After Funeral Brookie Trip

I'm a little late posting this report, but came down with a stomach bug shortly after this trip that delayed me posting this.  Had a fishing friend whose dad passed away, so another fishing friend and I attended the service up in the mountains.  Always sad to see someone pass away, especially in a small mountain community where everyone knows everybody there. 

After the service my friend and I took advantage of the perfect fall weather and hit a brookie stream real quick on the way out.  From the looks of the females we caught, the fish have been done spawning and did not see a single fish holding on a redd. Fishing was also surprisingly different from what I was expecting.  It was an 80 degree fall day and figured I'd whack them with a dry/dropper combo.  It was so slow of fishing that my friend and I swore we were fishing behind someone.  I cut off my rig and tied some tungsten on and immediately started picking up fish.  They wanted the fly glued to the bottom and moving slow.  Takes were very light too.

Fish above came from this little feeder stream culvert pool.  Isolated pool with no way to get upstream or downstream without some flood condition water.

Big ugly stocker rainbow that made its way far from where it was put.

Enjoyed a cup of stream brewed joe as I watched my friend work a pool.

Some chestnut making an appearance.  Will not have long until it succumbs to blight.

Quick Stream Water Level Scouting

Had a few hours to kill this past Sunday afternoon and decided to check out what the stream levels in the small streams were like.  It had been really dry up until a few weeks ago and we have received well over 6 inches of rain in some areas in that span.  I have a trip planned in a few weeks to come, and wanted to get an idea of how much water the mountains have been receiving and what the water levels were at.  VA is doing well on the water department right now.  Stream I fished was the highest I have fished it, and I managed to also dredge up one of the better brookies I have ever caught from this drainage.  Good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Garter Snake making an appearance.

Signs of fall.

Lots of water pumping.

Fattie from the stream.

All the rain that we have received was not from Hurricane Matthew, but a different front that was moving from the northwest.  We did though receive a lot of wind from Hurricane Matthew following the front that moved through and as a result there is a lot of new downed trees on roads, in stream, and on trails. 

Jackson River Low Water Float

This past weekend I had a few Sunday but the lack of rain has really limited fishing options in Virginia.  It was either wade for some smallies or test out my  buddy's new to him Bi Yak on the tailwater.  The Jackson River was even low at 220 cfs, but we decided to give it a go anyways knowing there would be lots of dragging and bumping down the river.  Fishing was slow as we found out that the lake above was turning over, but fish were caught and a good time was had by all.  It started out as a 3 man float but we ditched one of the guys shortly after our voyage due to the skinny water and finding out the 3 man bi yak is really a 2 man bi yak when the 3 men are not the size of midgets. 

Running the shuttle.

Lunch break.

One of the nicer browns from the day.

Ditching the vagabond.

Coffee break.

It was great getting out and catching a few trout, but I think next time we fish this river, we'll pick a day when there is a little more water.

Rainy, Cool Summer Brookie Trip

It has been a very odd August.  We had a very dry, hot stretch from June thru Mid July, but the end of July and August has been extremely rainy and pretty mild temps.  A few days snuck down to the low 70's.  I had a small break last Sunday to hit a close by brookie stream and it treated me very well.  Probably the best it has fished in a long time.  All the trout came on a size 12 stimi and it was almost like I could not keep them off the hook.  That was a good problem to have.

Big Brookie of the trip was the second fish I caught for the day.

Odd red crawfish.  This was not the red crawfish stream either.

Eager little guy taking a size 12.

Couldn't of asked for better water levels.

Some coffee for the road.

Came around a corner and there was a family of deer standing in the road.  Lucky for them and me I wasn't in a hurry.

It was nice to take advantage of the cool weather.  Keep doing that rain dance whoever it is that is dancing.

Study Break - July Brookies

It is a rarity that we can still fish for brook trout in mid July in VA.  Usually by June, we have to leave the brookies alone for the rest of summer due to water levels being too low and temps being too high.  But this summer has been especially wet and cool.  Had the family out of town so I called up a friend and we hit a trout stream I enjoy a chance to fish whenever I can.  There were a few pools with sulking trout in it, but fish were caught on dries and a good time was had.

A few rainbows managed to make their way into this stream as of recent years.

Old rickety bridge.

Got caught in a quick thunderstorm that was much appreciated.  It was starting to get warm.

Fishing picked back up after the rain.

Plenty of blackberries for the walk back to the car.

2016 Cicada Hatch - Carp

Man have I been busy.  It has been killing me this month knowing there was a 17 year cicada hatch going on at Lake Moomaw and all my friends were catching carp with out me.  Like 40 to 50 carp a day.  So I finally managed to make a trip out there and the carp are all out of whack.  I honestly think it was a mixture of it being towards the end of the hatch and all the boaters out on the lake that day, but we still put a few carp in the boat and had a good time with friends.

See you again Mr. Cicada in 2033!