Art Conway (804-514-1486) out of Ed Allen’s Boats and Bait reported that
Chickahominy Lake mid-day surface water temperatures were in the middle
to upper 40’s in the central lower lake on Wednesday (3/15/2023). The
lake level was about 1 to 2 inches above the top of the dam. The water
was medium brown and clear at the surface in the central lower lake, but
had a cloudy layer below 3 feet in many areas of the lake.
A few small blue cats, channel cats, and bullheads were scattered on
flats, along drop-offs, and in channels in the main lake, and when
active were hitting live minnows and cut bait. A mixture of sizes of
crappie were on deeper flats or in channels in the main lake and were
moderately active. A few crappie were starting to nose around creek
mouth areas, but weren’t actively biting, and frequently moved back out
of the creeks when cold fronts passed through. Active crappie were
hitting live minnows best, but were also occasionally hitting tubes,
curly tail grubs, small swim baits, small blade baits, and small Gulp
minnows. White perch were scattered or in loose aggregates on deep
flats, channel edges, and in channels in the main lake, and when active
were hitting small baits including live minnows, Gulp minnows, swim
baits, and blade baits. Most bluegill and shellcracker were in channels
in the main lake and were inactive. Pickerel and bass were around
cypress trees, on deeper flats and channel edges, and in channels in the
main lake. A few bass and pickerel were in creek mouth areas and were
starting to work their way into creeks. When active, bass and pickerel
were hitting live minnows, spinnerbaits, swim baits, stick worms, crank
baits, and jerk baits.
Fishing with Art Conway, Tricia Pearsall had 18 crappie, 4 white perch,
2 roach minnows, 1 pickerel, and 2 largemouth bass. Tom Porter had 12
crappie and 2 largemouth bass.