Devils Ditch ~ Conway ~ Staunton: Mtn Streams at their best



Colorful SNP Brookie




Mission Accomplished: Scott w Brookie on the Ditch

 On his way to NH to fish opening day with his family Scott stopped in NOVA for a chance to fish our favorite SNP mountain streams.  We arrived at the upper Conway and parked by the 667 ford and walked 12 minutes down 667 until we hit remote Devils Ditch Run.  Scott had his 1wt Orvis Superfine, he had to dust it off as its not stout enough to ward off the snakes and gators in Florida, he rigged up with a #16 Parachute adams trailed by a pheasant tail nymph.  I started off with my 2wt and an elk hair caddis followed by the hares-ear nymph.  Scott had not been to the ditch before and it was only my third time to so both shared the anticipation of new water.

Both the Ditch & Staunton are tough sledding!

The fishing was very slow and the wind was whipping to start the day but Scott was able to bring to hand a colorful brookie after some hard prospecting.  Devil's Ditch is tight-quarter, high gradient fishing, so know what your getting yourself into if you ever make the ditch part of your plans.  We fished up the ditch for 2 hours then walked down the hunters trail that parallels the southern bank of the river until we hit the Conway just below the Devils Ditch Hunters Access. 

If you've ever been to this section of the Conway you'll agree that these deep holes are some of the least accessible, most beautiful pools in the SNP.  From there fished up the Conway toward our parking spot until 1300.  We would have fished longer but the fishing was still very slow and and we decided that we would change streams and hope our luck would change with it. We drove to the Staunton River and I think the abundant mayfly hatch had more to do with our increased catch-rate than luck...either way the Staunton was awesome. 

Matt Stalking a pool on the Staunton

In the first two pools of the Staunton we had more action than the earlier 4 hours of fishing.  Scott had not been to the Staunton before so I was very happy that the bite was on.  The Staunton is not for the timid.  It's a higher gradient, steeper scramble then the aptly named Devils Ditch.  The river has varied character, dominated by falls,  plunge pools, and fractured boulder and timber strewn runs. I often count my catch but didn't on the Staunton, but it wouldn't surprise me if I caught 25 and Scott caught 30 during on 3 hard but rewarding hours on this gem of a feeder into our beloved Rapidan.    

Brookie on a bed of river flowers

Typical Staunton Pool

Prize possession

Pools on the Conway below Devils Ditch

Rainy morning on the Rapidan -- Better than rain anywhere else!

Standard Rapidan Brookie

It had been awhile since I had been on the river and after reading Scott's last post about the aggressive reptiles in Florida I was itching to get out and remind him of streams so cold they'll never know the slither of a moccasin or gator! James and I planned this trip last week and even though the forecast called for building an arc we were not to be dissuaded.  We arrived at the yellow SNP gate of the upper Rapidan at 0745 in a steady rain, it was 41 degrees and breezy, the kind of day when you hope the fish are biting to keep your mind off the hypothermia you're about to tempt.

James ~ Cold but happy with his catch

On the positive side; we were high enough in the mountains that the river was clear and the flow, while fully loaded, was still very fishable. James rigged up a 3wt with a #16 purple-bodied adams parachute followed by a #18 bead head prince dropper.  I fished a stiff 2wt and started with a #14 tan elk-hair caddis followed by a #18 pheasant tail.  We headed down to the river directly from the parking area and began to fish upstream leap frogging and scouting spots & casts for each other. 

so wet the trout might have been able to breathe out of the river

90% of the days action was subsurface on the droppers and both the pheasant tail and the prince nymphs produced nicely fished slowly in the back-eddys pockets just out of the current.  The relatively high flow of the river made the caddis the "dry" (nothing was dry) of choice as it added buoyancy and visibility greater than the adams.  We switched rods back and forth a few times and easily missed x3 the dozen or so fish we brought to hand between the two of us.  All the fish were in the standard 5-7 inch range and were beautifully colored.
         Two of the natives had that deep molted orange belly and white tail-end, the markings of more mature brookies.  After 3 hours I changed out flies and found that my fingers were not working real well so I asked James how he was fairing and could see that while still game he was shivering-wet too.  We climbed out after having fished about 400 yds of river and walked back down the trail to the Jeep.  Kudos to Chrysler, they make one heckeva heater which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Get off the couch and out fishing!