River Report 09/20/23

Smallmouth bass fishing is still the main focus on the James River and New River for a few more weeks. The levels are still very low and clear, with not much change coming soon. Cool nights and lower daily temperatures have got the smallies on the feed, particularly the larger ones. Cicadas are dropping by the day, and the larger smallmouth bass are taking advantage of it to pack on the weight for the colder months ahead of us. Any of your topwater bugs are working well, from boogle bugs to Chuck Kraft style cork bugs, with the low and clear water just make sure to splat them and make very little noise and disturbance with your drift after the fact. Working crawdad flies and streamers like gamechangers have worked well when they’re not as agreeable on the bug, particularly in the coldest part of the early morning. 

We’re shifting gears completely towards musky fishing in a few weeks, with the first one hitting the net just a couple days ago. Temperatures are hovering below 68 in the mornings and staying below 75 during the warmest parts of the day. Which means we’re trending towards musky fishing being really good, and the smallmouth bass fishing slowing down after the first few frosts. For musky, fishing any of your standard flies like Bufords, gamechangers, and double nickels and even throwing a topwater fly for them is producing right now. They are still very spooky right now with this low, clear water.

If you’re looking to get out for the remainder of smallmouth bass season, or wanting to get on the books for a musky guide trip here in Virginia, you can book online on the website!