No Water, No Fish

We've had a slow month here at VMFF. I wish I could say it's because we've been too busy studying, but really, it's because water levels are so low that our favorite spots are either dried up or almost there. Don't believe me? Here's the USGS water level readings for the Rapidan:

Here's to hoping we get some much needed rain here in the near future. Otherwise, you probably won't be hearing much from us!

Martinsville AIM rotation and the Smith River

It's been a while since I've posted, but believe me when I say it's because I've been too busy fishing.

Upon hearing that I was placed in Martinsville for my Ambulatory Internal Medicine rotation, I quickly went to google to find out about fishing opportunities in the area.  I was dismayed when I saw no significant smallmouth waters in the area.  I tried to convince myself that no fishing was a good thing as I'd be able to actually get some studying done for the Medicine shelf exam.  I packed up and headed down, leaving my waders and fly tying kit at home.

Little did I know that Martinsville has a premier tailwater loaded with trout just 15 minutes away.

On my first day of clinic, I was fortunate enough to interview a patient who had a bass pro shop hat on, which meant I ended up spending most of the interview talking about good fishing locations (whoops!).  He told me about the Smith River and stories he's heard about people pulling monster browns out of the river in the special regulation section (always a good sign if there's a special regulation section).  He hadn't been up to the river in a while though and didn't want to promise me anything.

So after two days of researching the river I finally made a trip up.

Note: since it's a tailwater, the dam releases water for a certain amount of time each day which makes it unfishable.  The past month it was usually running from around 1pm to 6-7pm each day.  I'd recommend hitting up the water just when they turn off the generators.  It seems like the insect life plans their hatches for right as the water starts to level off which means you can prepare for top feeding trout starting about 20-30 minutes after generating ends.  To find out when they will be generating, call to hear the Army Corps of Engineer's recorded message at: (276) 629-2432.  Also know that since it's a tailwater, the water will be cold all the time making fishing for trout possible in the late summers while it also keeps the water unfrozen in the winters so if you want to fish a midge hatch in January, you can.

View Virginia Medical Fly Fishing in a larger map
I first set out to the special regulation section at 7pm to see what was going on.  Unfortunately, I almost died of shock when I got in the water without my left-at-home waders.  The waters in the section just above the bridge at rt. 666 were high still as it would take a while for the levels to subside.  So without even making any casts in the section, I shivered my way back to my car and headed up to Philpott Dam to see what was going on there.

View Virginia Medical Fly Fishing in a larger map
What I found was quite possibly the best half mile of water I've fished in Virginia.  Because of the difference in temperature between the humid air and the cold water, a thick 10 feet of fog sat over the water.  Through the fog I could just barely see rising trout.  And I could see them everywhere.  They were mainly in the seams feeding regularly on a decent hatch of tiny insects which I assumed were tricos.  Despite my lack of waders and a medical condition where I get paralyzed because of extremely cold temperatures, I wet waded in to try my luck.  I put on a a size 16 parachute and immediately started getting hits.  Most of the browns and rainbows were from 10-16 inches but I know I missed hooking on to at least two browns that were much bigger.  Unfortunately, because the generating schedule ends so late, it only leaves about 2 hours for decent fishing before it gets too hard to see with the lighting and the fog.  There are talks in the works though that will hopefully result in better scheduling.

I eventually made the trek home that weekend to retrieve the rest of my fly fishing equipment and spent about 2-3 days each week fishing the Philpott Dam section.  In the end, Martinsville was a complete surprise and a great place to fish.  I'd drive the 2 1/2 hour drive down from Charlottesville anytime to spend a weekend fishing the Smith.  It's just that good.

Western Montana: Bitterroot River

As I look out on the waters and the mountains and the big sky surrounding me in western Montana, the same ones so eloquently portrayed and described in Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It, I can't help but feel something special is going on. Out here, human life is slowed down, and fishing life is sped up. To paint an example, I am writing from the small town of Melrose on the shores of the Big Hole River, a town consisting of one motel, one bar/restaurant, and two fly shops. Even the bartender I met tonight said he has been here for just six weeks, having up and moved here for the summer to fish, because last summer he met the owner of the bar during his own fishing trip and she gave him a job here this summer.

Anyways, I want to keep this excerpt about the Bitterroot River and our experience with the guides provided to us by Bill Abbot's service there. We flew into Missoula on Tuesday morning and got into the town of Hamilton where we stayed the first three nights by mid afternoon. Bill, who came highly recommended to us by our more experienced (some might say expert) fly fishing friends, Top Prusak and Jack Hess, picked us up from the airport and drove us an hour south to Hamilton. He showed us around town and took us down to the river for a quick view before dropping us off at our motel for the night. But with a few hours of daylight left, my dad and I made our way over to the river for a few hours before calling it a night, and while we both had out share of hits, he landed the only one of the evening, a nice 16 inch cutthroat.

The next morning, our guide Jeff picked us up at 8:30 and we drove about 30 minutes south to the put in of Appleberry on the West Fork of the Bitterroot. On our way, we saw our first creature of the trip, a black moose, hanging by the side of the dirt road a couple miles below our put-in spot. The stretch of river from Appleberry down to our take-out of Trapper's Creek Job Corp has a very scenic canyon-like personality. Cutthroats, a lot like brook trout, are not especially picky eaters, and the characteristics of this stretch of the river gave us a great opportunity to hook into a good share of fish on dry flies, almost exclusively on a pattern called the Purple Haze (which is basically an Adams tied with a purple body), although we caught a few on gold stimulators and caddis. Jeff took good care of us all day (it's amazing how all these guides can tie knots so quickly and change flies like it's no effort at all). Near the beginning of the float, Jeff pointed out a small dark eddy along a riffly bend and told me to make a cast there since I was in the front of the boat. Sure enough, after a good cast in there if I may say so, I hooked into a beautiful 16 inch Cut. From there, all the jokes about being in the front of the boat giving you a big advantage ensued. In all, we both caught close to 40-50 fish that day, working out to be a fantastic first day of fishing.

The following morning our guide Wes McCay picked us up and we floated the main stem of the Bitterroot. This section has a completely different personality, filled with bigger, deep pools and channels in an open valley, defined by panoramic vistas and white rock shores. As such, Wes suited us up with nymphing rigs to start the morning and for most of the day. However, we did catch a good few on dries as well. This section holds slightly bigger fish, and while neither of us caught the big ones I think Wes was hoping we'd catch, we did get a few in the net that pushed the 16 inch range. The most successful patterns for our rigs were a black stone paired with a red copper john dropper. Interestingly, while I was fishing an orange stimulator dry fly at one point, I caught a huge 20 inch Northern Pike Minnow, which is not the prettiest fish but is apparently fairly scarce and very carnivorous and eats just about anything it can. Again, we had another very good day of fishing.

On our third and last day on the Bitterroot, we again has Jeff as our guide. He took us up to the West Fork again, this time putting in at the place we took out two days prior. Saving the best for last, this was our best day on the Bitterroot. We literally caught fish all day long, especially during a torrid golden stonefly hatch that took off around noon and lasted for almost two hours. The hatch was so thick that as the bugs were crawling on my skin and down my shirt and into every crevice of my fanny pack, I tried to swipe a few off my neck and accidentally hit my sunglasses into the river, never to be found again. During this time you could cast big bushy imitations to rising fish literally 5 feet away and catch big cutthroats. The biggest one I caught was nearly 18 inches, which is great for a Cut, but we both caught several in the 15-16 inch range consistently. This stretch of the river also has a certain canyon-like feel to it, but it opens up a bit more and provided some great long riffle pools perfect for getting wading.

Our experience on the Bitterroot River, and with Bill Abbot's guide service, was nothing short of awesome. We caught a ton of fish and the scenery was something special to behold. Anyone planning to come to Montana to fish would do well to give the Bitterroot some serious consideration.

Fishing Report: Mossy Creek 7-9

It's been a while since we've last posted.  Fortunately it hasn't been because we're not fishing.  We just have been too exhausted after trips to put up anything.  Hopefully we'll be able to make relevant posts now despite being two or three weeks late.

I got today off from my internal medicine rotation because I'll be on call tomorrow effectively ruining my weekend.  Since the last time we reported on Mossy, Kyle went back and actually caught another huge brown.  Ridiculous.  I'm pretty sure he's using dynamite.  Because I was not in attendance for his successful trip, I had to make yet another trip in search of big browns.

To make it for the morning trico hatch, I got to the fog laden river around 5:30 and found fish sipping flies off the surface all over the place.  It was obvious that they recently restocked the river because there was a swarm of something like fifty 6-10 inch fish in the pool just below the bridge.  Water levels were low but manageable and a lot of the mud that was present last time I was there was no longer an issue.  Essentially, it was a perfect day to fish.

I had a bunch of early misses that initially frustrated me as well as one hook up of a big guy on a hopper pattern that happened by accident while I was trying to untangle some line.  By the time I realized I had a fish on, he had already made an epic leap that dislodged the hook.  I'm kind of glad though; I would have been pretty disappointed about having my first huge brown caught by accident.

Starting at around 8:00, the stocked trout began to feed consistently on something small on the surface.  I tried some trico spinners with no luck but found that a tiny, size 16, parachute adams seemed to draw plenty of hits.  I was impressed by their eating habits.  Usually these stocked fish snub their noses at anything that doesn't look like a pellet.

Eventually I hooked my first decently large brown.  He had definitely been there a while and put up and awesome but muddy fight.  By the time I had him in hand, I was literally covered in mud.  But it was worth it.  He took to a tiny parachute adams down underneath the lower bridge in a pool surrounded by stocked trout.

Then I found the money spot.  I can't divulge where it is for fear of others taking to it and catching all the browns.  But I can say that it's freaking awesome.  I spent my final hour there honing my skills with a pheasant tail nymph pulling in fish after fish.  In the end I think I pulled in about 20-30 fish (and I tried to document a decent number of them just so Rich and Kyle would know I wasn't lying when I told them).

On a side note, I met another fisherman out there today who was there for the first time.  Got to talking to him and found out he was about fed up with the river considering he had had no luck and was tired of getting tangled up in the brush.  I gave him a kreelex and promised him it'd get results.  Sure enough, about 30 minutes later, he pulled in a decent size fish.  Not bad for his first day on the river having only just started fly fishing about a year ago.  The kreelex showed off how awesome it is yet again.

Arkansas River in Colorado Part 3

Terry, Dad, and I spent our last day fishing the Ark down by the Wellsville bridge. This is located just upstream from the Ark Anglers' private lease where Stuart took us the day before. Aside from that lease, I have not found a sweeter spot on the Ark downstream from Buena Vista. There is an island in the middle of the river just upstream from the bridge with excellent holes and riffles on either side. We got there very early to stake a claim, which was essential. There was moderate pressure that day with a few other parties of anglers coming out later in the morning and throughout the afternoon. The other fishermen were exceptionally respectful of our beats, and we all shared this stretch easily.

I spent the morning experimenting with different streamers and nymph rigs. I was having some trouble drawing a bead on exactly what the fish wanted, but with some help from my dad (and his ever calming presence), I ended up catching some very nice fish on a prince nymph/baetis emerger combo. Experience truly won out that day as Terry and my dad nailed fish all day long. The key was using the 5x fluorocarbon tippet that Dad bought the day before. That stuff is worth the money. It sinks like a stone and is completely invisible to the trout. We found fish mostly holding in calm slants within the riffles as well as along the foam lines, making that Thursday a wonderful lesson in reading the water.

Once the afternoon came, things really clicked in for the three of us and we had pretty consistent luck. In fact, just before lunch dad hooked into a huge brown implementing the drop and count method into the foam (see 2nd Ark post for details) at the upstream end of the island. Terry and I watched him from the bank while we chowed-down on some sandwiches. He sprang up from prone with fly line ripping off his reel. Unfortunately for him, dad failed to remember the boy scout motto "be prepared" and had taken off his vest as he edged up to the foam-topped eddy. Without a net, he had no chance of landing the monster and after a good fight the fish was gone. Still, hats off to our instructor, Stuart, who taught us a very productive and sneaky maneuver to hook some giant trout!

This trip was the best thing a boy could ask for. I had an awesome time roaming the country with my dad, got to fish with him and another great pal, and even learned a thing or two about throwing dice in Central City. A long road trip was just what I needed after four months of boards studying. If you have the time, I highly recommend savoring the journey and not just the fishing part of a trip. Tight lines, and thanks to everyone in Colorado who helped make our trip a success.

Connections: Medicine and Fly Fishing

I recently had the pleasure of talking with Richard Formato, one of the top fly fishermen in the country, the other day about his new project which coincidentally is just the kind of thing we're all about here at VMFF (ie. fly fishing and medicine).

In case you haven't watched the Outdoor, Versus, or ESPN Outdoors channels at all, you may not realize what fishing shows consist of.  Most of what you can find out there consists of close up shots of huge fish hauled in using the "newest and most technologically advanced" lure the world has ever seen.  In my opinion, fishing just hasn't translated to the big screen as well as other sports.  Televised golf, for instance, has been able to capture some of what golf is about: slow panning shots of a fairway, the hushed voice of a sports commentator describing how smooth a back swing is, the close in views of a golfer as he intensely examines the subtle curves of a green, the quiet applause of spectators acknowledging a job well done.  Fishing shows, on the other hand, have missed the point.  Case and point: Bill Dance


Fortunately for the fishing community, I think Richard Formato may have a way to help turn things around.  Richard has just recently begun putting together a show about what fishing is really about; trying to show how therapeutic it can be to be out on the river making long deliberate casts to captious trout.  For example, in the trailer for the show, The Healing Stream (watch it here), Richard helps an Iraq veteran learn how to use fly fishing as a way to help in the healing process.  They also pull in what looks to be like some pretty decent brookies.  (On that note, I'll have to figure out where they were filming so I can plan some future excursions.)

Screenshot from The Healing Stream's trailer

Hopefully in the near future, we'll get to watch more of Richard's work and see more about how fly fishing can be an effective form of therapy.  Keep on the look out for more about this and help spread the word!

Arkansas River in Colorado Part 2

Day two on the Ark was pretty tough with much colder temps and high winds. It amazed me how much the weather could change in the mountains day to day with highs only in the 40s after 70s the day before. We caught fewer fish, but they were hard earned and still absolutely gorgeous. Sefan at Ark Angers saved the day by putting us on a public stretch not far from town for the afternoon that produced some nice browns. I have the spot marked on the fishing map.

After a tough day two, we decided to book a morning guided wade trip through the shop. I think they pulled out all the stops for us and called in a true ringer named Stuart Andrews. Stuart has been fishing for about 40 years and really knows his stuff. The wade trip was on a private lease starting below the Wellsville bridge that had a great mix of deep pools, short cliffs, and some shallow pocket water on the sides. We started out showing off our casting "prowess" for Stuart who fine tuned our strokes. I was amazed by how he could make small adjustments to my casting and cause huge improvements in minutes. Again, hiring a guide every once in a while is a GREAT idea and made our third and fourth days on the Arkansas truly memorable.

We fished nymph rigs with a small chartreuse Copper John dropper. That little thing was deadly! I had never seen chartreuse copper wire like that before, but it imitated the chartreuse caddis larvae we found teeming under the rocks. Here's another pearl, go ahead and spend the extra money for fluorocarbon monofilament for your nymph rigs. It's completely invisible to the fish and it sinks like a stone. Just another trick I learned from Stuart. This setup gave us a real edge and we caught some truly stunning browns and 'bows.

As for actual fishing techniques, I learned a few awesome tricks from Stuart. First and foremost if you don't know about fishing the foam lines, try it! Stuart reminded us that wild fish don't like to expend a lot of energy while they are feeding. No joke, but how does that help you? Well, look for the seams between faster water and more calm water. These are generally the places where foam bubbles will form and make streaks down the current, and they are perfect spots for trout to lay in wait for food being swept downstream in the faster water.

Stuart also taught us some secrets about finding big fish. If you are on a larger river with collections of foam in the deep eddies along the banks, get your nymphs in there! You'll see lots of spent flies lying in the white foam and maybe even some trout sipping there. Also, bigger fish feel secure because the foam forms a canopy protecting them from birds like ospreys. The trick here is to sneak up on your belly very slowly, and with just a little fly line out, drop your nymphs right into the foam. You may see a take on your indicator, but if not just count to five and blindly set. Repeat this maneuver and work around the foam until you hook a 20+ inch brown.

Not only is he among the best fishermen I've ever met, stuart is also an accomplished artist. His compositions capture the American West and the changes that we have made on the landscape as we have tried to tame it. He has some really beautiful works, and I hope to own a few of them whenever I pay off my student loans. Check out his gallery online, it is worth more then a few minutes of your time. Thanks for your expertise and teaching, Stuart. We hope to fish with you again sometime soon, hopefully on a high mountain lake trip for cutthroat.

Fishing Report: Muddy Run 4/27/2010

The boards have finally come and gone for the majority of us.  Thanks to my procrastination, I was left with only limited time to hit up our friendly Virginia waters.  Right after I finished taking the boards in Lynchburg, I hurried up to the Hidden Valley campground located on the Jackson River.  Last time I was there, it was with a bunch of the guys and unfortunately our first impression of the spot wasn't too spectacular.  In case you didn't know, I'm not a huge fan of chubs or of stocked waters, which was pretty much all that we found when we were at the Jackson's special regulations area last fall.  So I was a little pessimistic.  Upon arriving, I still had about an hour before sunset so I quickly went out to the river to see what the conditions were like.

My first impressions of the Jackson in the spring is that it's got some great insect life.  Stepping out into the section of water near the parking area, I was surrounded with a huge hatch of mayflies.  I have no idea what type they were, but they were definitely large.  Knowing that I only had a few short minutes before I'd have to get back to setting up camp, I quickly put on a size 12 parachute adams and went to work throwing to the great runs along both banks.  I saw a few rising fish and heard even more behind me which, by the time I turned around, had already assumed their hidden positions under the sun-glared surface.

Eventually my fly disappeared and the line went taught.  Quickly, however, my enthusiasm waned as I didn't feel the fight of a huge fish and did not witness any aerial jumps that one usually associates with a healthy rainbow trout.  Reeling in I found my disappointment was appropriate at the sight of a huge chub.  This guy has obviously been feeding well.  A few more casts later and BAM, another bite with yet another lackluster fight.  Chub number two.  It was pretty disappointing to be surrounded with such a beautiful landscape and a perfect evening mayfly hatch but head back to camp troutless.

Exhaustion took over quickly and my 5:30 a.m. wake-up routine resulted in me being the first fisherman the next morning to be on the long hike up to the special regulations area of the Jackson.  At the first bridge crossing, I became disoriented and continued straight instead of heading to the special regulation area.  This, however, was a supremely awesome mistake.  This unknowingly led me to the much smaller but much more amazing, Muddy Run.  I quickly found myself on a path that was very overgrown next to a beautiful stream that reminded me of the uppermost parts of the Rapidan yet with even better pools and runs.

I realized my mistake after about a half a mile more of hiking and was about to turn around.  But, I thought I should just make a few casts, just in case.  Having had such poor luck with the chubs the day before, I wasn't expecting anything too great.  Boy was I wrong.  First cast and WHOMP, next thing I knew I was holding a beautiful, healthy 'bow.  A couple casts into the same little pool later, a brookie with great colors and decent size.  For the next 5 or 6 hours pretty much consisted of the same experience; pulling from the same pools, wild brookies and rainbows that had acclimated to their environment, acting like wild fish by the time they saw my parachute adams or snowshoe humpy float by.  I lost count quickly.  I'd keep trying to describe it all but I think you get the point.  It was perfect.

Before I headed back to camp, I made a quick dash over to the special regulations area (after stopping to talk with the game wardens who were there checking licenses, I love it when I see them doing their job well) to see how the fishing was there.  I was unimpressed.  I saw a bunch of spincasters sitting right below the beginning of the area and there was someone throwing out line practically every 100 yards.  I found myself a quick spot on the river and fished for a few minutes and did have a few follows but I was unsure if they were trout or chubs.  Frankly, it paled in comparison so much to the rest of my day that I quickly stopped chasing these stocked fish and headed back to camp.

So my final opinion of the area:
Muddy Run - Rapidan brookies but + rainbows = 9/10
Jackson River - Stupid stocked rainbows and overcrowded waters = 2/10

If you're going to fish the Jackson, I'd recommend just sticking to below the dam, especially if you have a drift boat/canoe.

*Apologies if there are spelling mistakes or grammar mistakes.  I've decided that I'll be less worried about all of that stuff because I'm lazy and in case you didn't know... I don't speak english good.

Little Stony (5.1.10)

Spring is in full force, and the brookies are hungry and active.

This morning I ventured over to Little Stony (a short 20 minute drive), next to the Cascades trail, with my classmate and friend Will. March Browns are hatching, but I didn't see too many flies. As it tends to be with Brookies, they will take any reasonable fly presented decently well, and I had some success with tan X-Caddis. I later changed to a size 16 March Brown to see if I could entice any of the local rainbows that the stream also harbors. For such a beautiful day, the action was surprisingly slow, and during the 3 or so hours we were on the river, I managed only to catch about a dozen. Many of the really 'fishy' spots and pools went without an acknowledgement of life, while the smaller pockets in between the larger pools seemed to produce more fish. In this way it felt like someone had already fished the section we chose. That's my excuse anyway... Luckily on my way back to the car to grab a bite to eat, I stopped in one of the good looking pools close to the trail and caught a beautiful fat 9 inch brookie that had possibly the reddest side stripe I have ever seen. I have a good bit to learn about this stream, and I think it will take some exploring both below and above the cascades to find out the best sections and what works well. Being a nice Saturday morning, the hikers were out in full, and I noticed that many areas of the trail get really close to the stream, so much so that I think that all the kids running around may actually put down a lot of fish in some of those better pools. Even Will pointed that out as we walked back to the car. It makes me wonder how the river fishes during the week, when less hikers are barraging the stream.

Little Stony is a great mountain freestone stream. True, it costs $3 to park at the head of the trail, but the river is very reminiscent of the Rapidan and Rose rivers (of better known reputation), and the trail is as well maintained as any I know of in the state. That said, it was another welcome day away from studying and a fun day on the river.

The South Holston and Watauga Rivers (4.24.10)

I’m not sure why I didn’t know about this sooner.

For years now I have been making an annual trip to the Delaware River near Hancock, NY with Dad and our fishing buddies in search of big browns and rainbows. But, this weekend I found out that there are two rivers within only a two hour drive of my current home in Blacksburg, Va that share a lot of similarities to the Delaware: the South Holston and Watauga Rivers.

The similarities? Big river tailwaters, good hatches, and HARD TO CATCH big trout. After nine weeks of neuro block, time alone on any river was a welcome breath of fresh air. But the South Holston and Watauga Rivers are not just any river, and after this experience, I will undoubtedly be going back as soon as I can, and as often as I can. The drive from my place to Emmett, TN where the South Holston Fly Shop is located, is about a 2 hour drive, which makes for a very tempting day trip.

I started the day on the SoHo (as it’s called locally), which is literally 0.3 miles from the fly shop. I drove down the road a few miles, trying to find a secluded side-street entrance, and found a great spot with no other cars with relative ease. From where I parked, I followed a well-worn path 10 minutes to the awesome views you’ll find in some of the pictures. For the first 4 hours, I was the only one on the river, and during that whole time fish were rising everywhere. I was able to confuse and fool a few on Sulfur nymphs, emergers, and duns (size 16), as well as little black fly patterns (size 20-22). I only caught about 10 fish, with the biggest being about 15 inches, but to my surprise I caught one of each variety: brookies, browns, and rainbows. However, it was quickly obvious that the bigger fish, and the majority of the fish I was casting to, were not so easily tricked, and I spent a lot of my day making a few casts to sipping humpbacks, getting frustrated, tying on a new fly, making a few more casts, getting frustrated, trying a new pattern, and so on, repeating, etc. But like the Delaware, this is mostly an enticing challenge and part of the reason for the river’s awesome appeal. Around 1pm, one other fisherman found my claimed hole and introduced himself. When he told me he was from Florida and that he had been here on a fishing trip for 8 days, I knew I had found a big-time place to fish. He kindly gave me a few black fly patterns he had tied the last few nights and both of us proceeded to have a bit of luck for the next hour or so, but still I had a very difficult time hooking into many. At around 2:30, the dam opened up, and the water levels rose noticeably within a couple minutes, which killed the activity of the morning session.

Remembering that I hadn’t eaten or brought anything for lunch, I decided it was a good time to find some food and check out the Watauga River. It’s only about a 20 minute drive in between rivers, and on my way I passed the Bristol Motor Speedway, which was cool to see even though I’m not a huge Nascar fan. For the rest of the afternoon, rain came down in a light drizzle, but not enough to detract from the fishing. The difference between the Watauga, compared to the SoHo, is that for much of the immediate mileage below the dam, it is lined with housing properties and there are many big, slack, slow-moving deep pools and fewer riffles. This, I would think, may make it better fished on a float trip. Parked immediately below the dam, and was discouraged to find a few plunkers casting to rising fish in the riffles below. But the rain seemed to quickly scare them off, and I had the section to myself for the rest of the evening. Again, there were fish working all over the place, but in the few hours I was there, I managed only to catch two.

In all, my first experience on the South Holston and Watauga Rivers was great. I enjoyed the waters and seclusion of the SoHo more, but both are obviously very good rivers with lots and lots of trout. I will be going back again soon, when the Sulfur hatch starts to get serious in the late spring and summer months. Too bad this med school thing is getting in the way.

Arkansas River in Colorado Part 1

After finishing Step 1 of the USMLE (the licensing exam to become a doc in the U.S.), I needed a big change after sitting in the library for 3 months. This was the perfect opportunity to take the road trip my dad and I had been talking about for years. Randy and Richie’s excellent adventure rolled out from Virginia on April 7th and returned April 20th. We saw incredible countryside, met interesting and very welcoming people, and experienced some of the wildest tourist traps this truly amazing country has to offer. I’ll limit these next few blog posts to the fishing highlights in Colorado, but as I hinted before, the journey was just as fun as the fishing.

Dad and I stopped in Oklahoma City to pick up our friend Terry Weber. Terry is a great fishing buddy and he took a bunch of the pics you’ll see in the next few posts, so hats off to him for adding to the blog. After picking up Terry, we drove through the panhandle of Texas and northwest New Mexico en route to Colorado. It was breathtaking standing on Mount Capulin in New Mexico and watching the Great Plains sweep up into the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rockies. If you can’t tell yet, I fell completely in love with the West on this trip.

After a drive full of gawking at the still snow capped peaks of the Rockies, we pulled into Salida, CO and met up with the staff at Ark Anglers. Stefan was our point man for the entire trip, and he did an amazing job of both putting us on the fish and getting us oriented in town. I highly recommend booking guided trips through the shop; they are first class outfitters and very friendly people. I want to make sure y’all make no mistake about pronunciation when you call the shop in Salida. I automatically went for the Spanish pronunciation, but I quickly discovered that the local folks call it “Suhl-eye-duh and town just up the road is called “Boona-vista” (Buena Vista). I guess that’s about the same as us calling Staunton here in Virginia “Stan-tin”, but these things never cease to amuse me.

On the morning of the 12th, Terry and I headed out with Will, a fellow Okie and our first guide from Ark Anglers, for a 14-mile float trip on the Arkansas River from Salida to the boat ramp at Rincon. I had never floated for trout before, and fishing with Terry and Will made for an awesome trip. We started out fishing right in town and had early success on some white articulated streamers that Will ties. I looked for some in shops during the rest of the trip, but was unable to find any like them. Will, if you’re out there reading, post me the name of those flies or please tell me where I can score some. They were money! One fish chased a Will-tied streamer for a solid 10 feet. Just as an aside for Chuck Kraft, the Kreelex also worked beautifully in Colorado throughout the trip, and we handed them out like candy at every fly shop we visited.

Will also taught us a new streamer fishing technique that definitely adds more life than simply stripping in line. You can really make a streamer dance by using the rod tip to jerk the fly erratically toward you, making it seem like a distressed and enticing meal for a trout. Another thing I didn’t expect was the success we had fishing our streamers just under the surface. The fish really went wild after using the rod-jerk technique to make the fly skip the surface a little. Terry and I both agree that the best part about having a guide is LEARNING. Being put on fish is obviously fun, but learning new techniques and about the way fish feed and what they eat really adds to your repertoire as an angler. Thank you again for an awesome float, Will.

We ended up catching about half browns and half rainbows that first day. Most of the rainbows came after we switched to a two fly nymph rig with an indicator. I am a new believer in using indicators after this trip. Waiting for that thing-a-ma-bobber stop dead in its tracks or jump a few feet really puts you on edge. It also doesn’t hurt when it results in a tail dance by a fat rainbow covered in spots and stripes. That reminds me, we didn’t catch a fish under 10 inches the entire trip, and an average brown in the Arkansas from what I can tell is probably 14 inches. Every single fish we caught had vibrant color and they were all much harder fighters than the fish back East. I think that’s about enough for now.

Check back soon to read about more adventures in Colorado and some other very helpful techniques I learned out West.

I Will Catch a Carp on the Fly This Year

Just saw this awesome video over at one of my favorite local blogs, Mike's Catch Report.  I don't know if it's the music, the ridiculously huge carp taking flies off of the surface, or the sick casts that this guy pulls off, but it has reinforced my determination to catch a carp this year on the fly.  Fortunately for us here in Charlottesville, there are numerous places we can go to try and make it happen.



In other news, not much fishing going on for me these next two weeks as I still have a ways to go before I take my board exam.  As for the others: Rich will soon be departing for a ridiculously awesome trip, Kyle truly is making the catch of a lifetime, and I suspect that Scott has a post coming up soon about his recent trip down in southwest Virginia.

If you are curious, the reports from around the area have been that the fishing is good and that the water levels are finally starting to calm down.  With all of this beautiful weather we're having, I suspect there will be some perfect opportunities to see some great hatches going on.

Beaver Creek 3/25/2010

Kyle, Cameron, and I rallied at 5:30 Thursday morning for the drive to Beaver Creek. As with all my trips to Beaver, the excitement made it hard to fall asleep the night before. I tossed and turned dreaming about a mix of 'bows, brookies, mission chips, and that savory cow smell that is so uniquely Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. The anticipation culminated with the 5:58, then 5:59, and then finally 6:00 am phone call that got us through to the Ottobine Country Store to reserve the day's rod passes.

We started just before sunrise at the wooden bridge near the elementary school. The water was running a little lower than I expected with all of the rain we've had recently; however, this didn't stop Kyle from getting a fish on after about his third cast of the day. That would prove to be the story of the day for all of us with plenty of rainbows, a nice brook trout, and a few chubs by the new master (Cameron) himself. Interestingly, we spotted what we are fairly certain was a 4-6 lb. largemouth bass in the long pool just upstream from the footbridge. If it is indeed a bass I don't know how it got there, but either way it's a huge fish. If anyone out there can confirm this bigfoot sighting, please give us a shout-out. I would love to hear if anyone has caught that fish.

Now for the latest on the ever enthralling kreelex color debate. I do have to admit that silver/gold did produce just as many fish and the coppers, but I want to point out that silvers did bring in all of the chubs caught on kreelex... I'll let you all decide for yourselves which you'd prefer to fish with. We did throw some nymphs, and even a BWO for awhile but all to no avail. The only other flies that gave us luck were a green wooley bugger and a cool vintage fly from Kyle's grandfather.

Aside from the awesome fishing at Beaver, I highly recommend spending some time at the Country Store. Per the proprietor's recommendation we ordered "big otter" sandwiches for lunch, and man were they awesome. The big otter consists of turkey and ham stacked a generous 2 inches high and is covered with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, and banana peppers on a hot 8 inch sub roll. I had to catch my breath for a minute after eating it, but it definitely hit the spot after a hard morning of fishing.

Fishing Report: Rapidan River 3-21

Boards studying in now in full swing but it's been pretty easy to get stir-crazy still being in the library. Thus, with the threat of more rain coming our way, I decided to make a quick morning trip up to the Rapidan to see how the fishing was.

My initial impression was that the water levels were running a little too high. While I was able to fish most of the day with dry flies, it was extremely difficult to get any quality dead drifts. The first couple were caught on a 2-fly dropper setup with a parachute adams on top and a peasant tail nymph on bottom. A majority of them preferred the nymph, much to my chagrin. After a long winter I was going through a pretty serious dry fly withdrawal. Finally at about 11 am, the brook trout started honing in on some weak hatches that were going on. From what I could tell, there was a decent number of black caddis (or some kind of caddis, I'm not the most legit entomologist quite yet) and the usual midges.

All in all it was a great day to be out on the water despite the difficult water level. I will probably wait until things have settled down even more before I head out there again. But if you're a fan of throwing nymphs and your pack is full of humpies, then by all means take a chance out there. And of course, always be careful when wading in those high and fast conditions.

Mossy Creek 3/16/10

This is my first blog posting ever. Actually, to be honest, other than this blog, I have never read any other blog before. But after a day like yesterday, I couldn't help myself but get on and post some pictures of the chunky browns from Mossy Creek. Cameron and I made the trek out to Mossy Creek yesterday and had a beautiful day to fish. The sun was in and out and the water was runnin a bit high and mirky. All in all it was a PERFECT day to fish. Sportin my faded plaid board shorts and knee high camo hunting boots, i felt a bit out of place as we ran into some more properly dressed fishermen, but realized it isn't necessarily the gear that will make you catch fish.

We fished a LOT of river from about 12:30 to 5:30 or so. We went upstream and down, throwing Kreelix and streamers of sorts, even the occasional hopper fly or dry fly. There was no action for a while, but the weather was beautiful and it couldn't have been a nicer day. Finally, later in the afternoon, as Cameron was busy nappin on the river bank, I was lazily tossing my Kreelix across the river. As I was stripping it back in to make another cast, I thought I saw a little flash behind my fly. I flipped the fly back out and let it swing back along the near bank downstream of me and started strippin the fly upstream. Sure enough, the fly got to the same spot and I saw a big brown emerge from underneath the bank and roll over the fly. I set the hook and had FISH ON! Finally, after about a good ten minute fight, I netted a beautiful big brown trout. After a few pictures, I moved a ways downstream and literally within 5 minutes, underneath an overhanging brush pile, I hooked up on another beautiful fish. Landing these two fish made what was already a great day on the water even better.

Spring is movin in, the weather is getting great, and its time to get back on the water and get bent on some big fish!

Moormans South Fork and TJTU 3/10/2010

Kyle and I checked out the south fork of the Moormans above Sugar Hollow Reservoir and the TJTU section below on Wednesday. It was a beautiful day with temps nearing 70 F and we were expecting some brookies to rise for dry flies. Unfortunately, the warmer weather early last week must have caused some significant runoff from snow that is still persisting up in the mountains. South fork, much like the north fork doesn't have too many pools, so if the water is up at all, there aren't many places where fish are likely to hold and still try to feed. That said, we threw everything at them: various dry flies, nymphs, and even my magic copper/gold kreelex wouldn't cause the brookies to bite. That's a lie - we did have a few child-abuse-specials strike at humpies and caddis, but by a couple I mean two the whole afternoon.

The TJTU section is almost completely fished out. The water level is amazing for that stretch right now, but unless they've stocked it since Wednesday I wouldn't waste my time going back. Kyle hooked up with one but broke him off using a light leader. Oh well, these things happen.

Bottom line: if you are going fishing anytime soon, make a point of checking the USGS water levels and know the river where you're going. If it's a small mountain stream, make sure it has some nice pools like the Rapidan so there might be some slightly slower water where fish will be likely to feed. Good luck out there.

Why Fishermen Can Be Excited About Snow Days Too

I remember when snow days were looked forward to.  As a kid they meant neighborhood-wide capture the flag, barricading plow truck access to Chivalry Road's epic sledding hill, and hot cocoa (not that instant stuff but the mom-made stuff).  But as an adult apparently our perception of snow days is supposed to change into one full of bitterness, complaining about salt on your car, and hot packs to relieve sore backs from shoveling snow.  

The view from my apartment during the last snow storm

For fishermen, however, I think there's always reason to enjoy the wintry weather.  Why you ask?  Because the slow melt of huge snowfalls does wonders for our water table.  And high water tables equals greater reserves late in the fishing season.  If you don't believe me, let's go ahead look at some graphs (if you haven't realized... I love graphs.  Go ahead Rich you can say it, I'm a nerd.)


So here are the USGS water level stats for central Virginia since 2004.  

This basically just shows how our water table usually rises throughout spring and then falls as things warm up.  So while storms throughout the year provide us with changes in stream levels, these are just transient.  Starting off the fishing season with a high water table will provide us with much better conditions than having to depend on sporadic storms.

So where are we now compared to last year?  Take a gander at this:

At this time last year, our water table was sitting around 25.5 feet below land surface.  Currently, we're (provisionally) around 19-20 feet.  This was where we were at the peak of last year's season!  And we've still got a ton of snow still sitting around Virginia.  So unless we have a drought worse than the one we had in 2007, fishing should be golden.  I fully expect to see the north fork of the Moorman's running at more than a trickle this year.

So yes, while salt on your car is annoying and shoveling snow is so miserable that it makes you want to purchase a blow torch to do the job instead, there are things about huge snowfalls that can make fishermen just as excited as a kid on a snow day.  (Although it's impossible to beat mom-made hot cocoa.)

*still aching for more graphs? I've gotten you addicted haven't I.  Feel free to search around the USGS Virgina site for more.

Fishing Report: Rose River Farm

With finals looming and stress peaking, Cameron and I decided to treat ourselves to a study break at Rose River Farm yesterday. I kept hearing such great stories about the place from customers and staff at Albemarle Angler so I just had to check it out for myself. Admittedly, after hearing so many fantastic reviews I became just a little skeptical of just how great RRF could really be. After yesterday, however, my doubts were completely put to rest.

The farm is located near Syria, Va and the Graves Mountain Lodge so it only took us about 45 min to get there from Charlottesville. RRF is a fee for fish spot that must be booked in advance. That said, fishing at the farm is a perfect example of getting what you pay for. They do a good job of limiting the pressure by only allowing 4 rods per day so we all had plenty of room to spread out. Even with all of the snow we've had recently, the property is very well maintained with clear roads and tractor paths cut along most of the river. I could have easily made it there in my little Honda. I've always loved the scenery along the east slope of the Shenandoah National Park, and the views from RRF did not disappoint. In fact, had I not dropped my camera in the river like a fool I would have taken many more pictures (thank you for supplying us with the slideshow, Cam).

I'm sure that somewhere along the line an older/wiser person told you, "if it sounds too good to be true it probably is." Well, I can sincerely tell you that when it comes to the fish at Rose River Farm IT'S ALL TRUE! I've never seen so many trout in my life. Cameron and I actually lost count of the fish we caught, but it could have only been a small fraction of the trout working out in the Rose. I say working out because these are like Arnold Schwarzenegger rainbows. There were some fish we had to fight for a few minutes before we could land them. We saw plenty of jumping and tail-dancing, and we had a few fish make runs that tested the drag on our reels. A couple of these bruisers were over 20 inches and all of fish had beautiful color and spots.

Many of these big guys are in long, beautiful pools that might well be called aquariums with easily 50-100 fish each. I can only imagine what those pools are like in April and May when the 'bows are all taking bugs off the top. Must be an awesome sight! It's not only about long pools at RRF either. There are a few deep, fast runs along under-cut banks with over hanging trees reminiscent of Beaver Creek. These are absolutely my favorite sections because of the technical casting in close tree cover and the heightened activity of the fish there. Cameron and I hooked fish after fish from one bend in the river where a jumping fish seemed not to spook the rest of the pool.

I should also take a minute to comment on the ongoing copper/gold silver/gold kreelex debate. Hands down, copper/gold kreelex took in more and bigger fish yesterday. That's not to say silver won't catch fish, but if you can tell a trout from a chub you would be crazy not to fish copper (*cough* Cameron). All kidding aside, kreelex, copper johns, and pheasant tails were the big producers for us yesterday. The other fishermen we spoke with also had great luck with yellow caddis, san juan worms, and an assortment of nymphs. I saw a few rising fish in the afternoon, but I could never draw a bead on what they were eating so I stuck to the sub-surface action.

Overall, fishing at Rose River Farm was awesome. If you are looking for big fish, beautiful scenery, and a pristine stream look no further. Another cool thing to note about the farm is their commitment to hosting Project Healing Waters events. Anyone who supports our wounded veterans in such a big way is tops in my book. That said, RRF is a first class operation and I hope to make it back sometime soon.

Another Connection Between Medicine and Fly Fishing

Okay, connections between fly fishing and medicine don't happen that often.  But when they do, man they are exciting (at least for a nerd like me.)  Last time we reported on a connection, it was about the EPA study that found 7 pharmaceutical drugs in fish sampled.  That was sort of stretch.  It wasn't like they said in the study that fishermen should practice catch and release because of these drugs... although they should.


But this time, we actually have a video for you made by Dr. Szlyk from Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, VA.  If you can't tell, I'm excited about this video.  I mean, it's the proverbial hat trick with regards to our blog:  1.Fly Fishing 2.Medicine 3.Virginia. (in case you couldn't tell from our uncreative blog title.)  I don't know who Dr. Szlyk is but I think I can safely assume that he's awesome at fly fishing...and at surgery using the da Vinci surgical robot.  




This video also begs the question, when is Renzetti going to jump on this bandwagon?  I mean, come on. Their MOST expensive fly tying vise is ONLY $939.85.  Seriously.  That pales in comparison to the $1.3 million price tag on a da Vinci robot "fly tying vise".  


Finally, I need to give credit where credit is due.  I didn't find this obsessively searching youtube for videos (despite what you may believe, I do study sometimes).  Rather, I found it courtesy of Moldy Chum.  

"Who dat" Waldner's Saints Spoon Fly

You have heard me talk about my friend Rich Waldner and his awesome spoon flies before, but now there is a collectors "Who dat" New Orleans Saints version available from Uptown Angler. Just to reiterate what I've told you all before, if you are fishing for Redfish anywhere on the gulf coast the Waldner Spoon is absolutely essential gear for a couple of reasons. First off, it's as weedless as any fly gets. I've fished Rich's spoons through some very tough grasses and it does wonderfully. Secondly, it's a tough fly (all epoxy and wire) so it will last for a very long time. Thirdly, the action is unbelievable. The spoon wobbles like crazy and will make fish turn to bite it, but it will not spin and tangle your line. All said, this is one awesome saltwater fly. Now all you Saints fans out there can show your pride and bag some serious reds at once. Let's see them win the big one today! Geaux Saints!

Albemarle Angler Now Carries Kreinik Kreelex Material

I walked in Albemarle Angler today to pick up more beadheads for nymphs and of course I perused the store to see if I could walk out buying more than I intended.  (what else are student loans for anyway?)*

I was pleasantly surprised to see some of my favorite Kreinik flash material, which is what makes the Kreelex streamers have such great action, hanging up on the wall.  They had copper, gold, and silver styles.  And while there are other colors out there, these seem to be the best for catching trout.

Which brings up another topic...Rich and I have had a year long debate as to which color coordination is more successful.  He swears by the copper/gold while I swear by the gold/silver.  If you agree with me, please comment below.  If you agree with Rich, I hope you catch only chubs this year comment elsewhere.

One of last year's victims of a copper/gold kreelex

So do yourself a favor and run by the store to pick up some of this elusive material if you live here in C'ville and check out the Trow brother's video instructions which can be found here.  This doesn't pertain to those in the Harrisonburg area because the Mossy Creek Fly Fishing store has had kreelex materials in stock for a while now.

Also, if you're interested in fly tying (or as I usually call it "tie flying"... not on purpose mind you, just the dyslexia talking) sign up for email updates from Albemarle Angler as they've started having regular tying sessions at the store.  Only problem for those beginners out there: you'll need your own set of equipment and materials.  But if you're a member of the med school club then I can definitely let you borrow some materials (just not my rare collection of extinct tropical bird feathers.)**

*joke, obviously
**yet another joke... if that ornithological collection was truly wasted on flies then someone needs to set up a rehab center for fly fishermen.   

Fishing Report: Moormans River TJTU 1/15/10

Kyle and I fished the TJTU section of Moormans River today. I did a recon yesterday to check out the ice situation and it didn't look good. Most of the big pools were covered by a thin sheet of ice and the fish were holding down deep and not interested much in the few streamers and nymphs I dragged past them. Fortunately, Kyle convinced me to go out again today.

We fished from about 2-5 PM and rode the wave of the 50 + degree weather. It was gorgeous. The river actually thawed a great deal this morning and we basically had the place to ourselves. We started off throwing streamers but ended up switching to pheasant tails. We caught three 'bows on pheasant tails fished upstream in about an hour. Things slowed down a bit as the sun set so we tried our luck again with silver/gold and copper/gold kreelex. Sure enough, we landed two more on streamers. I expect tomorrow (Saturday) to be good as well since temperatures should remain in the 50s.

I forgot to post this before, but here is a slideshow with the "best catch of 2009". Hopefully we'll do even better this year! Oh and Cameron, maybe if you make it out of the library you'll catch more than fish than me this year...

New Year Resolutions

Everyone is making resolutions; Ridiculous resolutions that inevitably fail by the time February comes around. So instead, I thought I'd make some that may actually have a fighting chance of coming to fruition (this, of course, all hinges on whether we'll have time to fish while busy on clinical rotations). Here are mine:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/captkodak/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

1. Catch another gar. After I reeled in one of these prehistoric monsters last summer, I became OBSESSED and went on numerous occasions out to the Rivanna with the only goal of pulling in another to ensure the first wasn't just a fluke. I even bought heavy duty gloves to make sure I wouldn't lose a finger or two while trying to get the hook out. Alas, I received some head turns but never a solid bite. So by far the top thing on my list is to snag one of these guys again.

Huge Mossy Creek brown caught by Shane from Mossy Creek Fly Fishing (photo courtesy of MCFF)

2. Catch more brown trout (big ones). This may sound picky but really it means a lot more than it seems. Practically the only place to find decent brown trout around here is Mossy Creek. From our past posts about Mossy, you'll know that it's always a challenge to fish out there and going home skunked is a very real possibility. So this year, how about we pull in some of those famous monsters that the guys over at Mossy Creek Fly Fishing seem to pull in regularly.

3. Float the Jackson. Hopefully when I'm stationed in Roanoke in August I'll have some time to hit up the nearby Jackson River. From what I could tell from our quick visit just below the dam, the river is loaded with healthy fish and ideal water temperatures to ensure good fishing year round. Let's just hope that if I do float it, that I don't meet any angry landowners with shotguns.

4. Successfully fish the Shad Run. Okay last year I went out and tried my best to fish the Shad Run down near Richmond. This year, I think I'll play it smart and wade the Rappahannock instead. Also I'll probably need to get a sinking line and some properly made shad darters. Hopefully this time my trip will be more like Gordon's from Albemarle Angler as seen in the video above.

5. Catch more fish than Rich. Hey, I at least had to have something realistic on here right? Rich, you just been SERVEDDDD.