Rapp River Light Tackle Fishing May 27, 2012

[SlateDog]

Light tackle fishing has definitely picked up. We fished the north side of the river at sunrise all weekend and caught fish consistently. We fished falling tides on light spinning gear. Tom also got his fly rod going a few times. They seemed to prefer white and shades of chartreuse. Many 18-24” striper available along with lots of smaller ones. We also picked up a couple of specks. There were very large croaker and large white perch attacking our lures in the shallows and around wooden docks. The big croakers were going 14” and some 15” and were a lot of bang for your buck and fun to catch. The larger striper were living up to their name with lots of them taken off of rock structures. Three man limit of striper taken home Sunday for dinner. Pics below of Sundays catch including a decent fish Tom got on his fly rod.

[LAM92005]

I have never fished the river with light tackle. Fished the bottom today and caught about 15 croaker up around bouy 12. If you dont mind me asking, what kind of lure and presentation are you using to catch these rockfish and specks. thanks

[skipperwork]

Couple more weeks and your gonna have another light angler in the mix. My grandparents live off Dymer, and my parents just bought a place off Carters Creek. I'm taking my boat and leaving it down there. Bye, Bye Upper Bay.

[nippers]

I won't ask you exactly where you were fishing, but could you tell us in general where on the north side of the river you were fishing. The Rapp is a long river but I don't think it would not be giving away anything if you could tell us a bit more information. Great post, thanks.

[The Daydreamer]

Very nice. We fished some structure late monday morning but could only pick up some shorts. I agree on the falling tide. They really started to turn on when for the last few hours of the tide.

[SlateDog]

Couple more weeks and your gonna have another light angler in the mix. My grandparents live off Dymer, and my parents just bought a place off Carters Creek. I'm taking my boat and leaving it down there. Bye, Bye Upper Bay.

You are going to like the Rapp and Piankatank for LT fishing. Welcome to the area.

[SlateDog]

I won't ask you exactly where you were fishing, but could you tell us in general where on the north side of the river you were fishing. The Rapp is a long river but I don't think it would not be giving away anything if you could tell us a bit more information. Great post, thanks.

Well, you can catch fish like these the entire length of the river depending on the day but these fish were caught between the Whitestone Bridge and Morratico in several different spots. No big secrets really - just trial and error and finding the best spots of the day. We run up and down that river quite a bit trying to find them on both sides on any given day. Seems to be fast and furious or dead with not a lot in between! You would be shocked how many fish one lonely pier can hold if you hit it the right time and tide. We are still looking for those 30+" which I know are around. Good luck.

[SlateDog]

I have never fished the river with light tackle. Fished the bottom today and caught about 15 croaker up around bouy 12. If you dont mind me asking, what kind of lure and presentation are you using to catch these rockfish and specks. thanks

I PM'd you

[marstang50va]

I was pier bound up from Greenvale on the 26th and 28th. Caught a cooler full of white perch and croaker. Caught a nice bluefish on a casting spoon which was a surprise, and lost a nice rockfish while live lining a perch.

[Jasebrady]

Slate Dog,

I've fished Waterview area with a buddy of mine for few years now. Always using bait on the bottom, but always new there was more to offer. I'm a largemouth fisherman at heart, so throwing lures pulls at my heart strings. Are you tossing plastics, jigs? I'm happy to searh out my own spots, that's half the fun, but any indication as to lure size/color, etc and depth would be very helpful.

Many thanks and congrats, next time I think I'll be coming down with different tackle and might even dig up my 8 wt!

Brady