In the past, my favorite river to target redbreast sunfish was the South Fork of the Shenandoah. Unfortunately, the South Fork, as well as the North Fork of the Shenandoah and Main Stem, still suffers from a lack of panfish because of the fish kills this decade. Shenandoah Riverkeeper Jeff Kelble gives this update.

“Anglers will notice on the Shenandoah that we aren’t getting recovery of the redbreast sunfish as quickly as we would like,” he told me. “Angler reaction to this is inevitably a mixed bag, as there are those who have not enjoyed tangling with redbreast while they’re smallmouth fishing, but there are just as many who have targeted these beautiful natives or enjoyed their incidental catch.

“At any rate, I hope dearly that the angler community does not give up on the Shenandoah; the river is as beautiful as ever and we desperately need your voices to be heard if we’re going to get our problems under control in the future.”

In northern Virginia, the Rappahannock and Rapidan system ranks as the best place for flowing water panfish, said VDGIF fisheries biologist John Odenkirk.

“The redbreast and rock bass fisheries in the Rapidan and Rappahannock are good, but we do not see the very large redbreasts and rock bass. But for numbers, they are good bets.”

MAJOR LAKES
In size, 9,600-acre Lake Anna towers over all Virginia lakes north of Richmond. Odenkirk also manages this fishery.

“For bluegills, I would not recommend Anna, as like most large reservoirs with lots of shad and herring and other competing species, such as white perch, the panfish fishery is pretty lousy,” Odenkirk said. “The only bright spot is some nice redears in the lower portion of the lake where the substrate is hard and mollusks are abundant. Numbers are not great, but size structure is good.”

VDGIF biologist Dan Wilson told me that at 20,000-acre Smith Mountain Lake, bluegills are very popular among many anglers. However, as Odenkirk noted, competition with shad prevents the Roanoke area lake’s panfish from attaining considerable size. Bluegills thrive throughout the lake, and the fish often congregate within the lake’s many coves and docks.

At 48,900 acres, Buggs Island remains by far the largest impoundment in the Commonwealth. VDGIF biologist Vic Dicenzo gives the latest information.

“Buggs Island has many great fisheries, but sunfish/panfish aren’t too great,” he told me. “It is rare for a large reservoir to have a good sunfish population because of the competition with shad. White perch are super abundant in Kerr, but fish greater than 10 inches are not as common.”

White perch were first found at Buggs in 1988 and have become a popular game fish among anglers that like to bring home their catch.

SMALL IMPOUNDMENTS
For the purposes of this article, I will define small impoundments as any state body of water less than 5,000 acres. In his region, Odenkirk offers these choices.

“The best lakes for bluegills are Germantown in Fauquier County, Curtis in Stafford County and Orange in Orange County,” he said. “Motts in Spotsylvania County is also good. It is not an accident that three of these four do not have gizzard shad, as it seems lakes with shad have much of their productivity to produce good panfish siphoned off.”

Curtis and Orange are owned by the VDGIF and probably receive the nod for overall panfish angling because of better amenities and facilities on-site, continued the biologist, although Motts has had its accessibility upgraded, as well as its fish habitat.