Fishing the New River

I had plans to go fishing this week with my neighbor on the New River, but an infection cropped up in my body and I did not feel very well and we ended up canceling.   We were looking forward to catching some bass and maybe a big catfish.  Hopefully I will be better in a few days and we can try again.

Another friend who fishes that section told us there were a whole bunch of muskie in the area.  He has been fishing there just about everyday and knows the places they lay in wait for their prey.  I have never caught a muskie before, but it sounds like I have a good chance at it there.

The New River is a fairly large river.  Like the Nile River it runs north instead of south.  I grew up fishing the section of the river that flows through Giles County in Virginia.  I also paddled canoes and kayaks in my younger days.  Back then I loved paddling more than fishing, and would travel miles at a time from one town to the next just enjoying the trip.  I was pretty good at rolling my kayak.  Anytime I flipped it over I could turn it back up right.  Some days when it was very hot I would roll it over on purpose to cool down.

One section of the river has more citation fish caught from it than any other stream in Virginia.  Seems I heard that over 50% of all citations in the state came from there.  Smallmouth bass are my favorite fish to catch.  They put up a great fight for their size, leaping from the water as they attempt to throw the hook.  There are largemouth bass in certain sections too, and I have caught a few although they were small.  Channel catfish and mudcats are the two main species of catfish on the river though occasionally a blue catfish will be caught.  The other day some guys caught one over 50 pounds where we were going to fish, but there are some in there much bigger.  Rock bass, also called red eyes, are plentiful.  They get about ten to twelve inches and are chunky little fighters.  Bluegill are scattered here and there, and in certain areas there are walleyes.  I have never caught one of those either, and I hear they are one of the best tasting fish you can eat.

The downside to fishing in the New River is some fish are not good to eat.  The river is contaminated with chemical deposits, and it is recommended that a person eat only one portion of fish a month from  bottom feeders like carp and catfish.  The bass are affected in some areas too.  I do not eat a lot of fish, but it would be nice to be able to eat what you catch on occasion.  Still, the fish themselves seem not to have much adverse reaction to the chemicals as they are flourishing very well.  I still hate that the river is contaminated though.  I often wonder if spending all those summer days as a teenager and young adult wading and swimming in the river did not have something to do with giving me leukemia.  You never know.

Since I moved to an adjoining county fifteen years ago I do most of my fishing on the New River from the Claytor Lake dam down through Radford to the Giles County border.  I usually catch quite a few nice bass during a day of fishing.  My favorite bait to use is a purple and black rubber worm.  I run the hook through it dead center so the ends dangle down on both ends.  This is called a "whacky rig" by most fishermen.  I cast it to a likely spot and just let it sink.  Usually if there is a bass near by it will nail it almost immediately.  If nothing happens I slowly reel it in which sometimes gets a strike.  I also like to throw it into moving water and let the current take it downstream.  I have caught a lot of bass which were in the rapids waiting on an easy meal to float to them.  I also have a "secret weapon" that was taught to me by a river captain who guides fishermen for a living.  It is perfectly legal, but I do not tell what it is to just anyone.  One day four of us were fishing and the other three caught five citation smallmouth bass with that technique.  It was the first time I had tried it, and I did not get anything.  Later I figured out I probably had two nice bass on my line a couple of times, but being inexperienced did not realize the bass hit that bait differently than they do most other kinds.  I know what to expect now.  That particular bait is good for catching catfish too.  Now if I can just figure out how to catch a muskie.