Nice article. Thanks. Have never fished Chick lake with all the options available in Suffolk I stay close to home.
In case you haven't seen it there is an interesting article in the latest issue of Crappie Now about the Chick.
Crappie Now Magazine - Crappie Now
Fair Winds and Following Seas
Bill H. PTC USN Ret
Chesapeake, Va
BILL HARDY thanked you for this post
Nice article. Thanks. Have never fished Chick lake with all the options available in Suffolk I stay close to home.
JET4 LIKED above post
The Crappietracker1 brothers that won the last chic bash fished the lake.
Even though I live in Pa I have fished that area a fare amount in the past 30 years. Captain Conway is the real deal. The Chick is one of my favorite lakes to fish early in the year. Not only is it a dependable fishery but also a very unique one. With Cyprus trees and other types of vegetation it is like a different world for a Pa boy. Also it is very fordable for the working man to spend a few days fishing. Great article, great place to fish and a great guide.
Thanks for sharing. I first fished Chick Lake in December of 2008 when we had one of our bashes there. It was cold and I remember the ramp had ice on it. I returned to the lake in 2011 in the fall and averaged 63 crappie for my first 4 trips (checking my logs) with 31 over a pound and the biggest at 1lb 7oz and 14.5". I have never caught a citation crappie there and I have fished the lake 43 times. However, I have heard of others catching citations there. Then the weather moved in as noted in my log.
10-29-11
Chick Lake-B-29.88-29.84. High temp 50 but dropped to 41 around 1:20. Probably the nastiest day I have ever fished on. Winds N-W-NW gusting to 24. Water temp 59. Only 6 crappie with the biggest at 1lb 1oz. Bennett had 6 as well with his biggest at 1lb 7oz. Most long lining mid lake when the wind let down a bit. I think one casting a brush pile and one with chart wasshoppah tipped with crappie nibble. Most seemed to be 8’ down. Wind and cold made it very difficult to fish.
11-5-11
Chick Lake-B-30.33-30.43. High temp 54, mostly sunny. Winds N-NE gusting to 20. Only 8 crappie. 5 long lining on various colored jigs, one casting, and two vertical jigging money jig 19’ down in 22’ of water. Biggest was 1lb 4oz.
I had good luck there in 2012 and 2013 but recently not nearly the luck I had back then. I think the lake has a lot more fishing pressure now then it did back then, however, it is one of my favorite lakes, I just hate having to commute back through the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel to get home.
2010 NWR Bash Crappie Division Champion
And it's a great place for big bass - quite a few double digits pulled out there in 2019.
Check out my Instagram fishing pics:
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A few years ago we were going to launch out of Ed Allens. When we went to pay the launch fee a boat came in and said he had a bass that he wanted weighed. Myself and my friend was very curious so we went to the scale. This bass was the biggest I have ever seen. It was a little over 11 lbs. if I remember correct. I told Ed that was the biggest bass I have ever seen. He replied you should have been her last week we had one 13lbs and some ounces. I agree 100% with Fishfishwish.
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If you get up that way, stop by Fishing ProTech in Toano. Lyn, the owner is a great guy and his sidekick Daniel has pulled a good number of 8+ pounders out of Chick Lake in the last year. He can probably give some tips.
Check out my Instagram fishing pics:
https://www.instagram.com/fishfishwish/
Altbough it focuses on the lake portion, just down from the dam for a good ways theres plenty of crappie too. Tidal water is a little more difficult to deal with especially if you add wind to the mix. More likely to catch that 15"er too.
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