By Carter Mitchell

Photo credit: Carter Mitchell.

The arrival of spring is a great time of year. Spring brings warmer weather, beautiful flowers blooming, and more time outside. For many, this season offers more opportunities for new activities outside that the winter months do not allow for. Fishing is a hobby, love, or job for some and can provide joy and frustration for anyone. 

In Virginia, the state’s biological diversity provides for many different types of fishing. The surplus of fresh and saltwater fishing gives people a variety of options. Virginia’s freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers, creeks, and streams, to saltwater rivers, bays, and oceans, offer an abundance of species. Despite all of these different species of fish and bodies of water, freshwater-dwelling largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) is the most popular and sought-after species for many anglers in Virginia. 

Commercial largemouth bass fishing has been traced back to the late 18th century, when commercially sold fishing reels and tackle were produced. Toni of the Bass Fishing Forever newsletter wrote, “Onesimus Ustonson established his trading shop in 1761, and this establishment stayed as a market leader for the next century. He also received a Royal Warrant and became the official supplier of fishing tackle to three successive monarchs, starting with King George IV, over this period.” As the inventor of the fishing reel, Ustonson had begun to recognize the opportunity of the consumer of fishing goods and realized that he could make money by selling these products. 

Some of Ustonson’s original reels. Photo credit: Collectable Antique Fishing Reels via reelsnlures.com.

For centuries, bass fishing was primarily a way of survival. The abundance of largemouth bass in small freshwater bodies of water made them a targeted resource. Bass fishing has evolved since to a more conserved and protected way of fishing. 

Bass fishing tournaments, associations dedicated to bass, and projects to protect largemouth bass show the impact these fish have had for many years. Organizations like BASS – Bassmaster and Major League Fishing have professionally televised bass fishing tournaments. Smaller organizations and Virginia BASS organizations put on tournaments on lakes and rivers throughout Virginia for competition in the community. 

With the arrival of spring, the largemouth bass are in their spawning cycle, the process in which the female creates and lays eggs on the nests they build in the water, called beds. Spring anglers use their respective tactics and head to their respective honey holes to try to catch the most popular game fish in northern America. For one high school student, this is one of the most important and best times of the year. 

Holding two 6-pound bass. Photo credit: Hartley Rahman.

Junior and varsity baseball player Will Quinby (‘25) has been fishing for his entire life, but with the COVID-19 lockdown, he found that fishing was the perfect hobby for him and his friends to occupy the boring times. In 2020, Quinby learned how to fish for bass. After a long and hard process, he has perfected his favorite bait for any type of year, the spinner bait. Quinby said, “Pre-spawn, I fish a spinner bait that I slow roll, and post-spawn I also fish any type of moving baits: spinnerbait, chatter bait, or a crankbait, because they are hungry and willing to be aggressive for a meal.” He has had success with these baits and is confident they will catch fish in any pond or lake.

A spinner bait is a wire bait made with one to three metal flashing blades and a plastic, hair-like skirt to imitate a swimming bait fish. Quinby uses the “slow roll” technique because in colder water temperatures, the bass less tend to be aggressive and active, so a slower bait going along the bottom looks more realistic to the largemouth. During the actual spawning period, from mid-April to mid-May, Quinby’s preference is to sight fish for the bass. He scans the shallows of the bank to try to catch a glimpse of a female bass protecting her eggs on her bed. When Quinby spots the bedding fish, he likes to cast a more intimidating bait called a jig. This bait is a weighted hook with a plastic skirt of hair-like strands off of the bait to act as a crawfish attempting to eat the eggs. Quinby catches large spawning fish with this technique because of the intimidation the jig has. Quinby has caught some of the largest bass in the greater Richmond area. His personal best is a very impressive seven to eight-pound largemouth.

Surprisingly, Quinby’s favorite fish to catch is not the largemouth bass, despite how much knowledge, time, money, and passion he has invested in bass fishing.

Red drum caught in Irvington, Virginia.
Photo credit: Will Quinby.

Quinby told me, “Bass aren’t my favorite fish to catch, because I like redfish more, but bass are very aggressive and are pretty much in any pond nearby.” Quinby has caught many redfish, also known as a red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), and catches them in the Rappahannock River near Irvington, Virginia. He uses a popping cork with a 12-inch leader to an artificial plastic shrimp. Quinby pops the cork, which splashes water on the surface, acting like a bait fish swimming along the top of the water. This attracts the redfish, and they see the shrimp and bite them and his hook. 

When asked why he loves fishing, Quinby stated, “I fish because I can hang out with my friends and get outside and have fun.” He shares his hobby with his friends and has influenced multiple people, convincing them to start fishing for the first time, or to start again, finding a love for the hobby. He has helped me find my love, along with many members of the Collegiate varsity baseball team, during last year’s and this year’s seasons. Quinby has invited and shown his baseball teammates other spots around Richmond to catch fish, and we have shared our secret spots. We have been able to bond over these eventful, memory-filled trips.

Featured image credit: Will Quinby.