A cold weekend could slow fishing

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

While we're still busily catching crappies, bass, yellow perch and carp in the main stem of the tidal Potomac and some of its tributaries, the weatherman says truly cold weather is on its way. That can put a crimp into catches. But even if a hard cold snap arrives, it won't last long. Before you know it, we'll be back out setting the hook.

At least until tomorrow, the oft-mentioned Mann's Sting Ray grubs, Crippled Herring spoons and even a spinnerbait now and then will deliver the goods.

Local river guides Andy Andrzejewski and Dale Knupp say a coating of Smelly Jelly on the grubs definitely helps. Andy sticks with mildly flavored crawfish or baitfish Smelly Jelly, and Dale likes a garlic-scented Smelly Jelly that will ruffle your nose from 50 yards away. Once he dips his fingers into the jar and coats his plastic baits with the stuff, he smells like an Italian restaurant. The fish like it.

The guides agree the waters around the Woodrow Wilson Bridge produce bass and consequently attract a covey of boats -- at least while the sun is warm. They won't be there when it's bitter cold, but the fish will be. Remember that.

Virginia's Lake Anna -- The best bets are the schooling stripers around the Splits, and there are plenty of crappies in sunken brush piles. Bass reports are few and far between, but Front Royal's Dick Fox sent us a snapshot of a fine largemouth he caught over the weekend. "I had four more, all of them decent fish," he said.

Grubs, Senkos, jig'n'pigs or spoons can result in strikes if you pay attention to depths. Try to fish along a break-line near a lake or creek point where the water drops from three and four feet down to 15 and 20. The bass hang around such places.

Check the Chick -- Anglers after blue catfish are doing well in the tidal Chickahominy, a tributary to the mighty James River not far from Williamsburg. In fact, one Williamsburg angler caught a 41-pound blue "cat" on a live shad a few days ago. Crappies also are active.

In the James River, the blue catfish are taking live shad or herring, as well as cut baits on the bottom anywhere between Dutch Gap and the Appomattox River. Blue catfish and plenty of crappies are reported from Kerr reservoir (Buggs Island Lake), but if it's freshwater stripers you're after, adjacent Lake Gaston might be better. Live, drifted baits work best.

In saltwater, more stripers -- Rockfish are the fish of the hour, says Ken Neill of the Peninsula Saltwater Sport Fishermen's Association.