Bluestone Trout Fishing Year 2

Well, it looks like they are stocking the Bluestone River with trout again this year. As a bonus to attract tourists they have stocked trophy size fish. In addition, the Park has also officially declared the stream catch and release so hopefully it will discourage the meat hogs who ruin it for everyone. Austin and I hiked in early in the morning and fished for about three or four hours. The water level was pretty low as we haven't had much rain in the last couple of months. This can prove advantageous as the trout were confined to mainly two or three holes, which made locating them easier. I have never caught trout this big on a consistent basis. I really hope that the Park continues to stock the Bluestone River for years to come as it makes for a great trout stream that is near by, and extends the fishing season a little longer.

August 15 & 17 2008: Hybrid Bass on the Bluestone

Hybrid Bass fishing is a completely different animal, both figuratively and literary, compared to how and what I usually fish for. I have seen them break on the lake before, but up to this point have never actually pursued them. After getting some reports from fisherman that the shad were running and that Hybrids were breaking Austin and I tried our luck with them. We got to the lake at daylight on both days and killed a little time waiting on the Hybrids by doing some bass fishing. We each caught several bass of various species. Then the lake began to erupt at several spots as the Hybrid Bass began attacking multiple shad balls. It took us a few attempts to get the hang of it, but the idea is that you set in the boat alert scanning the water and when you hear and/or see the Hybrid breaking you drop the hammer and fly up to the spot as fast as you can. When you get within casting distance you kill the engine, jump up to the front of the boat, and begin casting into the mayhem. You need a lure that fairly resembles a shad, some kind of crank/plug or spinnerbait that is white or silver will do, and when you hook up with one hold on because they are tenacious fighters. Austin ended up catching three and I ended up with two over the two day period. From what I understand the Hybrid break primarily anytime from now through the end of September, so I am hoping that we will get a few more cracks at them.

May 7th, 2008: Big Smallmouth

This was a really nice fish! It actually ended one of the best weeks of fishing I have ever had. I fished six of seven days on the New River from May the 1st through May the 7th, during which time I caught roughly 110 fish. Most were smallmouth with a few red eyes thrown in, a bluegill, fall fish and an 18 inch musky to boot, not to mention the brown trout from who knows where. In addition I got a hold of a monster carp that felt more like Moby Dick. I fought him for quite some time never gaining any ground, but alas he broke me off. The smallmouth pictured here is probably the nicest one I have ever caught. I thought for sure it was a trophy fish. I wasn't able to get a length measurement, but it weighed in at somewhere between 3 3/4 and just short of 4 pounds. Since 4 pounds is needed for the citation and this guy fell short I let him loose to grow bigger, but at least I got this cool picture. I caught this fish on a black Joe Fly Elite with a number 4 blade that I made myself. This is fast becoming my favorite lure and color as it was the same one that landed my 18 inch musky this year and a 28 inch musky I caught last year, in addition to the mystery brown trout, a flathead catfish and several carp. It is quite the versatile lure.

May 4th, 2008: Brown Trout in the New River

It was an overcast Sunday morning fishing the New River in front of Bluestone Dam. With the smallmouth bite being on Austin and I had a very good morning catching bronze backs. I ended up catching 17 fish altogether; however, I thought it more likely to hook the Lochness Monster than a Brown Trout out of the New River. It must have washed down from Camp Creek, or possibly the Bluestone River as it had been stocked with Rainbows last year by WVU. Being a Brown Trout makes this catch even more perplexing as this species is rarely stocked. It's a good thing this photograph was taken to properly document the oddity.

March 29th, 2008: Bluestone Rainbows Part III

This nice Rainbow was caught out of the Bluestone River on a Royal Coachman Joe Fly Elite Spinner that I made. This was the only trout caught on that trip that Austin and I made to the Bluestone. I'm afraid that the best trout fishing for this river is behind us, unless there is another stocking, as the fishing is getting worse and there is evidence of more and more people skinning out the trout they catch on the river bank. To make it worse the tram hasn't even opened yet. When that happens it'll all be over. Oh well, at least it was good while it lasted.

March 3rd, 2008: Bluestone Rainbows Part II

This was my second trip fishing the Bluestone River for Trout. Austin and I went in the early afternoon. Conditions weren't the best. The sky was clear, but the water was up a good bit and it was heavily stained. We didn't catch as many fish as we did on our first trip, but the ones that we caught were pretty nice.

February 16, 2008: Bluestone Rainbows Part I

This was my first trip to the Bluestone River to fish for Trout. I had fished the river before for bass, but much to my surprise WVU is in the midst of doing a study on the survivability of trout in the Bluestone. This was a bittersweet day for me, while the prospect of catching large trout out of the Bluestone is euphoric I was easily grounded by the fact that my granddad passed away a few days earlier and this was the day of his wake. Because of this I almost didn't go, but I thought differently about it soon after as there was nothing to do between the early morning and the wake, which as in the evening, except sit around depressed at home. This trip provided a nice distraction, albeit a temporary one. The hike in was brutal. With the tram being offline until late April early May one is forced to hike the 2-3 mile River Ridge trail which can change elevation rapidly. Add in all the gear carried in and it makes for a rough hike. I ran into Austin, Dusty, and Joe Yancy who had got there before me. Conditions were good and I ended up catching 4 nice rainbows. They had a salmon kind of look to them with their dark colors and large hooked jaws. All together the group caught 23 trout with Dusty and Austin catching 7 apiece and Joe landing 5 of his own. Spirits quickly sank though, at the notion of what the hike out was going to be like. Oh well, no guts no glory. I look forward to returning in the near future.