New River as fishery for smallmouth is rebounding

ON THE WATER: By Flynn Pollard
For The Montgomery Herald

July 16, 2008 10:31 am

— Ravaged by the floods of 2001, New River smallmouth fishing simply had not been the same for the past several years. Once known as a blue ribbon fishery, 100-fish days were not at all unusual on the New River, and in fact, were close to the norm for those who floated sections from Prince to Fayette Station. But following those massive floods, local guides wondered when, and even if, the river would rebound. Rather than 100-fish days, float trippers were excited when total catch numbers reached 30.
Signs that the river was coming back began appearing in 2007, as fishermen began to have some outstanding days — catching lots of fish mixed in with a fair number of trophies.
According to local guide Larry Nibert, those 100-fish days have been back for the past several weeks. Knowing this, we were anxious to see what we could turn up when my sister, my dad and I fished the river from Thurmond to Cunard last Wednesday.
Waking up at 5:30, we hurried to our put-in and began fishing two hours later. It was still dark and a heavy layer of mist was floating just above the water when we started, but promises of good weather and the thought of fishing kept us awake enough to begin the day.
My sister Rebecca and I were using crank baits while my dad opted to fish with soft plastics. His decision was quickly changed however, as both Rebecca and I were catching smallmouth after our first couple of casts. But, after a change of lure by my father, all three of us were pulling them in.
It seems that the New River is indeed making a comeback, as many of the fish that were caught on our trip were 12 to 14 inches in length. This indicates that the river’s bass population has had successful spawns in the last couple of years.
Though the population has not increased enough for 100 fish to be caught on a daily basis, it is evident that the numbers are quickly coming back, as shown in the reports of fishermen like Nibert. And our success on Wednesday is yet another part of that statistic.
Though dad, who was doing the rowing, did not fish as much as my sister or I, we were all satisfied with the end day’s results. All three of us were able to catch a couple of nice sized smallmouth, along with a fair number of others. Between the three of us, we managed to catch over 40 fish, which, though not as much as 100, was definitely better than spending the morning at home.
(Pollard is a student at Oak Hill High School.)

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