Thursday, June 18, 2009
Fishing report, June 18
Dennis Holland and Paul Perrault won the Saturday night bass tournament out of Foxport Marina at Smith Mountain Lake with a 19-pound catch that included the tournament lunker, a 5.65-pounder.
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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Overview
Summertime fishing patterns are typically becoming pretty well established by mid-June in Virginia's lakes and streams.
While things are progressing that way, erratic weather patterns have kept summer's dog days somewhat at bay. In fact, water temperatures have actually dropped a couple of degrees on bigger lakes over the past couple of days.
Rain continues to have a big effect on fishing conditions. It seems just as rivers start falling into good fishing shape another downpour comes along and turns the water into a muddy soup, which then muddies up the reservoirs downstream.
Fishing can be good in stained water, but it helps when the conditions are stable for a few days.
Lakes
Todd Clements reported that he and his dad, Sam Clements, had a great day of striper action with guide Capt. Daniel "Bert" Berthiaume on Smith Mountain Lake on Wednesday. They boated more than a dozen stripers, including one almost 39 inches long, pulling big gizzard shad and alewives on freelines and planer board rigs. All of the action was before 9 a.m.
Spawning alewives are still hitting the banks at night, so plug fishing is continuing to produce some good striper action.
Senkos are drawing some bass bites around docks, reports Mike Snead at the Virginia Outdoorsman.
Mike Burchett at Rockhouse Marina reports that bass fishing has been pretty challenging at Claytor Lake, with finesse tactics working during daylight. Black and blue spinnerbaits and chatterbaits are working after dark.
With a new moon on Monday, bluegills are on the spawning beds everywhere they're found.
Streams
When rivers have been fishable, the smallmouth action has been solid.
Wes Hensley at H&H Outdoors in Buchanan said he shuttled an angler who was on the river Wednesday before the river went up and reported catching about 50 bass and hooking a muskie.
Saltwater
Big cobia are available in the lower Chesapeake Bay. Spadefish also are around, with an angler fishing at the Chesapeake Light Tower catching a pending world record 14-pound, 14-ouncer.
