Headwaters Recon: Laurel Run, Little Stoney Creek, Narrow Passage Creek

Headwaters of Little Stoney Creek

It'd been raining in Virginia for a week, its still raining as I write this days later, so I knew that high water was going to play a part in tuesday's adventure. My plan was to head back to Black Run In Rawley Springs, but as I jeeped west on 66 Broad Run was bursting its banks at Chapman's Mill near Bull Run Mtn. This needed to be a headwaters day so I continued west toward Woodstock to explore little blue lines just north of Bryce Mountain. A DeLorme search and some horse-folks' pics caused me to zero in on Laurel Run tucked just on the Va side of the Va-Wv border in the vicinity of Liberty Furnace off Cool Springs Road in northwestern Edinburg, VA.   There may be a few natives in a hidden holes here, it wouldn't surprise me, but this small run, probably a rivulet in July isn't worth a fishing day.   Feel free to come here to escape with horses and ride the gorgeous trails that lead right over the ridge into WV but save your fishing for somewhere else.

Little Stoney AOR

The question of Laurel Run asked and answered I enjoyed playing with Jamie on  muddy forest roads and wound my way back to the upper section of  Little Stoney Creek where Forest Road 92 crosses Upper Little Stoney. From the parking lot I fished up LSC for about 300 yards until the story of the stream had revealed itself.   This is small-creek action.  I had to grip my 5'9" stick at the first line guide to make some casts -- its thick.    The water was high and fishable sections were few and far between but its lovely and remote which has a draw unto itself.    There are also good camping spots along the fisherman's trail on both sides of FR 92. The trail that heads downstream from the parking area is the same trail I headed up when I fished the lower section of Little Stoney last week.

Upper -- Upper LSC -- cute waterfall

TU approved Culvert under FR 92

I headed downstream, down the path from Jamie and parking for 12 minutes and followed an UNT bushwacking into heavy laurel and wait-a-minute vines until I happily slid into LSC.

The flow here, augmented by 3-4 small feeders was higher than above FS92 and I really had to search for fishable sections.   Fortunately deadfall had created lovely deep pools which all held brookies in the entry riffles.

Deadfall pools like this all held brookies in their headwaters

The Upper reaches of LSC is filled with these palm sized brookies

I fished right back up to Jamie moving more quickly than I usually do, stalking good pools in the intermittent rain showers.   Thankfully the additional rain didn't effect the river and it stayed clear at 50.9 degrees.

Hold-on little fellow --you'll be back in the water soon

Another drop dead gorgeous dead-fall pool on upper LSC -- trout were in upper feeding stations

  After a lunch watching trout rise in the pool (seen above) I made my way back to Jamie and headed out FS 92 and made a sharp left on FS 88.    From West to East the runs (and corresponding hollows) track, Laurel Run, Little Stony Creek and then one more ridge to the East are the headwaters of Narrow Passage Creek.   I'd google-studied NPC and thought that there might be access several miles back toward Woodstock, but also noticed that NPC came close and paralleled FS 88 just another mile up the gravel road.   Driving up FS 88 you can't see NPC but you can see the road is straight and to the right (east) it dips down uniformly into a hollow.   After a few futile adventures trying to force Jamie through logging roads which had been reclaimed by Mother N I parked, shot a 90 degree azimuth into the hollow, figured I'd find the water and could always follow a 270 back to the road if needed.  Off I went at my bumbling through brush pace until I crashed into the headwaters of NPC.    This is a remote little blue line, I can't imagine anyone ever ventures here and it was all that I could have hoped for, tiny, lovely, pristine and if you could read where water would be at low summer flow, trout were in those places, not tons of them, but enough to make the slog well worth the effort, feisty and lovely.

This is where I slid into the upper reaches of NPC and caught my first brookie in the upper left station

Last brookie of the day from Narrow Passage Creek

All things considered it was a great day exploring and getting to know the headwaters of these three GWNP streams.    I think if I come again I'll concentrate on the LSC just above the reservoir and fish up from there with the option, if others are parked there, of heading to the upper section off FS 92, walking down from there and fishing back up to the parking.    Again this is not a large stream and the surrounding terrain channelizes you into the river so either fish it solo or agree to tag team fish it with a buddy.