The report below is early since I will be involved in a meeting at Longwood
all week next week and this will be the only report this week. The lake is
up due to local rainfall and high tides below the dam, and the flow from the
recent rainfall in Richmond has not reached the lake yet. I’m not sure how
much more the water will rise since there is a lot of water in the swamp
just below Richmond, but levels should peak about Tuesday or Wednesday, then
start to drop back to normal over the next week.

Capt. Art Conway of Conway’s River Rat Guide Service (804-514-1486) out of
Ed Allen’s Boats and Bait reported that Chickahominy Lake mid-day water
temperatures were in the high 70’s to low 80’s in the main lake and in the
creeks on Saturday (5/19/2018). The lake level was about a foot above the
top of the dam and rising. The water was medium brown and slightly cloudy
in the central lake.

Blue cats and bullheads were scattered on flats, along drop-offs, and in
channels in the main lake and in creeks, and were hitting live minnows and
cut bait. Some crappie were along shorelines, on flats, on drop-offs and in
channels in the main lake, especially near cypress trees and other wood
cover, while some crappie were in the lower parts of major creeks. Activity
varied, but more active crappie were hitting live minnows, Wright Bait Co.
and Southern Pro curlytail jigs, small tubes, Kalin crappie scrubs, and
small swim baits. Yellow and white perch were scattered or in loose
aggregates on flats, drop-offs, and channels in the main lake and some
creeks, and when active were hitting live minnows, small swim baits, and
small jigs. Some bluegill were along some shorelines in the main lake and
in creeks and were hitting live worms, flies, Nikko nymphs, and small
swimbaits. Some bass and pickerel were along shorelines, on deeper flats,
along drop-offs, or in channels in the main lake and in creeks. When
active, bass and pickerel were hitting live minnows, spinnerbaits, swim
baits, stick worms, crank baits, jerk baits, and jigs.