One of our annual features is this article, in which we list some great seasonal fisheries for each month of the year. We ask experts across the state where and what they'd fish for near where they live if they had their choice of when to go.

My approach is to contact Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) biologists and guides across the state and ask them three simple questions. Which game fish in your area offers great fishing? What would be a good month to go after this species? What would be good lures, baits or fly patterns to catch this species?

Over the course of years of penning this article, after I have interviewed these folks, quite a few times I have ended up going fishing at the places they recommended. I hope you, the reader, have been able -- and perhaps this year will be able -- to do the same.

If your fishing time is limited, or you want to try a great fishery that you've never gotten around to fishing, here are some ideas from the experts.

JANUARY
Stocked Trout
Urban Fishing
John Odenkirk, VDGIF fisheries biologist at the Fredericksburg office, offers this pronouncement for the first month of the year.

"As you know, January is a tough month to fish," Odenkirk told me. "If I had to go fishing in northern Virginia in January, I would either fish for trout at one of the Urban Fishing Sites (maybe Cook Lake in Alexandria) or for stripers at one of the power plant outfalls on the Potomac River. I am pretty busy hunting in January, and fishing is about last on my mind. However, taking home a stringer of fresh trout to add to some fine venison tenderloin does not seem like such a bad idea."

Cook Lake is a four-acre lake located in Cameron Regional Park in Alexandria and is administered by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. Odenkirk said that Cook was part of the Urban Fishing Program beginning in the mid-1990s until the budget cuts about five years ago. The program was restarted this past fall (with fewer sites and fewer stockings). Cook was stocked (as well as Dorey and Byrd lakes in Richmond and Northwest River in Chesapeake) in November.

FEBRUARY
Largemouth Bass
Buggs Island
Richmond guide Roger Jones maintains that he has a favorite destination the second month of the year.

"Many years, beginning in late February, I like to start going to Buggs Island," he said. "I think that period extending on through March is the best time to fish Buggs for largemouths. Look for the bass to be back in Nutbush, Eastland and Butchers creeks because those tributaries typically have warmer water. If the water level is 300 feet or more, also look for the bass to back in the willows.

"In those creeks, I hit the rocky points and stumpfields. The fish are usually still deep, maybe around 15 to 20 feet. But sometimes, you can catch good-sized bass, and by that, I mean fish 2 to 7 pounds, by going shallow first. It all depends on the weather and water temperature."

Another solid place to prospect for late-winter largemouths is what the Richmond guide calls "crappie hurdles." These are wood pallets or tires that papermouth anglers have tied together and sunk.

Jones also suggested that anglers keep an eye on what is happening weather-wise on the Roanoke River, a major tributary. He said that if the winter has been mild in western Virginia where the Roanoke originates, the bass on this south central Virginia impoundment are likely to turn on earlier. For guided trips, contact Jones at (800) 597-1708, or online at HookLineandSinkerGuides.com.

MARCH
Blue Catfish
Tidal James
"Try March for the blue cats," said Mike Ostrander of the James River Fishing School when I asked him his favorite time and species to fish. "March is an excellent month for the big blue cats on the Tidal James River. The fish are voracious eaters at this time, feeding heavily on the anadromous fish that enter the James from the Chesapeake Bay and ocean.

"Anglers can expect many blue catfish in the 10- to 20-pound range, but they can also expect excellent action with the heavyweights the James is famous for, that is fish in the 30- to 60-pound-plus range. The blue cats are usually 26 to 44 inches in length."

For guided trips, contact Ostrander at (804) 938-2350, or online at JamesRiverFishing.com, email mike@jamesriverfishing.com.