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 50’s to low 60’s in the main lake and in the
major creeks on Wednesday (11/1/2017). The lake level was about an inch
above the top of the dam. The water was light brown and very slightly
cloudy in the central lower lake, with more murky water along some downwind
shorelines.
Most blue cats and bullheads were on flats, along drop-offs, and in channels
in the main lake and scattered in creeks, and were hitting live minnows and
cut bait. Most larger crappie were on mid-depth flats and drop-offs,
frequently near wood cover, but a few crappie were still scattered on
shoreline flats, and an increasing number of crappie were in main lake
channels. Activity was moderate, and when active, crappie were hitting live
minnows, Wright Bait Co. and Southern Pro curlytail jigs, small tubes, Kalin
crappie scrubs, small swim baits, and blade baits. Yellow and white perch
were scattered or in loose aggregates on flats in the main lake and were
hitting live minnows, small swim baits, and small jigs. Some bluegill and
shellcracker were still scattered along shorelines or on shoreline flats,
frequently near wood cover, but most larger bluegills were near the outer
edges of hydrilla beds in 3 to 8 feet of water in the main lake. Some
bluegill had moved to drop-offs and channel edges. Bluegill were hitting
small jigs, wet flies, Nikko nymphs, small swim baits, and live worms. Many
bass were on mid-depth flats, along drop-offs, or in channels near mouths of
the major creeks and in the main lake. Some bass were on shorelines or
shoreline flats, especially under hydrilla mats on sunny days. Pickerel
were in creeks, on main lake shorelines, or around wood cover or vegetation.
When active, bass and pickerel were hitting live minnows, spinnerbaits, swim
baits, stick worms, crank baits, jigs, and frogs.
Fishing with Capt. Conway, Tom Porter had 25 bluegill, 1 flier, 11 crappie,
4 white perch, and 1 roach minnow.
