White Stone Bridge 10/23

[lcbatten]

Started the morning looking for specks on the grass flat off Towles Point, saw lots of fish breaking water and alot of nice ones swimming next to the boat but no takers. Moved over to the bridge to try to jig up some stripers. Pulled a 36" off the bridge pilings. Fish hit a 7" silver glitter shad bass assassin on a white jig head on 8lb test.

[samuels]

Nice fish! Did it have sea lice on it?

[Phishphinder]

Nice feeesh !!

[capt. walt]

LC, I'm an eavesdropper on this board. I usually fish Eastern Bay up in MD. Stupid Question No. 1, Where is Towles Pt.? Stupid question number 2, What Bridge?

[SlateDog]

Nice one! Towles Point is off the #6 Bell Buoy where the Corrotoman River meets the Rappahannock. The bridge is the White Stone Bridge crossing the Rappahannock.

[lcbatten]

Thanks. No sea lice.

[gateman4]

Precarious spot for a phone....

[Mr. James Cokey]

nice fish, we musta just missed you out there, Sat we went out to windmill and trolled to stingray managed 6, three dinks one 26 another 28 and a 31 the 31 was covered in lice. Sun we trolled the bridge doing a zig zag pattern as close to the pillings as possible with a coupla bumps, all were on green/chertruse 48oz mojos with a 10" pink trailer. One 38 on a pink umbrella tandem. The bridge is the hot place to be, see ya out there.

[PlaynHooky]

Nice fish and way to keep your options open!

[jwas1]

Nice fish especially on 8 lb test. We jigged the bridge this morning with no luck. Tried trolling and jigging various spots up to Greenvale Creek with no luck. Too rough to head to Windmill bar. Several nice flocks of birds but no rockfish under them.

[Rising Tide]

Looks like the ocean fish have started to arrive! That was a really nice catch (especially on 8 lb line around pilings) - thanks for the report.

[dmattva]

Hey gang,
I've been silent but attentive to your posts. I just moved to the Corrotoman in the beginning of the year, so every chance I get on the Rivers/bay is a first! So, after the wind settled on Sunday I ventured out on my own. Saw lots of bait fish and birds out by Towles Pt. I cast a yellow/green (I can't spell that fancy word for that color) gulp jig into the bait with no luck. I also didn't see any signature stripers on my sonar. Several boats were casting and trolling but I didn't see anything getting hauled into their boats. Headed to the Whitestone Bridge. I cast jigs and bucktails onto the pilings with no luck. Saw several boats there trolling and jigging but I didn't see any slaying. (I wonder if the workman on the barge who was jigging caught anything). No guts to head out to the bay by myself. Went back to Towles on a fishfinding mission, but could not locate any signatures on my sonar.

Being a newbe on the river, I guess my question to you experienced guys is during this time of year, do you look for schools of stripers or at least some signatures, or do you just go with your gut and fish spots?

By the way, after putting the boat on my lift, I proceeded to catch two small stipers off my dock. Go figure.
-D

[Bob G]

Well D, it all depends (great answer, huh?). Seems to me there's some fish that like to hold to structure (drop offs, rocks, humps, bridge pilings), and others that like to follow the schools of bait. Casting or jigging works well for the fish on structure, or the fish concentrated on a school of bait (best give away is birds, but don't ignore your sonar - bait plus bigger fish marks = good jigging). Trolling works well for scattered fish (often later in the day when there's a lot of boats running through and breaking up the schools), or those cruising looking for bait schools. It can also be good along a long length of structure, like a long bar or break. On any given day, I try them all at different times, depending on what I'm seeing on the surface and sonar. Anyway, that's my fishing strategy. Would like to hear others.

[Brandon]

:rockingreport::yes::thumbup:

[Kevin Smith]

Nice Fish. Must have been a blast on light tackle!

Kevin
Weekend Mistress
Coastal Conservation Association Virginia

[gparsley]

good job :thumbup:

[thill]

Looks like fun!

I've got to give the Rapp a try... I know the fish are there, but the CBBT just keeps calling...

Congrats on the beauty!

-TH

[ciccofish]

dmattva - At this time of year look for birds. Seagulls are laziest creatures known to man. If they are in the area, there must be food. Many times the rock will not be eating and are hard to find nearby, but they are usually there. Birds in the air feeding over rock are the best, but birds sitting are next best. After you locate the rock, getting them to bite is the next trick. Goodluck.

[ryanmatt]

Nice fish ............Hope they hang around till mother nature gives us a break !!!!!!