Fishing Report: Beaver Creek/Skidmore Fork (11/24) , Upper Rapidan (11/25), and Moormans North Fork (11/29)

It's been far too long since we've added anything to the blog, so this is a make-up post. We were fortunate enough to have the whole week off for Thanksgiving and I was able to get on the water quite a bit. Here are some reports from the four rivers I fished.

Dad and I woke up before the crack of dawn last Tuesday and headed out to Beaver Creek in Ottobine. He had just come off a lack-luster trip to Colorado fraught with horrible weather and sluggish trout, so we were excited to get a chance at our favorite spring creek. We had perfect weather: cool and cloudy with no wind. I expected the creek to be a torrent after all the rain we've seen recently, but to my surprise the flow was full and strong but still clear. The 'bows were actually fairly picky that day. They only took pheasant tails and completely snubbed our serendipities, red fox squirrel nymphs, and silver/gold kreelexes. I ended up getting blanked, but Dad caught three nice rainbows. I'll chalk it up to my first experience fishing with nymphs.

After a half day at Beaver, we consulted the Trow brothers at Mossy Creek Fly Fishing for any quick afternoon action we could hit. Colby sent us to Skidmore Fork, which is located on Route 33 just before the West Virginia border. We caught a couple of nice looking Brookies there in the hour we spent there using pheasant tails. I think it could be a good place to investigate further, especially because Colby told us that Skidmore Fork holds water much more consistently than neighboring Dry River.

Since I don't get the opportunity to fish multiple days a week much anymore, I had to check the Rapidan with my friend Pat the next day. Rapidan was much more affected by the rains last week than Beaver Creek and we actually had a fairly tough time wading in certain spots. Fortunately the water was still very clear and we were able to see fish darting after our nymphs from time to time. The fish were all hunkered down trying to weather the heavy flow so it took plenty of split shot to get our nymphs deep enough. We had much better luck fishing the slower pockets just off the riffles. Pheasant tails did the trick again, and we ended up catching a half dozen brookies between the two of us.

Remember how I told you that I love fishing the Moormans? Well I do, but I just might think twice before I decide to head out there again on a Sunday at 1 o'clock. The joint was completely packed this Sunday from the TJTU section up to the North Fork above Sugar Hollow Reservoir. I got absolutely no action throwing pheasant tails, red squirrel nymphs, or dry flies. I think the high water and all of the hikers playing in the river threw off my mojo a bit. It's probably a better idea to stay away on weekends except for the early morning.

Fishing Report: Upper/TJTU Moormans River 10/28/09

This first week of class has been awesome. I fished the Rapidan with my buddy John on Monday, and took the afternoon off today to fish a few sections of the Moormans. The drought has left the reservoir very low and as a result hardly any water is flowing over the dam to help the TJTU section. Even with the steady rain yesterday, things do not look like they have improved much. There are still some big fish from last year hunkered down in the deep pools, but it doesn't look like TU has been out to stock yet this fall.

Luckily, things were way better up above the reservoir. Yesterday's rain had a huge impact on the Upper Moormans increasing the water levels significantly. The brookies were aggressively attacking dry flies. I landed a bunch of little guys and one nice 6/7 incher on royal wulffs. I ended up missing two of the prettiest brookies I've ever seen. I watched each one rise slowly to sip my fly, but in my excitement I yanked it right out of their mouths; it broke my heart. Hopefully water levels will stay relatively high up there until the next rainfall.

Fishing Report: Rapidan Upper Section

After two weeks of exams and a quick three day roadtrip, I finally got to make it out on the water.  As we've been complaining about lately, the water levels have been low all across central Virginia.  Therefore, I wasn't expecting to make a trip out at all yesterday until I got on my computer and saw this:

Because of that wonderful spike in discharge levels, I knew there'd be a good chance I could see some flowing streams with hungry trout.  So I quickly brewed some more coffee, got on the road again, and headed up to the Rapidan.

I got there late in the afternoon but with enough light to get a solid two hours of fishing in.  Fortunately, it looked like the other fishermen were calling it quits so I had the river to myself.

Initially I fished like I always do, hitting up every nook and cranny of the Rapidan but soon found out that despite the brief change in water levels the trout, for the most part, remained in the larger pools.  So I fished quickly, hitting up all parts of the larger pools.  I fished parachute adams and snowshoe rabbit caddis size 16 but had the most success with adams.

Overall, I caught plenty of beautiful brookies all of which were pretty decently sized.  The newly flowing water caused somewhat of a feeding frenzy in which the larger trout didn't seem too concerned about going after a missed fly on the fourth or fifth attempt.  Unfortunately, however, I spooked two large brookies that were hiding at the tail end of deep pools.  Seriously, these guys were huge.  I'm talking like 12 inches.  I waited around to see if one of them would become "unspooked" but unfortunately it became clear he was way too smart for me.  So if you head out, look to the tail end of the pools for the big guys.

Looks like we'll be getting a little bit more rain Tuesday and Wednesday so hopefully fishing with be good this weekend as well!  Keep checking the USGS Water Levels.

Praying for rain and for VDOT to take a day off

Water levels are pretty low right now with the drought. Even so, I tried going fishing yesterday at Sugar Hollow Reservoir/Moormans River after finishing my last exam. It turned out to be the trip that never was, since VDOT was out working on the first bridge leading to the dam. I don't know how long construction will be going on, but as of yesterday Sugar Hollow and the TJTU section of the Moormans cannot be reached from Garth Road.

If I was worth my salt as a fisherman I would have enacted Plan B and headed over to Beaver Creek Reservoir for some bluegills and bass. Alas, I had my heart set on brookies and was disappointed... oh well.

Fishing Report: Upper Moormans River 10/3/09

Cam and I decided to take a much needed study break this morning and fish the Upper Moormans above Sugar Hollow Reservoir. It was an absolutely perfect day. We hit the water at about 8:00 and fished until roughly 11:30. We had great cover from the sun because the ridge to the east blocks the sunrise over the river until around 11:00 at this time of year. This was crucial since the water is very low and clear making the fish are extremely spooky. There are some beautiful pools up there with fish huddled together waiting for higher water levels so they can spread out.

As is the case with all brook trout fishing, try each nook and cranny you think might just hold enough water; you will be pleasantly surprised. We caught five small guys between us, but we saw some very nice fish down deep in the few large pools left after this short drought. I will be sure to try my luck there again as soon as we A: get some good rain, and B: finish exams in about three weeks. That reminds me, I probably have a hundred plus drugs to memorize for Pharm. Love you second year...

What do you do when you have no time to fish?

Answer: Watch movies of other people fishing.

Unfortunately we don't have much anything to report.  Water levels are still low here in Charlottesville and the temperatures haven't dropped enough to make fishing in the park worth it, leaving us with nothing to do other than study.  It's times like these that make me wonder if fishing guides sit around in the winter complaining and wishing they were training to become doctors instead.  For some reason, I doubt they do.

So instead of a fishing report this week, here's some of the videos that have helped me through the past week of playing catchup in pharmacology:

By far the best short flick on fly fishing out there on the web, Todd Moen's video, Alpine Bass.  I stumbled upon it in Catch Magazine Issue #6.  Enjoy.


Found this video of great foam fly action on the Simms website:


And finally, this video, "7 Minutes of Mayhem", shows off some amazing baby tarpon action off of the yucatan peninsula.  Using a blunted hook, the fisherman hooks and unhooks (purposefully) numerous tarpon.  Sick nasty.

Introduction and New River

As a good college friend of Cameron's, I want to first thank him for the opportunity to have me as a new contributor to this great Virginia fishing resource. If it isn't already apparent by his far reaching knowledge of many of Virginia's finest rivers in only the few years he has been fly fishing, let me tell you that his obsession is, well, near endless. But I am more than impressed with his eagerness to explore new places and share what he has learned. (Secret holes excluded, of course). If I can, I'll give a few brief details about myself to back my credibility on fly fishing in general, and particularly fishing in Virginia. After that, I'll get into some more interesting 'fishing stuff' pertaining to my NEW favorite place to fish - the New River.

I grew up in Northern Virginia (Manassas) and went on my first canoe trip with my dad and his (our) good fishing friend Fran when I was about 4 years old, trodding down the Shenandoah River. Needless to say, my mother was rather shocked to find out that not only did I last an entire day sitting in a boat going down a river all day without complaining, but that I loved it! It wasn't long after that Dad put a fly rod in my hand (maybe 7 years old) and took me to the local pond to catch some blue gills. He tied on a tan caddis then dropped some bread crumbs in the water to get the fish warmed up, and I was catching my first fish on a fly rod in no time. From then on, it's been mostly a wild craze and definite passion for getting away and catching a few trout whenever I get the chance. I've been to Yellowstone to fish the famous waters of the Madison, Gallatin, Slough, and Soda Butte, among many others there. And for many years now, we've been going on an annual trip to fish for the notoriously challenging browns and rainbows of the West Branch of the Delaware River, near Hancock, NY.

But, my main knowledge centers on the wild brookie streams of Shenandoah National Park. Since I started fly fishing way back when, those are what you might call my home waters. We've done an annual spring trip there for a good ten years or more now, spending a few nights in a local cottage near Graves Mountain Lodge while fishing the Rapidan, Rose, Hughes, Staunton, Conway, and many other rivers by day. I've been going there for the better part of my life now, often just to get away from life's stresses, and I can say that these are some of my favorite streams to fish.

In addition to that, you could say I've pretty much fished all over Virginia, but it wasn't until I recently started medical school here at VCOM at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA that I was introduced to the wealth of great waters in southwest Virginia. Since I've been here, I've checked out Little Stony, which is a great little rainbow/brookie stream akin to the mountain streams of Shenandoah National Park. Cameron is right that if you go there, they will make sure that you pay the $3 to park at the lot there. It's certainly unfortunate to have to pay to use nature, but if you can manage the $3, it's well worth a look. You can start fishing right at the lot. The trail follows the stream closely all the way up to the Cascades, which is about a 45 minute hike. All along is great water filled with plenty of wild rainbow and brookies.

The best part about being here, though, is the New River. The closest access from Blacksburg is at Pepper's Ferry, for which there is a bridge and boat access named via Route 114. It's about a 20 minute straight shot. I am lucky to have already met several other guys in the program who also really enjoy a good evening out on the river, and I anticipate many good fish stories in the next few years. The area we've been fishing is another 10 minutes beyond the Pepper's Ferry Bridge near Fairlawn. There are several parking areas off the side of the road. The river, like so many other great smallmouth rivers in Virginia, is truly scenic. It is wider along this stretch than those of the James or Shenandoah Rivers, but it is easily wadeable the entire length across. The riffles are light here, but enough to provide lots of activity, and the rocky bottom offers plenty of ledges and hideouts for big smallmouth. Since we've been out, we've managed to get two over 18 inches among many other good sized fish. Most of the other guys have been fishing rubber worms with their spinning rods with great success, but a couple of us have stayed true to fly fishing and done well on Wooly Buggers and Poppers. Water levels and fishing right now are near perfect.

Until they stop biting...

Scott