While more well-known waters like Smith Mountain, Lake Anna and the tidal Potomac attract large crowds of tournament and recreational anglers (as well as pleasure boaters), there still remains a certain set of lesser-known waters that offer good fishing and with far less pressure. This article will cover five we think you’ll want to visit this spring.
Albemarle Sound/East Lake/South Lake
About five years ago W2 travelled to this region of eastern North Carolina to see if the rumors were true about plenty of redfish, striper, bass and pickerel with hardly anyone fishing. We saw three boats in three days and what we found was a vast brackish fishery with plenty of fish. We caught redfish and striper in the marshy areas and as we went further back in creeks and the banks greened up we found plenty of swamp bass.
The reds and striper would pound a vibrating jig. The bass uninhibitedly gobbled up frogs and soft plastics pitched to ditches and wood in creeks.
Backcountry Guide Service guide David Ward has been fishing/guiding these waters for years and says he loves having plenty of shallow water fishing opportunities and very little fishing pressure as his home water.
“This place is massive and holds so many bass it’s incredible. Fishing a wacky-rigged stick bait is one of the best ways to fish for bass in May and June here. The same this rigged Texas style with a small weight can also be good when the fish are stuck to the bottom and current is moving,” he told W2.
Wind tides are what most commonly move the water in this area so don’t expect regular tidal movements. Access to the East Lake and South Lake area of the Albemarle Sound is had at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge boat ramp near Manteo, NC. Ward will often launch from the ramp on the Intercoastal Waterway at Coinjock and fish the North River region.
Horsepen Lake
Horsepen Lake is a 19-acre impoundment located entirely within the Horsepen Lake Wildlife Management Area in Buckingham County, Virginia. The lake is one of several department-owned lakes created in the 1930s.
The largemouth bass population at Horsepen Lake is managed with the goal of producing a trophy fishery. This is done using trophy regulations that restrict harvest to one fish 22 inches or greater a day. The lake boasts above average catch rates with high number of bass between 11-16 inches and fair numbers of bass up to and over 20 inches. Target shallow flats and drains with soft plastics and moving baits around the spawn (April-May). During the remainder of the year fallen trees and woody cover off the bank can be productive. Skipping baits under the Azaleas and Button Bush that line the majority of the lake can be productive for smaller fish throughout the year. The lake is trolling motor only restricted.
Pamunkey River
This smallish tidal river flows through central Virginia southeast of Fredericksburg and has a dedicated following of local anglers. While the upper river does offer smallmouth and spotted bass, fishing for largemouth bass is best from below the Route 360 Bridge downstream to Brickhouse (several river miles below Lester Manor). In this tidal river, anglers can expect good numbers of largemouth in the one to three-pound range, with very few largemouth larger than this, however.
Pitching creature baits to shoreline wood in the form of laydowns, pilings and duck blinds is good in the early summer. Frog fishing can also be product at times of high water. Access is somewhat limited with a private launch known as Williams Landing the most used as well as a DWR ramp near Lester Manor and one at West Point.
Lake Moomaw
This is a 2,530-acre highland reservoir located in Bath County near the town of Covington, Virginia nestled into a canyon once called Kincaid Gorge created by Gathright Dam. This massive earthen structure backed up the Jackson River for over 12 miles, forming Lake Moomaw.
The lake is clear and deep with a maximum depth of 152 feet. The impoundment is “drawn down” between 10–15 feet annually, beginning slowly in June and reaching its lowest level usually by September. There are 43 miles of undeveloped, wooded shoreline.
The lake offers anglers good smallmouth and largemouth fishing as well as trout (stocked rainbow, brown and brook trout) based on an alewife forage base. It also holds crappie, chain pickerel and red ear sunfish.
There are two public boat ramps – one down near the dam and one up lake just below Bolar Flats.
Lake Mooney
Impounded in 2017 this is a 520-acre reservoir located in Stafford County, just north of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Initially the lake was over-populated with largemouth bass and black crappie which led to a stockpiling of small fish. Over the past few years, those that fish Mooney regularly know there are big bass in the clear, deep lake filled with flooded timber.
Fishing with forward facing sonar is helpful when fish here suspending offshore after the spawn. The is a trolling motor only regulation on Mooney. There is a free DWR maintained boat launch.
