General questions regarding freshwater fishing in Chesapeake and VB

Hi folks,
I am the new guy. Lol! Anyways I was wondering if I could get some answers about fishing this area. I spent 12 of my 20 years in the Navy in this area and last year I discovered all this fantastic water of the beaten path. So long story short. Last year I started fishing the pocaty and the north landing river. From bridges. Recently I got a a John boat for duck hunting and in navigating these rivers I come to notice that most of it is fairly shallow. I think I fished the NWR once but not by boat. I was wondering is the NWR deeper than the north landing river. The only place I would presume there is deep water is by the bridge on pungo ferry road. I am more looking to get my ducks in a row so I can pinpoint the deeper water for fall and winter crappie fishing. Also where is this IT creek you all speak of. I'm not asking for anyone's honey hole, just a general idea where to go on these river systems. Point me in the right direct and I'll let my internal fish finder figure out the rest lol. Thanks in advance. Attachment 257238Attachment 257238

First let me welcome you to the most information, friendly, FAMILY fishing board on he planet. I have lived here for 28 years but only fished here for the past 12. Having to be strapped to the bank limits your choices. However if you an run that boat you have a great amount of places. Suffolk lakes, Norfolk lakes, Bob's fishing hole is out standing place to start. The North Landing river is great also. Soon the boat traffic will be a problem. If you but a NC license this will open you to even more creeks and rivers. Google earth can be a great aid along with a smart phone. James is a great guy to talk with at Bob's. I put in there a lot, maybe I will see you there.

Thanks for the info Dave.

Welcome, Slabby-dabby! IT is down in Carolina. North Landing may hold more and deeper spots than NW. Good luck! I have not fished N Landing much.

Welcome.

You mentioned a boat but not size or power.

In general, the ponds and lakes limit you to 10hp. That's what I had on my boat, but it simply wasn't fast enough for the NorthWest River. the reason being that a change in the wind raises or lowers the water so much that to find the fish you might need to run a long ways down to North Carolina to find quality fish one day and be just a couple of miles from Bob's the next week.

Right now, I have a hoist rigged my garage so I can switch between my 9.9 and my 25 depending on whether I plan to fish a pond or the river. I hope to move to a 2 boat solution later this year.

But the point being that starting out boat speed and size limit choices.

Welcome aboard.

Welcome aboard I will say there are some sports I will fish that are less than 18 inches and some I can't even hit the bottom with my bream buster in the northwest river and North landing river varies depending on the area ypu are in West neck creek is a great spot to fish for blue gills bass and crappie as his godfrey creek across the water from Northlanding river boat launch.

Welcome, good to have you here.

Welcome to the board and thanks for your service! You have already received some great info. There are many, many places around that you can fish very effectively from a jon boat. I used to have a jon boat and a Ranger. I got rid of the Ranger because there are so many places that accommodate a small boat. As previously noted, the city lakes are horse power restricted. However, that hasn't stopped me from fishing the rivers with my smaller boat. Sure, I can't get to an area as fast as some, and I can't reach others that some folks fish, but I've never found it to be a hinderance.

IT stands for Indian Town Creek and it is located on the north end of the North River in NC. Locate the Albemarle Sound and look at the very north end. I don't fish a bunch on the North Landing simply because of the boat/barge traffic. It can be difficult with a big boat, not to mention a jon boat. Too many big boats that could care less about you on that river. It has great fishing, just be careful when you are out there.

The Northwest River is probably my favorite. It holds everything that a guy could want to catch, with some very nice fish. I also really like all the city water-supply reservoirs (Whitehurst, Little Creek, Smith, Western Branch, Prince, Cohoon, Meade and Burnt Mills). You can also open the aperture by fishing the Lone Star Lakes in Suffolk. I've never been there, but hear the fishing can be pretty good. Don't mind travelling a bit further? Then look at the Peninsula. It has an abundance of great fishing with the Chick River leading the way.

Best of luck to you and please let me know if I can help in the future. I'm no expert, but I sure like to catch fish.

Thanks for the warm welcome folks, and thanks for all of the useful info right now I'm using a 14 Jon with my mud motor because I've mostly been fishing and hunting ducks in the pocaty. And it's super shallow in some spots and it's riddle fallen trees and underwater timber. But that river is where I've caught some of my biggest crappie. Last question. Does anyone have any intel on mill dam creek? I passes through it the other day looking for ducks to no avail but some parts look like bass and crappie heaven. It made me wish I have brought rods instead of shotguns. Is there good fishing back there or is it a waste of time?

Interesting that you have caught crappie up the Pocaty. I never had any luck there, most the reports from that river come from West Neck Creek. What's the biggest crappie you caught there?

Not sure why it didn't post my reply but the biggest I caught was just over 14 inches and about 3 ounces shy of being a two pounder

Welcome! I started fishing Pocaty creek when I was getting back into fishing. In a canoe/kayak I always thought when I get a boat I will go back with a chainsaw and clear out that creek. Lots of trees to get over. It produced in winter but come summer it was bowfin only. Milldam creek I have not fished BUT, my bass fishing friend once told me in the spring he was way up the creek tearing up the BIG crappie with a crank bait. He said he got a box full and had a big fry. So they are there, like everywhere else just takes time to find them. I want to fish NL river more but when a barge goes by and sucks out the water it is a bit scary!

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Originally Posted by Slabdabber

Not sure why it didn't post my reply but the biggest I caught was just over 14 inches and about 3 ounces shy of being a two pounder

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That's a real nice NLR crappie. I think my biggest is 1lb 5oz.