The key to fishing for largemouths at Claytor is to fish the shoreline and the coves where the water is shallow. This is especially true when the weather begins to warm and spawning begins.

Biologists recently did a food habits study on bass at Claytor. While spotted and smallmouth bass rely heavily on crayfish, largemouth bass eat bluegills, alewives, gizzard shad and crayfish. Anglers will find that artificial baits that imitate baitfish are their best bet. Copeland commented that there is a variety of baitfish available to largemouths.

"Minnows are typically readily available in the coves in Claytor Lake and shad and alewives come in to shallow water at certain times of the year for spawning -- alewives in late April and May, shad in June and July," he said. "The main diet item is typically bluegills, which are abundant in shallow areas throughout the year. They will also eat crayfish."

NORTHERN MOUNTAIN
The Northern Mountain region is much like the Southern Mountain region in that bass fishing is not the prime focus of anglers who reside here. The fishing for largemouth bass is considered fair to good on some impoundments, but overall it is not enough to draw anglers from other parts of the state in search of a hawg.

In order to get the best skinny on bass-fishing destinations in the Northern Mountain region, we called Steve Reeser, one of the VDGIF biologists in the region. Reeser confirmed that bass anglers generally have to work to find productive bass water. Reeser did have a few tips as to where anglers might begin their search. Two fisheries were at the top of his list.

"The main stem of the Shenandoah River from Front Royal downstream is often overlooked for largemouth fishing. The deeper and slower moving pools have the best habitat in the form of woody debris. There are plenty of solid 2- to 4-pound fish to be caught in these areas," he said.

Reeser went on to say that there are some 6- to 8-pound fish in the area, but they are not especially common. During a recent electrofishing trip, he noted that the deeper pools in the main stem are broken evenly between largemouth and smallmouth bass. Most of the forage consists of crayfish, bream and minnows.

The second pick of the region is Lake Frederick, which boasts numerous 6- to 10-pound fish in its 117 acres of water. Catching bass at Frederick is particularly tough because the lake is very clear and the fish are suspended. Reeser did observe that during sampling there were plenty of fish in the east and west arms of the lakes where there is significant standing timber. Frederick has the best length distribution of the waters in this region, with a lot of fish in the 12- to 18-inch range.

Because both Frederick and Shenandoah are in the mountains, the spawning time is about two to four weeks later than it may be on the coastal plain. Mid-April is the average pre-spawn time for largemouths in this region.

Reeser also shared with us that anglers fishing in February and March take some of the largest bass that are caught in his region. Successful anglers fish very slowly and are persistent. They also have good fish-finders and know how to use them. Fishing slower and deeper is the key to hooking large bass here in March.

We would be remiss not to mention that some of the smaller lakes, such as Elkhorn and Sherando, which are located in the National Forest, offer great opportunities for smaller but larger numbers of willing bass. Anglers can help biologists by keeping some of these smaller bass.