Gilmer Free Press

Fishing Report - 07.29.10

BURNSVILLE – The lake is at summer pool and clear. Fishing is good. Bass are in about 10-15 feet of water.  Try early mornings and late evening for the best action.  Sunfish and crappie have been caught around cover with small jigs and live bait, and reports of nice flathead catfish being caught as well.  For more information call Corps of Engineers at 304.853.2398.

STONECOAL LAKE – The lake is at summer pool and clear. Fishing is great. Bass are in about 10-15 feet of water. Try early mornings and late evening for the best action.  Sunfish and crappie have been caught around cover using minnows and live bait. Summer bluegill fishing is getting good.  Try live bait in shallow water (1-2 feet).  A few trout are still being caught on spinners.

STONEWALL JACKSON – The lake is at summer pool and clear.  Fishing is good.  Bass are active and in about 10-12 feet of water. Try early mornings and late evening for the best action.  Sunfish and crappie have been caught around cover with small jigs and live bait. Before heading to the lake please contact Corps of Engineers at 304.269.7463.

SUMMERSVILLE – The lake is at summer pool and clear. Bass are in about 15-20 feet of water. Try early mornings and late evening for the best action.  Sunfish and crappie have been caught around cover. Try the upper end of the lake for walleye.  Trout were stocked in the tailwaters on June 21 by helicopter. If you are looking for a back country trout fishing experience hike down in and enjoy. For more information call Corps of Engineers at 304.872.5809.

SUTTON – The lake is at summer pool and clear. Fishing is good.  Try early mornings and late evening for the best action. Bass are still in about 20-25 feet of water and hitting plastic baits.  Crappie and bluegill have also been caught around standing timber with small jigs and live bait.  The tailwaters are normal and clear. Some trout are still being caught. Before heading to the lake please call Corps of Engineers at 304.765.2705.

TYGART LAKE – The lake is near the summer level. Walleye have been caught during the day in the 30 to 50-feet depths where the water temperature is around 70 degrees. Smallmouth bass can be caught using crank baits or tube jigs along the shoreline.  Look for white bass at the head of coves or the upper part of the lake.  Fish for crappies in the fish shelters between the boat ramps at the marina.  Start fishing for walleye at dark when they move into shallow water to feed.

There are lots of trout and walleye in the tailwater. Walleye fishing is best during higher flows (1,500 to 5,000 cubic feet per second) and trout fishing is best at low flows (less than 1,000 cubic feet per second).  Call the Corps of Engineers telephone hotline at 304.265.5953 for daily lake and tailwater conditions.

CHEAT LAKE – White bass schools can be seen breaking the surface throughout the lake.  Cast crank baits, spoons, or jigs for fast action.  The easiest way to fish the lake for all species is drifting along the shoreline with a night crawler or minnow on a hook with a couple of split shot at a depth of 10 to 15 feet. Cast small rooster-tail spinners for large bluegills and pumpkinseed sunfish in downed trees along the shoreline.  Channel catfish can be caught throughout the lake but are particularly numerous upstream of Mt. Chateau.  Cheat Lake has been one of the top lakes for bass fishing tournament success for the past 5 years.  The embayments at the Cheat Lake Park are good areas for bank fishermen to catch sunfish and largemouth bass.

Try the tailwater fishing pier for sauger, smallmouth bass, walleye and white bass.  Jigs with minnows or 3-inch power grubs are the best baits.  White or chartreuse are good colors.  Start fishing at dark when sauger and walleye begin feeding.  The pier is located entirely in West Virginia about 25 minutes from Morgantown and is lighted for night fishing and is handicapped accessible.

MONONGAHELA RIVER – The water temperature is 80-82 degrees.  Flows are low but fishing continues to be good during the day for smallmouth bass in the lock and dam tailwaters. The best fishing success for sauger and walleye is during low light conditions at dawn and dusk.  Sauger, smallmouth bass, walleye, and white bass are always attracted to the currents in the tailwaters.  Jigs with minnows are the best baits right now. Channel and flathead catfish are abundant throughout the river.  Carp are being caught from shore at the Ruby H.M. Park and at the Star City ramp.  Troll large crank baits for muskies anywhere on the river.

Elk River – Numerous reports of bass and muskie caught during the cooler parts of the day from the dam to the mouth in Charleston. Try soft plastics, buzz baits, spinnerbaits, and various crawfish imitating lures. Live bait is also a good choice if artificial prove to be ineffective. Turn rocks over along the river’s edge, or use a small seine to gather crawfish and hellgrammites. Large drum and channel catfish can also be taken this way, cast slightly ahead of cruising fish using light line and minimal weight with the live offering, then hang – on!  The WVDNR is conducting a muskie study on the Elk River currently. If an angler keeps a muskie with what appears to be a metal tag on the dorsal fin, please contact the district office in Pt. Pleasant immediately (304.675.0871). We would like to gather information (total length = tip of snout to maximum length with the tail fin lobes squeezed together, location of capture, tag number) from the tagged fish. Flyers have been placed at put-ins, and in small tackle/convenient stores along the Elk River in Braxton, Clay, and Kanawha counties. Your participation is much appreciated.

CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
Water levels are high and milky.  July is a great time to introduce a child to fishing.  The weather is nice and fish are very active.  If you are looking for a place to go please check the fishing regulations and the WVDNR website for a list of public access or call your local WVDNR district office for some advice and a place to take a youngster fishing.  Always use sun block and drink plenty of fluids when out on the water.  If going alone, always tell someone where you are going and when you will return.

WEST-CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
Summer is an excellent time to fish Ohio River tailwaters. Anglers fishing below the Belleville and Willow Island dams are catching white bass, hybrid striped bass, and a few other species. Lead headed jigs with twister tails (white or chartreuse), which are fished along the bottom, are the lure of choice. Clever anglers are tipping their jig hooks with minnows or shad. Best spots to fish these areas include eddies and back-current sections, and anywhere that river flows are unusual. Schools of hybrid striped bass will periodically move up to the surface to ambush prey, so keep a look out for this activity. When this activity is seen, agitator bobbers fished with rubber minnow imitations or fresh bait fished with surf casting equipment, generally provides the best result. Fresh bait (small skipjack) can be caught from these areas using “Sabiki” rigs.

Elsewhere on the Ohio River fishing for catfish has been good. Channel catfish anglers should use nightcrawlers, chicken liver, or prepared catfish type baits. Live fish should be used for flatheads. Good fishing sites for catfish include deep areas along islands and tributary mouths.

Fishing has been good for largemouth bass in area lakes. Spinner baits, rubber worms, crank baits, and surface lures are producing bass in areas of good cover.  Good choices for area lakes include Mountwood in Wood County, Conaway Run in Tyler, Charles Fork in Roane, North Bend Lake in Ritchie County, and Elk Fork, Woodrum and O’Brien lakes in Jackson County.  Best fishing times will be early in the morning and during the evening hours. These lakes can also supply good bluegill fishing. F or these sunfish use trout magnets or spinners, small jigs, or small worms. Fishing for 8-12 inch sized largemouth bass at Woodrum Lake in Jackson County has also been quite good.

Summer is a good time to fish for channel catfish in area lakes and streams. Chicken livers, nightcrawlers, and prepared catfish baits work well. Remember fishing at night is generally better than fishing during the day for catfish in the summer.

Local musky streams should be fishable this weekend. Summer musky anglers use large Crankbaits or jerk baits and best spots are usually around fallen trees or riffle areas. Fishing has been quite good this year for musky along Middle Island Creek, the Little Kanawha river, and on the Hughes River and its forks.

~~  Stream Conditions ~~

	Levels				Conditions
NORTHERN
Ohio River (Wheeling)			High			Milky
Fish Creek		Normal				Milky
Fishing Creek		Normal				Milky
Big Sandy (Preston)		Normal			Clear
Monongahela River		Normal					Muddy
Buckhannon River
Wheeling Creek	Low				Clear
Buffalo Creek	Low				Clear
Blackwater River	Low				Clear
EASTERN PANHANDLE
S. Branch (Potomac)	Low				Clear
S. Branch (Smoke Hole)	Low				Clear
Shenandoah River	Low				Clear
Patterson Creek	Low				Clear
N. Fork S. Branch	Low				Clear
Cacapon River	Low				Clear
Back Creek		Normal			Clear
Opequon Creek	Low				Clear
Lost River	Low				Clear
CENTRAL
Elk (Sutton)		Normal			Clear
Little Kanawha		Normal			Clear
Elk (Clay)		Normal			Clear
West Fork River		Normal			Clear
Gauley River		Normal			Clear
Cranberry River		Normal			Clear
Cherry River		Normal			Clear
Cherry River (N. Fork)		Normal			Clear
Cherry River (S. Fork)		Normal			Clear
Williams River		Normal			Clear
Knapps River		Normal			Clear
Greenbrier (E&W Forks)		Normal			Clear
Little River		Normal			Clear
Shavers Fork		Normal			Clear
Buckhannon River		Normal			Clear
Holly River		Normal			Clear
Elk (Webster)		Normal			Clear
Elk (Back Fork)		Normal			Clear
SOUTHERN
New River (Hinton)	Low				Clear
Greenbrier (Hinton)	Low				Clear
Greenbrier (Ronceverte)	Low				Clear
Anthony Creek	Low				Clear
Big  Creek	Low				Clear
Meadow River	Low				Clear
Turkey Creek	Low				Clear
Potts Creek	Low				Clear
Second Creek	Low				Clear
Pinnacle Creek		Normal			Clear
Horse Creek Lake		Normal			Clear
Big Huff Creek		Normal			Clear
Indian Creek		Normal			Clear
Glade Creek (New River)	Low				Clear
Marsh Fork	Low				Clear
New River (Gauley)	Low					Milky
Glade Creek (Man)	Low					Milky
Camp Creek		Normal			Clear
East River		Normal			Clear
Fork Creek		Normal					Muddy
Dry Fork Creek		Normal					Muddy
Berwind Lake		Normal					Muddy
WESTERN & SOUTHWESTERN
Little Kanawha			High				Muddy
Ohio River		Normal				Milky
Hughes River			High				Muddy