Braxton Moore fishing report
March 18th, 2006 by Fishing admin
FRESHWATER Lower James River
Braxton Moore , 11, landed his first citation blue catfish. The fish weighed 43 pounds and was 44 inches long.
The 2006 Pamunkey River Mini Series will hold its first open bass tournament of the year out of Osborne Landing on Sunday from 7 a.m. until noon. For more information, call Phillip Arnold, (804) 530-4665.
Upper James
The Slate River Bass Club staged its second tournament of the year Saturday on the Upper James out of the landing at Columbia. First place went to Eddie Wharam , New Canton, and Sammy Davis , Scottsville, with a total catch of 17 pounds, 9 ounces. Second place: Eddie Lighfoot , New Canton, and Steve Gunter , Arvonia, 9 pounds, 15 ounces. Big fish went to Eddie Lighfoot, 3 pounds, 15 ounces.
Little Creek Reservoir
Walter Elliott reported the following catches: Shawn White , Mechanicsville, chain pickerel to 24½ inches; Kaitlyn Tolbert , 11, of Hopewell, yellow perch to 13½ inches; Brian Gunter , 10, Sandston, largemouth bass to 4½ pounds; Paul Robertson , Doswell, striper to 10 pounds; John Roberton , Richmond, largemouth bass to 7 pounds; John Robertson Jr. , Richmond, striper to 7 pounds.
Largemouth bass are in the back of coves in 2 to 10 feet of water. Crankbaits and slow-rolling spinner baits were the top baits for the past week. Yellow perch and crappie are hitting on minnows and small jigs off structures in 5 to 12 feet of water. Stripers are holding along points in 5 to 15 feet. Crankbaits have been the bait of choice for these hard-fighting fish. Chain pickerel are biting on minnows and crankbaits in 5 to 15 feet.
Water is clear and down 17 inches from full pool. Water temperature was reported in the low 50s on the surface.
CSX is having an open bass tournament at Little Creek Reservoir Park on April 14. For additional information, call Pete Sarvis or Sandy Bass at (757) 380-5135.
Lake Chesdin
Lindsey Ellis at Whippernock Marina, (804) 265-5252, reported the following catches: Chuck Ritchie , Glen Allen, pike to 3 pounds, 15 ounces, 24-inches (length citation); Matt Williams , Sutherland, 3-pound pike; Logan Bishop , Sutherland, crappie to 1 pound, 15 ounces; Chris Overby , Matoaca, largemouth bass, 6 pounds, 5 ounces, 23-inch citation; Bobby Pennington , Chesterfield, largemouth bass to 6 pounds, 8 ounces, 22½-inch citation; Larry Lester , Dinwiddie, largemouth bass to 4 pounds, 1 ounce.
Chickahominy Lake
Jill O’Brien-Jones of Eagles Landing, (804) 966-9094, reported results of last week’s Team Bass Tournament: first: Kenny Glenn Jr. , Richmond, and Nelson McMillan , Richmond, five fish, 12.44 pounds; second: Paul Brock , Mechanicsville, and Jeter Brock , Richmond, five fish, 11.97 pounds (Paul Brock had big fish at 6.38 pounds); third: Richard Sweeney , Providence Forge, and Javier Smith , Charles City, five fish, 10.98 pounds; fourth: Greg Cooper , Yorktown, and Billy Reed , Yorktown, four fish, 9.68 pounds. Next Team Bass Tournament is April 2, 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Other notable catches for the week: Kevin Whitehurst , Williamsburg, bass to 5.85 pounds; Mike Sweeney , Providence Forge, crappie limits three days in a row, using pink-and-white jigs; crappie to 1.25 pounds and a dozen ring perch to 1.50 pounds; Fernando Seminario , Hampton, bass to 6.5 pounds, nine bowfin to 12 pounds; Aaron Harding , Richmond, 11.78 citation bowfin.
Captain Art Conway of Conway’s River Rat Guide Service, (804) 746-2475, reported Chickahominy Lake water temperatures late last week were in the low 50s. Crappie with some nice bass and pickerel were around bait schools in some of the deep holes in the lower lake. Live minnows fished on three-way rigs near the bottom or at the depth of suspended fish caught crappie, bass and pickerel. Blade baits like Riverside Rippers and jigging spoons fished with short lifts near the bottom took crappie and pickerel. Some nice pickerel and bowfin were in the larger creeks and were hitting live minnows and small swimbaits. Crappie were less abundant in the deep holes and were starting to show up in the creeks. Look for crappie numbers to increase in the creek channels over the next few weeks, with spawning activity eventually occurring in vegetation along side creeks, usually near where they connect to the main creeks.
Buggs Island Lake
(Kerr Reservoir)
Buggs Island Bait and Tackle, (434) 374-8934, reported stripers are slow, but those being caught are in the creeks, not the main lake. Crappie are excellent in shallow water while preparing for spawning. Catfish are good with flatheads and blues hitting midlake on shad, minnows and cut bait. White perch and white bass can be found in the larger creeks but are running slow. Largemouth bass are hitting well in the main lake and halfway to the backs of creeks.
Elsewhere . . .
Jeff Ball of Richmond caught a largemouth bass weighing 9 pounds, 4 ounces that was 25 inches long and had a girth of 17½ inches. He was fishing in the Sandy River Reservoir near Farmville. The bass was caught in 6 feet of water on a Terminator spinnerbait.
Fishing on the Mattaponi River on Saturday, Tom Zahalka of Short Pump caught a 13½-inch citation yellow perch, and John Scott of Midlothian caught a 12¼-inch citation yellow perch. The pair caught more than 50 perch, including 25 respectable keepers.
Also fishing on the Mattaponi, John Futrell caught a 13-inch citation-length yellow perch that weighed 1 pound, 2 ounces.
While fishing on Briery Creek Lake, Tony Dickerson caught a 2-pound, 4½-ounce crappie and his fishing partner, Bobby Martin , landed a 2-pound, 2¾-ounce crappie. Both fish were 16 inches long.
Fishing with her father and brother, 6-year-old Mary Clarke Wallace of Richmond caught a 6-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass in a Hanover County private pond.
SALTWATER
Chesapeake Bay/Ocean
Captain Ken Neill reports the ocean striped bass action appears to be over. There is always a chance of catching a straggler, but most of the fish have returned to the bay where the season is closed. Anglers can enjoy some catch-and-release action in the bay. Sea bass still can be found on the offshore wrecks, though some keepers are starting to show closer in.
Flounder and some nice croakers have been caught, which provide two more species to target. Big grey trout have been caught by netters, but there are no reports of rod-and-reel catches. Tautog catches have been good at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Offshore action is good out of the Outer Banks.
Outer Banks
Leonard Nuchols reports the big citation drum showed up at Cape Point on Monday when 12 were landed on cut bait. The puppy drum were in abundance Sunday with more than 100 brought in. Most of the puppy drum had been caught on jigs/grubs and mirro lures, but Monday a few were caught with Glass Minnow lures and sting silvers. A few blow toads were also caught at the Point area.
Ocracoke Island reported a few citation drum over the weekend along with a few puppy drum. Sea mullet and several speckled trout and puppy drum were landed in Avon this week. The offshore boats out of Hatteras Inlet report catches of yellowfin tuna up to 60 pounds along with a few dolphin. The cold front that came in Tuesday moved the big drum back out, but they are around and should move back in with the next southwest winds. The big drum, along with a few blow toads and sea mullet, are sure signs of spring on Hatteras Island.
Compiled by Walt Amacker