Back Bay Va Bch

[Chaz Hickcox]

So I just read an article on Back Bay and they think it's going to make a comeback.  Where are good places to go on Back Bay right now?  I saw something from a tournament there this year where some ol' boy hauled in an 8 pounder.  

Here's the article I read.  If I were to put in at the old game warden's place, where should I go from there?

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/07/grass-fueling-revival-va-beachs-back-bay

[Micro]

I've never fished Back Bay.  But its only like an hour from me.  May have to haul the ole jon down there and checker er out.

[Sam]

I think one of the two federations had a tournament on Back Bay last year and the guys did not do that well.

I can't find the results on either Internet site.

Go fish it, Micro, and let us know what how you do.  

[619bassman]

The feeder creeks that run into Back Bay produce pretty well, I fish them in my kayak quite a bit. The Northern part of the bay is where I have done the best, but I've only lived here a year so who knows. I do know that the grass is making a come back and that the fish and game guys just released a bunch of bass into the bay so lets hope things start taking off.

[Chaz Hickcox]

I went to Back Bay today.  The deepest water is about 7-8 ft.  There are some serious grass paddies there.  I was only able to fish for a couple hours, I spent most of the time wondering around the bay.  First, putting in at Mill Landing Road is good, but along the south side there are about 80 old pilings that you can't see.  Make sure to head straight for the white PVC polls and go between them (they're about 100yds out).  I did not do this and almost killed my boat.  Thankfully I just nicked some of them with the main, and it did no damage.  Also, when on a plane, watch for long poles randomly throughout the bay.  I think they are old duck blinds.  They don't coincide with the reeds like most places do, instead they are out in open water.  Just keep an eye out.  Once you get up to the north there are a few choices to be made.  You can go to the residential area, which is Sandbridge, and fish amongst those, or you can go to the other creek heading north, its called Hell's Point Creek.  Seemed like it would have been awesome fishing up there.  I took a bass (appx 17 in) near the residential area on a 1/4oz spinner with a gold colorado blade.  Then I was fishing a paddle frog on a submerged grassy area.  There was a lot of activity on the serface, but I think they were all dinks.  That's because I had a bass come up on the paddle frog, but when I went to set the hook I pulled him out of the water, and he was probably between 6-8 inches.  Just a little one.  Not a bad thing though.  That means the dinks have somewhere to hang out.  Overall just be prepared for shallow water, lots of submerged grass and some decent fishing.  The water in some places has about 2-3 ft of visibility.  Where I caught the one and had the dink play had only about 1 ft visibility.    I misjudged the weather this morning and thought it was going to be overcast all day.  It was actually sunny and bright.

[Joe Nagy]

been fishing the back bay near the national park last few days. Im seeing some monsters and catching some smaller (2 lbs) but Im not getting the lunkers to bite- what are people using and when are they fishing??

So I just read an article on Back Bay and they think it's going to make a comeback. Where are good places to go on Back Bay right now? I saw something from a tournament there this year where some ol' boy hauled in an 8 pounder.

Here's the article I read. If I were to put in at the old game warden's place, where should I go from there?

http://hamptonroads....beachs-back-bay

[Wayne P.]

That brings back some old memories. I use to fish the lower end of it, Currituck Sound, just after the Bassmasters Classis was held there. Am I that old, LOL.

Johnson Spoons over the grass, Devils Horse along the grass edges --------

http://www.bassmaster.com/node/100077

[promax200]

Milfoil and Hydrilla growth is cyclic. It'll run rampant for 10-20 years, then die off for the same length of time. From everything I read about Back Bay, the place was crammed full of weeds through the 60's and 70's. Conversely, it was practically non-existent through the 80's and 90's. Early 00's it started coming back. Now, from all accounts it has a firm grip on the place again. I'd say we can look forward to the next 20 years or so being very good bass fishing in Back Bay. For my part, I can't wait to pitch some creature baits in some thick Milfoil next summer.