with afternoon thunderstorms. The weather doesn't have to keep us from the water, but it will shape how we do things.

Few fish are big fans of heat or high sun. So, for the most part, the best fishing will be in the early mornings and late evenings, and at night.

Sometimes, an approaching afternoon storm can trigger a feeding frenzy, such as with river smallmouth bass. But it's important to not let the good action distract you from getting off the water before a dangerous lightning storm arrives.

Lakes

Bass in local lakes continue to transition into summertime patterns. Finesse worms on shaky head or drop-shot rigs are working on bass around deeper docks and brush piles. Bass that are still guarding fry will hit top-water lures.

Rising water temperatures are drawing spawning channel catfish into shallow coves at Smith Mountain Lake, where nightcrawlers, stinkbaits and small live sunfish are producing good action for channels in the 2- to 8-pound range.

Reader Ralph Barton reports that waked plugs continue to work at night for stripers and largemouth and smallmouth bass at Smith Mountain, with the best alewife spawning action from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m.

Sunfish continue to crowd into lake and pond shallows. Look for spawning action to ramp up leading into the June 22 new moon.

Streams

Tony Boggess at Pembroke Stop and Save said smallmouth action is improving on the New River, which has dropped into good fishing condition.

The James River is also coming into good shape, but the wildcard remains the fish kill, the extent of which remains unknown.

Smaller wild trout streams, which have better water levels than they have had in years, continue to have good mayfly hatches.

Saltwater

Cobia are showing up in increasing numbers off North Carolina's Outer Banks.