Drive to Shenandoah

Sunset over the Shenandoah National Park.

Yak Fishing

I'm just now getting a chance to post after moving from Virginia to Georgia and only recently getting access to the internet again. Last Saturday, dad and I thought it would be a lot of fun to take a guide out on the South Fork Shenandoah River who could teach us a little bit about fishing from a kayak. My dad has never fished from a kayak before and I have only paddled on lakes so both of us were looking forward to trying out some moving water and maybe catching a few smallmouth while we were at it. My dad made all the arrangements so I just met dad Friday night and we drove together down to our meeting point bright and early Saturday morning. It was comfortable (at 7:30 in the morning) which didn't bode well for the rest of the day.

Our guide, Jeff, was a very knowledgeable kayaker and showed us the ropes. We set out and began the day. I did a combination of fly and spin fishing, catching the first couple fish on a crayfish fly before switching over more to spin fishing. We did pretty well fishing and certainly learned a lot about kayak fishing. However, it was HOT! Dad and I both went through 4 bottles of water and I was still dehydrated the next day (felt like I was hung over but hadn't had a drop of alcohol). Those of you that know me know that I take sun protection seriously. I was all decked out and still managed to get a few small burns in the gaps between articles of clothing and on my neck from reflected light. There were some people though that were out in bathing suits or shorts for full day floats and were varying degrees of pink to angry red. I felt bad for them.

At the end of our 10 mile float we paddled our way to the pull out tired and sore but having caught some fish and learned a lot. I'll definitely be making my way out on the water again to fish from a kayak.

Dry River - Part Deux

My time in Richmond is rapidly drawing to a close and I wanted to get in one more trout fishing trip before I left. I've also somewhat recently developed an interest/fascination with bamboo rods and was hoping to fit in a trip to a rod maker in Virginia before I left as well. As this weekend was my last full weekend in Richmond, yesterday I went to the mountains. I decided to head to the Dry River again as the Ramsey's Draft, my first choice, was probably too low to fish. I set out at 5:30 which was just about as early as I could drag myself out of the house. I was streamside just a little over 2 hours later and began the day of fishing. My dad lent me his bamboo rod to try it out and see if I actually enjoy fishing grass as my interest up to this point had really been academic.

The weapon of the day - Thanks to my dad for letting me borrow it

Bamboo rod in hand, I headed to the river. After only a few steps in the water, I noticed my left foot beginning to feel significantly cooler than my right. Probably not a good sign for the integrity of my hippers but I haven't had a chance to check them yet. It was going to be a warm day though and as the day wore on it was kind of nice. I was seeing scattered rises almost immediately but not nearly as many or as aggressive as my last trip. I started fishing drys and within short order began getting strikes. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get a good hookup (like college all over again). I was beginning to get just a little bit frustrated before I finally started getting some of the fish to hand. The bamboo was a lot of fun and it made even the tiny mountain brookies feel like leviathans. I even managed to land a pretty nice fish, keeping him in the water until I was able to fumble my iPhone out of my waterproof pocket. He swam away with rather gratifying vigor after posing for my picture.

The quarry

I came across the improvised wooden troll shelter again, which fortunately remains unoccupied. Managed some good action on dry flies but as noon approached the fishing slowed somewhat. I managed to land one more and called it a day to go try my hand at casting some Rick Robbins bamboo rods.

I found Rick's rods after hearing good things about him from Griz, the bamboo aficionado at Urban Angler in northern Virginia. I stopped in at his workshop near Lexington, VA. It's a nice little place with a commute of about 55 steps from his house. He was kind enough to show me around the workshop and teach me a little bit about bamboo rod making. Rick is a tremendous wealth of knowledge and it was certainly worth the trip. At the end of the trip I cast some of his rods and was quite impressed. I particularly enjoyed casting his 3 piece models and I'll definitely keep him in mind when I finally get the chance to buy my own first bamboo rod...

Fishing with Board Certified Radiologists

Studying for Boards has really put a damper on the trout fishing of late. Fortunately, my friend Shep and I both took our exams early in the week. Finally freed from the shackles of academia we were able to head out to the mountains on Friday for a fine day of trout fishing. We both had to be back by mid afternoon so we decided to leave as early as we could. Sooo, in the predawn darkness we started west. We arrived at the river at about 7:45 and were fishing by just after 8. Shep went to check out the river while I was wadering up and saw multiple fish rising right near where we parked and it was promising to be a great day for fishing. Numerous bugs were hatching including small yellow sallies, a number of small mayflies, and some gigantic green drakes and the fish were really keyed in to the surface activity. The dry fly fishing was fantastic and Shep made it look easy. We caught a bunch of brookies on the surface including some nice ones. One fish even nailed a size 10 parachute green drake. Unfortunately there was a little trash (mostly beer cans) around the river, likely owing to the easy access, and at one point we came across a little camp with an improvised stick hut. We were a little concerned about a troll jumping out and attacking us for crossing his river but it turned out OK.

All in all it was a beautiful day on water with some phenomenal dry fly fishing. As a nice end to the day, on the drive home, Shep and I both found out that we passed our Boards.

Frustrated is my middle name...

I had a big test (unfortunately not THE big test) on Saturday and wanted to unwind with a little fishing on Sunday. I had to be back relatively early to pick my wife up from the airport though so I decided to go to the Conway river where you can pretty much drive up to the stream and park to cut down on hiking time. I was using an old book I have on fishing the Shenandoah National park and a PATC map as sources. I left bright and early and two hours later pull up to the stream parking area, only there are no parking signs everywhere. Apparently the property abutting the park is now under new ownership. I had to drive back around to the next river north and hike a ways in to get back to the Conway. So much for easy access.

Finally though, on to the stream. The Conway is one of the bigger streams in the Shenandoah National Park. It's a beautiful, stream with a good gradient and a large number of big pools. The water was unseasonably low on Sunday though and the Park needs some rain or summer is going to be hard on the fish. I saw a number of yellow stoneflies flying around the stream but only two or three fish rise to naturals the whole day. It was slow fishing but I managed a few, all on the surface, and missed a few more strikes. Any fish hitting a dry fly is a blast though and a bad day on a beautiful river always beats a good day studying.

The State's Tallest Tree...

Shep, a friend of mine at work, and I have talked trout for years now. One of the creeks he frequents that I've never had the chance to fish is Ramsey's Draft, a wild brook trout stream in Augusta County. I had a free day last weekend and it turns out I'm a tad bonkers about wild brookies so fishing I went. Mark, a friend I've had the privilege to meet through my wife, also had a day free and was able to join me in exploring Ramsey's Draft wilderness area. Shep provided me with a map to our destination which, after driving there and back, I'm fairly certain is even drawn to scale.

The directions (thank you Shep)

Mark and I started off bright and early Saturday morning and found our destination without trouble. We suited up in the wilderness area parking lot. While there, a couple pulled up and the gentleman asked us if we were familiar with the area. He said that the tallest tree in the state of Virginia, a white pine, grew in this very area. We couldn't help him as neither of us had been there before and the gentleman left disappointed. We started down the trail and began a glorious day of fishing Ramsey's Draft.

The stream

After starting the day with a good bourbon (I think I'm going to make bourbon a part of my pre-fishing routine) we started off down the trail. We hiked about 30 minutes down the trail and began fishing. We started with nymphs but weren't catching a thing. Switched over to dry flies and finally started seeing some fish. It was a beautiful day and just being outside on a day like Saturday makes a trip worthwhile. After a good day on the water we started back. On the way back out we saw a woman near the trailhead staring into the trees. Mark said "Hey, isn't that the woman asking about the tree" at which point we spotted the gentleman from the morning. He must have left and gotten directions. We said hello and I asked him if they found the tree. He said "Yeah, it's right here" and pointed to a tree... I mean it was pretty tall but not like "wow, that's a big tree" tall. There was no sign so I'll have to take his word for it. If anyone is interested in the alleged state's tallest tree, it's a tall looking pine tree on Ramsey's Draft trail near the parking area and has a fork at the base. That's all I can tell you.

Chasing Winter Trout

I was beginning to develop a light tremor after not having fished at all since last August. Fortunately, last weekend I was able to end the dry spell.

While I've been unable to go fishing, I have managed to acquire some fun new gear including my new baby, a 6'10" 3wt Murray's Mountain Trout Rod by Scott.

The new member of the family.

So it was with giddy anticipation that I turned my car towards the Shenandoah National Park and the North Fork Mormons River. I passed one angler setting up to fish the main stem of Mormons River below the dam on my way in and another fishing the main stem on the way out. Otherwise, I saw no anglers on the North Fork and just one pair of hikers on the North Fork trail on my hike out. I arrived stream side at about 9:30 in the morning and after rigging up and a bourbon toast to a good day of fishing, I set out. The stream was lovely, still decked out in snow from the big storm a few weeks ago as well as ice walls that have been growing all winter.

I hiked for about a mile and a half up river to begin fishing on a recommendation from Mossy Creek Fly Fishing (stopping but once at a hole I thought looked to good to pass up...in which I caught nothing). I started off with a green caddis nymph which I lost almost immediately. I took this as a sign and switched to a bead head pheasant tail nymph. It took a little while to work out some of the cobwebs in my casting but it was within an hour that I caught my first brook trout. At this point I considered the trip a success but of course, continued fishing.

During the course of the day and while intently focused on catching the next fish I became dimly aware of scattered small white things floating through the air. Being on a trout stream and trout fishing I naturally assumed that these were trout flies hatching from the stream. Some time later I noticed that all of the white "flies" were falling downward rather than floating horizontal or upward as trout flies do and that they melted upon landing. I thus realized that it was actually snow flurries. Apparently I'm not the most astute weatherman.

After a little while without any more strikes I switched to a cream caddis fly nymph (which I tied). To my delight I managed a few more fish and decided to call it quits. All of my fish were on nymphs but I did have one solid hit on the surface when a brookie fought me for my float. I promptly switched to the dry fly which I thought most closely resembled a bright yellow strike indicator and, again, caught nothing. All in all though, it was a great winter day to be trout fishing.