NHBA Charlie

Lake Manassas Controversy Continues.... Long a favorite fishing spot for many Northern Virginia residents, Lake Manassas was closed to the public 10 years ago. During this time, many efforts to reopen the lake for fishing have been denied by the Manassas City Council, citing the necessity of maintaining the integrity of the water supply and the expense of facilities for opening the lake to the public. In the past year both of these arguments have been negated by a number of events. The developer of the Saranac community on Lake Manassas wants to donate land for a public access point. The Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries has committed $100,000 to build a boat ramp, parking lot and finger pier. They would also contribute an operations stipend to offset costs for a concession stand, as well as monitor the lake and manage any concessionaire. These proffers have not swayed the council however, who question whether city residents should incur expenses that would benefit only non-residents. What the council members have not addressed is that fact that over 6,000 residents of their city have purchased fishing licenses during the past 12 months, as well as over 16,000 residents of Prince William County. It is also safe to say that anglers using the lake would bring in dollars to the community that are not currently available. Motels, restaurants, gas stations, convenience stores and tackle shops would see a great increase in business, which benefits the residents of Manassas. The property deed for the Saranac community allows access to the lake, but the city council has consistently denied such access. The developer would prefer to work in partnership with the council to get the lake open, but after being stonewalled at every turn, has filed a lawsuit to gain their legal rights. This means that the City of Manassas will have to spend considerably more money to defend the lawsuit than it would cost to accept the offers and open the lake to the public. Any expense to the city could be retrieved by charging a fee to boaters and anglers for use of the lake. All of these points will be discussed once again at the council meeting to be held on Monday evening, September 13th at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at Manassas City Hall, 9027 Center Street, Manassas, Va. All interested parties should make plans to attend this important meeting and make your views known.

Check out www.nhbayouthfoundation.org. Lots of fishing partners available. 65+ member fun and education oriented fishing club. Low fees and payouts. Most members own boats. No boat necessary for membership. Women and kids welcome. 27 tournaments this year plus numerous social outings.

You might want to try the area off the Dickerson Power Plant. Go across the Route 15 bridge and turn right on Route 28. Take this to Mouth of Monocacy Road. Turn right and continue to the Boat Ramp at the mouth of the Monocacy River. Walk down the bank to the Potomac and wade. BE CAREFUL! There are many ledges here running perpendicular to the shoreline. There are lots of 2-4# smallmouth in this section.

The powers that be in the Manassas City Government and the Virginia Dept. of Game & Inland Fisheries are doing their thing. This is not an instant thing, but should be possible within two years, according to John Odenkirk, VDGIF Biologist. Charlie........

Rick Clunn was purported to have won the BassMaster Classic in Gunn's Run the last time it was held on the James River. Don't know that I believe that story, but it was the prevalent one going around at the time. All of those small drainage creeks hold catchable fish, primarily on the outgoing tide.

We have plenty of vendors from as far away as New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Since the Dale City Flea Market has been postponed until February 20th, looks like we will be the first Flea Market around. See you all there....... If you are interested in a table, please contact Charlie at: Charlie2185@myway.com

Sorry about that. Just too interested in getting lots of information out there to check the facts. The Flea Market will be held on Saturday, February 13, 2010 from 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Looking to get some great deals on fishing lures, rods, reels, electronics, fishing apparel, or other great "must have" gear at rock bottom prices? Are you a vendor or an angler with lots of extra gear you'd like to sell? Then you need to be at the Fisherman's Flea Market! Huge selection of fishing-related items and LOW prices, you can begin preparing for the 2010 season before your first outing! Sterling Ruritan Clb 183 Ruritan Rd Sterling VA 20164 Admission is just $3.00 Kids under 10 get in free! For more information contact Charlie Taylor at charlie2185@myway.com All proceeds go to support the FREE Kid's Fishing Derbies and other activities of the non-profit NHBA Youth Foundation. ¨ Food & Drinks available ¨ Local guides & Biologist to discuss fishing in Northern Virginia, Potomac River & Chesapeake Bay Vendor Information: Vendor tables still available for $15 To reserve your table, send Payment with Name, Address, E-mail & Phone Number To: Charlie Taylor 1402 Bakers Creek Ct. Herndon, VA 20170

As a director of the club in question, I would like to explain the intent of the rule. This is a FUN club. Entry fees were $6.00 per tournament with only $2.00 per participant being returned as prize money and that didn't get paid until the end-of-year banquet. As a FUN club, it was felt by all concerned when the club was formed 19 years ago that participants should ride to the tournament TOGETHER, giving them more time to socialize, formulate plans for fishing the tournament and time to share other fishing information. This was particularly important when the tournament was held 200-250 miles away. In these cases, it was a safety issue. After fishing from dawn until 1:00 p.m. and than having to drive 250 miles home, it is very easy to become drowsy when driving alone. A partner in the vehicle helps to keep each of them alert and safe. This is the same reason that we recommend that everyone stop at the same restaurant about half the distanceto our homes. It keeps people alert and is much safer. Over the 19 years this club has been in existence, we have had an average of 60+ members, no accidents on tournament days, and this is the first time anyone has complained of the rule. Incidentally, as the former member noted, the rule was in effect before he joined and he opted to join anyway. Charlie Taylor, Director, NHBA

I was quite surprised to see the type of replies to my last post. I believe that some of you need to get your facts straight. Lake Manassas is an 810 acre municipal water supply lake, built in 1968 by the City of Manassas. The lake is totally owned by the City of Manassas, therefore it is not "Public". The lake was open for public fishing until 1999, when renewal negotiations with the concessionaire failed. This resulted in no access to the lake. The city tried to build their own ramp, but were denied a permit by the County of Prince William. The latest attempt, is different in that the city will contract with VDGIF to construct and maintain a public marina on 25 acres of land donated by Saranac Development. VDGIF would construct an access road, parking lot and boat ramp, using Dingel Johnson and Virginia Fishing License funds. A concessionaire would be contracted by VDGIF to build and maintain a marina, rent boats and motors and collect ramp fees. A separate annual lake permit would also be required. VDGIF would also patrol the lake, enforce regulations and maintain fish biomass. This arrangement would leave the city with a neutral cost and assurance that water quality would be maintained. The timeline is estimated at two years, although a Saranac representative stated that they would like to get it taken care of as quickly as possible. At last night's work session, ALL city council members in attendance voted to instruct their staff and the Utilities Commission to explore the possibilities of opening the lake to boats and fishing. This was after an extended period of questions and answers from the Utilities Commission personnel and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Stay tuned for future developments. Charlie.......

I sent an e-mail to all our club members and guests on Friday morning, about a special work session of the Manassas City Council on Monday, December 7th at 5:30 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to consider reopening 810 acre Lake Manassas for public fishing. The meeting place has been moved from City Hall to a conference room in the Public Works Building, 8500 Public Works Drive, Manassas, Va. 20110. I am planning to attend this meeting and would like to see as many anglers there as possible. A number of people have been working long and hard to get to this point and it is up to us who will ultimately benefit, to show up and present our case. If not by actual speaking, then by showing interest by being there. Anyone wishing to accompany me may secure a seat by contacting me by 2 p.m. on Monday. Some of us have sent e-mails to the City Council announcing our support for the reopening of this dynamic fishing lake. If you have not done so, please do so before Monday afternoon. The address for your e-mail is: cityclerk@ci.manassas.va.us An e-mail to this address will be given to the Mayor, City Council Chairman and all Councilmen/Councilwomen. If you value good fishing waters as much as I do, please make this effort as soon as possible. According to the posted documents, the City of Manassas is considering reopening the lake in conjunction with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The city will provide the land which has been donated. VDGIF will build a ramp on the property and will stock and maintain adequate fish biomass, as well as enforce fishing and boating regulations on the lake. The lake will be limited, as before, to electric motors only. The city may or may not, decide to have a concessionaire set up on site and charge a fee for launching. These items are the reason for the work session. Keep in mind that this is not the final meeting, but a first step in a long, drawn out process. We, as anglers, must keep this decision in front of the Council as much as possible during the next few months. NHBA Charliie......

This charter captain donates a trip for the winners of our Kid's Fishing Derbies each year. At one of the shows, I asked him to call me when the big fish were ON. I received this e-mail yesterday. Unfortunately, due to a funeral, I will be out of town over the weekend. If you should have any interest in catching big stripers, give him a call. "Capt. Jeff at Sea Dragon Charters here. I've had 2 cancellation this week-end (Sat. & Sun.) and the big boys are biting right out in front of the Smith Point lighthouse. I have a mate lined up and ready to go. Just let me know. Call me on my cell at 540-219-3012 or at work tonight after 6pm at 540-727-7823 You said to let you know when their biting well here it is." NHBA Charlie..........

Triton9 Your best bet is to fish Grassy or Panhandle Creek. Fish the shallows in the back of coves in the feeder creeks. Pay particular attention to areas around the flooded Sweet Gum Trees. These areas should hold bedding fish. After covering them thoroughly, head for the points in the same feeder creeks and drop a Zoom Super Hog with a 3/8ths oz. sinker into the middle of the flooded buckbrush. Alternate with a suspending jerk bait, fished parallel to the buckbrush. All of these techniques will produce at Buggs Island right now. Water level at 303.6 feet, while 300 is full pool. The brush is in the water. First thing in the morning, you might try some large topwater chuggers on the main lake points, IF......the wind is blowing in on them. This can fill your well in 10 minutes if the wind is right. Anytime you find fish, back off and cover the area with weightless 6" green pumpkin Senkos. The slower you fish, the better. Good luck, NHBA Charlie.......

Posted by: cjbs2003 Posted on: Today at 1:49am "I honestly don't think snakeheads are going to destroy the Potomac River bass fishery. The habitats of snakeheads and largemouths are quite different. There is so much baitfish(gizzard shad, white perch, golden shiners, banded killifish, small bluegills etc) the list goes on and on for bass and snakeheads to eat... I really doubt snakeheads are going to eat up all the food. I also seriously doubt they will eat the bass themselves or at least eat enough bass to adversely affect their population." This gentleman got it right. The biggest difference between grindle or bowfin and snakeheads is the manner in which they breathe. Bowfin have gills and lungs. Snakeheads have lungs only! This means that they must come to the surface every so often and gulp air. If they cannot reach the surface in time, they will drown, just like humans. Consequently, they tend to live in very, very shallow water. Unlike bass, who roam all over the lake or river and all up and down the water column, snakeheads tend to stay in a very shallow area, eating killifish and small minnows. Even when larger, they tend to stay in very shallow water. Our club members catch upwards of 5-10 snakeheads in every Potomac River tournament. All of the fish have been caught in less that two feet of water, including a 6.5# fish. A number of the members can catch the fish at will, because they know in what areas to look for the fish. Recently, we have been finding juvenile snakeheads spit up by bass in our livewells. This would tend to indicate that rather than the snakeheads feeding on bass, it would be the other way around. Most bass of the size that snakeheads target, are swimming in deeper water. They are generally spawned in 3-5 feet of water and spread out from there. Since snakeheads are most generally found in water shallower than three feet, they really aren't running into many bass. With all the snakeheads held in our clubmember's livewells, we have yet to see a juvenile bass spit up in the livewell. As for killing the fish, it is against the law to restore a Northern Snakehead to the water in Virginia. This is not an angler decision.....it is the law! If I see someone return a snakehead to the water, I will turn them in to the VDGIF enforcement folks. We entrust them to manage our resources. We need to follow their regulations! NHBA Charlie.......

Did a TV show with Shaw on the Potomac River some 15 years ago. He truly loves to catch fish and gets excited about every one of them, regardless of how big or small. He is also a fantastic angler. I took him to my favorite hole, told him a little about why the fish should be there and he proceeded to outfish me 31-1. His treatment of me on the show was one of the best things about him. I have done a lot of TV shows, but Shaw truly went out of his way to make sure that I got plenty of publicity for my guide service. I know you will enjoy yourself as he will make sure of it. NHBA Charlie.......

Nitroman: Now is the time to fish Aquia Creek. If you can possibly manage it, fish during the week. Head to the mouth of the creek and fish the grass bed on the south side. Just get in the grass and head for the bank. Stay a couple of boat lengths off the bank and fish soft plastics in the grass. The fish are in there, getting ready to spawn. We normally like to fish topwater baits, but there have been so many tournament anglers in there in the past couple of weeks that they have torn up the grass and left pieces floating all over the surface. You want to be fish the shore edge of the grass on the incoming tide and the creek side on the outgoing tide. If you can manage to fish during the week, you should have no problem catching fish there. Most of the fish have not headed into the creeks yet, but are still holding in the main river, waiting for the full moon in May. Try the dropoff adjacent to Arkindale Flat, just upstream from Aquia Creek. Also check out Wade's Bay and Blue Banks, directly opposite Arkindale Flat. Here, you want to fish 1/4 oz. Rat-L-Traps where you can, buzzbaits over the top, spinnerbaits on the inside and outside edges and jig 'n pig or soft plastics in the grass. Good luck NHBA Charlie........

Just got back from Buggs Island. Right now the main lake is cold, muddy and high. Water height is at 305 feet. Full pool is 300, so the water is up in the bushes. Water temperature is 52-53 on the main lake, but the lower lake coves are in the mid 60s. This can change overnight however, as the water temperature in Grassy Creek dropped 5 degrees from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning. Best areas to fish right now are feeder creeks and coves in Panhandle and Eastland Creek. This is where the water temperature is 65-70 degrees and the water is in the bushes. White spinnerbaits on windblown points and around Sweet Gum trees on both sides of coves are taking good fish. Switch to Texas-rigged plastic lizard or creature baits in the backs of coves, targeting buckbrush and willow bushes in 2-4 feet of water. Better colors are green pumpkin and june bug, both with tails tipped with chartreuse dye. Buzzbaits will also take occasional fish early in the morning. Some of the better fish will be spawning next week around the full moon. Take this into consideration. NHBA Charlie.......

These are both lakes owned and operated by the Reston Homeowners Association. They are limited to residents and guests. If you know someone who lives in Reston, you can get them to give you a permission slip, but generally, the residents around the lake are a pretty feisty group. They give short shrift to trespassers.....and they are quick to call the police. I have fished both lakes on many occasions. They used to have some good fish in them when the lakes contained elodea and hydrilla. However, the Homeowners Association put in grass carp and that took care of the grass, as well as the fish. There are still a few good fish, but they are few and far between now. NHBA Charlie........

Most 7-Eleven stores and all Wal*Marts carry nightcrawlers.

Just received the following message from John Odenkirk with VDGIF: "We were getting lots of calls, so I ran down to check the status of the river and shad run. First off, she is very low and clear (only about 600 CFS when normal flow should be around 2000). So, we need rain and have been promised some over the next 24 hrs. I fished for about 40 min. and landed 5 hickory shad - all males except one nice green female. Saw one alewife get eaten by a heron. There were several other anglers in the rapids above Route 1 where I was but many wading in the flats below the bridge. It seemed most anglers were catching a few fish, but it was a bit on the slow side. If we get rain (not a blow out), the water should rise and become a bit off color. This should produce a really good bite over the weekend and into early next week despite the predicted drop in temperatures."

Launching at Duke's Creek, you sure don't have to head downlake. There are plenty of hawgs in that creek. Check out the point of the island in the mouth. It drops from 3 feet to 55 feet of water and always has good fish on it. Lots of times, you can catch stripers schooling on the point. Rat-L-Traps should always be on the deck when fishing there. Also check out each of the coves off the creek. There have been plenty of big fish caught in the coves and in the channel at the mouths of the coves. Fishing is excellent. Most of the fish are being taken on Deep diving crankbaits, Jerkbaits and Carolina rigs on points, and plastic creature baits on docks.

Check with Bobby Colston at Colston's Tackle Box in Roanoke Rapids. NC Phone : 252-537-6485

Generally, the shad and herring run when the shad bush bloom. Since shad bush are not that common in this area, make it when the dogwoods bloom. This is generally from April 1-May 15. Shad and herring are already coming up the Virginia tidal rivers, but are not thick enough yet for good fishing. Next week, they should be a little better.

Best pattern on Gaston this time of year is skipping weightless or very lightly weighted Zoom Centipedes under large docks in Pea Hill Creek. Weightless Senkos, rigged wacky style will also produce on boat docks throughout the lake. Rat-L-Traps or gold/white spinnerbaits retrieved parallel to the riprap banks will find a few keeper bass. Jigs and Texas rigged lizards on the down current corners of bridges will show some trophies.

Jerkbate: I actually had the head of the local college contact me with regard to starting such a class. At the time, I was unable to devote enough time to the project, but it was a great idea. As a matter of fact, now that I am retired, just maybe I will pursue the idea again. This school is the perfect venue, with a large pond on the premises and a very large population to draw from.