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 90’s in the lower lake and up some of the
creeks on Wednesday. The lake level was a few inches below the top of the
dam and the water was stained but not muddy in the lower lake. Algal blooms
were occurring in some parts of the lake. Medium bluegill were around the
mouths of some of the major creeks and on some of the deeper lake
shorelines. Small bluegill were scattered along much of the lake shoreline
and larger bluegill, yellow perch, white perch, blue cats, channel cats, and
crappie were widely scattered over the shallow to mid-depth flats in the
main lake early in the mornings and around deeper wood cover and along the
outer edges of flats later in the day. Bass were in weeds and on wood
cover, primarily in the main lake. Wright Bait Co. and Southern Pro one and
two inch curly tail grubs, tubes, small swim baits, roadrunners, Kalin
crappie scrubs, worms, and live minnows have been the most effective baits
for bluegill, perch, and crappie. Bass have been hitting topwater lures
just before and after sunrise on some mornings, and stickbaits, swim baits,
spinnerbaits, and crankbaits later in the morning. Fishing with Capt.
Conway, Jonathan and Jacob Baker had 22 bluegill, 7 crappie, 1 channel cat,
and 1 bass. Malcolm Turnbull had 23 bluegill, 9 crappie, and 1 bass.