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 33gray-green to yellowish-green then to whiteon its belly. Its sides have light yellowishbean-shaped spots the length of its body.Strongly toothed jaws have teeth arrangedin rows, plus rows of teeth located on itstongue and palate; they angle inward so itsprey cannot get loose. Cheek is fully scaled,gill cover is only half scaled.Best Fishing: Lakes: Occoquan, Motts Run,and Arrowhead (Page County).Fishing Techniques: Still-fishing with largeminnows or other baitfish, or casting ortrolling with large spoons, spinner-bucktailsor crankbaits.Chain PickerelCommon Names: Chainsides, jackpike, pike.Identification: A member of the pike family,it is named for its chain-like markings on itssides. Also has a black vertical mark under itseye. Normally its fin is unmarked. Averages1.5 to 3 lbs. Fully scaled on both cheek andgill cover.Best Fishing: Lakes: Chickahominy, Gaston,Western Branch, Diascund, Burnt Mills,Prince, Anna, Cohoon, Little Creek,Moomaw, Douthat and many other rivers,ponds and lakes. Rivers: Nottoway, Blackwater,Chickahominy, and Dragon Run.Fishing Techniques: Best time is from Octoberthrough March. Most active when watertemperatures are 55° to 70°F. Spinners,spoons, bucktails, jigs, pork rind baits, and avariety of crankbaits will take pickerel.Minnows are the best live bait. Fish theedges of weed beds, lily pad beds, sunkenbrush, or tree stumps.MuskellungeCommon Names: Musky, muskie.Identification: Largest member of the pikefamily. Normally olive to dark gray on itsback, with grayish to bluish to yellowishsides. Sides may have faint vertical bars,spots or blotches.Feeding Habits: Muskies eat mainly otherfishes, especially soft-rayed species such assuckers, carp and shad, but also frogs, ducklings,muskrats and other mammals.Best Fishing: Lakes: Rural Retreat, HungryMother, and Burke. Rivers: James, Clinch,Shenandoah and New.Fishing Techniques: River fishermen usesmall boats with electric motors or smalloutboards to float larger pools and fishshoreline snags and submerged brush.Heavy bait casting rods and reels with 30+lb. test line is used. Using large hooks, 4/0 orlarger, some anglers simply allow 8- or 12-inch suckers, shad or carp to swim free.Muskies are commonly caught in lakes bytrolling deep water with large crankbaits,spoons and spinner-bucktail combinations.Early in the year, try trolling acrossshallow points.Rainbow TroutCommon Name: Rainbow.Identification: The variety of rainbows hasresulted in a variety of colors, hues andmarkings. Normally the back is olive-greenwith a silvery cast on its sides fading to a silvery-whitebelly. A pinkish or light rosy redband extends from its cheek to near its tail.Normally, they are well spotted with blackspots, but vary from large spots to tinyspecks to no markings at all.Best Fishing: Well established in streams ofthe southwestern region of the state and arefound in a myriad of mountain streams inwestern Virginia. Lakes: Moomaw. Riversand Streams: Smith River, Elk Creek, DanRiver, Potts Creek, Cripple Creek, RoanokeRiver, Little Reed Island Creek, Jackson River,Crooked Creek and Big Tumbling Creek, andmany others on both sides of the Blue Ridge.Some good wild streams are WhitetopLaurel, Fox Creek, and the South Fork HolstonRiver.Fishing Techniques: Hits dry flies, wet flies,streamers, nymphs, small spinners and spinner-bucktails,spoons, as well as worms, livenymphs, minnows and salmon eggs. Hatcherytrout readily take kernel corn and coloredmarshmallows. Berkeley Power Baitsthat give off a scent and can be shaped onthe hook are used extensively by anglers.Brown TroutCommon Names: English brown trout,German brown trout, European trout.Identification: Colors vary widely. Naturalwild browns are olive-brown on the back,lighter on the sides, brilliant yellow-gold ontheir underside, with yellowish-green,unspotted fins. They have numerous blackor dark brown spots on their sides, alongwith a sprinkling of red spots encircled withlight blue rings. Hatchery-reared brownstend to be more silvery with dark brownishabove with light yellow undersides and spotsof a lighter shade.Best Fishing: Lakes: Moomaw. Rivers andStreams: Little River, Mossy Creek, PottsCreek, Back Creek, Jackson River, Smith Riverand a wide array of others on either side ofthe Blue Ridge and in southwestern Virginia.Fishing Techniques: Will rise to dry flies aswell as hitting wet flies, streamers andnymphs. Worms, live nymphs, minnows andsalmon eggs are good too. Brown trout tendto be bigger “meat eaters” in that they’lltake larger live baits more readily and will hitspinners, spinner bucktail combinations, aswell as small crankbaits and spoons. Livebaits and wet flies are normally fished downstreamwhile dry flies are fished upstream.Brook TroutCommon Names: Native, brookie, mountaintrout, speckled trout.Identification: Most colorful of our trout.Back is a dark olive-green with light wavy orwormy markings. Sides are lighter, sometimeswith a bluish cast, yellowish spots andred spots with a light blue halo around them.Belly is white with bright orange fins. Finshave outer edges of white with a black lineseparating it from the orange. Ten to 16 inchesand 1 to 2 lbs. is a good-sized brookie.Native brookies seldom grow beyond 12inches in Virginia streams.Best Fishing: Over 400 streams or portionsof streams contain brook trout. Many of thestreams and ponds in the Shenandoahwww.HuntFishVA.com 33
2013 Fishing Regs & WOG 11-15-12_Layout 1 11/16/12 1:01 PM Page 34National Park and the George Washingtonand Jefferson National Forest have nativebrook trout. Lakes: Laurel Bed, Coles Creekand Mill Creek reservoirs, Lexington CityReservoir and Switzer Lake. Rivers andStreams: Crooked Creek, Little Stoney Creek,Rapidan River, Rose River, Hughes River, Jeremy'sRun, Laurel Fork and Dry River.Fishing Techniques: For the purist, dry flies,wet flies, streamers and nymphs are used.Nymphs early in the season, dry flies whenthe natural insects hatch. Live bait anglersuse garden worms and caddis, mayfly andstonefly nymphs also early in the year whenthese aquatic larvae are available naturally.In deep pools, small minnows may beeffective year round.Flathead CatfishCommon Names: Mud cat, shovelhead cat,yellow cat.Identification: Broadly flattened head with alower jaw that projects beyond the upperjaw. Tail only slightly notched and adipose finis relatively large. Body is yellowish orcream-colored with black, dark brown orolive-brown mottling on back and sides,fading to dirty white or yellow. Youngerfish have darker, bolder markingsand the upper tip of the tailshave white, triangular patches.Best Fishing: Lakes: Occoquan,Claytor, Flannagan, Smith Mountain,and Buggs Island. Rivers: James, New,Staunton/Roanoke rivers and Occoquan Creek.Fishing Techniques: Use live bait since theyaren’t easily attracted to catfish baits normallyused for other catfish, although chickenentrails, nightcrawlers, and minnowswork well. Usually caught on the bottom ofdeep pools or in tailraces below dams.Blue CatfishCommon Names: Forked-tailed cat, humpbackblue, chuckleheadIdentification: Heavy-bodied with a widehead and high spot forward of center nearthe head called the dorsal hump. Upper jawprojects well beyond the lower. Bluish-graybody above, fading to white on sides andbelly. No spots and a deeply forked tail. Bluecats are often confused with channel catfish.Small channel cats typically will have spotslacking in small blue cats. However, largechannel cats and medium-sized blue cats canbe more difficult to tell apart, often havingsimilar coloration and general body shape.The margin, or edge, of the anal fin can beused to identify these fish: blue catshave an anal fin with a very straightmargin; in channel cats the anal finhas a rounded margin. Biologistsand anglers can definitively distinguishbetween the two species bycounting anal fin rays; 30-35 rays inthe blue cat’s anal fin versus the channelcat’s 25 to 29 rays.Best Fishing: Lakes: Buggs Island. Rivers:James, Mattaponi, Pamunkey, Rappahannock,Staunton, Appomattox, and Potomactributaries in Virginia.Fishing Techniques: March through May arethe best months, but they are caught yearround. Use heavy tackle with cut bait, liveherring, shad, or peeler crabs. Best at nightor low-light conditions.Channel CatfishCommon Names: Spotted-catfish,speckledcatfish, silver catfish, fork-tailed catfish.Identification: Deeply forked tail. Upper jawis longer than, and overlaps the lower. Whensmall, its smooth-skinned body is usuallyspotted; however, these spots disappear inolder fish (can be confused with blue catfish,see identification of blue catfish). Has asmall dorsal fin with stiff spine standinghigh on its back. Varies in color, althoughgenerally dark brownish to slate-gray ontop, fading to light brownish-gray on thesides. Has 25 to 29 rays in its anal fin.Best Fishing: Lakes: Buggs Island, Gaston,South Holston, Claytor, Anna, Chesdin,Flannagan, and most small public lakes.Rivers: Appomattox, Chickahominy, Dan,Mattaponi, Pamunkey, New, Rappahannock,Shenandoah, Staunton, and North Landing.Fishing Techniques: Rod and reel anglerscatch them on clam snouts, peeler crabs,large minnows, nightcrawlers, cut herring,chicken livers or entrails, shrimp, and avariety of stink or dough baits. They take avariety of artificials including crankbaits, jigsand spinners. Best at night or low-lightconditions.White CatfishCommon Names: Forked-tailed cat.Identification: Has a moderately forked tail,a stocky body with its upper jaw extendingslightly beyond lower. Color is basically bluegrayabove, fading to gray on its sides with awhite underside. Occasionally mottled lightgray on its sides. Average 8 to 18 inches,rarely 20.Best Fishing: Tidal rivers such as thePotomac, Rappahannock, James, and Yorkand numerous lakes in southeast andcentral Virginia.Fishing Techniques: Many of the samemethods used for other catfish. Worms,minnows and scented baits fished on ornear the bottom.American ShadCommon Names: White shad, roe shad.Identification: Largest of the river herringfamily, American shad average around 3 lbs.,with fish up to 5 lbs. common. Silver-sidedwith greenish-blue back; deep bodied fromthe side, narrow and symmetrical top to bottomhead-on; row of dark spots on the sides,running back from the gill cover; the upperand lower jaws are equal length when themouth is closed.Best Fishing: Rivers: James (Richmond fall34 2013 Virginia Freshwater Fishing & Boating Guide
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2013 Virginia Freshwater Fishing & Watercraft Owner's Guide

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