Thursday, September 02, 2010
Fishing report for Sept. 2
Courtesy of Matt Hogan
Mark Taylor is outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times.
mark.taylor
@roanoke.com
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Mark Taylor
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Overview
"That looks like cheating!"
Such was a friend's take on a picture of another friend with a nice Smith Mountain Lake striped bass and the umbrella rig on which he caught it.
I don't think umbrella rigs are cheating, but they sure can be effective for trollers, especially this time of year.
The rigs look like an umbrella frame, with six or so lures dangling off the ends of the heavy-gauge wire spreaders. Those lures appear to be a small school of bait fish.
What's not to love about them? Well, they aren't cheap. A fully set-up rig can run about $30, so losing one in the trees really hurts.
And, in truth, when you find a school of stripers, trolling a single lure through them will often produce fish just as well as an umbrella rig.
Lakes
Entrenched high pressure, which has brought us bluebird skies and hot afternoon temperatures, has made for pretty difficult fishing conditions.
Hurricane Earl may get close enough to the region to help the barometric pressure dip over the weekend and that gets the fish in a feeding mode.
However, recreational boat traffic is sure to be heavy over the holiday weekend.
Bass fishing has been challenging at all area lakes.
"When good fishermen are bringing in two fish, you know it's tough," said Mike Snead at the Virginia Outdoorsman in Moneta.
Snead said anglers are resorting to junk fishing, basically throwing a little of everything.
Trollers who can find schools of stripers are catching fish on umbrella rigs and three-way rigs with Sutton Spoons.
Bass fishing has been equally as challenging at Claytor and Philpott lakes.
Streams
Smallmouth action is decent on all rivers in the region, with tube lures and similar soft plastics the best bet for steady action. Topwater lures are also working OK.
Saltwater
Even if Hurricane Earl doesn't hit the coast, chances are the swell it will drum up will blow out most coastal fishing action this weekend.
Anglers plying inshore waters can probably find some action with smaller stuff such as spot, croaker, whiting and small bluefish after the expected wind dies down.
