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.
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