Dodging Rain

Had decided to get out and fish for a few hours last weekend, but the heavy rain forecast in all of VA was making it difficult to decide where. I was still bound and determined to get out for a day.  Looked at the always changing forecast and hit what was supposed to get the least amount of rain.  Fish were very active, but nothing really big.

Most were in this size range.

This guy took a size 12.

 

One of the bigger fish for the day.

Big ole tree.

Got back to the Jeep in time for the sky to open up and rain come down.  Started some coffee as I broke down my rod and got changed. 

Searching for Water

Virginia, like much of the south, has been hurting for some much needed rain.  As I type this though, he have received 1 inch of rain so far and could get up to another inch by the end of today.  However, last weekend the WV/VA border was about the only area in VA that had good water levels.  I snuck over to that side of VA in hopes my intel of the water levels were correct.  Ended up being a good call with several dozen fish caught and a very nice average size as well.  Fish weren't looking up yet, but they were very actively feeding subsurface.

Rattlesnake Orchid

Spotted Wintergreen

Big male brookie of the trip.  Hammered my fly.

Streamside lunch and coffee

Up high there was lots of new fallen trees. 

Still got into some nice fish though in the pools high up that I've never fished.

Poking Around My Local

Have a new area I've been wanting to explore for a while.  I know a few streams that are supposed to have trout, but access is the issue.  Took a practice CPA exam this morning and decided to take the afternoon off to see if I could find some trout in this new area.  First stream I tried had some Public Land down low, but was disappointed to find it was too silty to hold trout.  Fished a good stretch that yielded nothing.  Pretty looking water though.

So I was going up the road to try and find higher access when I came across a couple walking the road.  Decided to just roll down the window and see if they knew anything about trout in the area.  The guy happened to own land that follows a trib of the stream and holds trout.  I didn't even have to ask if I could fish his property, he just immediately told me where to park and fish on up, just stop at his house on the way out to report what I caught.  Very nice couple and I was very appreciative of their generosity.  Told me he also had a small pond (20 ft by 10 ft) that he puts stocked trout in, feeds them to 5 to 6 lbs, and then catches them out to eat.  I did mess around with his pets for a little bit, lots of fun on a 2 wt.

He told me some otters have moved in the stream in the past couple of  years and have put a hurting on both the trout in the stream and trout in his pond.  Said the past year he fattened all his trout up and the otters cleaned him out.  He estimates the otters got over 400 lbs of trout.  Said he use to see quite a few brookies in the stream that were around the ft mark, but not since the otters have moved in. I did see a few nice fish, but mostly caught tiny bows.  They did have some neat looking par marks though.

Stopped by the guys house to chat and he showed me the original house to his property.  Hard to put a date on the house he said since it burnt down twice and was built in two different sections, but he has traced evidence back to early 1800's.

Good fishing is always fun, but sometimes you meet people along the way that makes the adventure even more enjoyable and interesting.

Elevation Gains Suck

Decided to hit a new stream this past weekend that has been on my radar for a while, but access is tough.  Access from bottom is obsolete and you have to access this stream from the top at 3,600 ft elevation.  There was a 2,000 ft elevation loss to get onto this stream and round trip total of 6 miles was hiked, all for a stream that I wasn't even sure had trout on it.  

 

 

Old hunting shack or logging compound.

Old dam.

 

Guessing this is how the loggers gathered some water up at the top.

There is nothing better than fishing a new stream you are not sure holds trout and landing a brookie.

Old boiler.

 

 

Good size trout for this size stream.

It was a successful outing, but I need to reevaluate access points on this stream.  My legs hurt for days after this trip.  There is 600 ft of elevation gain in a couple hundred yard stretch that about killed me.