New Water ~ North River

Anxious to get on the water and get away from D.C. on Inauguration Day Fritz, James and I set out on wet roads for an adventure to the Delayed Harvest Section (DHS) of the North River West of Bridgewater, Va.  North River had been on my list for a year and the DHS is a 1-mile tail-water between the bottom discharge dam at Elkhorn Lake and Staunton Reservoir. My hope was that the bottom release dam would add consistent trout friendly water and that Elkhorn lake would serve as a buffer to rain. Turns out I was right on both. The flow was optimum and running at a winter-warm 46.👍

James and Fritz atop the dam with Elkhorn Lake and the WV Ridgeline behind them

With Fritz driving and a worn Delorme in my lap we found our way to the headwaters of Elkhorn Lake in about 3 hours.  The section of North River that flows down the VA/WV border and feeds Elkhorn is supposedly good native Brookie territory and will get its chance soon too. We found the parking area at the head of Elkhorn, geared up in the rain and drained our last drops of coffee before the .5-mile walk along the southern side of the lake toward the dam. We'd heard this section was decent sized trout water for the VA Mtns so we took an assortment of rods not knowing exactly what to expect.  Expecting to thrown tandem nymphs under an indicator I decided on a stiff TFO 8' 2wt, Fritz a 7'6" 4wt and James his trusty 7'6" 3wt.

What a sledding hill this would have made!   Fritz and James head down

It was a chilly and damp walk in the rain to the spillway and I thought of Camas Creek as I headed down to the spillway.  We noted the spillway pool BLOG-chatter claimed always held trout to our delight saw trout suspended in the pool.  

trout, bass, river suckers, pan fish this discharge pool held them all

After a few strikes in the spillway pool we decided to walk down the stream-side trail and fish back up to the pool. I thought the trail led all the way to Staunton Reservoir, but it turns out that it ended after about half a mile.  

 

DHS between the two reservoirs the trail ends at the 90 degree bend midway between

 With James and Fritz catching up I examined the forest, the rock ledges carved by the rivers constant cutting and the beauty of it all.   Fritz had seen nesting Bald Eagles at the car and attuned to their presence I smiled as one dropped down into the riverbed and swooped ahead alighting on a branch down river.  

When we reached the end of the streamside trail James decided to fish up from there and Fritz and I resolved to head down stream toward Staunton Reservoir.  We followed deer trails, broke brush, hit a few pools and finally came to the top of Staunton reservoir.

Top of Staunton Reservoir and our furthest point downriver

 

View from the bottom looking back into the Special Regs/Delayed Harvest Area

To our delight and frustration 10-12 Bows and 2 brookies made this large rock their home-base

I approached from the farside while Fritz roll casted from the near bank using the current to carry his wholly bugger into between the rock (see above) and the bank... bam rainbow-on.

 In the pod in front of us were a dozen rainbows and 2 somewhat larger white-finned brookies, for near an hour, Fritz and I crept and crawled bloody through the thorny bank trying our best to entice another trout to hand to no avail.  After nodding respectfully to these finicky stockers we began our trek upstream to close with James.  

We found James just upstream of a gorgeous bend pool bisected by a large trunk splitting the pool, another 12-15 trout were in the pool and as the afternoon had warmed to a super comfortable 60 degrees the trout turned on eating emergers coming off the cobble strewn bottom.

Here I am drifting my split shot-weighted fly under the log to the feeding station

We all enjoyed hook-ups and talking each other onto trout...steady...steady...to the left...here he comes..now.now...set the hook, but Fritz was the only one to come away with a bow, see video below.

 

 With the shadows starting the creep up the river valley we decided to fish our way back up and call it day.    I'll come back here again (can't abide being skunked on such lovely water) and next time I'll be sure to work the North River above where it enters Elkhorn Lake as well.

Thanks for following along!

 

 

 

 

 

 Here are the directions

 

Big rainbows in tough winter conditions

23.  I suppose if you're a Chicago Bulls fan that number brings back warm memories of days gone by when Michael Jordan ran up and down the hardwoods on his way to six NBA titles.  But 23 doesn't always carry that warm and fuzzy connotation. With my trout calendar restricted to but a handful of adventures per year - Georgia during JROTC Leadership Academy, New Hampshire in summer, and Virginia over Christmas break, I'm at the mercy of the weather gods whenever I head out from Florida. On this trip the gods chose to not cooperate. 23 degrees plus a wind chill pushing temps into the teens mixed with snow flurries -- a regular winter wonderland!

Thanks to Matt for leaving behind his Jeep while he was enjoying time with his family in New Hampshire, but that meant I was flying solo for two days between Christmas and New Years. My two targets - Beaver Creek and the Rose River.

Did I mention it was friggin' cold! Hand warmers, thermal socks, gloves all sound and look good, but toes and fingers get numb fast, painfully fast at times. That said, I was bound and determined to make the most of my two trips on the water.

Beaver Creek has long been a favorite of mine. It's a bit of a drive, but it can produce some impressive fish. I wanted to use my dad's Orvis bamboo fly rod for a couple of reasons -- nostalgia of memories of my dad fishing and the old school sense of fishing with it. About the fly rod, I queried Jim West, the resident historian of Orvis fly rods who sent me this -- "Rod is an 8’ 2pc. 13 ferrule which is a slow 7wt. made 11-26-1965 by Bill Young  and George Reed sold 12-17-1965 to MacCallum’s Boat House looks like Epsorn NH."  My dad won it in a fishing contest back in the 60s,,, how awesome is that? Now many would argue that rod belongs on a wall to be looked at only, but I can't think of a better way to pay homage to the man who got me into the sport than by using it every chance I get (I just better not break it!).

So after a couple hours of no action and having lost all sensation in my toes and fingers by now, I was about to pack it in when I walked past an elevated bank and saw a few small trout below. Then I saw a big guy cruise past and disappear.  I maneuvered back upstream, found an opening through the bushes and laid out a few casts downstream toward the area by the bank.  WHAM! (not George Michael - may he rest in peace), but a jolt that immediately brought life back to my fingers and toes.  Fish on!

Some may consider a one fish day a bad day on the water -- not so! I could have fished that hole a bit longer, and possibly hooked a fish or two more, but I couldn't think of a better way to end my day than a "last cast, last fish" moment.

Day 2 turned colder than the first! When you no longer fish as often as you used to I think some of your fishing instincts fade away.  Winter fishing rule #1 -- the fish will generally feed during the warmer part of the day.  Why I pressed hard to be on the water early each morning in hindsight wasn't the best call.

  On the Rose, this proved true as the few hookups in the morning transformed into more regular bent rods in the afternoon.  In between sessions, I stripped out of my waders, turned the Jeep on and blasted the heat until my toes finally regained some feel.  I decided to rig two rods -- one for streamers and one for nymphing since changing back in forth is a a pain even in the best of conditions, but when your fingers aren't fully working it made sense.  Water was low and typical drift lanes barely moved the nymphs so I switched primarily to swinging streamers in the big pools (plus that meant using the bamboo rod most of the time). 

Taking quality pictures and shooting video proved challenging in these conditions as well. 

 I hooked a dozen or so rainbows in the afternoon.  Though two pools provided steady action, I ventured  down to the end of the river and set a goal of catching a trout in each pool before moving up to the next stretch of the river.  Both a black/olive and a white woolley bugger seemed to produce the best results. I used a sinking line which I beleive made a big difference in putting the flies on the bottom quickly

As the sun started moving behind the hills it was time to pack it up once again.  My takeawys from this latest venture:

1.  One beautiful fish can make an entire day worthwhile.

2.  Rigging two rods is a pretty good idea when switching between nymphing &swinging  streamers.

3.  Fish low and slow is the key.  You cannot fish slow enough.

4.  Hitting the water mid-late morning is plenty early enough in the winter. Fish bite mid-day.

5.  Fishing in bitter cold is better than not fishing at all!

Thanks again Matt for use of your Jeep.  Until next time.