New Addition to the Family

Well it may be a week late but late is better than never. Last Wednesday, December 14th my wife and I welcomed our first born son, Gabriel Monroe to the world. I think he will make a great addition to the fly fishing community.

Piney River

Waking up 40 minutes after your alarm was supposed to go off is not the greatest way to start the day, however knowing that the rest of the day is going to be spent on the water brightens the mood pretty quickly. That being said, I headed out to my cousins house near Shenandoah National Park through the frost covered fields of Westmoreland. Sunday morning is a great time to go fishing because of the lack of traffic makes traveling much less stressful. I picked up my cousin, John, just after 9am and we headed out to what the PATC Map 9 lists as "Very Limited Shoulder Parking". They also had the parking area labeled about .75 miles past a "no cars beyond this point" sign. With some guidance from a local we were able to find the one and a half spaces carved into the woods that was the supposed parking area and we set off up the trail.

The lack of blazes and plethora of posted and no trespassing signs were unsettling but we were just following the SNP sign post that pointed us up what at points seemed to be a driveway.

We started to see some park boundary blazes and that reassured us that we were on the right track. I had put the map location of parking area into my GPS and when we finally reached that point it was the SNP boundary/gate which let us know that it was time to fish. I know that the fishing is always better the further up/away you go from the car but I'm just not that patient. 

Looks fishy to me.

The morning started off a little slow, the sun was very bright and low in the sky so shadows were a major problem. Fish were darting off in every direction before we could even get a cast to them and if they stayed, keeping the shadow of the rod out of their sight was a chore.

Time to head upstream

Mr. Rapidan is always a producer

Once we moved up a bit further, we started connecting with some beautiful brookies.

My big one for the day

Stream side lunch...

You get what you pay for, and I didn't pay much for these boots. They did ok for a couple of seasons.

Small stream must have, wish I had started using it earlier!

Last one of the day for me!

A friendly wave.

Don't know what this means but it makes me want to walk faster.

A "science box" in the woods.

All in all we had a great day on the water, the weather held out wonderfully for us and we both caught some trout. We already have plans to check this one out in a different season!

A Recent Outing

Here are some pictures that I took the other day while out bothering fish. Water was absolutely glassy smooth which made spotting fish easier but approaching them was tough. I was able to catch a couple of bluegill and a largemouth but no carp this time. I ended up missing the hook set on two carp in the 5-7 pound range... oh well, better luck next time!

Sunny and Smooth!

My go-to warm water setup 9' 7wt TFO with a Lamson reel

They may no be giants but they fight like no other!

About as good as the autumn colors got this year.

A tiny jumping spider I named Up because no matter where I put him on the boat, he always ended up on the brim of my hat.

All of these pictures were taken with the GoPro. It is definitely a easy camera to use in these situations but a screen, zoom, and macro function would have been handy!

Escatawba Farms

As a wedding gift, my good friend and fly fishing mentor, Pete Adams gave my wife and I two one day passes to Escatawba Farms in Covington, Virginia. We had planned our trip on October first but recent rains had had brought the typical 20 cfs discharge up to a hair under 1000 cfs. Needless to say, we weren't going to have a very good experience if we didn't reschedule, so the date was changed to the 29th.

We got a late start on the over 4 hour drive to our hotel in Lewisburg, WV and when we arrived around midnight we found out that an error on the hotels part left my 7 month pregnant wife and myself without a room... despite having one reserved for over 3 weeks.

The next morning we headed out to Covington to get our day started. The air temperature was around 34 that morning and the high for the day was in the upper 70's so despite the chilly start, it was going to be a beautiful day.

She wears them well!

The owner, Derrick Barr, took us for a short tour of the property and we were getting hyped for what lay ahead of us. Waders on and rods strung up we walked to the northern border of the property and went to the waters edge. I have never had much luck with long glassy pools and this one was no different.

No soft hackle love.

Stream side vegetation made casting a chore and one foot into the water sent ripples for what seemed like miles in every direction, but we were already there so we did our best to no avail. As the sun came up from behind the mountains and we made our way up to the first deep bend where we could see trout stacked up like cordwood but with the bright sun on the water they were easily spooked.

A San Juan Worm got their attention but they always turned back upstream after a short inspection. I have a hard time leaving a spot where I can see fish, even when they aren't eating and because of that, we stayed at that spot for the remainder of the morning only landing one shiner albeit on a dry.

Lunch was leftover steak and ravioli back at the shed (much nicer than it sounds) where we were able to talk with a couple of other anglers. They told us that the only thing that had worked for them so far was a small olive wooly bugger stripped in the current, not what I was expecting seeing as the week before size 20-24 zebra midges were apparently the key. Anyway, knowing that we had to leave around 3, we headed back to the creek armed with a couple of small buggers.

We worked our way upstream for an hour or so with some very light strikes and missed hook sets. finally about half an hour before we were going to pack it up, I hooked into a pretty little rainbow, about 12 inches long. A couple casts later his big brother took my fly and Laura helped me land another beautiful rainbow. With this little spurt of action, Laura started swinging her little black wooly bugger through the same run and pulled out the largest trout of the trip at about 16 inches. With that we were satisfied to head home after a tough day fishing low water with bright overhead sun.

 9' 5wt, weapon of choice

 Wife chose the TenkaraUSA Sato

The "Shiner Run" from above

Beautiful part of VA!

Skunked again, but just by the carp.

So for the past week or so, I have been stopping at the lake by my house on my way home from work to try to hook up with a grass carp. As you can tell by the title, i was not successful. However I was able to hook up with a couple of good fighting bluegills and I was also able to see some very interesting carp behavior.

I was standing out on the dock one afternoon, looking at the carp splashing and causing wakes about 40 yards out. They were moving fast in all directions but due to my casting ability and my surroundings, I needed them to be within 50 or so feet to make a decent presentation. I had never seen carp this active and I attributed it to the unseasonably warm week we were having and the bright afternoon sun. As I stood and watched for the shadow of a fish I was able to pull a couple of bluegills out. Finally, a pair of carp came in close enough for a cast. First off, just casting to a big carp will get my adrenaline going but watching a pair of them chasing a Hybrid Carp fly for about 20 feet is enough to make me start shaking. The fly was barely visible so every time I thought I saw a mouth open, I waited a split second, then strip set the fly. I never hooked up but as soon as I would strip they would dart another foot or two closer. I went through this twice before they gave up on my shenanigans. 

Waiting for those super-active carp.

Fall is coming to Westmoreland!

I will probably be spending more time right at the boat ramp in the coming weeks as I won't have to worry about boats and trailers causing a ruckus. I have had decent luck there in the off season when the cooler temps keep everyone away so if anything exciting happens, Ill keep you updated! As for now its back to the vise to continue prepping for this coming weekends trip to Escatawba Farm! 

A chilly start to an uneventful morning.

I have never really had much luck early morning fishing for carp. I assume that they are probably just as tired as I am (at least thats what I tell myself). I didn't have to work today because I am going to a baby shower for our expectant son (this December) and my awesome supervisor told me to just take the whole day, so what does the mouse do while the cat is away? Well go fishing of course. The thermometer read just north of 55 degrees out this morning with a high in the mid 70's, a little brisk but not bad.

The water, at 64 degrees, was colder than expected as it seems like only yesterday air temps were in the mid nineties. But I figured the sun would be up soon anyway and I headed off. As I paddled slowly towards "Carp Cove" I was bummed when a slight breeze brought a heavy fog in around me. So much for seeing the carp. After about an hour of only seeing one cruising grass carp, the sun finally came out which, on this lake, typically brings wind too. Before the wind really picked up, I was able to get a couple casts to some carp but none were interested.

I see you hiding back there sun...

The dreaded mud plume of a spooked carp. A scene I encounter way too much.

I had high hopes for this fly but she let me down today.

"Carp Cove" before the sun hit the water.

Foggy morning turned bluebird day!

After a couple of hours without any luck I decided to head back to the launch. On my way I saw a beautiful carp feeding right under an oak tree and when I attempted to make a cast my fly got stuck on the kayak... then in the oak tree. Needless to say the fish didn't stick around, or maybe it did to laugh at me, in any case it wasn't about to eat my now broken off fly. At this point I was getting a little frustrated and decided to just reel in and paddle back and on my way, I came across three good sized carp feeding right off the shore. Out of habit I grabbed my rod out of the holder and went to grab my fly line only then realizing that I had just unstrung my rod. Moral of the story, never pack up until you are putting the rod in your car.

Until next time

In my pursuit of carp, I have kind of forgotten about bass and bluegill which is ok, I bet they don't mind me not irritating them. However they can often brighten the spirit of a skunked fisherman but today I was shunned by all. But even then, I like to think back to the first carp I caught on a fly rod, knowing that a single fish is the reason for this obsession. I may not always catch carp when I go out but I can at least look back on that one and smile.

"No hablo ingles"