After hooking a redeye while fishing on the New River on Saturday night, 7-year-old Alex Leonard left the small fish on the line in hopes a catfish would eat it. Instead, the redeye attracted this 21-pound, 11-ounce muskie. Alex got the fish on shore with the help of his dad, who cut his hand on the muskie's sharp teeth while landing the fish.

Mark Taylor is outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times.

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Mark Taylor

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Overview

Summertime smallmouth bass usually aren't too picky. If they're in a biting mood, and they often are, they'll hit all kinds of soft plastics, topwater lures, grubs and spinners.

But probably the best way to trick a smallmouth bass is with a live hellgrammite, the big, meaty, ugly larva of the Dobsonfly.

Hellgrammites live under rocks in riffles, so one way to catch them is to have one person turn over rocks while another waits downstream with a seine. A few bait shops carry them, too. They're not cheap, but if you're going through them, it means you're catching fish.

If there's a downside to live hellgrammites, it's that it's hard to keep small fish off them.

Lakes

At Smith Mountain Lake, night tournament anglers continue to absolutely blitz the bass. At the weekly Backyard Bassmaster Tournament, Billy Bird and Grant Foley teamed up to catch a record for the series, with a five-fish limit weighing 25.73 pounds. The anchor was a tremendous 7.79-pound largemouth bass. Three other night tournaments featured lunkers over 6 pounds. A variety of tactics, including topwaters and soft plastics, are working. Striper fishing remains good, too.

Finesse fishing with shaky head and drop shot rigs around grass is the key to catching daytime bass at Claytor Lake, reported John Zienius at Big Z's in Radford. At night, big black spinnerbaits are picking up some fish. Catfishing remains good, especially in the upper lake.

Streams

Wes Hensley at H&H Outdoors in Buchanan said smallmouth fishing has been good on the James River, with live hellgrammites a popular bait choice. Hensley said anglers are reporting some of the best catfish action they've had on the river in years.

Grass is becoming more widespread on the New River, said Zienius, who reported that action has been good on tube lures and Texas-rigged Senkos. Muskie fishing also remains steady.

Saltwater

Spanish mackerel and blues have been hitting spoons around Hatteras Inlet on North Carolina's Outer Banks, according to Red Drum Tackle in Buxton.