Also, Pfotenhauer, who is editor of The Buzz, the newsletter for the Potomac River Smallmouth Club, hopes that landowners upriver from the city of Fredericksburg’s easement will consider placing easements on their lands in order to further protect the watershed.

Tom Hampton, VDGIF fisheries biologist from the Marion office, reported that on the Clinch and North Fork of the Holston, the 2005 year-class was above average, the 2006-year class was below average and low flows in June 2007 predict poor survival of that year’s spawn.

Hampton mentioned that the Marion office is conducting a mail survey of fishing license buyers in Smyth, Washington, Russell and Scott counties to help guide future management of the North Fork Holston River. Currently, the North Fork has a strict regulation in effect in that no bass less than 20 inches can be kept and only one per day longer than 20 inches.

George Palmer, the VDGIF biologist for the upper New, said that 2006 was a good spawning year on that part of the stream for bronzebacks. He will not know about the 2007 year-class until the spring of 2008 because the VDGIF can sample the upper New only in the spring because of low flows in the fall. The VDGIF conducted a creel survey in 2007, but the results were not available at press time.

The biologist wishes to remind anglers that the upper New River has been under a 14- to 20-inch slot for all black bass since July of 2006. Only one black bass over 20 inches can be kept. Interestingly, on the upper New, fish take 10 to 13 years to reach trophy size (20 inches).

On the lower New below Claytor, VDGIF biologist John Copeland reported that he is in the midst of an angler survey. The same slot is in effect below the dam as well, although it came into effect in January of 2003.

“We seem to be having pretty good compliance with the slot,” Copeland said. “Occasionally, we’ll find people with an illegal bass, but most people are practicing catch-and-release. All indications are that the slot has been working well and that people are catching trophy fish from the good year-class of 1996, which has been driving the fishery. The 2004 and 2005 smallmouth year-classes were the best in my 10 years of managing the lower New and will carry the fishery in the future.”

Copeland said that the 2006 year-class did not look good when he sampled and that it is too early to rate the 2007 class, although he did observe “oodles of fry.” Interestingly, on the lower New, the closer smallmouths live to the dam, the later they spawn. On most of Virginia’s rivers, the smallmouths spawn in April, but in Claytor, at least for the first 30 miles or so below the dam, they do so in mid-May.

Regarding Claytor, the biologist reported that the lake continues to experience consistent recruitment of its smallmouths, which make up some 30 percent of the black bass fishery. The smallies are primarily located between Peak Creek and the dam.

Bruce Ingram is the author of the following books (cost in parentheses): The James River Guide ($17.25), The New River Guide ($15), and Shenandoah/Rappahannock Rivers Guide ($18.25). The address for ordering copies of the books is P.O. Box 429, Fincastle, VA 24090.