Semper on the Fly: There is no greater fan of Fly Fishing than the worm -- Lotsa BronzeBass on the South Fork

Ready for a great day

Fritz, Jacob, James, Paul and I met at the Alma Boat Ramp (Alma, VA) to explore new water on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River Saturday. The South Fork, the broader sibling of the North Fork (subject of many posts) flows for 97 miles hemmed in by the Blue-Ridge Mountains to the East and the Massanutten Ridge to the west. The South Fork begins at the confluence of North and South Rivers in rural Augusta county and flows northerly until it joins the North Fork in Front Royal to form the main stem of the Shenandoah.

Jacob Fish on!

The South Fork is a low-gradient, center-channel river with sloping banks and the 3-mile section we fished today was littered with near continuous ledges, class 1 riffles, runs, and pools. This is a well-known float fishing run with named sections like; Pyramid Rocks, Columbian Falls and Silver Falls (although "falls" leads one to assume more drop & turbulence than you'll find). Looking at this section on GOOGLE Maps satellite view it looks like smallmouth Valhalla....AND IT IS.

Remnants of the cool night's fog clung to the river as the low sun worked it away. The sky was cloudy and it was a pleasant 68 degrees when we put in at 0830 at the Newport Boat Ramp (Newport, VA) after Fritz and I dropped his trusty Ranger at the Alma Bridge River Access.

Paul caught the first smallie of the day at the "h" in Shenandoah

This isn't Potomac sized water but it is BIG WATER and it was running at 2.4 feet on the Luray river gauge. We rigged up with 5-weights and streamers just before we slid into the warm summer water. Paul was the first one in with his float tube and he had 4 bronzebacks before I even hit the water ....a sure mark of a great day to come. There's a reason why generations of Virginian's are so passionate about their Shenandoah Valley and river(s) -- their natural beauty cleanses and forges powerful emotional ties. The Mid-Atlantic received a heavy dose of rain Thurs-Friday but the river seemed to tolerate the load and the flow seemed healthier and higher than what I would have expected of a normal low-pool August flow.

Paul tales his first fish of the day....many more to come

We began swinging streamers immediately in the riffle below the Newport Boat Ramp put in. I started with newly tied golden retrievers tandem-rigged and it wasn't long before the feisty bronze bass the river is famous for welcomed us with adrenalin producing strikes. Bronzebacks are not native to these waters. They were introduced in the mid-1800s, but thrive here in the cobble-bottomed clear river, they seem to love it here. We returned their love and fish after fish etched smiles on our faces as they went on runs and exploded on the surface.

James shows off a nice catch

I caught salmon, brook, brown and rainbow trout last weekend, I love them foremost, but agree with the consensus that inch for inch and pound for pound the smallmouth bass is the gamiest fish that swims. As a point of interest, the all-tackle smallmouth record is a 11lb, 15oz behemoth caught just southwest of here in Tennessee. The smallies we caught were far smaller but no less spunky.

The first 200 yards below the put in is prime smallmouth water and with a herd of cows moo-monitoring our progress from the east bank we all caught fish in this first stretch. The end of this first prime stretch is marked by 100 foot cliffs on the left or West side of the river.

Many fish with the cows looking on

We fished the next section, a lake section with nice ledges and lord knows caught may fish, but in retrospect we should have moved down to even better, faster water. I didn't count fish today but I know that Paul, rigged with a rappalla and tube bait caught 37 Bass before the car disappeared behind the first bend! Lord this place is filthy with fish.

Look at the size of the rear flipper!

Then the fishing actually picked up! Fritz was paddling Jacob was was slaying them with both 3 and 6 wts along the left bank and more and more in the runs at the ends of riffles.

Fritz and Jacob worked that bank hard picking up a dozen+ smallies

Jacob probably still has a smile on his face now from all the fish he caught. Fritz and I both caught our shares (OK maybe a few peoples shares) but both enjoyed the jubilant smiles from Paul, Jacob and James. NO kidding there were many points when 3 out of five of us were 'fish-on' at the same time and once when 4 of 5 had fish on. As Paul rang the bell for his 70th (or so) James had a special moment catching his first double. Fritz and I both witnessed it so its verified in the books!

Darn that's a good photographer! ...James slays another

This was/is the prettiest smallmouth water I've ever seen. Prettier than the North Fork (which has a permanent place in my heart) and fish for fish the smallies are and inch or two bigger on the South Fork. After that first lake the river is continuously near perfect. I hope to get back out on it after some motrin and sleep.