May 2012
By Billy Nicar

The water temps are up and the pollen count is down. Even the river levels are nearly back to normal after the recent deluges. It is time to get out there and get some stank on your hands. Mother Nature can only hold us down for so long. Recent data shows that the water temps near and around the CBBT are between 66 and 70 degrees. I have heard reports of some large red drum being caught on the Eastern Shore with a few nice stripers in the mix. The flounder action is starting to develop and it is only a matter of time before someone hooks into the first cobia of the season. Summertime freshwater fishing patterns will soon start to develop over the coming weeks as well. So, let that grass grow. It’ll be there when you are done fishing.

If entry cards are any indication of time spent on the water, Bobby Broughton has been keeping his line wet. Bobby’s first entry is for a 1 pound, 8 ounce hickory shad that he caught on April 5th from the James River. This catch on 6# spinning tackle is worth 121 points. His second entry is also for a hickory shad caught from the James River. Bobby landed this fish worth 132 points on April 6th using a spoon tied to 6# spinning tackle. But, Bobby trumped them all with his catch made from a private pond on April 20th. Bobby was casting a tube bait on 4# spinning tackle when a 20 pound, 8 ounce carp sucked up his lure. This catch earns Bobby 512 points, the “Heaviest” and “Highest Points” for the species, the title of “Freshwater Spin Division” leader, and a first place finish for “Angler of the Month” at April’s meeting. Congrats Bobby! Stuart Lee was fishing the James River on April 14th with his 8# fly tackle when he landed a beauty of a white perch that weighed in at 14 ounces. This catch will earn Stuart 171 points and will stand as the current “Heaviest” and “Highest Points” catch for the species. Nice fish, Stuart! The only entries submitted to date for american shad have been made by Mickey Kodroff. Mickey was fishing North Carolina’s Tar River on April 24th when he landed a 3 pound, 8 ounce shad on a dart tied to 4# spinning tackle. This fish earns Mickey 209 points and will stand as the “Heaviest” of the species to date. That same day Mickey landed a 3 pound, 0 ounce american shad worth 240 points on 2# spinning tackle. This fish will stand as the “Highest Points” for the species. Great fish, Mickey! Fred Cousins submitted the only saltwater entry for the month. Fred’s entry for a 4 pound, 0 ounce flounder that he caught on May 9th from Rudee Inlet using a grub tied to 2# spinning tackle earns Fred 333 points, as well as, the “Heaviest” and “Highest Points” for the species. Great catch, Fred! David Nobles submitted the year’s first entry for rainbow trout. David’s 209 point trout was caught from Spring Creek on May 4th using a Golden Retriever Fly on 4# tippet. This fish will stand as the “Heaviest” and “Highest Points” catch for the species to date. On May 6th David found himself, once again, with fly rod in hand. But, this time on the James River. On this day David was fishing a shad fly tied onto 2# tippet to catch a 1 pound, 3 ounce hickory shad worth 169 points. Nice fish, David!

Please let me know if you have any fun, exciting, informational, or scary fish tales from your recent trips out. I would love to include them in future newsletters. Any recent fishing reports or conditions would be greatly appreciated as well. I can be contacted via phone, email, or text. My contact info is listed below. As always, tight lines and best fishes!

April 2012
By Billy Nicar

It seems that freshwater is currently the place to be.   The shad are running strong in tidal rivers and the striper have followed, largemouth and smallmouth bass are looking to spawn very soon, crappie have moved shallow, and the catfish are plumping up for their spawn as well.  Whew!  It is a good time to be a freshwater angler.  But, something stirs in the briny depths.  In just the past few days I have heard reports of puppy drum at Rudee Inlet, tautog on the CBBT and surrounding wrecks, as well as a few flounder having been caught.  So wipe the dust off those saltwater rods and get ready for some action because things are about to break loose.

We will kick things off with Jay Blankenship this month.  His first entry was for a 4, 10 ounce largemouth bass that he caught on March 16th while fishing Randolph Lake.  This bass is worth 231 points for Jay landing it using 6# fly tackle.  Jay’s second fish was a 2 pound, 6 ounce hickory shad landed on March 21st while fishing 6# fly tackle in the James River.  This giant shad will earn Jay 239 points for the catch.  Jay’s third entry was for a 3 pound, 14 ounce largemouth bass that he landed using 6# fly tackle while fishing Ash Lake on March 22nd.  This catch will earn Jay 193 points.  Great catches, Jay!  Our next entry comes from Karen Anderson.  On April 8th Karen was fishing a shad spoon on 6# spinning Tackle in the James River when she landed a 1 pound, 4 ounce hickory shad worth 101 point.  Congrats, Karen!  Bob Brown managed to make it to the James River on April 5th to take advantage of a little shad action.  Bob’s 1 pound, 12 ounce hickory shad was landed using a shad dart tied to 2# spinning tackle and earns Bob 198 points.  Nice fish, Bob!  Andrew Campbell found himself hooked up to a bruiser of a shad while fishing the James River on March 18th.  Andrew’s 2 pound, 12 ounce hickory shad was boated using 6# fly tackle and ears him 277 points and the title of “Heaviest” for the species.  On March 29th Andrew caught a 20 pound, 0 ounce blue catfish from the James River on cut shad fished on 20# tackle.  This blue cat is worth 103 points.  Great fish, Andrew!  A 6 pound, 8 ounce largemouth bass was Glen Carter’s first catch entry for the month.  Glen was fishing a jig-n-pig in a private pond on March 12th when he hooked into the big ol’ bass.  Glen landed the bass using 12# plug tackle earning him 162 points for the catch and the “Heaviest” for the species.  Glen had such a good day on March 12th that he decided to sneak back in to the pond on April 1st.  On this day Glen caught a largemouth bass that would earn him the title of “Highest Points” for the species and 262 points.  This 5 pound, 4 ounce specimen bit a spinnerbait fished on 4# plug tackle.  Question…  Should the club require photographs of fish submitted for entry if the date of catch is April 1st?  Hmmm…  Just kidding!  Nice catches, Glen!  Fred Cousins joined in on the shad fun.  While fishing 2# fly tackle on March 27th Fred caught another of the unusually large hickory shad that have been landed this season.  Fred’s hickory shad is worth 321 points and earns him the title of “Highest Points” for the species, “Fly Division” leader, and 1st place for the “Angler of the Month” competition at the March meeting.  Great job, Fred!  Eddie Johnston is officially on the board for the year with a 2 pound, 13 ounce chain pickerel worth 281 points.  Eddie was fishing a jig on 2# spinning tackle in Chickahominy River on March 8th to catch the pickerel.  This earns Eddie the title of “Highest Points” for the species.  Nice fish, Eddie!  Last, but not least, we have Stuart Lee’s entries.  Stuart spent a little time down south in Guatemala, and just happened to fish a little while there.  On March 13th Stuart landed a pacific sailfish on 20# fly tackle.  Unable to officially weigh the fish, Stuart used the release weight which earns him 500 points.  About an hour after catching his sailfish, Stuart boated a 25 pound, 0 ounce dolphin on 20# fly tackle.  The dolphin catch is worth 147 points and earns Stuart a new “Club Record”.  Stuart’s final entry for the month is for a monster hickory shad caught on March 24th from the James River.  Stuart’s 2 pound, 7 ounce hickory shad bit a fly tied onto 8# fly tackle and earns him 215 points for the catch.  Great fish, Stuart!    

Please let me know if you have any fun, exciting, informational, or scary fish tales from your recent trips out.  I would love to include them in future newsletters.  Any recent fishing reports or conditions would be greatly appreciated as well.  I can be contacted via phone, email, or text.  My contact info is listed below.  As always, tight lines and best fishes!

March 2014
By Billy Nicar

Somewhere between the snow, sleet, and freezing rain, spring is peeking at us.  It has only given us brief glances, but it is undeniably knocking on our door.  Not only have I noticed the daffodils sprouting in the past few days, but I have been given the most conclusive proof possible.  A little four letter word… shad!  It’s true!  I have not only spoken with state biologists who have shocked them up in the James River, but I have first hand reports accompanied with pictures of some beautiful hickory shad caught on hook and line in Richmond on the James River within the past couple of days.   So, load up those reels with fresh line, grab your favorite spoons, darts, or flies and let the fun begin.  Guys, spring is here.  Go fishing.

I would like to make everyone aware of an emergency closure in Virginia’s spotted seatrout season.  Due to an unusually cold winter there has been a large number of trout found dead in the Middle Peninsula creeks, as well as, Rudee Inlet and Lynnhaven Inlet.  This season closure will extend from March 1, 2014 and last through July 31, 2014.  The closed season does not apply to commercial fishing or recreational catch and release.

Starting things off this month is Robbie Robinson who was fishing the Chickahominy River on the 22nd of February when quite a nice fish fell victim to the irresistible dance of his blade bait.  After what I am quite sure was a great fight, a 22 pound blue catfish was boated using 2# plug tackle.   This 338 point fish will earn Robbie the title of “Freshwater Plug” division leader.  Great catch Robbie!  Our resident “Fly Guy”, Andrew Campbell, was fishing the Chickahominy as well the very next day on February 23rd.  While casting a fly on 12# tippet Andrew hooked and boated a chain pickerel weighing in at 2 pounds, 12 ounces.  This 21.75” specimen earns Andrew 123 points, the “Freshwater Fly” division lead, and the “Highest Points” for the species.  Nice fish Andrew!  Also fishing the Chickahominy River on February 23rd was Glenn Carter.  Glenn was casting a Jig-n-Minnow on 2# spinning tackle to catch one slab of a crappie.  The 178 point crappie weighed 1pound, 2 ounces and will stand as the “Freshwater Spin” division leader, the “Highest Points” and “Heaviest” for the species to date, and hopefully a darn good meal.  Yum!!!  While Andrew and Glen where fishing the Chickahominy on February 23rd, Bob Shepherd was soaking some bait around the corner somewhere on the James River.  As usual Bob pulled out a nice fish.  In what I expect to be another great fight, Bob boated a 46 pound blue catfish using cut shad on only 4# tackle.  This fish will earn Bob 490 points for the catch, the “Freshwater General” division title, as well as, the “Highest Points” and “Heaviest” for the species.  Beautiful catch Bob!  Fred Cousins found himself fishing the Chickahominy River on March 11th.  Fred was jigging a blade bait on 2# plug tackle when a 1 pound, 3 ounce yellow perch worth 312 points slammed his lure. This catch will stand as the current “Highest Points” and “Heaviest” for the species.  Nice job Fred! 

Please let me know if you have any fun, exciting, informational, or scary fish tales from your recent trips out.  I would love to include them in future newsletters.  Any recent fishing reports or conditions would be greatly appreciated as well.  I can be contacted via phone, email, or text.  My contact info is listed below.  As always, tight lines and best fishes!

February 2014
By Billy Nicar

Well the new fishing year is upon us…  Mother Nature has greeted us with an unusually cold start to the 2014 angling year coupled with an almost weekly coating of snow.  And, yet, there are a few anglers who have capitalized on their opportunities to post some great catches early in the 2014 angling year. 
           
Kicking things off for 2014 was Fred Cousins’ entry for a 4 pound, 9 ounce spotted seatrout that he landed on 4# spinning tackle while fishing the Elizabeth River on the 6th of December.  This fine catch will earn Fred 228 points. 

December 14th found Karen Anderson, once again, fishing with Capt. Art Conway on his home waters of Chickahominy Lake.  Karen was fishing a live minnow on 8# line when she hooked and boated a 2 pound, 13 ounce chain pickerel.  This catch earns her 108 points, as well as, the top spot for “Heaviest” and “Highest Points” for the species.  Way to go, Karen! 

While chucking flies December 18th on the York River, Andrew Campbell hooked into one of the very few quality striped bass that I have heard of landed this season. The 34 pound, 7 ounce striped bass fell victim to a Half-n-Half fly fished on 20# tippet.  This fish will earn Andrew 286 point, the title of “Heaviest” and “Highest Points” for the species, the “Saltwater Fly Division” leader, as well as, a new club record.  Great catch, Andrew! 

Fred Cousins was fishing the Elizabeth River on December 20th when he landed this next super catch.  An 8 pound, 4 ounce spotted seatrout found itself attached to the opposite end of Fred’s 2# spinning tackle.  This seatrout, worth 550 points earns the top as “Highest Points” for the species and the “Saltwater Spin Division” leader.  Great catch, Fred! 

Not to be outdone by Fred, Larry Allen landed a monster 8 pound, 12 ounce spotted seatrout on January 25th using 8# spinning tackle.  This Elizabeth River trophy earns Larry 291 points and the title of “Heaviest” for the species.  Superb fish, Larry! 

On February 6th Bob Brown and Gary Green were fishing the James River with Capt. Mike Ostrander when Gary caught his first catfish ever.  Gary was fishing cut bait on 6# line when he hooked into a beautiful 34 pound blue catfish.  Gary’s catfish is worth 319 points and will take the lead as “Heaviest” and “Highest Points” for the species and will be the current “Freshwater General Division” leader.  Great catch, Gary.  Keep it up! 

Bob Brown landed a 22 pound blue catfish on 4# tackle just a few minutes before Gary landed his catfish.  This fish will earn Bob 234 points for his fine catch.  Nice fish, Bob! 

Again, we have an entry from the Elizabeth River courtesy of Fred Cousins.  On February 9th Fred was fishing 2# plug tackle when he hooked and landed a 6 pound, 6 ounce red drum.  This drum will earn Fred 159 points, the “Heaviest” and “Highest Points” for the species, as well as, “Saltwater Plug Division” leader.  Way to go, Fred!

January 2014

No report.