Ramsey's Draft Social Fish Distancing - May 2020

Took a day off from the endless grind of teleworking to recharge with a day in the woods and on the stream.  The only thing that could've made it better was the companionship of friends.  On this trip JC and Will would join.

JC and I left Hampton Roads mid-afternoon and the Corona Virus traffic was mercifully light.  After one short detour, and a tour of the metropolis of West Augusta, we made it to the Ramsey's Draft parking lot.  

We surveyed potential camp sites and selected one by the river, JC in his MSR single and me in my trusty Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2.

We enjoyed a Swartzbier while we poked around the river and then returned to the campsite to cook dinner - couscous with tuna and salmon.  

After dinner, we pierced the inky darkness with a drive bak to West Augusta to get wifi and text Will our gameplan for the next day's fishing and coordinate on a rendezvous spot.  We texted him we would hike about 2.5 miles up to Jerry's run and fish around there 'til he arrived.  We returned to Ramsey's Draft and admired the stars, made sure the fire coals were managed, and let the rush of the stream put us to sleep.

We woke the next morning, made a quick breakfast, broke camp, donned our gear and hit the trail.

 As we hiked, we kept the river on our right.  Missing an orange stripe on a tree to mark a preferred stream crossing, we continued on through a canyon of poison ivy, stepping gingerly to avoid the scourge. 

On our way to Jerry's Run, we lost count of the stream crossings, but there were many.  Not difficult to ford, but slippery nonetheless.
Along the way. we admired the rock seeps, wild geraniums, trilliums, and other wildflowers that bloomed among the poison ivy.

Once we got above Fish Hollow, the poison ivy became less prevalent.  

By and by, in about an hour, we made it to Jerry's Run.  

As the map indicates, there is a campsite with a large fire ring on the right side of the trail.  

Big fire ring, but only enough open space for a few tents.  Plus the site was ringed with dead trees so, if you stay here, pray you don't hear a thump in the night!

Enough hiking, time to hit the stream!  I fished up from Jerry's Run, while JC headed down.  The water level was lower, but the promise hinted at the stream crossings was fulfilled as I waded upstream in search of deeper pools.  

Being that it was shallow, I swapped out my tungsten bead head pheasant tail for a brass bead version and was rewarded almost immediately with Virginia's state fish - a beautiful native brook trout.

You gotta love the colors on these fish!  I continued upstream picking fish out of the pools as I went.  

With JC's daughter's pink playmobile walkie talkie I heard Will over his more powerful Motorola version making headway up the trail to Jerry's Run.  Will had driven up from Richmond and then speed-hiked in anticipation to meet us at Jerry's Run.  JC met him at the trail crossing with me just above, but I couldn't tear myself away from the stream.  I kept fishing, around that bend, up to that tree, one more pool....  Will and JC went back to fishing.  All morning long, we had the stream and its beautiful pools to ourselves.

With the water shallow, the fish were super spooky and if you scared one at the tail of the pool, he would bolt to tell his cousins at the head and spoilt he pool.  Luckily, there were plenty to choose from.  Finally turning back to work my way downstream, I stopped for a little water and a snack before hop-scotching below JC and Will.  Over the radio, Will confirmed that he was doing well and had switched over to a parachute Adams.  For some reason, I couldn't hail JC, even when I walked right past him on the stream.   Damn playmobile radios!

I found a spot on the trail with a dry creek bed and used that to work my way to the stream.  On the way, I crossed this little wetland hidden in the woods.

I started off still fishing the pheasant tail with success.

But after seeing some bugs in the air and my first legitimate rise, I joined Will and switched over to a size 16 parachute Adams.  The Brookies crushed it!  And like Will, I caught my largest Brookies on the dry.

 I continued upstream as the rendezvous time neared.  There were just too many beautiful pools to ply and so little time.   Surprisingly, there were plenty of fish in the runs too - perhaps where you would not expect them with the water being shallow.   It was just good fishing all around.

 As the afternoon turned late, I spied this little fellow sunning on a rock and he let me take his picture.   

I'm no expert, and even though it was May, I believe this is a March Brown mayfly.   The pheasant tail nymph is a reasonable approximation for the March Brown nymph so maybe that's why it worked so well.  Doesn't explain the parachute Adams though, with its grey body.  Go figure.  Those two flies are the workhorses of any Shenandoah fly box.  They just work and work.

at 4:30 Will and I headed to the rendezvous point to meet JC.  JC finished off the day with a beautiful Brookie caught on a caddis fly.  Pretty work!

Back at the parking lot, we passed around the Smartmouth Alter Egos and kept our social distance as we recapped the day.  My back hurt, I was sore, but I wouldn't have changed a thing.  The previous evening's stream-side campout was salve for my soul and spending days with friends on the river are the stuff memories are made of.  These days will carry me through the COVID-19 pandemic to the other side.  Thanks for keeping the George Washington National Forest open.

Peace.

In Search of New Water - North River

I had seen (Mossy Creek Fly Fishing) Colby Trow's presentation on VA flyfishing several times.  Each time I kept notes on streams I hadn't fished and made silent promises that I would explore these little gems.  Yet, I hadn't done anything about my wanderlust... until now.

I planned to start doing shotgun trips up to the mountains - leave Friday after work, camp out, demob., fish Sat. and come home Sat. night to minimize time away from family.  This was the first of (hopefully) many trips.

From the list, I chose the North River for the first new foray.  Colby said the upper section had good brookie water and the special regulation water below the Elkhorn Dam could hold some larger rainbows.

According to plan, I left a few hours early on Friday to avoid at least some of the traffic crossing the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, and hit the gas after the construction zone on Rt. 64.

I met Neil in Stanton, and we checked out Redbeard Brewing Co for some grub before heading to our campsite.  Their brown ale was decent and the food truck food was good, but overly expensive for the portions (a "truth" for all truck food?).

We wound our way along country roads until the pavement dissolved into dirt track in the George Washington National Forest.  The road was pretty well graded and that's good, because few people, besides us, slowed down from highway speeds!  Making dust clouds is cool I guess!

We had our pick of streamside sites on the dirt road that paralleled the stream above the lake.  Lots of space, big fire rings, and free - you can't beat that!  It was busy for April, but the weather forecast was awesome so that brought a lot of car campers out.

After setting up the tents, we had some daylight left, so we got our gear and checked out the stream section in our backyard.  I caught a nice rainbow in a pool just below the site.  It took a small olive "slumpbuster" streamer and I caught two other fish further downstream in similar pools.  I did see some rises right at dusk, but didn't feel like re-rigging for drys with so little time; besides, I was ahead of the game.

Neil an I talked story for a while and discussed our strategy for the next day, fish and explore basically, and turned in around 10.

We got up the next morning around 6:30, made oatmeal and coffee, and broke camp.  We drove up to the third bridge and Neil fished upstream while I fished down.  Here's a map, but I don't think it shows the bridge crossings properly.  The Lake on the left is Elkhorn, the one on the right is Stanton.

We hopped from pool to pool.  This is what the river looked like....

  I was having pretty good luck with a bead head prince nymph.   My first fish was a dink, but drop dead gorgeous.  I love the little guys with the par marks!

   Caught a few more as I moved downstream...

We rendezvoused at 11:00 to recap our experiences.  Neil had also caught some nice fish on streamers.  We decided to move downstream to the next bridge and this time hopscotch our way upstream to try to avoid water that was around occupied campsites and/or that may have already been worked.  

I caught a few fish before we met up at 12:30 for lunch.  After a brief respite, we decided to drive down to Elkhorn Lake and walk over the dam to the Special Regulation/Delayed Harvest section.  Once at the bottom release pool, our plan was to have me hike to Stanton Lake at the bottom of the section and fish up while Neil fished down until we met up.

We met another angler at the dam release who told us about a pool where a bunch of the larger stocked fish were hanging out.  We made a beeline there, but there was a group of 6 or 7 people occupying the pool who had camped nearby the night before.  We just kept walking and executed the plan.

Rather than taking 45 minutes to get to Stanton Lake, I was there in only another 15 minutes.  Maybe I was hurrying because I wanted to fish!

Once there, I was greeted by pretty water...

 and a swimming snake (opposite bank, no pic)...

...and this freaky big ass bug!

I think it's some kind of giant leaf hopper.  As I got closer, he flinched a little, so I snapped a quick picture and let him be.

                                                            

 Looking upstream, the river unfolded before me.

 There were fewer pools, and more walking, but there were still fish to be had.  I caught 3 or 4 with one long line release.  Everything on the bead head prince nymph.  I was using a Dorsey yarn strike indicator so I could easily modify the rig as the pool depth changed.  

With the missing and clipped fins, I'm guessing this is one of the rainbow stockers. 

 I made it back to the rendezvous point around 5:30, found Neil, and we made plans to stop at one of our favorite watering holes to cap off the day - Blue Mountain Brewery.  We had a nice meal and a pint as we watched the sun sink behind the Shenandoah Mountains.  It was a great day following the road to new waters...

Peace.

Skidmore Fork, George Washington National Forest, VA, 1-20-14

My friend Chris and I took the day to fish the Skidmore Fork in the George Washington National Forest in northwestern VA. Snow lingered in the shady spots and chunks of ice floated downstream below the bottom-release dam, but the sun warmed the day up into the 50s and it was very pleasant. The brookies didn't seem to be too picky and responded well to brassies of various colors, bead-head pheasant tail nymphs, and other assorted nymphs. It was a fun day!
 
Skidmore Fork, George Washington National Forest, VA, 1-20-14 from Coastal Explorer on Vimeo.

The Switzer Dam (bottom release) flows into the Skidmore Fork




Photo of the pool just below the dam...

Spawned out fish - long and thin…

Chris nymphing in a pretty run...

Underwater shots by Chris Burbage...

I broke off a lunker in this pool in the spring...

Lingering ice...

Another beautiful run…

What we came for…spectacular!

Trash left in the parking lot...

 

Bill Wills SE VA Chapter of TU trip to the Dry River, VA 10/19/13

Andy, David, and I left Saturday afternoon, camped out at the Hone Quarry Campground, and then made the quick shuttle to the Dry River for some beautiful brook trout fishing in the George Washington National Forest. Thanks to Deep Minnow for the great still shots in the video. I hope the Commonwealth or the Feds DON'T FRACK HERE! Enjoy!

Bill Wills' SE VA Chapter of TU - Trip to the Dry River 10/19/13 from Coastal Explorer on Vimeo.

Floating the Shenandoah River for Smallmouth Bass May 18, 2013

Floating the Shenandoah River for Smallmouth Bass from Coastal Explorer on Vimeo.

Ramsey's Draft Wilderness, GWNF, May 15, 2013

Day two of my Plan B instead of fishing in NY's Catskills.

The night before I met up with fellow Bill Wills Southeastern VA Chapter of TU member John Crosby and his lovely wife Karen.  We had a nice long breakfast, solved a few world problems, and then got our act together to fish.

First we stopped at the South River Fly shop in Waynesboro to get the skinny.  Owner Kevin Little is a very nice guy and I highly recommend if you're in the area that you stop in for a good deal on 3wt. Echo rods, some key flies (restocked my stimulator arsenal) and the best intel.  After consulting with the experts, and discussing the sad state of high water conditions, we decided to go back to the George Washington National Forest, and fish the Ramsey's Draft Wilderness Area.  David Nash (MyLeakyWaders.blogspot.com)   had fished that stream the week before and had done well so we were off!

We dinked around so we didn't get to the stream until afternoon.  



We agreed to follow the same strategy of moving upstream for a distance in the hopes of finding less-pressured water.  We walked for about 45 minutes, got off the trail somehow (following the steam bank) and started our fishing moving upstream as we went.  The first section we fished looked like this.

 John nymphing.

I spied this blowdown and decided to try my luck casting up and underneath the downed trees.  

Perseverance was rewarded with what turned out to be the biggest brookie of the day.  He took the stimulator.

Casting to the head of this pool from the upstream side, I landed an errant cast into the debris, so as I scootched out the log to retrieve my fly, I spotted a snake (water snake?) slithering up and along the upper log.  I quickly retrieved the fly, and then got a 6th sense feeling and looked to my left to spot another sibling.  Yikes!  I made hast to amscraa!

 On another errant cast, I was retrieving the fly from a snag-bush and noticed this casing.  What monster hatched out of this inch and a half shell!

I lost track of John, but on I went upstream fishing riffle and pool until my heart's content.  Scenes like this drew me ever upward.

There were small black caddis flies flitting around so I tied on a size 14, but I couldn't even see the damned thing.  Old eyes suck!  The wind was blowing in gusts, so, not being an expert in terrestrial flies or fishing, I decided to put on an ant, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to see the black ants either, so I put on a beetle with a poof of chartreuse on it.  No hits, so I went back to the black ant.  I still couldn't see it but set the hook on any surface activity and got a few small brookies this way.     

 

 Not having seen John in a while, I started back down the trail at 6 pm.  This time it was easy to follow and, calling his name all the way, made my way downstream taking pictures along the way. 

 

 I found this interesting rack wall with water dripping down its face.  The leaky faucet gave it a cool covering of mosses and plants.

   

 More snakes on the path.  This one a harmless garter snake.

May apples in bloom along the trail....

Wild geraniums aka "cranesbill".  In this frame, a little bit of pleasure and pain!

The trail was flanked with flowers everywhere you looked!

When I got back to the parking lot, thankfully, I found John - fishing while he waited for me.  Here he is plying one last run.

We steered the car west and made our way around the traffic piling up at the Blue Ridge intersection on Rt. 64.  John's backroad knowledge beats Siri or GPS any day!

I threw my stuff in the back of the car and left Charlottesville at about 8:30 pm.  I hit road construction about every 10 miles heading east on route 64, but at least the traffic was moving late on a weekday night.  Got home to my loved ones just after midnight and hit the pillow like a rock, but couldn't help dream of VA's terrific trout streams, the hospitality of good friends, and the blessings of the day.