ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060096
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: OUTDOORS
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
We live in a modern age when an angler can use sophisticated electronics to peer deep into the water, and when tackle boxes are loaded with deep-diving lures that will reach surprising depths.
But forget all that, for the moment. It is top-water time.
In early June, a variety of fish feed on the surface, and if you send a lure their way the result can be a savage, explosive strike, not just one of those little line twitches. Here's what's happening on the surface:
BASS: Largemouth bass are in their post-spawn mode, and they are hungry and aggressive, especially at Lake Anna. Fishermen have been enjoying outstanding surface action at dawn and dusk and on cloudy days while casting Pop Rs, buzzbaits and double-propeller lures.
``Top-water fishing can continue throughout the morning hours if anglers locate shady areas,'' said David Fauntleroy, of Anna Point Marina. One fisherman reported landing two 5-pound bass on a Pop R.
At Kerr Lake, the water is pushed back into the shoreline willows and that's where the bass are hitting top water. Surface lures, including buzzbaits, work well early and late in the day, then Carolina-rigged worms take over during the mid-day hours. Hugh Hanby, who operates a store near the dam, rates the fishing the best of the season.
At Lake Gaston, bass are being caught on twitch worms and Pop Rs around the lake's grass beds.
STRIPERS: Most of the striped bass have spawned at Kerr and Smith Mountain lakes, and are ready for surface action.
The Kerr stripers that spawned in the Roanoke and Dan rivers have moved rapidly down the lake on high water. The annual trend for the fish is to migrate to the dam, then disperse. As they go, they provide surface fishing. Schools are reported between Buoys 8 and 17. At one point, stripers ran a school of baitfish ashore, something you'd only expect to see in the surf.
Smith Mountain stripers provide June surface fishing when they leave Cedar Key, however that action has been spotty, nothing like the good old days. A few stripers are being caught on Red Fins, others on bait.
A favorite surface lure of Dale Wilson, a Smith Mountain guide, is the Bass Assassin, one of the new generation of plastic baits.
``If you throw it anywhere they are breaking, you are going to catch a fish.'' Wilson said. ``I don't know what they think it is - a small fish or what - but they really hit it.''
BLUEGILLS: Sunfish are on their beds, and that's an excellent time to catch them on surface lures. Fly-rodders can have exceptional fun with rubber spiders.
Two Pulaski County spots, Gatewood Lake and Claytor Lake, are offering fly fishing for sunfish.
CARP-CATFISH: Most anywhere you can find cicadas buzzing about the shoreline you can expect impressive surface fishing for carp and catfish. That holds true for Smith Mountain Lake and many impoundments to the east. Fly-rod bugs and small spinning lures - the Teeny Rebel Crawdad and Teeny Torpedo - are the tickets to success.
OUTDOORS ELSEWHERE: Debbie Johnson of Roanoke caught a 66-pound yellowfin tuna during a trip on the Hatteras Blue out of Hatteras, N.C. ...
The East Coasters Backstreets mountain bike team did well during the 24-hour Canaan Mountain Bike Relay Race in West Virginia. The men's team (Ashwin Amara, Wesley Best, Chris Length, James Loverich) finished 10th out of 176 teams. The women's team (Karen Ruggio, Lora Zimmerman, Khristina Solberg, Teresa Martinez) was third out of six teams.
Daniel Miller and Jim Stone scored sixth out of 176 while riding for Team Habenero. The riders were from Blacksburg.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 linesby CNB