Western VA Trout Fishing with Will, May 2025

 Will and I had a few days to fish and I was excited to do a little sprimg trout fishing before the heat of the summer settled in and I was focused more on smallmouth and saltwater pursuits.

We chose three different water bodies including one in WV neither one of us had fished before.  I met Will at his house outside Richmond and we packed his Outback full of camping and fishing gear and food.

That's a lot of gear for just two anglers!  We made a pilgrimage to the Mossy Creek Fly Fishing store to stock up and then spent the rest of the afternoon hiking up to the Swisher Dam and fishing our way down the Skidmore Fork.

It seemed like the rain we got in Richmond and Hampton Roads didn't make it to this side of the mountains and with the water low, it was slim pickings.  

We both managed a few, with the fishing improving greatly when we fell back into the Dry River and Will found the magic nymph that started catching lots of fish.  We made our way in the dark to the Hone Quarry campground and found a spot.  We boiled water for dinner and as that steeped, we set up tents.  After filling our bellies, sleep came quickly.

We decided to switch up our itinerary and fish WV Friday to learn a new spot without the weekend crowds.  We broke down the campsite, packed up our things and hit the road early.

Passing through the ‎⁨Monongahela National Forest⁩, and the little town of ⁨Green Bank⁩, ⁨West Virginia⁩, ⁨we passed the Green Bank Observatory.  That did not look like a civilian facility to me!

At home, daytime temps were already dipping into the 80s with nighttime lows in the high 60s, so we were unprepared driving into WV with a 10 am high of 43 degrees F!  

We made it to the trailhead that provided access to the stream and hiked in about 45 minutes (through a lot of poisen ivy!) to avoid the most pressured sections.

We stopped at a deep pool and, even though we were told that the fish in this river we totally keyed in on bugs and would not take a streamer, I had to try.  I did get a follow and refusal on a kreelex but after 15 minutes of no other follows, I switched to one of the green drake imitations we purchased at Mossy Creek.

After about a half an hour, we started seeing these large boats (sulphurs) floating down the river and fish rising to take them. 

My first fish.

It was nice to tussle with something bigger than a Brookie; I love catching brown trout!  We worked this one pool and a couple pockets just above for several hours as fish kept rising even though we each pulled a number of lunkers out of it.  

Every time we though about leaving, fish would rise and we would cast to them.

The stream was very buggy with a couple different large mayflies, including green drakes, providing a steady diet to rising trout.

We were both having the times of our lives.

We each broke off some large fish using 5X tippet on 5wts, some real monsters!  We were told about a strategy to use 3wts with longer lighter tippets which seems counter intuitive, but I guess the light rod tips stress the tippet less.  We'll have to try that next time.  Nevertheless, the fishing was excellent!

We finally left this amazing pool to see what the rest of the river had to offer.  As we waded upstream to towards the car, we found similar dry fly action and caught and missed more lunker browns and rainbows.

All fish were released in good shape.

We caught rainbows as well as browns.

I ran out of sulphur and green drake flies, so as the light started to fade, we made our way back to our next campground, that was largely empty.  We picked the premier site on a peninsula with water on two sides.  

We probably could have caught fish here if we weren't so damn tired (and satisfied!).  We made food and went to bed - no campfire.

The next morning, we packed up the campsite for the last time and got an early start heading back into VA to meet our friend Chris for the hike into Laurel Fork, on the VA/WV border.

After meeting up with Chris, we hiked down the Slabcamp Run trail to fish a new section of the Laurel Fork.  It's a 2.5-3 mile hike down and that keeps the pressure realatively low.  We keep saying this would be a great place to spend a weekend so you don't have to hike in and out on the same day.  

Anyway, along the way, we passed at least three beaver dams.  Pretty cool! 

Evidence of their "busy beaver" lifestyle; pretty impressive!

Chris was locked and loaded and stepped into the small stream while Will and I rigged up.  He caught a brookie straightaway.  We moved upstream and took turns catching fish and heckling missed fish as we went. 

The stream was gorgeous, but the fishing was slow compared to the day before (an unrealistic comparison!).

We enjoyed each other's company as we covered the water, caught a few little brookies and stopped along the way to admire the wild beauty of the Laurel Fork.

At about 3 pm we reconvened at where we veered off the Slabcamp trail to meet the river and started our uphill hike out.  Chris, who wet waded in sandals, set a strong pace.  Will and I had carried our waders and boots in and labored to keep up even in hiking boots.  At one point we zigged where we should have zagged and my new Garmin Fenix 8 with trail maps showed it's worth as it guided us back to the way out.  Reaching the cars, we said our goodbyes.  Will piloted us back to Richmond where I threw my stuff in my car and made my way back to Hampton Roads, arriving somewhere around midnight.  It was a great three days of trout fishing.  I can wait to explore more of WV in my retirement years. 

Peace.

New River Smallmouth Fly Fishing with Virginia Trophy Guides, April 1 2025

I had fished for musky with Auston from Virginia Trophy Guides and he got me into my first musky on my first trip.  He's an incredibly knowledgeable guide, a hard worker, and fun to be around.  So when I heard his presentation on smallmouth fly fishing in the New River, I had to book him again for this new adventure, this time with my friend Andy.

We launched at Riverview Park in Radford, the swallows diving and swooping along the river's surface, capturing bugs in the cool April Fool's morning air.

We were throwing 6-8" gamechangers and it wasn't long before I landed my first ever smallie on the fly. 

What followed, was a pleasant float down the New River, catching large smallies all along the route.  I even was able to catch a legit citation 25 incher!

Andy and I traded off catching fish.

Pilings from an old bridge with the new Route 11 bridge in the background...

Auston would change flies based on the water color (depth), the bottom structure, and other voodoo.  Here are some of the tried and switched out flies.  

An uncharacteristic peach-colored gamechanger worked for me most of the day. Andy and I both had success with olive too.

Here's Andy with a beautifully striped beast!

Man, what a great day with Auston and Virginia Trophy Guides.  Can wait to try out the summer fishing on the New.

Peace!
  

2024 Fall Catches

 Just a few misc. catches from the fall of 2024.

An evening trip with Andy on the Lynnhaven River yielded this nice red drum.

Fishing in the early morning light in the Lynnhaven River with with Josh.  We pulled in a couple fish like this before the rising sun shut down the dock light bite.

More evening fishing with some catches of redfish...

Fishing with Joe in the Lafayette River brought this 20" trout to hand.

Time for the rivers to bed down for the winter...

Searching for Tailing Reds, NC and SC June 2024

I had been hankering getting back to do some sightfishing for redfish and this trip I had my friend Andy along as a companion.  He brought his big boat to tackle the run across the Cape Fear River to fish around Bald Head Island.

We stayed at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Southport since it was near to the Dutchman Creek public launch.  We didn't fish the night we arrived, but went to recon the boat ramp for the next day's fishing.

We found this baby gator, hunting in the flood lit waters around the ramp.  We found he would readily chase the disturbance of a popping bug.

We didn't get any fish and didn't want to harrass the gator too much, so we returned to the hotel for some shut eye.

The next day, fair skies greeted us as we launched on Dutchman Creek.

We worked our way up into the marshes behind Bald Head Island where I had found fish many times before.  The tide was low, but we anchored the boat and waited for the tide to rise, eventually getting out to wade ashore, looking for reds following the flood in.  

After a while, there seemed to be enough water for reds to push their way in, but I never saw one.  The tide did not seem to fill in and get the depth that I wanted.

In a big patch of open water, I did manage to get this one little croaker to get the skunk out of the boat. 

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, signage persuaded us to not step off the paved surface to cast into the adjacent, fenced stormwater pond.

We tried again the next day, and even though we found better flooded marsh... 

...the results were the same.  We never saw a drum.  

We called it quits, and hit the road to drive to Charleston.  We stayed at the KOA in Mt. Pleasant.  They have nice air conditioned cabins and the beds, with foam mattresses, are comfortable enough.  You can park your boat there and they have a spigot with water to rinse off after a day of fishing.

On the first day, we searched some high tide flats on the Wando River, but the tide never seemed to get high enough for the fish to get up in there.  It looked promising though...

Back at the cabin, we tied flies and prepared for the next day.

On the second day, we fished the Wando River edge, waiting for the tide to rise.  Sometimes you can find tailing redfish on that edge - waiting to get up into the flooded Spartina.  Not a red, but I was lucky enough to catch a nice little speckled trout.

We looked around, on both sides of the river, and followed the flood tide in search of tailing reds. 

Some of that exploration into new areas revealed some beautiful, fishy-looking water. 

But no fish..

Out on the main river, it was windy as hell and we struggled to find any lee or calm water where fish might be tailing.  With the flood tide being pushed by the wind, the water was deep enough to hide the movements of fish.

On one flat, we did find tailers, but they were spooky and we just seemed to push them around without getting many good shots.  Cruising the shoreline, we did find one small pocket of water that must've had at least four tailing fish in it.  I thought for sure we'd catch one.  I got good shots at at least two of them.  Incredibly, I came away empty handed.

All in all, with the high winds, a strong tide, and deep water, it was super tough fishing, made all the more disappointing by the time and travel that we hade to make in order to get to South Carolina.  But at Bob Hutchinson used to say, "That's why they call it fishing and not catching."

Nevertheless, it was a great time with Andy and in meeting new friends.  It will just make the next productive trip all the more sweet.  We'll be back!

peace