Come Hell or High Water ...it was High Water

James fished some fast high water

Boy we wanted to get out on the South Fork and were not going to be dissuaded by some high water....and high it was.   Optimal fishing here is below 1.75" on the Luray Gauge and we were actually happy to have it around 3" and stable.  Paul, Henry, James and I slid into the greenish stew of what looked like a new river Sunday morning.  Fishing was slow as we fought the surface current and tried to remember the hidden structure of our friend.

We coaxed some bass into action but our dreams of a 400 fish day melted away and we all adjusted our expectations and ended day 1 with maybe a hundred fish between the 4 of us. 

James had to head home to work and Paul, Hen and I feasted on beer, salsa verde, sausage and chicken as rain again began to splatter on the tin roof of our cabin.  The night ended w a great chat and Paul pouring rusty nails (scotch + Drambuie) for all.

Day two Team

Day two the began with the river dramatically rising as you can see on the graph below.

We experienced this rise real time and it was interesting to see it happen.  We couldn't really tell by rocks and shoals getting covered with water they were already well covered.  What noticed was a browning out of the water and alot of flotsam; sticks, a few logs in the main flow. 

Paul, Hen and I quickly made our way through the first mile of river and concentrated our attention where the river spread out under the large cliffs on the right.

Slow activity was the rule for the day and were thankfully interrupted by 3-4 fish here and there.  At about 1400 Paul got ahead of us and stayed ahead of Hen and I for the rest of the day and Hen and I enjoyed more and more success.  Hen lent me to a small popper which I fished on a 9'3" Orvis Graphite Spring Creek and had a blast.   Seeing smallies slash-up from the bottom and nail the popper was exhilarating.

Paul ended the day with some pontoon challenges in the final rapids and out of respect for his wife's nerves I'll leave that as a story untold. 

As the moon came up on our right and sun the sun fell below Massanutten Mtn the bass TURNED ON!   Henry was having success fishing the outflow shoulder of a rock eddy and called up to me.   I sat on my yak and floated down to him about 30' to his right about 50m above the beginning of the last rapid.  I stood on my yak and looked to join in Hen's success...OMG I caught bass on 14 straight casts and then caught 32 before I left the spot on probably 50 casts....amazing.  Hen caught a bunch as well but we theorized that perhaps I was presenting into a bass of bait fish the smallies were crashing.   By the time I was done Hen had moved downriver and was also pulling them out of slack water behind one of the bigger rock formations.   He fished till we couldn't see anymore as as he fought to the southern bank to get into his yak he disappeared in the dark!  We met about half way down the rapid and at that point were thankful for the high water to spirit us over the rocks.

Red Dirt Rich

Dinner night 2 was so good it may turn into a tradition the salad complimenting the seared cowboy ribeyes and washed down with beer...damn it was good.

Day three was challenging from the start and though we caught our share we planned to be off the river by 1530 so we didn't fish the dusk again.

When your on the river you are sharing the river

Thanks for Reading

Shenandoah w the Pfeiffers

There comes a point each Spring when the allure of blue line brook trout gives way to wider water, the simplicity of stripping streamers through riffles and the promise of smallmouth bass, the gamest fighter around.  James wrangled a family trip to the South Fork this past Saturday and found the smallies turning on in their summer feeding stations, with that tease Fritz, Jacob and I decided to give our favorite section of the of the Shenandoah and early summer test.

The drive through the countryside to Newport just downstream from Luray was gorgeous.   Like turtles carrying their shells we met, we dropped a truck at the takeout and geared up for the adventure.    Fritz and Jacob slipped into their well-tested Old Town and I lowered myself into a new-to-me SOT kayak.

This is 4-7wt water depending on casting style, fly weight and tactics.   Heavier rods/flies fished deeper nicking tufts off the bottom simulating crayfish produce bigger but fewer bass.   I like the exciting feedback of a strike after strike after strike, so I went with a mid-weight set-up, an untested Orvis 6wt graphite rod that I’d eBay’d this winter and a dual dropper rig with a soft plastic followed by a small golden retriever – fish on on cast three at the Newport Put-in riffle – a great day lay ahead.

The water was warmer and the river fuller (2.36 on the Luray Gauge) than I expected, but its width allows for increased flow without degrading the fishable water.  Turning away from a nesting pair of bald eagles I glanced up-stream, Fritz and Jacob floating on green & blue, a Massanutten Mtn background and the priceless chatter of father and son fishing drifting on the riffles.  

A frequent vice, we spent too much time on the marginal upper lake portion but were rewarded with an 11” Crappie who rose from under a shaded log to sip a golden retriever.   Shaped like a giant sunfish if these guys fought like their sunfish cousins they’d be amazing, as they are they’re beautiful and made for the pan, I slipped this one back into the shady depths and moved along.

We enjoyed running the first rapid, executed fishhook turns and took familiar stations mid-run.  Fritz and I marveled at and heckled Jacob as he brought a bronzeback to hand every other cast.  These bass weren’t big but they’re aggressiveness gave us all the action we wanted.  Every so often I’d hear Fritz exclaiming (to everyone and no-one), “I love these fish” as a smallie tail-walked to hand. We followed the eagles down river and concentrated on the disaggregated water under the large cliff on the right.    The amazing structure in this area invites groups to fish side-by-side working the many lateral channels and outflows.  I associate these cliffs with my friend Paul who always cleans up in the shady runs along the cliff’s base as Fritz did this trip and love using the cliffs as a backdrop for pictures.

I often keep track of fish brought to hand, I didn’t this time, but after 4.5-hours I suspect we each caught 75-100 smallies.  It’s not often that I’ll leave a spot where there’s a strike every cast and a fish every third cast, but we decided to flow with this lovely river and get home at a reasonable hour. We enjoyed running the last .5 mile rapid and as we approached the take-out I came in behind a family playing in the river with a small dog.    The little beagle-type saw my kayak as an island, an opportunity for rest, and swam into the current to meet me.   I scooped up Dixie and after a few licks we were fast friends.

       

Golden day for the Retreiver

Love these guys

When Henry and I last fished the North Fork we turned around at the end of the straightaway down-stream of the low-water bridge off South Hollingsworth Road and the bend of the 180 degree horseshoe teased us.  I was determined to fish all the way to the next low-water bridge on my next visit and found a willing partner in Bryan. 

Bryan & Brookie

We got on the river at 0740 and planned to fish this section in 4.5 hours, but as they say the plan didn't survive contact with reality as the fish started hitting quickly.  The air was cool at 70, the water clear and low, the clouds thick and heavy sending tendrils to the surface of the water.  There was an amazing hatch all day and clusters of juvenile smallies were rising to feed on the surface.  About an hour in we wished that we had brought a few dries to temp the bronzebacks rising from the cobble, but we continued to swing tandem streamers with good success.

Rt 33 Feather Golden Retriever

 By far the most effective streamer today was a #10 golden-retriever trailing a heavier streamer.  Scott taught me how to tie these goldens so it was with alot of pleasure that they were so productive. The smallies were, well, smallish today, none exceeding a foot, but what they lacked in size they made up for in exuberance many tail-dancing across the river to our delight.  While I expected the bronzebacks to be concentrated in the deeper runs on the shoulders of the riffles and in the pools at the bottom of the runs they were actually very much spread out wherever the cobble bottom was three or more feet deep.

Bronzeback

When we completed the bend of the horseshoe, 2/3 of the way to our destination, we were both pooped and sore from the rock bottom and began to move more quickly downstream.  If we had fished more slowly there's no doubt I could have caught 100+ smallies today.  As it was, we ended up climbing out of the river, skirting corn and soy bean fields and climbing a ridge to the back of an old-timers house (don't shoot -- hands-up).  I ended the day with 63 smalmouth, 1 large chub and 4 sunfish.   Bryan didn't count, caught a few less, but caught the biggest smallie of the day, an acrobat that etched a smile that's still on my face.

One of the few today on a crayfish pattern from Murray's