We had over 60 degree air temps in northern Virginia yesterday. The snow is almost all melted. The rivers aren’t stained green for Spring yet, but that’s not more than a week or two away I’m betting. I’m hoping that the ice is mostly off the moving water.
I’m looking forward to some smallmouth pre-spawn hunger. I’ve had good luck in the past with large bucktail jigs right up against sun-warmth-sucking rocks. This year I’m going to try a similar approach but use a fly-rod and weighted bass bugs.
...... stream and river heads now . Ultra-light (grass shrimp or worm - shad dart & float , small as you got in the stream heads)(bottom dbl. rig - minnow in river heads) ... catch and release 50 (take home your creel if wanted) , have a good day , go back next day or next week and do it again . Work on tide flow if possible , if not just work em .
The Stripers will be up on the Flats soon , catch and release regs. in place . Top water action !!
Smallies heat up on 53-55 degree water temps. ... wish ya luck before that . Hooked up w/ a few at 49-50 , but very , VERY few . At 58-60 they take spinners well (mid May - early June) . Late June they come on in the Yough res. (MD end) , tubes at shorelines/shallow cover .
What I want is a 1/2 dozen fresh water Crappie (12"-16") for the pan ... doesn't get any tastier than that !!
I think I'll just stay home and not fish this year ... yeah right .
Spring Smallies I’m looking forward to warmer weather and some new creek adventures too Big-D.
On the 18th I did a 3 mile float on a local stream with my buddies BuzzCat and EnglishmanJohn. Air temps were in the 60’s, creek flow was 66cfs, a pretty green and 39 degree water. Buzz got a 16" and 17" smallie while I thumbed a 16" and a couple 14" (the Englishman spent the day re-tying after being snagged numerous times) All fish were feisty and healthy.
Today that same stream is over 1000cfs, muddy and its snowing …
Running a little late this year I usually do a run on one of our favorite creeks that only runs in the Spring sometime in late February. Didn’t happen this year. It’ll go down in a week or two and we’ll have to wait for either a deluge or next year. We don’t want either of those. So I’m hoping we’ll get out in the next week or so. That’s usually a paddle only trip because it’s 18 miles of constant class 1 and 2 water. There are a few pools, but not many. The ones there are are likely loaded with trout. The lower end of it I know has good numbers of smallies, but I can’t say about size.
Had a sweet trip… about three weeks ago…three rivers in three days, plenty of trout and smallies. Beautiful weather, rivers low and extremely clear. Then cold hit. Then snow hit. Then rain and more rain. Last week the weather got beautiful again, but rivers mostly way too high. And then we left for two months in Montana. Cold. Snow. But the Yellowstone is looking good…where we are the river is influenced by the big spring creeks and isn’t frozen over at all. And it’s lower than I’ve ever before seen it, since all the run-off is still frozen up in the mountains.
Dirty Ed…wish you’d make a trip to the Ozarks this summer! (You too, D, even if you are farther away).
… love to fish gentlemen, and i agree, for good fishing 50 seems to be the magic temp, though have caught a few 2-3 lb small mouth this winter, and a bunch of crappie
Smallies… are more fun when the water temp gets to 50, because not only do they fight better but you can catch them on stuff that I consider to be more fun to fish. But if you can find them you can catch them down to temps in the upper 30s.
yeah… AL, yeah we caught some a few week ago on tims ford when the water temp was like 37deg… they hardly even fight after you hook em… water was in the 46 range the other day and he still didn’t fight too much… couple more weeks and well be golden
Water temps are getting good But my main river is going to be running at 20’ by this weekend (with an 18’ flood stage), so I’m guessing the river fishing will have to wait for a while. The reservoir and small lakes are sounding good to me.
I think it’s goona be big D … … the current rainfalls seem to be exceeding the predicted amounts . It’s already starting to blow up in the Cumberland stretch and Wills creek is really pumping it in there .
Paw Paw and Hancock have already began their rise and the rain is only hours old … it’s all coming downstream and will continually be added to for the next 12 or so hrs. … add in the Shen. and whamoo !!
I hope that log jam dam at the Monoc. aquaduct (from last Mar.) got cleared away by the state … I can’t imagine the aquaduct taking a hit like that again while it still has the last log jam built up against it .
....... checking out the Potomac during it's flood .
We started at Great Falls (got there during it's crest) , then onto P.of Rocks , Brunswick , Harpers and Millville (Shen) .
Got some good pics. and vids. , especially from Great Falls ... the river at the falls was at least 25' over normal , and nearer 50' on the Va. side . Only the very tips of two of the larger rock structures were showing ... the whole gorge was nearly filled to the brim with massive wakes and waves .
We met a husband/wife (older) in Brunswick of whom the wife when as a little girl , was the family who ran the store there at Whites Ferry . She said she lived over the store in those years ... probably 55 yrs. ago or so . Real nice folks who remember (witnessed) many of the extreme/great floods on the Potomac ... yesterdays extra 50' at great falls couldn't of even compared to some of those .
The husband and I talked how the flood was going to impact the fishing this year . He said it's really messed up the Crappie fishing that's happening right now (the secret place just above Brunswick) .
Took a walk at lunchtime I walked through a park with a good view of the Potomac from a ridge overlooking Harrison Island. The river is still high and muddy but doing down. It wouldn’t be suicide to go on it in a jet boat in good repair right now, but the current’s still too much push for me to want to kayak it and you’d have to be an exceptionally skilled fishermen to catch anything except by mistake. I’m sure all the ramps are still showing in (or above) the red zone though.
