Photo by Ron Sinfelt

Many states in the Southeast are seeing a slight decline in largemouth bass catches these days, both in terms of numbers and quality of fish, but Virginia anglers can rest assured that the Commonwealth still has some great destinations for either quality bass, quantity of bass, or both. Here is a breakdown of hot destinations in each region of the state.

TIDEWATER
The Tidewater region is full of small tea-colored ponds, mysterious tidal creeks and major tidal rivers. The James River and its tributaries is probably the most well known bass fishery in this region. In the late 1990s, anglers and biologists noticed a decline in bass catches in the Chickahominy River and the James River, but now both are already back on the upswing.

Bob Greenlee, one of the region's fisheries biologists, pointed out that the section of the James from Hopewell to the barge pits, and especially the tributaries of the lower tidal James, were improving and well worth a day on the water.

"During fall sampling in 2003, we collected largemouths at a rate of over 100 fish per hour in one tributaries of the James. This has been unheard of in recent years. Anglers can expect to find a good number of bass in the 1.5- to 2.5-pound range, which is typical of tidal rivers," he said.

Greenlee went on to say that anglers will notice that there are a higher number of bass in the 4- to 5-pound range than are typically found in rivers. This is due to an outstanding 1998 year-class.

Bass on the lower James primarily eat white perch, shad and sunfish. Once the water warms up, anglers can look for bass to begin moving from deeper dropoffs to the flats that have lily pads or grasses and other structure. Duck blinds and pilings are great spots to cast buzzbaits and spinnerbaits, as well as topwater lures.

SOUTHERN PIEDMONT
The Southern Piedmont is home to what is arguably Virginia's best bass fishery. Briery Creek Lake has gained nationwide notoriety as a trophy bass lake. Anglers come from all over the United States and other countries to probe its waters in search of a trophy bass. The 845-acre VDGIF-owned lake has been famous for large bass for more than five years.

District fisheries biologist Vic DiCenzo reported that bass size structure is still increasing. The number of largemouth bass that are over 15 inches has doubled in the last four years. Part of this improvement can be attributed to the change in the slot limit from 12 to 15 inches to 14 to 24 inches. This transformed the lake into a real trophy fishery. Anglers are now returning 20-inch mature fish back into the lake to grow even larger.

Bass hunters who begin fishing for mammoth hawgs in March will find that the fish are very sensitive to weather, particularly water temperature. The magic number is right around 60 degrees. At this temperature, the fish begin to become active and head for shallower water. When the fish are in the shallows, anglers are faced with far less water to fish and the challenge becomes easier. If the temperature is below 60 degrees, DiCenzo recommends that anglers fish vertically in 12 to 20 feet of water with jig-and-pigs, minnows or spoons and use good electronics to locate fish in the standing timber.

DiCenzo also pointed out that Briery has more 16- to 20-inch bass than any other lake in Virginia. Fifteen inches is the average size bass that anglers will pull into the boat at Briery.