2013 Virginia Freshwater Fishing & Watercraft Owner's Guide

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2013 Fishing Regs & WOG 11-15-12_Layout 1 11/16/12 1:01 PM Page 29Let’s Go FishingFish Identification and Fishing InformationLargemouth BassCommon Names: Black bass, bigmouth.Identification: Sunfish family. Basically darkgreenish above fading to a whitish belly, butvariable depending on the water it lives in.Shows a series of dark blotches that form adark horizontal band along its midline to itstail. Named because of its big mouth. Upperjaw extends well beyond the eye. Dorsal findeeply notched. Average weight is 2 to 4 lbs.,with up to 10 lbs. occurring in some waters.Best Fishing: Lakes: Anna, Gaston, BuggsIsland, Chickahominy, Chesdin, Smith Mountain,Prince, Briery Creek, Sandy River,Western Branch, Witten, and Flannagan.Rivers: Chickahominy (below Walkers Dam),and James (below the fall line).Fishing Techniques: Fly, medium spincasting,spinning or baitcasting rods and reelscan all be used. Plastic worms and otherplastic imitations, crankbaits, spinner baits,surface lures, jigs and other lures imitatingminnows, crayfish, frogs, salamanders andnightcrawlers. For flyrodders, streamer flies,bucktails and large poppers. Live bait includessmall bluegills, minnows of manykinds, crayfish, nightcrawlers, frogs, etc.Smallmouth BassCommon Names: Black bass, bronzeback.Identification: Sunfish family. Copperybrownabove, with greenish-brown sideswith darker vertical bars. Three dark barsradiate from the eye on the cheek and gillcover. Dorsal fin is not as deeply notched asthe largemouth. Upper jaw extends backonly in line with the middle of the eye. A fishin the 4 or 5 lb. range is considered a trophy.Best Fishing: Lakes: Claytor, Smith Mountain,Philpott, Moomaw, and South Holston.Rivers: James (above the fall line), New,South Fork, North Fork and mainstemShenandoah, Rappahannock (above the fallline), Maury, North Fork Holston, and Clinch.Fishing Techniques: Fly, spinning, spincastingand baitcasting rods and reels with 4 to 8pound test line are all suitable for taking thisscrappiest of freshwater gamefish. Live crayfish,hellgrammites, “spring lizards” (salamanders),madtoms, and minnows are bestlive baits. Artificials include jigs, smallcrankbaits, small spinner-bucktail combos,minnow and crayfish imitations. For fly rodding,hair bugs, poppers, and streamers aregood.Spotted BassCommon Name: Kentucky bass.Identification: Sunfish family. Much like thelargemouth and the smallmouth, it is calledthe “in-between” species. It is distinguishedfrom the smallmouth by the dark, blotchylateral band from head to tail. The back ofspotted bass’ upper jaw lines up with themiddle rear of the eye, while largemouthjaws extends past the eye. It derives itsname from the black spots on its belly scales.Most are about 1 lb. or less.Best Fishing: Lakes: Claytor, Hungry Mother,and North Fork Pound. Rivers: Appomattox,New, Pamunkey, and South and North Anna.Fishing Techniques: Light to medium spincastingand spinning outfits and mediumbait casting rods and reels. Similar baits asfor largemouth, but smaller. Spinnerbaits,top water plugs, crankbaits and fly rodpopping bugs.CrappieBlack CrappieWhite CrappieCommon Names: papermouth, Calico bass,specks, speckled perch.Identification: Sunfish family. There are twospecies of crappie—the black and the white.The black crappie is covered with dark, irregularblotches and has seven—rarely eight—dorsal spines. It shows more yellow andgreen on its sides and its caudal (tail) andanal fins are heavily flecked. The white crappiehas six dorsal spines—rarely five—and ithas noticeable vertical bars on its silverysides as well as a light pearlescent color oriridescent blue and lavendar. Both haveprotruding lower jaws.Best Fishing: Lakes: Buggs Island, Chesdin,Chickahominy, Cohoon, Anna, Smith Mountain,Prince, Gaston, Claytor, Brittle,Moomaw, Orange, Burke, South Holston,and Western Branch. Rivers: tidal Chickahominyand its tributaries, tidal James, andSouth Fork Shenandoah.Fishing Techniques: Light spinning or spincastingrods and reels with tiny jigs, doll flies,streamers, small crankbaits that imitateminnows, small spoons and spinner-bucktailcombinations, and spinner-grubs. Best livebaits are small to medium minnows.Fish illustrations by Duane Raver/USFWSwww.HuntFishVA.com 29
2013 Fishing Regs & WOG 11-15-12_Layout 1 11/16/12 1:01 PM Page 30BluegillCommon Names: Bream, bluegill sunfish,sun perch.Identification: Sunfish family. Colors arevariable. Dark green, olive-green, olivebrown, or bluish-black on its back, fading toyellowish-green or silvery. Normally has fiveto seven vertical bars extending down oneach side. Lower parts of its cheek and gillcover are bluish. Its “throat” is yellow on femalesto bright orange on the male, brighterduring spawning. Has a black, ear-like flap onits opercle (gill cover) and a black blotch atthe back base of its spiny dorsal fin. Typicallyunder 1lb. in Virginia.Best Fishing: Lakes: Western Branch, Prince,Cohoon, Chickahominy, Robertson, Gatewood,Briery Creek, Burke, and many others.Fishing Techniques: A number 8 or 10 hookbaited with soft crickets, small nymphs, gardenworms, red wigglers, pieces of nightcrawlers, other grubs and caterpillars on anultralight spinning or spincasting outfit, flyrod or cane pole provides a lot of fun. Towardevening, in summer, when the shallowscool, bluegills come into shore to feed.When using bait, fish shallow with a small,light bobber in spring, deep near structure inhot summer with no bobber and lightlyweighted. Effective artificials include poppers,nymphs, wet and dry flies of manytypes, rubber spiders, grasshoppers andcrickets, and tiny jigs. Flyrodding for bluegillsis especially rewarding.Redear SunfishCommon Name: Shellcracker.Identification: Sunfish family. Yellow-greenor olive, with faint vertical bars and randomdark spots. During spawning, the margin ofthe male’s gill cover flap turns bright red.Body is rounded like other sunfish and has arelatively small mouth. Pectoral fins are longand pointed. They grow faster and largerthan other sunfish; 1 lb. fish not uncommon.Best Fishing: Lakes: Cohoon, Meade, Prince,Little Creek, Chickahominy, Robertson,Western Branch, Lone Star, and BrieryCreek. Rivers: Nottoway.Fishing Techniques: Best time to catch redearsis in the spring when they come up tothe spawning beds. Being bottom feeders,most redears are caught by letting livenymphs, red wigglers or garden worms lieon the bottom near shore. Artificial jigs andgrubs fished slowly and near the bottom willwork as well.Redbreast SunfishCommon Names: Yellowbreast sunfish, redbelly,red throat.Identification: Sunfish family. Basically oliveto brownish gray along the back, merging toblue with a golden cast along its sides and abright orange to yellow underside. Has severalirregular bluish stripes on its cheek andgill cover. Identifiable by a long, black opercular(gill)flap. Reaches about 8 inches.Best Fishing: South Fork Shenandoah, Nottoway,Rapidan, Rappahannock, Maury andCowpasture rivers.Fishing Techniques: Small spinner baits,spinner bucktails, grubs and tiny crankbaits.Spring and fall are the best times, but theyare active throughout the summer.PumpkinseedCommon Names: Pond perch, sun perch,sunny.Identification: Sunfish family. Dark, olivegreenon its back, with mottled sides. Basecolor of sides, yellowish, spotted with orange,red and blue. Its belly is yellow tobright orange. Cheeks and gill covers markedwith alternate worm-shaped bands of bluegreenand yellow. Bluish-black gill cover flapsare edged with white, yellow, orange orblue, with a small half moon spot of red. Average4 to 6 inches.Best Fishing: Most lakes, ponds and rivers.Best time to catch them is in spring and earlysummer when they move into the shallowsto spawn, but are cooperative even in thehot summertime and is commonly caughtnear shore throughout the warmer months.Fishing Techniques: Relatively easy to catch.Small garden worms, red wigglers, variousgrubs and crickets are good live baits. An ultralightspinning or spincast rod and reel isideal rigged with 4 to 6 lb. line, lightlyweighted and fitted with a small bobber isthe best outfit for sunfish. Simply cast toopenings in aquatic vegetation, the edges ofaquatic vegetation or gravel clearings nearshore. They will hit artificials, such as wetflies and nymphs, but fish them a little slowerthan other sunfish species.Green SunfishCommon Names: Blue sunfish.Identification: Sunfish family. Basicallybluish green in color, with faint, alternatingblue, brown and brassy gold stripes. Olivecolored on its head with pale blue spots andwavy lines on its upper lip. Has a dark opercle(gill flap) spot and some orange and yellow-oliveon its lower fins. Is a stocky, thickfish with a large head and large mouth.Best Fishing: Small lakes, pond or quietcoves on large reservoirs where they havebeen introduced.Fishing Techniques: A ready striker of anysmall crankbait, spinnerbait, wet or dry fliesas well as live nymphs, minnows and worms.Fish close up against the shore, often underthe smallest of overhanging banks, or smalldugout areas along a shallow shore.Rock BassCommon Names: Redeye, goggle eye androck sunfish.Identification: Sunfish family. Short, robust30 2013 Virginia Freshwater Fishing & Boating Guide
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2013 Virginia Freshwater Fishing & Watercraft Owner's Guide

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