Project Healing Waters 3-1-13

The Quantico & Belvoir Chapters of Project Healing Waters partnered for a wounded warriors flyfishing trip to Harmons Cabins on the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac in the mountains of West Virginia this past weekend.  I had the privilege of attending and lending a hand as a guide and also got to wet a line as well and fish this amazing stream.  The water was chilly -- 38 degrees, a little high, and a little faster than normal.  It snowed both days on the water.

More than 40 warriors and volunteer guides held court on the river and despite the tough environmental conditions, fish were brought to hand by nearly everyone attending the event.  PHW chapter coordinators Marty Laksbergs and Bob Gartner did one heck of a job in putting all the moving pieces together to make the event a huge success.  If anyone is not fully aware of the Project Healing Waters program -- Google it and learn what a terrific organization this outfit truly is and how it supports warriors nationwide.

I had the chance to guide for and fish alongside with my father-in-law Hans Svane -- and Air Force vet who served from 1967-1971.  Over two days we threw nearly every fly in the box at these trout -- sculpins, woolly buggers, nymphs, copper johns, midges.  We'd get a bump or short strike now and then, but the fish were few and far between.  On Day 1 -- Hans caught a 20 inch fallfish that I found out is a really huge fallfish!  Most fallfish fall in the 6-9 inch range.  This was the granddaddy apparently.

On Day 2, weather conditions were still a challenge, but reports were coming in from other warriors who were picking up some rainbows on san juan worms, copper johns and midges.
Matt joined us for the morning fishing, but having driven some 7-8 hours the previous night after attending a funeral in Upstate New York, he was pretty bushed.
We fished fast water, slow pools and everything in between trying to crack the code.  In between trying to keep our feet and hands functional, we had a few hits now and then, but that was all.

Finally later in the afternoon, I switched to a big sculpin and hooked a feisty rainbow. We packed it in for the day at that point.
After the group dinner that evening, Marty & Bob handed out raffle prizes to all the warriors that included a few fly rods & reels, nets, fly boxes and other gadgets.  What a great organization!









I headed back to Virginia Saturday night, but Hans fished Sunday morning with volunteer guide Drew Patterson from the Trout Unlimited Chapter in Winchester, VA.  Drew bunked in the same cabin as us and he's a genuine high quality guy.  What I couldn't do in two days, Drew did in just a few hours. He put Hans onto a nice rainbow before everyone packed it in for the day.  Thanks Drew.  Thanks Hans for coming out, and again kudos to Marty Laksbergs and Bob Gartner for putting the event together.

Project Healing Waters Outing to Rose River Farm

Scott and I set out this morning to meet our Project Healing Waters friends for a PHW outing at Rose River Farm.  We knew it would be wet with a storm approaching and were anxious to see what the PHW coordinator had lined up for us.  We arrived at the Pavilion at 0850 and the fisherman needing assistance were already spoken for by other guides.  Scott introduced me to the PHW crew (this was my first trip) then we headed down stream to the lower limit of the farms' waters.  Scott and I both opted for 4wts, his an Orvis TLS and mine a clearwater.  We fished dropper-dropper combos beneath strike indicators on 4 & 5X tippets.  The most successful fly turned out to be a #20 zebra midge.  We began the day with several hookups in the 15 inch range and continued to fish the same holes (for too long) until our desire to fish new water became too great.  The first cold rain drops hit at 0951 and came more steadily hour by hour ~ thank goodness wind was never an issue.  We retreated for lunch at 1200 fishing a few holes enroute to the pavilion where we found a pot of welcoming chili.  After trading stories we helped out a few friends, old and new at the pool at the pavilion.  After lunch we changed clothes and headed upstream to the bridge and fished back downstream toward the Pavilion.  We were skunked in the first two holes/runs then began to steadily pick up 3-4 strikes per hole often landing 1-3 fish per hole.  We fished all the way back down to our morning positions then worked our way back up to a honey hole along a rock improved bank.  The last two hours we spotted/guided for each other enjoying putting each other on fish at each hole.  This turned out to be perfect as an uninformed cast was useless and a guided cast had high hook-up potential.  Scott caught a gorgeous rainbow then put me on a gorgeous aggressive bow on the last cast of the day.  As we departed two fisherman Scott had helped on a previous PHW outing approached the pool and we spent another 10 minutes putting them on fish as well.  We left chilled, but with big smiles on our faces having caught 7-8 rainbows apiece, having made new friends and put some of those friends on some big fish.

 

Rapidan River 2-12-13

Matt & I hit the stream about 9 a.m.. Air temp was 34 degrees and windy.  No other fishermen were on the river.  We didn't have a thermometer to check water temp, but I'm guessing low 40s -- it was cold. The water level and flow were excellent -- a really good sign of things to come for the season.
This was my first chance to try out my new Orvis 761-4 Superfine fly rod.  It did not disappoint.  It cast accurately; it presented dries gently on the water, and it made even a 6 in. brook trout feel like a good fish on the end of the line.  Matt and I both had hookups in the first 5 minutes of fishing -- another good sign.  We proceeded to catch a fair number of brookies throughout the day.

Most of the trout were small... really small in the 2-3 inch range.  But we both also landed several in the 5-7 inch class.  Most fish were caught on #16 & #18 BH Pheasant Tail Nymph, the next best fly was a #18 orange parachute dry.  Other flies that produced 1-2 trout were Adams Parachute, Caddis Pupa, BWO Emerger, BH Hare's Ear Nymph and Elk Hair Caddis.

The sun came out and the air temp really warmed up -- probably the warmest day on 2013 so far -- high 50s. A hatch of some really tiny off-white midges started around noon.  Though the flies were stirring above the stream, there was no observable surface feeding.  Several casts with a #22 Midge drew no takes. We finished up at Camp Hoover ending with our traditional "fish caught on the last cast" signalling time to go home.  Fish count for the day was Scott 25 and Matt 12.  Not a lights out kind of day like we had last year, but a good start for 2013 fly fishing for Brook Trout in the national park.

If you get the chance to head up to the Shenandoah National Park this spring -- we hope to see you there! Tight lines!

Beaver Creek, VA 1-14-13

I've been  wanting to revisit Beaver Creek since my last trip in November, and Monday was clear on the calendar.  I left the house at 3:30 and headed west. I arrived at the Ottobine Country Store at 5:35 a.m. and was the sole car in the lot.  I waited till about 5:45 when I saw some activity in the store. I paid $10, grabbed my pass and headed up to the elementary school parking lot.  Daylight would not be for another hour -- that's the downside of Beaver Creek fishing.  I rigged my 4-wt Orvis TLS Power Matrix ( predecessor to the Access line) with a sculpin and hit the water.  Weather was overcast and air temps 45-50 degrees... good fishing weather, or so I thought. Nothing seemed to be working swinging streamers downstream. I changed up colors and patterns of sculpins and woolly buggers and varied retrieves -- no luck.  A disconcerting image I found in one pool that has an overhanging edge that allows you clearly look down was the presence of suckers in huge numbers.  When I was here in November, the pool was full of trout... now suckers and an isolated few trout?  I switched tactics to dead drift nymphing and finally found modest success.  Using a tandem rig of copper john and zebra midge I finally enticed a 14-in rainbow to strike.

I had a couple other strikes, but nothing was brought to hand.

I'm not sure why the fishing was so tough today compared to my last trip.  The presence of suckers this time of year also has me puzzled.  Until next time... tight lines!  spl

New Year's Day 2013 - Passage Creek, VA

What better way to start the new year than waking up at 5:30 New Year's Day and loading up the truck for a early morning fishing trip in the Shenandoahs.  Destination was Passage Creek near Front Royal.  Air temps started in the 20s and never got much higher than mid-30s..... it was cold! I met Dave McKissick there. Dave is a regular Orvis fly fishing customer and he's fished Passage Creek with some success in the past.  We met at the Fish Cultural Station at sunrise, and after rigging up my Orvis TLS Power Matrix 4-wt headed downstream to fish that section first.  We threw woolly buggers and an assortment of nymphs with no success. After taking a short break to warm up in the truck, we headed upstream and fished a really nice looking hole up by the dam. After changing up flies again and again, I finally felt that welcome bend of the rod tip as a pretty rainbow sipped a red #20 Copper John nymph.  

 Alas, that was the only fish of the day.  After snapping a quick pic, I gently released it back to its hole.  As the feeling in my toes was nowhere to be found due to the icy water temps, it was time to pack it in the for morning and head on home.
Passage Creek Delayed Harvest Section is definitely worth another visit this spring when the water temps warm a bit.
Welcome 2013. spl

Rose River Recon Dec 18th 2012

Scott and I were looking to get in a pre-holiday fish as we hadn't been out in awhile so we headed for the Rose River.  It was cloudy and foggy in NOVA, but the fog broke in Culpepper and as we broke west from Rt 29 it was sunny and clear.  We parked at the end of the road in the cul-de-sac beyond Graves Mill, rigged up and set off. We were fishing at 0830.  Instead of walking upstream and then heading to the river where the fire road towers over the river 3/4 of a mile up, we headed down to the river almost immediately.   The water was clear cold, seemingly fine, it was running about 6-8 inches lower (it seemed) than we remembered it and the fishing was slow.   I was using a new-to-me TFO 8' 2-wt and after getting the hang of the action, load and tempo it worked great.  We fished all the way up to the iron bridge ending at where the river splits at 1445 and returned to the truck.  We didn't have much luck and are unsure just where the fish were/are. We frequently will spook pools and see fish that we can't catch, not today, the river seemed barren. Scott ended up bringing 8 2-4-inchers to hand and I BTH 3 to include one respectable 6-7 inch brookie.  We had a great time being out on the river, but it was a tough, slow day for catching.

Harmons -- Project Healing Waters

Scott: Just returned last night from Project Healing Waters guiding (and some squeezed in fishing) on the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac in West Virginia.  Water was much lower than last year, but fish were there -- you could see them in several spots, but that made them a bit weary.  Fished a bit on Friday afternoon before the wounded warriors arrived Friday night to scout out the river.  I caught a half dozen rainbows in the 14-16 inch range on an olive woolly bugger, golden retriever, zebra midge and copper john.  Saturday I guided for a wounded warrior named Sam and unfortunately we couldn't get a bite on as we threw everything but the kitchen sink at them for about 5 hours.  Sunday morning I guided for another vet named Steve and he hooked into a monster rainbow using a #22 zebra midge. That fish leaped, ran upstream & downstream and after about 10 minutes finally broke off... but it was a heart pounding adrenaline rush for both of us for several minutes.

The Quantico and Fort Belvoir Project Healing Waters Chapters are led by Marty Laksbergs and Bob Gartner, and those folks do an absolute terrific job establishing fly fishing programs for wounded warriors and service veterans.