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 upper 60’s in the lower lake and major creeks on
Wednesday (5/6/2020), and will likely drop through this weekend. The lake
level was about 8 inches above the top of the dam and the water was medium
brown and clear in the central lake.

Many blue cats and bullheads were along drop-offs and in channels in the
main lake, but some were on flats and in creeks. When active, cats were
hitting live minnows and cut bait. Most crappie were on deeper main lake
flats near creek mouths or on channel edge brush piles. A very few crappie
were still spawning around cypress trees and other shoreline wood cover in
the main lake, but most of the spawn appeared over. Active crappie were
hitting live minnows, Wright Bait Co. and Southern Pro curly tail jigs,
small tubes, Kalin crappie scrubs, and small swim baits. White and yellow
perch were scattered or in loose aggregates on flats and drop-offs in the
main lake and creeks and when active were hitting small live minnows, swim
baits, and jigs. Some bluegill, fliers, and shellcracker were in creeks and
along main lake shorelines, holding around lily pads and other vegetation.
Expect movement back out of the creeks in response to the cold front this
week and weekend. When active, bluegill and shellcracker were hitting live
worms and Nikko nymphs, flies, and small swimbaits fished on drop shot rigs.
Pickerel and bass were located around cypress trees, on flats, along
shorelines, and in creeks, especially on sunny days. When active, bass and
pickerel were hitting live minnows, spinnerbaits, swim baits, stick worms,
crank baits, jerk baits, blade baits, and jigs.