Fairtax4me

Where do the fish go when your river floods? I'm curious because we just had a somewhat major flood. they don't all just get swept away. When the water clears up in a few weeks I'll be able t go right back to the spots I normally fish and see or catch fish again. So... When water levels are 20+ feet higher than normal in a flash flood or long duration rain situation, does anybody know where the fish hide? Picture is of the Charlottesville Rivanna reservoir. We've had several weeks now of off and on heavy rain storms followed up by a tropical storm and a major rain of 8-12" in about 8 hours in a localized area cause a pretty serious flash flooding this week. The Rivanna river borders the property where I work, and we had some flooding on the lower elevation areas of the property but luckily no major damage. Other places/ people nearby were no so lucky.

Couple lakes in my area right now... And it's still raining!

9 year old thread revival?! Fluvanna Ruritan is most certainly NOT in Nova. And I can just about guarantee you'll go there 5 times and leave beating your head against the ramp every time wondering why there are no fish in it. A 77lb catfish came out of there last year though. That's a giant cat for anywhere, much less a 50 acre lake.

Didn't have much going on so I hit the bank in the rain for a few hours this evening. Spent about an hour with one bite that took the trailer off my spinnerbait, but no hookup. Decided to slow it down and put on the senko. Finally hooked a pounder that shook off in about 5 seconds. Had two more grab it and run and yank the line, but they spit the lure before I could get a swing. But at least now I'm getting bit. Found a sweet spot where some logs were piled up next to deep water. Caught a pounder, tossed back in and backlashed, got that straight and pulled up my line to feel if there was a fish on, nothing there until I popped the tip and felt a bite. Pounder from down about 12-15 feet. Tossed back in to slightly different spot, wait for the bait to fall back deep, "thunk" another pounder. Tossed back in same spot, wait about 45 seconds for it to fall, don't feel a bite but the line starts pulling. Set the hook and feel a couple solid head shakes. Fish shoots for the surface, jumps three feet, dives back in right into a tree branch. Get pulled out of there and drag it onto the bank. Three and a quarter pounds. A bit shy of 19". Spent another 20 minutes or so working back and forth across the same area and got nothing else after that. Good way to end a day that started with a mower that wouldn't run!

Not totally sure but it seems to always happen in spring. Bass go on a growing streak, eating lots of small bait fish, new teeth grow and the tiny bait have very soft scales so it takes very little effort to eat them. Conversely when bass are eating craws or other bottom baits, their teeth get worn and are not as sharp.

The black works best in muddy/stained water and at dawn or dusk. I don't get bit on it if it's daylight or clean water. This one was a 5.2lb 21", caught at sunset last July. One of only two fish I caught that entire day. But it was the biggest fish we put in the boat that day. Come to think of it, I don't think it's ever caught a bass under 4lbs on that lure. Seems like if it gets bit at all it's always a stud bass. That's not to say it gets bit every time, but when it does get bit it's a solid fish.

There's a small lake near me where people for some reason think it's Ok to set up chairs and fish ON the RAMP.

My buddies wife fishes with him occasionally. A few years ago she caught a 10lber here in VA. They have the mount on their living room wall. He's been bass fishing religiously for 8-9 years and his PB is still 8lbs. Sometimes the ladies just have it.

I fish them weightless just like that. With a heavy EWG hook they track perfect and it's just enough weight to get the tail moving when it's on the fall. Or you can swim them sub surface, or run on top and the tail flaps like a buzz bait. Bass crush them. Over weeds, through cover, wood, brush piles. It's one of my favorite worms. As you can see, it catches some hawgs!

Good luck in the tourney man! Worst case, get a limit then start chucking a 12" swim bait around and try for one of those big double digit bass out there!

That is enormous! Nice catch! What was the weight on that one?

Didn't know there were pike in that lake! Heck of a day!

Great job to both you guys, and great sportsmanship to help out a fellow angler in need like that! Keep at it man!

My most heart-felt condolences to you and your family in this time of mourning and healing. That is a memorable catch indeed. I'm not religious but I do believe in the spiritual connection between people and nature. The fish came with a message, and left with a soul, freed from agony of mortal bonds. May he rest in peace.

My buddy and I hit the same lake again as last weekend. Water temp rose 12° in a week. Last weeks water temp was 70°, air temp was high around 70° with clouds and rain. This week, partly cloudy in the Am, high of 96° and sunny afternoon. Surface Water temps bumped 82°. What a difference a week makes! We didn't expect good numbers like last week, but we had hopes of finding some better sized fish having narrowed down a few key areas. We put 9 in the boat (wont complain too much) but never did find a solid bite. I got a couple on bluegill squarebill thrown on the bank (if it didn't literally HIT the bank it didn't get bit). Couple on Texas rigged plastics. Bite totally died after about 1 o'clock. Finally got a 1.5 pounder on an S-waver 168 right before dusk to end the day. Found a couple places where bass were blowing up on bait, but they scattered if the boat got within 100 yards. They were crushing on huge schools of 1.5 - 2" bluegill, but they wouldn't even come near anything we could throw that mimicked that size/type bait.

A-jay is constantly on some gigantic smallies! Nice fishies guys!

15lb braid will not hold up well to a heavy hook set. That's basically a finesse style braid that should be used on a medium or light spinning rod with a properly adjusted drag. Loosen your drag or save the 15lb braid for a light/ultralight tackle setup. Ive found palomar knots to be much more prone to breaking on thin braid. A uni knot with 7-10 wraps is better IMO for small diameter line. When tied properly It puts less pressure on the line where the knot is wrapped. Congrats on the big bass! That's the first step toward addiction!

My buddy and I had a great day on the water Sunday. Could have done without the rain mid day, but we expected it and decide we needed to fish anyway. Between the two of us we put 30 bass in the boat. Handful of dinks and the rest 1-2lb males that were buried up in cover on the banks, right where they should be. Didn't ever hook into any big girls, but we definitely saw some. Saw one that was 4-5lbs cruising on a shallow flat. Saw several other BIG females rolling and crashing on bait on a super steep drop-off bank that drops straight into the channel and 35FOW. 2 were easily 5-6lbs, saw one other that was 8-9+. But couldn't get any interest from them on any of the bluegill or shad colored baits we were throwing. Biggest for me was a 2.5ish that came on a spinner bait in the middle of the first rain storm. We had been running moving baits and spinners and a few top waters early then I decided to slow down and get way shallow with slow presentations. Wacky rigged senko got most of my bites prior to the rain. Got two on the spinner bait while it was raining, but after the rain stopped I fished it off and on the rest of the day and got one other hit which didn't get hooked. The rest of the day was weightless worms and a few on Keitech swim baits.

Nice! Been a while since I've seen a solid fish come from that place. Are they up on beds in there yet?

Looks like your buddy's passed out man. Was the Fishing slow or what?

Nothing like a couple solid fish to knock the edge off after a long day in class! The bass were spawning in your favorite spot here week before last, but it all got blown out by the rain. Still waiting for it to clear up. Should be some good post spawn action in there if you're back over this way soon! Good luck on the finals!

Baseball and Fishing... A crappie story! I keep a pack of wet wipes in the car and a small pack in my tackle bag when I'm out fishing. Never know when Mother Nature will call you out!

Nice harvest! Glad to see something happening up there! I know that place comes alive for about a week or two in spring then the bass all but disappear. Gonna have to make my way out there again soon.

Chunky! Congrats man! Keep whackin 'em!

Good to see lots of nice fish being caught! Lake Anna today. She wasn't so hospitable. Cool and foggy this morning. Muddy water, maybe a foot of vis where we were fishing up beyond the splits. We landed a couple dinks. About mid morning after the fog burned off I managed a 4.6lb chunk on a spinner bait on a main lake point. The rest of the fish seemed to have lock jaw. Eventually we had to call it as the wind picked up and boat traffic got to be too much for our little boat to handle. We also ended up in what felt like a sand storm of pollen! It was like breathing saw dust. My eyes are still burning from it. Historically, Anna has always been tough for me. This is my biggest catch from there yet.