Spring Break Part 2

After a day off I was back at it on Tuesday. This time I headed to the George Washington National Forest. I knew there had been rain and the last of the snow was in the process of melting, but I wanted to take a chance and go to my favorite river in Virginia.

When I pulled onto the dirt road and saw the river across the bridge, I knew the water was a lot higher than normal, but not completely blown out. I drove through the mud and ice and came to my campsite which I knew no one else would be dumb enough to go to. It was cold, but the sun was out and provided a few more degrees of warmth to keep my hands from freezing the whole time.

After setting up camp, I rigged up my nymph and streamer rods and headed down the river for the usual 30-minute hike into less visited water because the rednecks tend to gaff all the fish at the start of the trail. I went to a spot my friends and I call the "honey hole" because we always catch fish there. Not this time. I saw one fish move under the water one time and that was it. I know the river pretty well, so I decided to fish the normally shallow portions of the river because I knew they would be good holding spots for the fish looking to get out of the strong current. Sure enough my first cast moved a nice Rainbow. He didn't take, but it was a promising sight. I worked further down with my nymph rod with nothing else happening, so I switched to the heavy artillery. First cast and a fish chases it all the way to my feet. Next cast same thing, and then on the third cast he nips at the tail and realizes he just ate a rabbit strip instead of a little fish, so he was done. After working another quarter mile or so casting and blasting I had a couple bumps and one hook-up before calling it a day. I had fished 5 hours and had to hike back about an hour to start the campfire before dark.

With conditions not ideal, things could have been worse, but certainly could have been better. That river has some beautiful fish, and it's sad to say, but I don't think I will be back there again after I graduate and move to Wyoming.