FISHING REPORT

JAMES RIVER

Castaway Sporting Goods (804) 706-9100 reports the crappie catch has slowed a little. Anglers are catching them in spurts, and it's a hit-and-miss situation. Once the weather warms, it should turn things loose, allowing for more fishing. The first qualifier for the tournament season is April 11.

Notable catches: Thomas Hickman (Richmond) 3 bluecats, 50 pounds, 2 ounces; 31, 12; 63, 4; Pat Temple (Richmond) 2 bluecats, 31, 2; 39, 12.

CHICKAHOMINY LAKE/RIVER

Capt. Art Conway of Conway's River Rat Guide Service (804) 746-2475 out of Ed Allen's Boats and Bait reports water temperatures in the midto upper-30s and the lake level a few inches above full pool. Crappie, yellow perch and bass were scattered in the mid-lake deep winter holes. Wright Bait Co. two-inch curly tail grubs, tubes, stingers, blade baits and live minnows were the most effective baits for crappie.

CHESAPEAKE BAY/OCEAN

Dr. Julie Ball reports anglers are heading to the oceanfront in pursuit of striped bass. Water temperatures have dropped over the past few weeks, but anglers are hoping the few scattered warmer days will encourage striper activity within range. Smaller, school-sized stripers are taking lures for anglers casting around the pilings and all four artificial islands of the CBBT for catch-and-release action.

Anglers are working the Elizabeth River as they scour near the Hot Ditch and the Cove looking for speckled trout. Reports are trickling in of catches of trout, with several anglers scoring fish large enough to earn citations from the Virginia saltwater fishing tournament program. Scott Carter (Chesapeake) landed a 6-pound, 12-ounce speck casting a shad in the Hot Ditch.

Tautog are intriguing inshore anglers. Moving to a little deeper water is key, with the mid-range and deep-water wrecks becoming good choices. Structures from the Chesapeake Light Tower to deep water wrecks are good places to fish. Running to the southern wrecks can produce better results. Bill Knapp (Virginia Beach) and his crew caught their limit of tog keepers, with Knapp catching a 10-pound, 14-ounce fish on blue crab.

Good numbers of big seabass and some chopper bluefish are inhabiting the deeper wrecks. The nearby Canyon and its edges are a good place to look for tilefish, grouper and blackbellied rosefish. The Jil Carrie, running out of Long Bay Pointe Marina, caught blueline tilefish, blackbellied rosefish, wreckfish, barrelfish and seabass just more than six pounds. Dogfish are showing in deep water areas. Switching to metal jigs can often help overcome this problem.

Ken Penrod reports there has been a slow pick at Cape Henry. Boats have been running as far north as Wachapreague and as far south as Kitty Hawk, N.C., with fish being caught in both directions. The days are getting longer, the waters should warm and fish will be moving towards the mouth of the bay in preparation for their spawning runs. The bite will heat back up. Tautog action is good on coastal wrecks at the Tower Reef and the Triangle Wrecks. Offshore wrecks are holding jumbo sea bass. Catches of blueline tilefish are being made along the 50 fathom curve, and grouper and golden tiles have been caught in the Norfolk Canyon. The giant bluefin bite at Cape Lookout has been good. Anglers fishing for giants have been finding more undersized (less than 72 inches) bluefin and some large king mackerel.

Notable catch: Christian Conover , rockfish, 45.5 inches.

OUTER BANKS

Leonard Nuchols reports stripers are being caught north of Oregon Inlet. The Cape Point area reports dog sharks along with black drum, puppy drum and speckled trout. Small flounder have been landed at Hatteras Inlet. Ocracoke Island reports a decent catch of puppy drum.

Black drum and speckled trout landed on the southern beaches in the Frisco area along with dog sharks. The offshore boats out of Hatteras Inlet report blackfin tuna. The inshore boats out of Oregon Inlet report good catches of stripers up to 55 pounds.

LAKE ANNA

Jim Hemby reports February usually is a great month for bass fishing on Lake Anna, and many citations should be recorded. One of the most productive patterns for catching big bass is to fish clear water with suspending jerk baits. Suspending jerk baits work best fished on primary and secondary points and flats on the main lake this time of year. When working the bait, use a jerk, jerk, pause-jerk retrieve on a fairly slack line to entice the fish to hit. Bass are easy to pattern and once you locate the type of structure they are relating to, duplicate it many times at different locations, increasing your chances of catching a "hog." Points with "bowling ball-size" rocks on them, like around Duke's Creek and Bogg's Creek, hold bass. Swim baits work well in the same areas when water temperatures are above 45 degrees. A long cast, with a steady, slow retrieve, with an occasional pause will trigger bass to react. A great way to catch a citation bass next month is to pull a jumbo minnow behind your boat about 10 feet below a bobber, keeping your boat in the 15-foot depth range. Great places to try are short guts or creeks off the main lake, such as Hackneys Creek. Many fish structures and brush piles are holding bass.

Gulls will guide you to schools of bait, and stripers will be nearby. From Sturgeons Creek up, the fish are feeding on twoto three-inch threadfin shad. Downlake, they are feeding on fourand five-inch herring. Midlake, the fish are in the backs of short creeks, coves and pockets. Downlake, redfins waked over long points and shallow flats in low light conditions will draw huge stripers up to explode on the bait. Another great bait to throw is a suspending jerkbait like Smithwicks suspending rogue, blackback-foil-orange belly. As for live bait fisherman, being versatile will be the key this month. Downlake, use herring or large minnows and midlake, use threadfin shad or medium and large minnows. February is a great month to catch stripers on the lake, and live bait is the key to catching a citation fish.

Crappie are schooled up and are on deeper drop-offs in the 15to 25-foot range. Main lake primary points with major breaks are holding nice schools, especially if boulders or rocks are present. Points nearby Christopher Run and Terrys are hot, as well as the bridge pilings in the rivers. Try fishing deep docks with lights at night for some big slabs. Look for schools of threadrin shad, and the crappie will be nearby on the most vertical break you can find. Dropping small jigs, spoons and small silver buddies will fill your livewells. On the Hot Side, huge crappie are being caught on deeper brush and points, 15to 25-feet deep.

On the private side up in Elks Creek, white perch are feeding heavily on threadfin. Jigging spoons works at times, but the live bait fills the coolers. Concentrate between 15to 30-feet deep.

Walleye are being caught at the 3rd Dike on the rocks, with small minnows and on two-inch white jigs. On the private side, fish are congregated nearby the discharge and are hitting crankbaits. Doug Hall caught a citation walleye off the catwalk at the third dike on a four-inch jerkbait.

OTHERS

Capt. Jim Brincefield from Long Bay Pointe Bait & Tackle in Lynnhaven (443) 336-8756 reports the weather is good, sea condition is excellent for January and there is a fantastic catch of black sea bass, portly blueline tilefish, wreckfish and blackbelly rosefish. Three Virginia weight citation black sea bass were caught, the largest at 6 pounds, 4 ounces.