Certainly this summer hasn’t been the typical weather West Virginia sees for the months of June and July–and very likely August will be milder. However, some things remain the same when it comes to fishing regardless of the weather trends.
Typically when the weather gets hot, fish will look for current. Find the current and you’ll likely find the fish. The best places in West Virginia to find current are on the state’s smaller waterways like the New, Greenbrier, or South Branch of the Potomac rivers. Moving water is filled with oxygen and tends to be an attractive delivery system for food.
The second option, if getting to one of those high caliber fisheries isn’t convenient, is to get below one of the lock and dams on the state’s navigable rivers.
"A study back in the 80’s or early 90’s showed that two-thirds of our fish were caught in tailwater areas,” said Biologist Zack Brown of the DNR’s Point Pleasant office.
When most envision a tailwater, they think of the riprap banks downstream from the dam and the roar of the spillways drowning out all noise. A true tailwater is considered any water up to a mile downstream. Although Brown admits, those areas immediately below the dams probably hold a higher percentage chance of success.
"This time of the year they’re in low flow. The fish do move around and are oriented toward current and follow the baitfish up there. They just get concentrated,” explained Brown.
Certainly bass fishermen find an attractive number of fish, especially smallmouth on those rocky shores. But it doesn’t end there. Since the dam creates a natural break, a host of species will be swirling in the depths below the dams, waiting on an easy meal. Catfish, white bass, striped bass, musky, walleye, sauger, and drum are just a few of the likely bites an angler will get in these rich pools.
"It all depends on what you’d like to target,” said Brown. "If you’re just throwing anything out there, I’ve seen people do well with minnows under a bobber. I’ve seen people do really well with jigs and minnows. Live baits will probably do a little better than artificials, but if you get a school of white bass in there, sometimes buzz bait or a fluke will work. When you see them busting a school of minnows, sometimes they tend to take whatever comes their way."