Paradise Found

Scott and I were worried that the recent heavy rains would wash out the dry river so we set our sights on the familiar runs of the upper Rapidan believing that as we gained elevation we'd mitigate the heavy flows down stream.

Our fears were confirmed as we crossed the Cedar, Rappahanock, Robinson and Rose and they were all blown-out to the point of being unfishable, but as we gained elevation on Quaker Run Road our hopes lifted as it became steadily less soggy.  Junction Pool was full and fast but let us know the upper river would be fishable. There were several other fisherman on the river but when we parked at the SNP  gate we were happy to be by ourselves. Our plan was to fish to Hoover Camp and then catch a trout or two on both Laurel and Mill Prong, the headwaters of the Rapidan.

We both rigged up similarly with parachute adams and bead-head pheasant tail nymphs and headed to the water, Scott toting his superfine 1-wt and me with my 3wt. Though the flow was on the high side altering the character this section we know so well we knew we'd be able to fish the pools, eddys and runs and each had a brookie by the third cast. 10-minutes into the day we both knew it was going to be a day to remember.

Our best explanation (beyond our self professed expertise!) is that the high water had been too high for the fish to feed and that this was the first day when they could grab a meal. In any event we had strikes on about a third of our short casts and the question was many could hook and land. As we neared Camp Hoover our catch crested 110 brought-to-hand. We split-up Scott on Mill Prong and me on Laurel Prong where we each caught a trout before flipping to the other blue line to each catch a trout. We ended the day with lunch on President Hoover's porch trying our best to soak in this great day.