Guide Teddy Carr of Spotsylvania County unhooks a post-spawn largemouth from the James River. Photo by Bruce Ingram

One of the nicest aspects of my being an outdoor writer since 1983 is the good fortune to have gone fishing across Virginia with some of the state’s best largemouth and smallmouth fishermen. Some of these sportsmen have been guides, some just excellent fishermen. Here are tips from some of these individuals.

ROGER JONES: LAKE AND TIDAL RIVER LARGEMOUTH WISDOM
For pre-spawn largemouths on such lakes as Buggs Island and Gaston, Roger Jones relies on a trio of lures but only on a few types of locations for each of the impoundments.

“On Buggs, pre-spawn bass will be either on secondary points or stumpfields, and on Gaston, the fish will typically be on the emerging grass, that is hydrilla,” the Richmond guide said. “The reason is that on both lakes, the shad will be moving shallow toward those places, and the bass will be moving with them.

“My favorite lure for this situation is a Bandit 200 Series crankbait in Tennessee Shad or Splutter Back. Now, as for the best retrieve, that is the $6 million question. I experiment by working a crankbait from moderate to slow, but often the fish want the slow retrieve. These bass are preparing to spawn and they usually don’t seem to want fast-moving baits. So, I often catch my most fish with a slow, erratic retrieve which imitates a shad that is injured and that the school has left behind.”

Jones’ second choice is a 1/4-ounce spinnerbait with a chartreuse and white skirt. The bait also features tandem No. 5 and 2 Colorado blades and a twin tail grub as a trailer. The veteran guide retrieves this lure at a moderate to fast pace, seeking a reaction strike. He also feels that this lure and retrieve is a nice change of pace to the crankbait option.

The guide’s third choice, and he emphasizes that it is a “distant third, last resort,” is a 4- or 6-inch Texas-rigged plastic worm. Obviously, Roger retrieves this bogus crawler with the standard lift and pause and relegates the lure’s use to cold front conditions. On tidal rivers, Jones relies on the same trio of artificials, but he visits different locations.

“On the James and Chick, I concentrate on the edges of creek channels, feeder streams and the mouths of creeks,” he said. “I also look for emerging lily pads. And any kind of wood cover is good: laydowns, boat docks, collapsed piers, duck blinds, cypress tree knees, debris, you name it.

“The pre-spawn period is a great time to catch a big bass from these waters. On Buggs and Gaston, I would classify a big largemouth as any over 6 pounds. On the tidal rivers, I would consider any bass 4 to 5 pounds as a big one. Right now, Buggs Island is producing the biggest bass of the four.”