ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607250028
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: OUTDOORS
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
Even with the Olympics dominating the sports' scene, some of us have time for a thought or two about fishing.
Like the other day, when a friend and I were ranking the top summertime fishing lakes in Virginia. My No.1 pick was Chickahominy Lake, followed by Claytor Lake.
Here are a couple of impoundments where the fish don't get lockjaw during the summer months and where there is a grab bag variety of species.
Both are similar, in that they are on major rivers and have been around for years, but there are big differences, too. Chickahominy, located near Williamsburg, is shallow and looks like a brackish lake out of the deep South where you half expect to spot an allegator.
Claytor is much clearer and runs deep into the Pulaski County portion of the New River Valley.
Largemouth bass in the 2- to 6-pound range have been a common July catch at 1,500-acre Chickahominy, a Newport News City water supply. Buzzbaits, shallow-running plugs and shiners have been getting strikes.
Chickahominy angling guides Eddie Allen Jr. and the late Don Arthur popularized shiner fishing on the lake, a method that has hooked large numbers of bass.
``Fly fishing for bass also is popular and productive,'' said Dean Fowler, a fisheries biologist for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
In addition to bass, Fowler said the other species in Chickahominy - a list that nearly equals the number of entrees on a Chinese restaurant menu - includes everything from crappie to channel cats, bowfins to bluegills.
A couple of modern fish ladders at Walker's Dam, at the fall line of the Chickahominy River, have allowed impressive numbers of blueback herring to enter the lake, a welcome addition to the food base for game species, Fowler said.
An improved food base in the form of gizzard shad has helped keep Claytor's fishery from growing old as it nears age 60. The lake's striped bass have been growing larger annually, after several years of languishing on the puny side.
The past two years, Claytor has accounted for 10 citation stripers annually, fish that are 20-pounds or more. Last season, it was the top producer of white bass citations (32), third in smallmouth bass (36), fourth in flathead catfish (6), fifth in channel catfish (16) and fifth in carp (7). When you throw in the New River - after all, Claytor is simply a 21-mile widening of the New - the numbers become even more impressive.
In short, 1995 was an impressive year, better than this season has been so far.
``It just don't seem to be what it should be,'' Sam Phillips said of the 1996 season. He owns Lakeside Marine Supply where he deals with many Claytor fishermen.
State fish biologists wonder if some of the gizzard shad have gotten too large for anything to eat.
Maybe so, but Phillips said some of the big Claytor stripers are being taken by fishermen netting foot-long shad and lowering them deep into the lake.
``They want the biggest hooks and biggest weights I have,'' he said. ``It looks like they are going offshore fishing.''
Since 1992, fish officials actively have been experimenting with striped bass-white bass hybrids in Claytor. A few have reached the 20-inch mark, Phillips said.
Claytor may be at its very best as a producer of small-size fish that casual fishermen - mom, pop and the kids - can pick up along the shoreline or around the docks. Anglers experienced with a fly rod popping bug also can have fun with them, especially when the late-summer mayfly hatches occur.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 linesby CNB