Trav's Fishing Report

[Trav]

James River Arm is primed for the races….

Launched at Cape Fair a little after 2pm. I saw the water temps were in the mid 60s and was thrilled to see they had risen almost 5 degrees since Monday.

However, I started off cranking and only caught one spot in the first hour.

I was looking around at all the traffic and noticed most of those guys were still working deeper water. I watched one area get fished like a conveyer belt as boat after boat took their turns at it. And no one seemed to be doing anything real spectacular. Two weeks ago that area was a good producer.

From what I could tell most were dragging slow presentations or crank baiting. I mumbled under my breath and decided I wasn’t going to do what everyone else was doing. I was itching to cover a lot of water very fast, even if the commitment was going to fail. I had to work it.

So, out came the blades and I ran the trolling motor hard. I ran those blades as quick as I could with my boat in constant motion. I covered a lot of lake, managing two or three casts every 20 to 30 yards of shoreline.

I focused on small chunk rock and every pea gravel beach between Woolly and the Virgin bluff island. It turned out to be a pretty good tactic. I wasn’t pulling in the bass by the truckload but I did manage a dozen. Ten to fifteen fish seems to be my average these days anyway.

The majority of what I caught was sporty spots but I did pick up a couple females this time around.

There was a lot of baitfish running and leaping in the shallow water. I was pretty sure they were dodging whites. I did catch one decent female but whites aren’t too aggressive when running a ½ ounce blade. Not to mention, whites don’t impress me much. So I don’t really pursue them. This is food for thought for those of you who do though.

Anyway, I guess what I am trying to say is the James area is over the hump and the bass have started to move shallower.

I was positioning my boat in 5 feet of water and casting out into 10 to 15 feet of water and reeling toward the bank where I found gravel. I did the opposite wherever I found the smaller chunk rock. Whenever the channel switched to the shore I would cross the lake and fish away from the deep water. I basically avoided bluffs.

I stayed committed to the blade and worked it like it was the only bait in the boat.

Right at sunset the water was glass and I was tempted to go with a topwater but by then the lake was a highway as everyone was running in to call it a day.

If there isn’t any wind in the morning, I would suggest you try that. I would be curious as to whether my instincts are correct. Every time a boat went by the baitfish quit running the surface but in the morning they might be less skittish.

Good luck this weekend.

I predict there will be a lot of pressure. There were a lot of boats today and it was a work day. I don’t fish weekends so look for me on the water again sometime next week. I am tempted to head north and do Pomme….

…..but if you guys start doing any good on the early morning topwater I will probably go back to the James.

[Flippin]

Trav,

I appreciate the good report.