Capt. Art Conway of Conway’s River Rat Guide Service (804-746-2475) out of
Ed Allen’s Boats and Bait reported that Chickahominy Lake mid-day water
temperatures have been fairly stable over the last week and were in the mid
40’s in the lower and upper areas of the main lake on Wednesday (1/4/2017).
Temperatures should drop late this week and into the weekend in response to
the incoming cold front, with the most severe drop in the upper lake. The
lake level Wednesday was a few inches above the top of the dam and had been
rising over the last several days. The water was light brown and very
slightly cloudy in the central lower lake, with more murky water in some
areas of the upper lake and some creeks.

Most blue cats and bullheads were on flats and channels in the main lake and
scattered in creeks and hitting live minnows and cut bait. Most crappie
were along drop-offs and in channels in the main lake, especially near wood
cover. Active crappie were hitting live minnows, Wright Bait Co. and
Southern Pro curlytail jigs, small tubes, Kalin crappie scrubs, and small
swim baits. Small to medium yellow perch and white perch were scattered or
in loose aggregates on some main lake flats and channels and were hitting
live minnows, small swim baits, and small jigs. Most bluegill and
shellcracker were along channel edges in the main lake and were occasionally
hitting small jigs, Nikko nymphs on drop shot rigs, small swim baits, and
live worms. Most bass, pickerel, and bowfin were on flats, along drop-offs,
or in channels in the major creeks and the main lake. When active, bass and
pickerel were hitting live minnows, spinnerbaits, swim baits, stick worms,
crank baits, jerk baits, and jigs.

Fishing with Capt. Conway, Tom Porter had 20 crappie, 1 white perch, and 1
bass.