Kreelex Flies a.k.a. "trout crack"

Last Wednesday, Cameron and I took our neuroscience final, the last rite of passage in our first year of med school.  There were some late nights of studying and more than a few stressful times during first year, but I think we managed to keep our priorities straight.  That being said, it should be obvious how we decided to celebrate the end of our first year.  As soon as our exams were turned in, we hit the ground running and drove out to the Moormans River.  

Flow data for Moormans River courtesy of USGS

We have seen lots of rain recently, and the central Virginia rivers are up with fast, murky water.  Many rivers are between their 25-75 percentiles in water flow with some in the valley up above the 75 percent mark.  With so much water and little bug activity on the surface we chose the old standby, the copper and gold kreelex.  Between the two of us we easily caught between 10 and 15 rainbows out of the Moormans.  I attribute this bounty to the recent stocking by the folks at TU and to our dedication to what Cameron now calls "trout crack."  Yes, trout crack.  Seriously, can you think of a more fitting a name than that for a streamer that the fish literally seem addicted to?  Surprisingly, it almost seems not to matter where we throw a kreelex in the Moormans.  Throwing it in fast water, slow water, edge of the bank, or right down the main channel is likely to draw some serious attention out there.  Here's the proof:

Of all the fish we caught that day, I have to gloat and say the most exciting one was that last big rainbow I'm holding.  Cameron and I actually both had fish on at the same time and I had to convince him that "no really man, this IS a big one," to let his fish loose and come over to take some photos of this guy.  It took a good four minutes to land that fish after some tail dancing on the surface and fighting a pretty strong current.  I'd say a sore arm was definitely worth the effort.  Of course, catching a big fish and not letting your friend hear the end of it (even if it is good natured) is sure to come back to bite you, and that's exactly what happened the next day on Beaver Creek.

Beaver Creek is located in the Shenandoah Valley and runs through the town of Ottobine, about a 15 minute drive from Bridgewater, Virginia.  I got turned on to Beaver Creek by my dad who has been fishing there on a recommendation from the Trow brothers at Mossy Creek Fly Fishing.  Those guys let us in on a great thing.  Beaver Creek is stocked with big, beautiful rainbow trout and thanks to a limit of four rods per day, the creek doesn't get too much pressure from anglers.  My father is an avid fly fisherman too, and after hearing about the great day we had on the Moormans, he was eager to show us around Beaver Creek.

Beaver is unique in that it offers a lowland spring creek with a stone and silt bottom running through both pasture and woods.  It is also wadeable, making it easier to navigate than Mossy Creek and it doesn't have all of the underwater vegetation that Mossy harbors.  You can expect to hang up much less on the bottom at Beaver thanks to this.  Another awesome feature of Beaver Creek is the nearby Ottobine Country Store complete with a sandwich grille.

Upon arriving at the Ottobine Country Store, we paid for our three passes and met up with the fourth angler for the day, a former minister from Illinois.  This gentleman was on a fishing expedition across the U.S. and had been staying in a cabin near Afton Mountain while he sampled the waters here in Virginia.  He and my dad took a section across from the Ottobine elementary school and fished nymphs for the morning. To cover more water, Cameron and I started in a wooded section downstream and started with nymphs, but quickly switched to "trout crack."  Better stated, Cameron switched to silver and gold kreelex and caught a pretty rainbow in a hole I had just been fishing with a nymph.  Don't worry, I caught my fair share of fish too, it's just that they were slimy chubs.  I think Karma came back to bite and I ended up leaving the pretty fish to Cameron and my dad that day.  

Those two days on the water were an awesome start to my spring break.  Fortunately, I still have a whole week of fishing ahead of me.