July 6, 2014 - Beaver Creek Reservoir in Crozet

I managed to misplace my camera with the photographic record of my visit to Beaver Creek Reservoir, so instead of relying on pictures, which are supposedly worth 1,000 words, I'll have to rely on text to communicate the chronicle of my (mis?) adventure.  When I manage to locate the camera, I'll update this, or maybe post again.

I had planned on going down to the Rivanna Reservoir, and pulled in at the ramp at the Woodlands Rd Bridge.  Because of the rain from Thursday and I believe Friday prior, the water had quite a bit of color to it.  That, combined with the fact that some people were taking an eternity to pull their boats out, led me to conclude that a more adventurous day might be in order.

Consequently, I programmed my telephone to lead me to Beaver Creek Reservoir in Crozet.

Beaver Creek Reservoir, according to the VDGIF website, is a 104 acre water supply reservoir for the Town of Crozet.  I had visited this reservoir before with my folks, when we had fished from the bank, and my father had caught one, or maybe two bass if I recall correctly.  I believe that was last fall, although independant corroboration would be appreciated.

In any case, when we'd been there last, the water was extremely clear.  This visit, it was considerably less so.  Relative clarity compared to observations that no reader could be familiar with is probably of limited utility; I really should come up with some standardized mechanism for measuring water clarity, like a Secci disk.  It was hot and bright.

I do have a record of my circuit around the lake using the GPS capability built into my cell phone, but I don't have that handy either.

I put in at around 6 PM, and paddled across the lake to the cove opposite the ramp, and made my way up the far bank, fishing a small spinner and a small yellow curlytail on a jig.

I didn't do much good, although as I went up the left creek, I caught a couple of bluegills, maybe 5-6 inches apiece, and a 7-8 inch bass, all on a spinner with an orange blade and blue body.  It was unintentional that I should be using UVA colors coinciding with being in UVA territory.

Anyhow, I made my way up the right creek as well, and took out at around 9.

I might imagine that this lake would be fantastic during spring crappie spawn as a result of the large amount of deadfall around the banks.  It might be better to fish crankbaits and rat-l-traps instead of spinners to get deep - the lake is fairly deep compared to the Culpeper lakes I'm used to.

Also, while I was there, I saw a group of strange people standing on what appeared to be surfboards, paddling along with what appeared to be canoe paddles.  Apparently, these are referred to as "stand-up paddleboards" and if you, loyal reader, ever feel that you don't look silly enough, I recommend you check them out.