The southern coves midlake, are holding hundreds of bait fish in huge schools.
Bass are not aggressive in these coves. Check outcoves on the Northern side of the lake, off creeks below Goat Island and above the Route 58 bridge. Best patterns are buckbrush; chunk rock banks,dropping off into 10 feet of water; secondary rocky points; and wood cover midway back in the cove or creek. Square bill crankbaits, Chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, Senkos and creature baits are the better choice of baits. To be effective, baits must be fished within 12 inches of the rocky shoreline or in the bushes.
Topwater action is occasionally productive, particularly on points of coves, halfway back in the creeks.
Crappie anglers are loading coolers, using small minnows over brushpiles and around bridge pilings.
Schools of breaking stripers are being found between Buoy 16 and the Clarksville Bridge, and at the mouth of Bluestone Creek. Trolling Cordell Redfins and Rebel FasTrak minnows along the river channel is producing some good catches of stripers, but don’t be surprised if you end up with a 30pound flathead or blue catfish. A number of anglers this past week landed these catfish while fishing for stripers.
An archive of fishing reports is available here.
Charlie Taylor writes about fishing in Virginia for several publications. He can be reached at cetaylor2@verizon.net. His full Virginia fishing report can be found here. And his report for Lake Gaston can be found here.
Charlie also moderates a popular Forum for area fishermen (and fisherwomen). It can be found here.
This page is updated weekly, usually around Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.
More fishing information:
Water Level | Water Temperature
Kerr Lake Map | Tournaments
Boat Ramps | Wind Speed/Direction
Sun/Moon Phases | Fishing Guides