Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 6, 1990 TAG: 9004060017
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"We had water temperatures up in the mid-60s Monday," said Abers, a full-time fishing guide. "I caught [and released] between 20 and 30 bass - all good fish, 3 or 4 pounds."
He landed them on surface-splashing buzzbaits.
"I had a party out Tuesday. We hooked 23 bass and got 15 of them in the boat. The biggest was 5 pounds," he said.
Abers said a couple of fish fell for buzzbaits, but most took slower, deeper-running spinnerbaits.
"The water had cooled, and temperatures 60 to 61 degrees were hard to find," he said.
By Wednesday the lake was even cooler. So was the response of the bass. Abers' catch was down to six fish.
"The best we could find was 58 degrees, and that was late in the afternoon," Abers said. "Most of the water now is running 55 degrees, so it has dropped 10 degrees [since Monday]. The bass are shutting back down."
The big Southside Virginia impoundment has become a giant washing machine stuck on the cold cycle.
"You have fresh water coming in, you have cold nights and the wind has been terrible," Abers said. "Anytime you have cold weather with whitecaps rolling, that cools the water."
The forecast for the weekend holds little promise of rising temperatures or rising catches, Abers said.
"We are going to need about two, maybe three, days of good temperatures," Abers said. "If the wind will quit and we get 70- or 80-degree days, then the surface water temperature will jump 7 or 8 degrees from morning to evening."
The rising of the water temperature and water level in unison make sweet music for an angler. When it happens, often you can hammer the bass as Abers did early in the week.
The water level was coming up Monday, and by mid-week had peaked at about 4 1/2 feet above normal. That put the impoundment's shoreline back into the willows, the buck bushes and sweet gum trees, where food and cover are abundant for fish. As the level rises, so does the boldness of the bass.
"The bass were holding just as tight as they could be, but they would come out 5 to 6 feet to bust a lure," Abers said of his early-week fishing.
Abers now is concerned that when the water temperature gets back up, the lake level will be down.
Late in the week, the surface was dropping 2 or 3 inches a day.
\ BLUES PLENTIFUL: On the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the word is "blues" - not the fish, the state of mind.
With one of fishing's biggest weeks at the Banks coming, the bluefish remain scarce. That has folks in the area worried. Without the blues, it is going to be like a beach weenie roast without the hot dogs.
Tackle shop operators remain optimistic and are telling callers that there are loads of 5- to 6-pound blues in the sound and even bigger ones off the beach. Netters are taking them and gulls are diving into the schools.
The world of the surf caster, however, is confined to a small band along the sandy edge of the ocean. Schools offshore really don't count that much when an angler's hooks are combing the surf and coming up empty.
"You can see them, but they are staying out too far to reach," said Lena Spencer, who operates the Fishing Hook in Nags Head. "They hit us March 19-20. That's the only ones that have come in."
The report is bluer to the south.
"We haven't had a school of blues since last year," said Ollie Jarvis, who operates a tackle shop in Buxton. "I expect if the wind goes back around southwest there could be some bluefish to come in here this weekend, and for sure by next week."
\ BIG BASS: While the cold, windy weather has been like a wet towel thrown into the face of impoundment fishermen, there have been successes.
Junior Shiveley of Ferrum landed a 6-pound smallmouth bass from Philpott Lake. He also caught several walleye. The lower end of the lake is producing crappie for fishermen using minnows.
At Smith Mountain Lake, Ricky Baker of Roanoke caught a 39-pound, 10-ounce striped bass on a shad. Chris Hutton of Moneta used a Rapala plug to catch an 8-pound, 1-ounce largemouth bass.
by CNB