Fished the Shenandoah river on the afternoon of 4/16 and had a decent day. Temps were in the 60's, water temp about 62. River was moderately clear but had a lot of pollen and other tree crap mixing in.

We fished Egypt Bend in Page county south of Luray. In about 5 hours of fishing we boated about 30-40 bluegill, some approaching 1lb, and about a dozen small bass, a mix between large and smallmouth. We caught everything on 2-3" curly-tail grubs on 16th-8th oz leadheads. Everything is still biting a little short, so another week or so of warmer weather will really get them biting and chasing good.

The bass fishing was a little disappointing but the 'gill fishing for this time of year was outstanding, especially given the fish kills we've seen the past few years. Apparently those that survived are growing pretty quickly. We also usually catch a few crappie in this stretch but none this day.

If you're planning a trip in the near future to this area do yourself a favor and get some small stuff and go gill fishing - that is a blast.