Rapidan River Brookies 3-11-13

I've been fighting off some flu bugs and other viruses for about a week and Monday I woke to a clear head and sound body so what better to do on a day off than head up to the Rapidan and see what the brookies are up to.  The weather conditions as follows:  partly cloudy; air temp - 50; water temp 42.
Matt couldn't make the trip today so the trip was a solo effort.  The recent rains and snow meltoff made the road a bit dicey.  I spun the rear tires of my Ranger and headed up & down the switchback dirt road.

 

Today I fished the section from the Junction Pool to the first bridge.... about a 1.75 mile trek upstream.  I parked at the bridge and hiked back down to the Junction Pool to start fishing there.  The water level was higher than I've ever seen it -- good news for spring fishing.  I rigged my 7'6" Orvis Superfine  with a #14 Parachute Adams followed by a #18 Copper John.  When Matt & I fished the river last month, the fish were all small ones -- 6" or less.  Today I hoped to find some bigger ones.... and I did.  Although not a "lights out" day, I caught and released 10 brookies in the 7-11 inch range.  Six  caught on the Adams, 2 on the Copper John & 2 more on a #20 Zebra Midge.

I played around a bit with my waterproof camera and snapped these pics of the trout underwater.  I still have a ways to go on underwater camera ops.

I expect the fishing to heat up as the water temp inches up to 50 degrees and beyond.
See you on the river.  Tight lines! scott