Tidal Largemouth Surveys Looking Up
By Mark Fike with data
from VDGIF History

At right: Bass in the five to seven pound range are nice tidal bass trophies that are a real possibility in the Chick near duck blinds and Cyprus trees.

Recently I received a good bit of news from Bob Greenlee, District Fisheries Biologist of VDGIF concerning the largemouth bass population on Virginia’s tidal rivers. Avid bass anglers can attest to the fact that bass numbers and sizes have been down since the persistent drought that plagued the state since the mid/late 90’s through 2002. The drought created several problems that directly and indirectly impacted largemouth populations in the tidal sections of our rivers.

The first impact was that there was less freshwater in our river systems, which permitted salt water to creep farther upriver driving bass out of traditional holding areas.

Second, this higher salinity killed aquatic vegetation that largemouth used for cover. The lower reaches of the tidal rivers were obviously most affected by the higher salinity. Even tributaries on the lower reaches of the six major rivers were affected. Only the extreme upper sections of the tidal rivers escaped the most terrible effects of the drought but they too lost fish.

The Good News
The good news is that the drought finally broke in 2002. Since then the sampling done by VDGIF and creel surveys have shown that largemouth have responded positively and rapidly to the rainfall and good to outstanding recruitment. This trend appears to be continuing. According to VDGIF angler catches are increasing. Tidal bass populations have reflected record electrofishing catch rates in most rivers to include the once troubled Chickahominy.

The data that I was able to get from VDGIF broke down the sampling information by river. Here is a look at our tidal waters.

The Chick
Greenlee noted that the Chickahominy had strong year classes since 2004, which substantially increased the electrofishing catch rates during sampling. Anglers should begin seeing a load more of the twelve to fifteen inch bass in the next few years. Greenlee also pointed out that in the Chickahominy it generally takes two years for a bass to grow to twelve inches and another year and a half to stretch to fifteen inches. That being said, some of those fish from 2004 are rapidly approaching the fifteen-inch mark. Barring unforeseen weather disasters anglers should see some quality largemouth soon. An interesting note in the data showed that during 1998 there was a strong year class of fish, which has produced some five to seven pound fish. Some of these fish are still haunting duck blinds, blow downs and other structure and may provide skilled and or lucky anglers a dream fish this year or even next. Anglers have reported substantial increases in catches already and the “bass per hour” number is the highest it has ever been on the Chick.

The James
The James River is also a coming on strong. The best fishing on the James is found upstream of Chippokes Creek to the Appomattox River, which is where the salt-water intrusion had the least impact during the drought in the late 1990’s. Anglers will find that aquatic vegetation is on the increase, which translates to better bass cover and forage production/cover. Bass in the James grow very fast and are making up lost ground rapidly.

The Rapp
Although this writer has a special place in his heart for the Rapp I have to say that the bass angling on the river does not rival either the Chick or the James. But the good news is that without any stocking and with only nature’s help the beautiful river has come back with the help of two very strong year classes in 2004 and 2005. By two years old the bass in this system can hit the twelve-inch mark. It takes three years for them to reach fourteen inches though.

Anglers are seeing more fish over the past few years and that should continue. Much of the better angling occurs upstream of Port Royal. Prove the numerous fallen trees, backwater sloughs and feeder creeks. Once you go below Port Royal the fishing tends to drop off somewhat. Much of this is due to the saltwater intrusion we experienced. There is limited habitat for bass but it is possible to find good fishing areas. Try fishing backwater areas, headwaters and vegetation in the tributaries.

Pamunkey
The Pamunkey does not get the attention to previously mentioned rivers get on a normal basis. However, biologists did a boat survey of the river and report that the young of year bass was exceptional in 2006, which means that in 2008 anglers will begin reaping the reward of those fish. Previously the recruitment since 2002 has been good too. Sadly, the electrofishing survey did not net any fish over 3.25 pounds on the Pamunkey. This is not an indication that there were no fish over that size but it is indicative of the fact that the river hosts slow growing bass and the drought really hurt this system.

Figure 5. (see below) Comparison of largemouth catch rates and catch rates for bass = 15 inches in recent electrofishing surveys of the tidal Chickahominy (Chick), tidal James (James), Mattaponi, Pamunkey, lower tidal Rappahannock (Rapp_Low), and upper tidal Rappahannock (Rapp_Up). Charts and figures provided by VDGIF.

Bob Greenlee was kind enough to put together this data for us and also to take the time to rank the tidal rivers based on his observations.
First place— The Chick is the best river in Greenlee’s opinion. There are a number of three to five pound bass and some over six pounds in the river. Greenlee expects the river to provide good angling for the next few years at least.
Second— The James and associated tribs have a lower catch rate but the fish grow even faster than bass on the Chick.
Third place goes to the Pamunkey River although it has a very slow growth rate. Catch rates were higher in 2006 than in the past.
Fourth place river would be the Rappahannock due to its slow growth and low catch rates. Take a look at the accompanying charts to see the difference in catch rates between it and the Pamunkey.
Fifth would have to go to Lower Dragon Run / Piankatank. Bob Greenlee had this to say, “This is a relatively small and inaccessible fishery, but recent surveys indicate stable recruitment, extremely high catch rates, and good numbers of largemouth over 15 inches available to those who seek them out.”
Sixth place would have to be given to the Mattaponi. This river is beautiful and quiet but just not the best largemouth fishery. There were very low catch rates on the river. Should you decide to fish it try the area from Aylett to Walkerton.

We want to thank Bob Greenlee and his staff for gathering this data. Hopefully this report will serve as a starting point for anglers wanting to plan their trips in search of “green fish” this season. The data paints a strong picture of what a fishery can do if given the right conditions.