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 80’s to low 90’s in the central lower lake on
Wednesday (7/8/2020). The lake level was about an inch above the top of the
dam and the water was light to medium brown and slightly cloudy in the
central lake, with murky water near windy shorelines.

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, but a few were on
deeper shorelines with wood cover. 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. Moderate numbers of bluegill, fliers, and shellcracker were along
main lake shorelines and in the lower areas of major creeks, in loose
schools holding around wood cover or vegetation, with some schools of larger
bluegills still in spawning areas after spawning on the full moon on the
4th. When active, bluegill and shellcracker were hitting live worms and
Nikko nymphs, flies, and small swimbaits. Pickerel and bass were located
around cypress trees, on flats, along shorelines, and on channel edges,
especially near the mouths of creeks. When active, bass and pickerel were
hitting live minnows, spinnerbaits, swim baits, stick worms, crank baits,
jerk baits, and jigs.

Fishing with Capt. Conway, Jaclyn Casey and Jake McCloskey had 42 bluegill,
4 shellcracker, 3 crappie, 4 white perch, and 1 yellow perch. Conner
Parrish and Dave Ellis had 25 bluegill, 4 crappie, 5 white perch, and 1
yellow perch. Jerry Davis had 30 bluegill, 5 shellcracker, and 3 bass.