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 were in the mid to high 40’s on Wednesday (1/25/2017). The
lake level was about 6 inches above the top of the dam and rising. The
water was light to medium brown and slightly to moderately cloudy in the
central lower lake, with more murky water entering the upper end of the
lake.

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. Many crappie
were along drop-offs and in channels in the main lake, especially near wood
cover, and other crappie were in channels in the creeks, especially up the
lake. Many crappie were scattered rather than in large schools. Many
crappie have been inactive recently, but activity has been slowly
increasing, especially up the lake. 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 in some creek 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. Bass activity has been sporadic, but
has been increasing with more stable conditions. 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 10 crappie, 1 yellow perch, 1 blue
cat, and 4 pickerel.