Anyone been doing any good in VA? 2024

Jacob Krahenbil reply :

Hey everyone just wanted to see some winter bass pics!! Please post some. I've been out 3 times with no success at all. Water temp at Lake Anna is about 50 degrees last time I was there. Mainly I've tried jerkbait, jig, and shakeyhead. I'm going to switch it up more this weekend. Im going to spend more time looking at fishfinder. What about yall any luck this year?

Darren. reply :

Haven't been out this winter. Typically I need to spend

a lot of time on the water to have winter success here

and just don't have the time these days.

My youngest son has the itch, though, and he's asking

me every day about going fishing...I'll take him soon

enough.

Choporoz reply :

I haven't been out, either. The weekends have mostly been sucky weather, and any decent weather days just haven't lined up very well with my schedule. I admit that I AM considering being sick tomorrow, though.

Steelbill reply :

Haven't been out this winter. Maybe today 60s weather will entice me.

Wayne P. reply :

I have been on the water 7 times this year, just fished 4 of those times--46 bass so far, largest 5# 2 oz.

Was at Lake Anna Saturday with a couple of former Jr BASS members. We tried the cold side first with no luck--water temp was 46. Then went to the hot side and we caught about 25 bass--water temp 64-71.

Today at Sandy River there was some surface activity with shad breaking being chased by bass and crappie.

flyfisher reply :

I was out last weekend and caught 4 with the heaviest going 3lb 7oz

YUT18 reply :

I was out last week on the Rappahannock River just below the Rt 3 bridge in Fredericksburg. I had a little luck here and there on jerkbaits and 1/4 oz jigs. I had to cover a lot of water to find them.

quanjig reply :

Couple decient fish on the res, couple perch at Burke.

Dropinbrix reply :

I got three in my pond this week, nothing big one dink and two around 1.5 to 2 pounds. Got em on a shakey head with a zoom straight tail worm and a 3" storm wildeye swim shad.

Sam reply :

Jacob, we are killing them in Virginia. In fact, many of us have to take time off as our hands are cramping due to reeling in so many bass.

Rivers, lakes, ponds, creeks, coves, marinas, bathtubs,toilets, you name it and the bass are going crazy. And big bass. My average catch has been 10.4 pounds. Other guys are catching those 15 pound bass on One Fish Anna. One after another. It gets boring after a while.

Lake Anna is on fire. Bass are jumping out of the water due to so many being in the water at the same time. You don't need a rod and reel. You can take your boat into One Fish Anna and use your landing net to scoop up these big bass in the net or catch them as they jump.

And if you believe this you are as crazy as me .

We will make plans to fish One Fish Anna this year. Once the water warms on the cold side.

Be safe.

VAHunter reply :

Been out on the Suffolk lakes about a half dozen times. Got skunked twice, but caught fish the other times. Largest this year is only 6.33. I've had about a half dozen 4-5+ lb. fish. The water hasn't stayed cold enough for me as I prefer it in the low 40s/high 30s. I've caught fish on jerk baits, silver buddy and shakey head. No bass bites yet on crankbait, which is very strange. Waters around here have been running 43-47.

Jacob Krahenbil reply :

On 1/26/2017 at 8:56 AM, Wayne P. said:

I have been on the water 7 times this year, just fished 4 of those times--46 bass so far, largest 5# 2 oz.

Was at Lake Anna Saturday with a couple of former Jr BASS members. We tried the cold side first with no luck--water temp was 46. Then went to the hot side and we caught about 25 bass--water temp 64-71.

Today at Sandy River there was some surface activity with shad breaking being chased by bass and crappie.

Man I'd say your doing pretty good!!

Burtonxj reply :

Pretty hit or miss on the Upper Potomac (Algonkian)..

VAHunter reply :

On 1/31/2017 at 2:29 AM, Jacob Krahenbil said:

Man I'd say your doing pretty good!!

It's actually been slow this year. And not only for me. Most of the guys have reported a very tough bite. We can't seem to get any patterns put together. Very random bites. Come on sustained cold weather!

quanjig reply :

Caught these 3 yesterday on the Occoquan reservoir!!

Wayne P. reply :

Fished Sandy River last Monday and caught 11 bass.

Fished it again last Wednesday and caught 14 bass and 1 crappie.

Tough catching with the way the water temp has been for this time of year.

david in va reply :

I went out Sat. Only made a few hundred cast caught one under 2 lbs. And got him on a black worm

David

Jacob Krahenbil reply :

On 2/14/2017 at 2:54 AM, Wayne P. said:

Fished Sandy River last Monday and caught 11 bass.

Fished it again last Wednesday and caught 14 bass and 1 crappie.

Tough catching with the way the water temp has been for this time of year.

Cool pic!!! That's awesome you caught that many! I've never been there before heard it's a good place

Wayne P. reply :

On 2/15/2017 at 2:21 AM, Jacob Krahenbil said:

Cool pic!!! That's awesome you caught that many! I've never been there before heard it's a good place

If we have a real Winter, the catching will be a lot easier since all the fish will be on the bottom instead of suspended like they are now.

This is when it is a lot easier:

Dropinbrix reply :

I got 3 today, 2 on a storm swimbait and 1 on a black and blue jig.

Wayne P. reply :

The fish think its early Spring, most I caught were in less than 5' today. Water temps about 50 degrees.

Choporoz reply :

Got out for first time this past weekend. ....first four times, actually, all from kayak

Fri - paddled down from Bull Run Marina -- a few dinks and a perch

Sat - spent day on Occoquan between ORP and 95 bridge -- one big crappie and 4 or 5 short bass

Sun - put in at Pohick park - went up the creek and found lots of dinks...nothing of any size moved up...didn't catch anything back out in open water, either, however

Mon - wife and I both skunked on Burke...I keep hearing there's fish in there, but I've yet to see much evidence of that.

I will say that it was a fairly windy weekend and that added to the challenge of yak fishing. I was marking a lot of schooled up fish on Occoquan (river and rez) and Burke over drops between 11-16 feet. All were suspended, however and not taking what I was offering. I'm looking forward to better fish in coming weekends!

quanjig reply :

The Occoquan reservoir is steady kicking out some really nice fish. Myself and several friends are catching good numbers of 3-5 pound fish on mainly jerkbaits with a few on spinnerbaits and dropshots!

Steelbill reply :

Finally got 1

VAHunter reply :

Got a good one last week at the Northwest River in southern Chesapeake. 23" long, 9.35 lbs. Caught a bunch of chunks that day!

DaveT63 reply :

On 2/14/2017 at 2:54 AM, Wayne P. said:

Fished Sandy River last Monday and caught 11 bass.

Fished it again last Wednesday and caught 14 bass and 1 crappie.

Tough catching with the way the water temp has been for this time of year.

Wayne P.,

I'm still trying to learn my electronics, and am not good at reading them. Why do the big fish show up in the top image, but all I see in the lower image is what I suspect are just the smaller baitfish?

Thanks,

Dave

Wayne P. reply :

On 2/28/2017 at 8:57 PM, DaveT63 said:

Wayne P.,

I'm still trying to learn my electronics, and am not good at reading them. Why do the big fish show up in the top image, but all I see in the lower image is what I suspect are just the smaller baitfish?

Thanks,

Dave

That is because the bigger fish ARE higher in the water column than a lot of the smaller ones below them.

That is why they are hard to catch when the water is muddy.

TravisVirginiaAngler reply :

I've had a blast in 2017!!!

VAHunter reply :

Nice catching, Travis!

bigbasshunter reply :

Travis looks like a young G-man, nice chunks brother

TravisVirginiaAngler reply :

@bigbasshunter Thanks man!! Cheers and tight lines!

Jacob Krahenbil reply :

On 3/2/2017 at 4:14 AM, TravisVirginiaAngler said:

I've had a blast in 2017!!!

Heck yeah nice fish man !

Choporoz reply :

Couple good days this weekend, but it has been strange. My wife and I have been on the same small lake four times this month.

Day 1 - fairly dramatic cold front previous day -- over two dozen good bass on jerkbaits

Day 2 (following day) - one fish on lipless...they wouldn't touch a jerkbait -- weather the same as Day 1

Two weeks later:

Day 3 - 30 LMB, almost all on lipless, but scattered all over the lake

Day 4 (next day) - 9 bass - except for two on flukes, I think the other seven were each on different lure/presentation (lipless, bladed jig, jerkbait, finesse worm, lizard, etc.)

Not much sense in fishing memories at this time of year...the fish make you change it up daily

Burtonxj reply :

Heading out to The Cove this weekend with a few kayaks..mid 70s Saturday. Hoping to get in some fish!

joecarroll42 reply :

Anyone fishing in SWVA? I'm in Giles County, gonna head out and fish Claytor Lake this weekend. First time out this year though, anyone having any luck?

TravisVirginiaAngler reply :

A 5.2 and 5.14

quanjig reply :

Well, the first tournament on the reservoir is in the books and boy was it a good one!! Once again the record was set for 6 fish limit with 33+ pounds!! We also had 3 fish over 7 pounds weighed in!! My partner and I were fortunate enough to finish 3rd and take big fish!! 26+ lbs and big fish was a 7.56!! My new PB!! We had 35 boats participate which makes that place fish really small. I didn't get any pictures but will see if I can't find one that some friends took!!

The Bream Reaper reply :

anyone have any tips on finding some deeper fish right now on Anna? general areas? i'm assuming still a few weeks out from the first phase of spawners. was out this past saturday and could only locate stripers in deeper water and small bucks shallow...

Wayne P. reply :

On 3/29/2017 at 2:48 AM, The Bream Reaper said:

anyone have any tips on finding some deeper fish right now on Anna? general areas? i'm assuming still a few weeks out from the first phase of spawners. was out this past saturday and could only locate stripers in deeper water and small bucks shallow...

Did you check the water temp or the calendar for possible fish location?

Where I have been fishing, the fish have been shallow for a month and I see lots of anglers still using the calendar for a pattern.

quanjig reply :

On 3/29/2017 at 2:48 AM, The Bream Reaper said:

anyone have any tips on finding some deeper fish right now on Anna? general areas? i'm assuming still a few weeks out from the first phase of spawners. was out this past saturday and could only locate stripers in deeper water and small bucks shallow...

I wouldn't think you need to fish deep out there right now. You can probably find the close to deep water but like Wayne said, fish have been fairly shallow for a good while now!! I think a bunch of fish moved up with that warm spell at the start of March and stayed up even after it got chilly again.

DaveT63 reply :

On 3/29/2017 at 5:52 AM, Wayne P. said:

Did you check the water temp or the calendar for possible fish location?

Where I have been fishing, the fish have been shallow for a month and I see lots of anglers still using the calendar for a pattern.

Wayne,

What do you mean you say check the calendar for possible fish location?

Wayne P. reply :

On 3/29/2017 at 9:33 PM, DaveT63 said:

Wayne,

What do you mean you say check the calendar for possible fish location?

Some assume the fish are in a particular pattern based on the calendar (have to be deep if it is March) rather that the actual conditions. They ain't deep this March.

I caught 39 bass today and every one was in less than 3' of water.

I saw several boats this morning out of the middle of the lake where it is 30'+, they were going by the calendar rather than the water temp.

DaveT63 reply :

On 3/30/2017 at 9:07 AM, Wayne P. said:

Some assume the fish are in a particular pattern based on the calendar (have to be deep if it is March) rather that the actual conditions. They ain't deep this March.

I caught 39 bass today and every one was in less than 3' of water.

I saw several boats this morning out of the middle of the lake where it is 30'+, they were going by the calendar rather than the water temp.

OK, I thought might be what you meant, but had never heard it put that way before.

Thank you!

Dave

quanjig reply :

Got a pic of my piggy from Sunday's tournament. My partners fish was a 5+ and the fish in my right hand is a high 3 pounder!!

Wayne P. reply :

Caught a few bass Sunday that were with fry. Saw the fry scatter when using a Chatterbait, then used my avatar to catch the adult.

kfili reply :

Been a good year for me. They have been tearing up a texas rig on my little lake. been a lot of fun this year, it also helps I caught my PB.

sc1978 reply :

Hi all, newbie here, but been gathering my intel here for a long time. I want to share my first post of my PB for 2017 so far.

location: Lake Brittle 4/8/2017

23 1/2" in lenght. weight is around 6-7lbs. my digital scale did not want to cooperate with me. I was using 4" watermelon grub with 3/4 jig head

TravisVirginiaAngler reply :

Got this guy after work out in the country. 10 acre private pond. Twitched a black zoom lizard (rigged on 8 pound mono and on shaky head) next to a bunch of lillie pads and BAM! Hit it hard, and jumped twice out of the water... When i got her out of the water, she had a HUGE crappie tail sticking out of her throat. Awesome post-work country pond session. Hell of a fight. Cheers.

13629

Anyone been doing any good in VA? 2024

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