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Bass
Common Names: Bronzeback, brown bass, black bass, smallie.
Best Fishing: Lakes:
Claytor, Smith Mountain, Philpott, Moomaw, and South Holston
Rivers: James (above the fall line); New; South Fork, North
Fork, and mainstem Shenandoah; Rappahannock (above the fall line);
Maury; North Fork Holston; and Clinch.
Fishing
Techniques: Fly, spinning, spincasting and baitcasting rods and
reels with 4 to 8 pound test line are all suitable for taking this
scrappiest of freshwater gamefish. Live crayfish, hellgrammites,
"spring lizards" (salamanders), madtoms, and minnows are best live
baits. Artificials include jigs, small crank baits, small spinner-bucktail
combos, minnow and crayfish imitations. For fly rodding, hair bugs,
poppers, and streamers are good.
Identification:
Sunfish family. Coppery-brown above, with greenish-brown sides
with darker vertical bars. Three dark bars radiate from the eye on
the cheek and gill cover. Dorsal fin is not as deeply notched as the
largemouth. Upper jaw extends back only in line with the middle of
the eye. A 4 or 5 pound fish is considered a trophy. State
Record: 7
pounds, 7 ounces from the New River.
Feeding Habits:
Crayfish are a favored prey as are madtoms. Also feeds on adult
larval insects such as mayfly nymphs, and hellgrammites, tadpoles
and other small fish.
Habitat:
Native to Ohio River drainage streams of southwest Virginia.
Introduced into most fast-flowing streams and cool lakes. Prefers
clear flowing streams and rivers with rock, bedrock and gravel
bottoms and numerous riffles, and cool deep water of large, clear
reservoirs with boulders and gravel bottoms. Most active in 67 to 72
degree F. water, and intolerant of silty, warm and polluted water.
Spawning Habits:
Males build nests on sand, gravel, or rubble bottom, usually 2
to 4 feet deep, as water temperatures stabilize above 55 degrees F.
Spawning occurs in late April to early June as temperatures exceed
60 degrees F. Males guard the nest and fry up to two weeks after
the fry leave the nest. |
