Northwest River

I’ve been a very good boy lately; performing automobile repairs, fixing broken things around the house, and keeping the lawn looking sharp. However, the whole time I was being “responsible”, I had an over-whelming urge to validate my position in the Cosmos as a crappie-fisherman. I always heard the Universe will suck you in, to your rightful place, and on February 2, I found myself on the Northwest River, in Chesapeake, Virginia.



I arrived at the ramp around sunrise, ran to my spot and started putting lines out round 7:30.



The water temperature at the surface was 40*, and the fish were suspended about 3’ off the bottom in the main river channel. I fished in 16 FOW, with the baits; a hair-jig and minnow combo, set about 10’ deep.





I got lucky. By 12:30 p.m., I was packing it up and culling through a mess of fish to decide what to keep for dinner. During the five hours I fished, I caught 26 crappie, 1 yellow perch, and 2 fliers. I kept 17 crappie that were between 10 and 12 inches long. I threw everything else back.



I only saw a few other boats that day. The wind was also very calm, which helped immensely with the ultra-slow/almost-still presentation that was needed to get bit.



Good luck, everyone!
Id