Rappahannock River
The river looked to be in good shape at press time. At this portion of the year there is some great smallmouth and largemouth action upriver to be had if you have the time to get a canoe in the water. Look for sunlit deep holes and slowly crawl a jig and craw or live bait along the bottom and around structure.

Potomac River
Bass are found on woody structure right now and again, like the Rapp, look for sunlit

areas as it gets cold. Fish when the weather is stable for a few days for the best action. The creeks are the best bet and the headwaters tend to be the spot to go.

Saltwater
Captain Ryan Rogers (804-580-0245) has been fishing regularly and returning regularly with some very pretty rockfish. I am amazed at how large the rockfish are and how beautiful the fish are. Ryan has reported that the amount of bait in the bay is unreal and there are birds everywhere too.

Hunting
Deer — The rut is now pretty much over until we get a short round on the fawn does that come into estrus around Christmas or so. Deer are now focused on feeding and bedding in thick cover. You may have to change your strategies to get a deer. Eleven deer were checked into Pern’s (775-7817) this week. Dutch’s Mart also had two does checked in. We appreciate hunters stopping by to check deer in. If you want your picture in the paper email us the pic. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Ducks — The flights seem to have slowed down but mallards, divers and a few woodies are reported to have been in the area. Geese are also available too.
Squirrel hunting is downright unreal right now. Last year’s acorn crop turned into a bushytail bumper crop. They are pretty much everywhere.
Rabbits seem to be numerous too. I have also observed some woodcock flying and probing wet areas recently.

Seasons
Dec. 26 – Jan. 14, Dove season (½ hour before sunrise until sunset) Bag Limit —15 per day, 30 in possession. Composed of mourning doves and white-winged doves, singly or in combination.
Duck
Dec. 10 – Jan. 28, Daily bag limit — 6 ducks, which may include no more than 4 mallards (only 2 can be hen mallards), 4 scoters, 3 wood ducks, 2 redheads, 2 scaup, 2 pintail, 1 black duck (except closed during Oct. 6–10), 1 canvasback, 1 mottled duck, and 1 fulvous whistling duck.
Nov. 5 – Feb. 29 — Rabbit season
Nov. 19 – Jan. 7 — Firearms deer season in our region
Dec. 23 – Jan. 28 — Canada Goose, Atlantic Population Zone (AP) [including Back Bay], Bag Limit: 2 geese per day
Dec. 5 – 17 — Fall turkey season in Northern Neck
Dec. 12-17 — Firearms bear season in KG, Westmoreland and rest of Northern Neck.