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.
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