Virginia Beach Area Help

[HokieDJ]

I'm going down there and never fished the freshwater bodies before.  How is the fishing at the following locations:

 

- Lake Smith

- Little Creek Reservoir (across from Lake Smith)

- Hardwood Mills

 

If you had only 1 choice to fish which one would you choose and why?  Which has the best opportunities for a nice size fish (4+ pounder)?

 

If it matters, I will be fishing on a kayak.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

[vbfishing4]

I live in the area and fish Lake Smith quite a bit since it is close. I wouldn't suggest fishing there if you haven't before because it is pretty difficult. its very shallow throughout and tough to find the good fish. I know little about the other two lakes. If you end up going to Smith head toward the back right (right out of boat ramp then take second right directly in front of middle peninsula). there you will find narrow passage with some submerged branches in about 7.5fow. that's where ive had my best luck on long finesse worms, typically black or dark blue. Good Luck!

[Darren.]

I'm going down there and never fished the freshwater bodies before.  How is the fishing at the following locations:

 

- Lake Smith

- Little Creek Reservoir (across from Lake Smith)

- Hardwood Mills

 

If you had only 1 choice to fish which one would you choose and why?  Which has the best opportunities for a nice size fish (4+ pounder)?

 

If it matters, I will be fishing on a kayak.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Kayaker as well. I am normally a huge Harwood's Mill fan, but this year it has been tough, and I've actually not bothered going over the past few months (but once or twice). I have caught fish each of those times, but just haven't put in my yak since then. The weed growth has been tremendous, clogging a lot of productive areas. If that doesn't bother you, then rock on. There are HUGE bass there, and I may try to hit some of those grassy areas before long, because they hold a lot of bass. My PB came out of HWM last year. Largest bass I know caught at HWM was an 11.2 pounder (small side of res) in about 2 feet of water. Plenty of 4+ pounders there. Caught a lot myself.

 

It has always been a fantastic fishery. You may kill it!

 

There are a number of areas to hit.  On the big side, hit the power lines down toward the dam. There are coves aplenty with downed trees that provide a lot of fishing fun. On the smaller side (heavy grass), there are groves of cedar trees in the middle of the lake, past the power lines, that have been super-productive for a lot of guys I've spoken with.

 

I'd also recommend Newport News Park (Lee Hall Reservoir). 6.6 lber in my avatar (22 1/4" citation) was caught by yours truly on Saturday at NNPK.

[Fishing4SquidDuck]

ahhh yes i shall see you on the water for the tkaa tournament then, good luck, (not really) just kidding will be lots of fun, try western branch reservoir out in Suffolk.

[HokieDJ]

Thanks for the tips.  I actually like shallow water because I think that's my comfort zone instead of throwing cranks/figs in the 10-15' range.  I read that HWM's best part is the northern half.

 

I have thought about Western Branch because I have read some stuff on it but they all are new to me regardless.  Stumpy lake has come up also.  

 

Good luck to those in the TKAA.

[Fishing4SquidDuck]

my cousins fish stumpy lake a ton, its a pretty shallow lake if thats what your looking for, western branch is more of a big lake environment stump and smith are much smaller the other two reservoirs are some where in the middle maybe a little more towards western branch style. but then again i don't know a whole lot about the area just what ive gathered this past month and what ive been told and seen while scouting.

[HokieDJ]

I decided to fish Hardwood Mills.  It's not large but it was full of weeds still.  Pre-fished the day before the tournament and caught 2 large bass.  they looked like 4 lber's.  The next day, I wasn't as lucky and only got 2 fishes (14" and 17").  That weekend was tough and both days, it was in the same area.  I worked the trees in the middle but nothing bit but I know they are there.  The grass was thick there also.

[Hanover_Yakker]

According to one of the guys I ran into on Saturday that fished that lake a lot, they didn't treat the lake like they had been scheduled to, so the hydrilla/grass/weed growth was excessive when we hit the water this past weekend.  I lost a beast of a bass at yak side when it spit my lure but those are the breaks.  Had fun at the TKAA tournament as always.  I am sure I ran into most of you at the check in table if you turned in a score sheet.  I was the one recording your check in times and taking your fish rulers.

[Brad Reams]

On 9/23/2013 at 9:36 AM, Darren. said:

 

Kayaker as well. I am normally a huge Harwood's Mill fan, but this year it has been tough, and I've actually not bothered going over the past few months (but once or twice). I have caught fish each of those times, but just haven't put in my yak since then. The weed growth has been tremendous, clogging a lot of productive areas. If that doesn't bother you, then rock on. There are HUGE bass there, and I may try to hit some of those grassy areas before long, because they hold a lot of bass. My PB came out of HWM last year. Largest bass I know caught at HWM was an 11.2 pounder (small side of res) in about 2 feet of water. Plenty of 4+ pounders there. Caught a lot myself.

 

It has always been a fantastic fishery. You may kill it!

 

There are a number of areas to hit.  On the big side, hit the power lines down toward the dam. There are coves aplenty with downed trees that provide a lot of fishing fun. On the smaller side (heavy grass), there are groves of cedar trees in the middle of the lake, past the power lines, that have been super-productive for a lot of guys I've spoken with.

 

I'd also recommend Newport News Park (Lee Hall Reservoir). 6.6 lber in my avatar (22 1/4" citation) was caught by yours truly on Saturday at NNPK.

Darren how's Hardwood's Mill, been this year for you?   

I'm giving up on Big Bethel for 2019, it's not the same lake it was 10 years ago, when I fished it and had much better luck. 

I fished hardwoods once about 10 years ago, and didn't have much luck, but I'm willing to give it a try again.  

thanks in advance

 

[Brad Reams]

On 9/17/2013 at 3:37 PM, HokieDJ said:

I'm going down there and never fished the freshwater bodies before.  How is the fishing at the following locations:

 

- Lake Smith

- Little Creek Reservoir (across from Lake Smith)

- Hardwood Mills

 

If you had only 1 choice to fish which one would you choose and why?  Which has the best opportunities for a nice size fish (4+ pounder)?

 

If it matters, I will be fishing on a kayak.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

confusion & clarification

 

#1 for Little Creek Reservoir on Northampton blvd in Virginia Beach.   

you will see a huge Jersey Wall that says "No Trespassing & No Fishing" that is FALSE.   I think it goes back to when Whitehurst was closed 2009-18, because Little Creek is finger lake of Whitehurst.  

https://www.norfolk.gov/2367/Little-Creek   << zero information 

 

 

#2 Whitehurst new hours 

October - March  7am - 5pm 

April to Sept 7 to 7pm

https://www.norfolk.gov/2368/Lake-Whitehurst  << no hours information 

[Darren.]

1 hour ago, Brad Reams said:

Darren how's Hardwood's Mill, been this year for you?   

I'm giving up on Big Bethel for 2019, it's not the same lake it was 10 years ago, when I fished it and had much better luck. 

I fished hardwoods once about 10 years ago, and didn't have much luck, but I'm willing to give it a try again.  

thanks in advance

 

Funny, I had much better luck 10 years ago on Harwood's Mill

than these days! I really don't fish it much these days. Partly 

because VGDIF has not done a weed kill-off in years as far as 

I know. That's made a lot of the fishing difficult (kayak/motor).

 

That said, I have fished the small side more than the large side

when I do. Did have some good catches there this year.

 

Newport News Park is my usual fishing spot, when I can get out.

 

I'd try Harwood's Mill again - hit up the small side, cypress trees,

shorelines, and there's some good spots in the wide open area

out from the small side dock.

[Spy]

One thing to note, the Little Creek Reservoir is the only body of water which has no posted hours and no gate. That's a plus when you're all the way at the opposite end of the lake at dusk and the bite is on, no need to cut and run to prevent having your vehicle locked in the lot till dawn. Another plus is that the ramp is dirt, gravel and stone which keeps the timid away, it washed out bad mid summer and then the tournament guys put a hurt on the under water portion unloading/loading so it gets super shallow about 15 foot out. It's rough as a cobb but I back down it more days than not without issue.

 

[Brad Reams]

17 hours ago, Spy said:

One thing to note, the Little Creek Reservoir is the only body of water which has no posted hours and no gate. That's a plus when you're all the way at the opposite end of the lake at dusk 

so to clarify, because I'm not very familiar with these lakes.......So you can reach Whitehurst by water from Little Creek Reservoir?

thanks

[Spy]

2 hours ago, Brad Reams said:

so to clarify, because I'm not very familiar with these lakes.......So you can reach Whitehurst by water from Little Creek Reservoir?

thanks

No, there's a roadway between them. 

[Spy]

There is one other secret way to get into Lake Whitehurst that is not generally known and gives access to the lower portions that I'm not sure are reachable via the city launch.

 

Azalea Acres Neighborhood Park

5860 Townley Ave

 

The Army Corp of Engineers uses this as there launch point and back in the day before the original closure guys backed right through the park with trailers according to the fellow I talked to who lives next to it. I'd not do that just to keep it on the down low and not disturb the local residents but carting a kayak should be no big issue. I've yet to try due to the Corp actually doing work there when I checked it out but plan to soon as the fishing has got to be more productive than Little Creek if for no other reason than lack of pressure. 

[Brad Reams]

3 hours ago, Spy said:

There is one other secret way to get into Lake Whitehurst that is not generally known and gives access to the lower portions that I'm not sure are reachable via the city launch.

 

Azalea Acres Neighborhood Park

5860 Townley Ave

but carting a kayak should be no big issue.

as the fishing has got to be more productive than Little Creek 

thanks for the tips.  I didn't get to try Whitehurst because at 4:30 I was lucky to be informed the gates were closing at 5pm.  I then got the advice to try Little creek. 

L.C. didn't seem like easy fishing, but only fished it for 1 hour or so.   

I did talk to a guy at the ramp, he caught ONE and said that it was a good day.  So looks like its a challenge to catch fish there on most days. 

What's the story on that jersey wall "No Fishing/Trespassing"? 

[Spy]

20 hours ago, Brad Reams said:

thanks for the tips.  I didn't get to try Whitehurst because at 4:30 I was lucky to be informed the gates were closing at 5pm.  I then got the advice to try Little creek. 

L.C. didn't seem like easy fishing, but only fished it for 1 hour or so.   

I did talk to a guy at the ramp, he caught ONE and said that it was a good day.  So looks like its a challenge to catch fish there on most days. 

What's the story on that jersey wall "No Fishing/Trespassing"? 

If it was last week then that was me you talked to. The fishing is better at the far end of the lake, probably because it's the farthest from the launch and doesn't get as much paddle traffic. Motorized boats are few and far between, weekends mostly and still sparse as there's a great city launch right across the road where the water becomes Lake Smith/Lake Lawson. The lake front residents seem to fish seldom though they've all been very friendly when I've encountered them.

 

I think the fishing will pick up now, the water temps are below 80 for the first time since spring, heck I fished a lot when it was reading 90+ though mostly I was charting and scouting for better times and not worried about the nonexistent bite. Caught three tonight and they're still pretty lean so maybe a some feeding to gain strength before the fall frenzy, I think the heat really put the denizens on a diet from baitfish to bass.

 

As to the Jersey wall, It might have been when the rebuilt the culvert/d**n-lake leveling thing a half dozen years back. My coworker flipped his yak going through the old system in a heavy runoff condition and died so they went whole hog on a new design to prevent that from happening again.

[Brad Reams]

On 10/29/2019 at 8:05 PM, Spy said:

As to the Jersey wall, It might have been when the rebuilt the culvert/d**n-lake leveling thing a half dozen years back. My coworker flipped his yak going through the old system in a heavy runoff condition and died so they went whole hog on a new design to prevent that from happening again.

cool I was wondering if it was you I was talking to at the ramp.  

Great info, thanks again. 

 

Good grief! what a sad story about your co-worker. 

I don't remember hearing about the kayak tragedy.