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 low 60’s in the main lake and mid 60’s in the major
creeks on Wednesday (3/29/2017). The lake level was about even with the top
of the dam. The water was light brown and slightly cloudy in the central
lower lake.

Early spring patterns are in the process of returning after the last major
cold front. 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. A
few crappie were still on mid-depth flats, along drop-offs, and in channels
in the main lake, but many crappie have been moving back into creek channels
and into typical pre-spawn and spawning locations. 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 were scattered or in loose aggregates in creeks and along the channel
at the upper end of the lake. When located, they were hitting live minnows,
small swim baits, and small jigs. Most bluegill and shellcracker were still
along channel edges in the main lake but a few had moved into the creeks and
were occasionally hitting small jigs, Nikko nymphs, small swim baits, and
live worms. Most bass were on flats, along drop-offs, or in channels in the
major creeks and the main lake, with some bass on shorelines, especially
following periods of sunny moderate weather. Pickerel were still in many
creeks on shorelines or around wood cover, especially up the 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, Don Czyzewski and Robert Scott had 12 crappie and
1 bass. Capt. Bill Buck and Tom Porter had 15 crappie and 1 bass.