Bluestone Trout Fishing Year 3

As winter fast approaches Austin and I thought we'd shift our focus towards trout. Once again the Bluestone River was stocked with Rainbows, some of which weigh up to four pounds. We had received 2 to 3 inches of rain the night before and the river was rising throughout the whole day, making the fishing more difficult as the day went on. Austin ended up catching 5 rainbows and I caught 3 along with a redeye and a nice little smallmouth weighing in just short of 2 and a half pounds. It's one of the better ones I've caught in a while and a bit surprising as the bass fishing has slowed quite a bit. One of the most intriguing things we encountered was a blue herring that followed us most of the day. It didn't seem bothered by us in the slightest and let us get quite close to him. I guess he was out fishing too. I watched him land on a rock on the opposite river bank from me. He stood there motionless for several minutes only to catch a fish of his own. I guess it was a good day for everyone.

Fishing the Wykle Pond

Fishing has been pretty slow on the lake and in the rivers as we have had some unusually warm weather so my focus has been shifted lately to farm ponds. Austin and I fished Lake and Amy Wykle's pond and had a bit more success than we have had lately. We caught several bass between the two of us. Austin caught a nice healthy one on a spinnerbait. The highlight of the day was an 8 pound channel catfish that I caught using (suprise, suprise) one of my new and improved in-line spinner elites. Even though it is not really a catfish lure, and wouldn't be my first choice had I been targeting catfish, I have caught some on this lure before. This was my first cat of the year and the biggest I have caught in some time.

Stonewall Jackson

Fishing has been pretty slow (probably due to the water temperature being a little too high) and Stonewall was no exception. Austin and I caught a few bass but nothing too special. It was nice to see some new water and do some advanced scouting for future trips. I do think that the highlight of the trip was the place that we ate at called TJ Muskies. It was the neatest outdoor sporting bar that I've ever seen with a musky mount that easily exceeded 50 pounds. I sure would like to get a hold of one of those.

Going the Distance

Austin and I have had a goal for a while to see if we could catch over 100 fish in one trip. We decided to give it a try at Claytor Lake one morning. We brought conventional tackle (spinners, crank baits, plastics, etc.) along with fly fishing gear, and live bait. The primary target would be pan fish. The weapon of choice for most of the day was foam bodied popping bugs that were cast using fly rods. The bite was on most of the morning slowing throughout the day. There were several bass mixed in with our catch, one of which, Austin caught was very nice. At the end of the day Austin had 108 and I had 103. Mission Accomplished.

Summer on the Bluestone

Austin and I fished Bluestone Lake on a hot June afternoon. We both caught a lot of fish, most of which were comprised of bluegills, green sunfish, and other pan fish along with 7 bass. Austin did, however, catch this nice channel cat.

Greenbrier Musky

On a cold April day Austin and I loaded up my Jon Boat and took it out on the Greenbrier River. Fishing was very slow and the wind was blowing pretty hard most of the day making it difficult to maneuver the boat. Even though conditions were tough Austin managed to catch a few nice smallmouth. I was able to catch one pretty good smallie, but the highlight of the trip was a really nice musky that I caught. I flipped one of my Joe Fly elites that I tied off of a log near the bank and the water exploded. After a feverish fight I was able to land him and get this nice picture. This is the nicest musky that I have caught and adds to my streak of one musky I've caught each year for the last three years all off my own hand made lures.

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.

Bluestone Lake 2007

Bluestone Lake is one of the nicest natural resources that we have in Summers County. I never had much opportunity to fish it growing up as access to the Lake requires a boat of some kind. Fortunately for me I married into a family that has camped and boated on the lake for generations. In addition my good friend Austin bought a bass boat and has been gracious enough to take me on several trips. You can catch all kinds of different fish from bluegills and crappie to largemouth and smallmouth to stripers and catfish, not to mention a variety of other species. I've even got to turkey hunt a couple of times from the boat, although I'm yet to bag one. I've caught and been with people who have caught a wide variety of fish on this lake. I saw Austin's dad, on two different occasions, hook into a monster musky only to have it shake the hook before he could land it. Big game fishing is cool, but one of my favorite things to do is to go up there and bluegill fish. It's great when summer is at its zenith and it's too hot to catch anything else. There are always plenty of bluegill ready to cooperate.

March 2007 Fishing Trip in Pendleton County

This was a really cool fishing trip that Austin & his Dad, John, Joe Yancy, and I went on. We stayed in a cabin that was right on the bank of the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River in Pendleton County. We fished the North Fork, the Smoke Hole, and several other streams, tributaries, and lakes on this trip. We lucked out on the weather that week and many trout were caught, John eating several of them. We also got to see and do many interesting things like hiking to the top of Seneca Rocks and mountain biking Dolly Sods. The planets really lined up for us on this trip. In addition to the great weather the rivers were just right, being too high and swift to fish the week before we arrived and week after we left, trout had been stocked the week before we got there, as well as, the week we were there, and to top it all off the Mountaineers won the NIT national championship that week, which we were fortunate enough to be able to watch in the evening when the fishing was done.

Second Creek

Second Creek is an interesting place. The 1.5 to 2 mile stretch that we fish is a catch and release, fly fishing only area, which in and of itself is great but it often feels like you need a PhD in trout to catch anything there. It is regularly stocked by the DNR a few times a year with Rainbows and occasionally Browns, which are really cool. Although it is a fly fish only area there is plenty of evidence of people coming in with bait and fishing areas of the stream out, which contributes to the difficulty in catching these fish. I've caught several really nice fish from here, but there have been just as many days where I've walked away having caught nothing. Then there are days when it just flat out kicks your ass. Like the time I went with Craig and Josh. Neither one of those two slayed the fish, but they both had caught a couple. I on the other hand landed the big goose egg, and to top it all off I lost my new fly box that I got for Christmas somewhere in the creek which had every fly I had spent the winter tying. Since then I have fastened a safety string to the box so that it won't happen again. The best trip I've had there in recent memory was one that Craig and I went on a few years back where I caught an 18 to 19 inch Brown Trout. I noticed him quietly sipping tiny insects on the surface of the water so I put on a number 16 black ant that I tied myself and made a nice easy cast just above where he had been. The fly slowly drifted in the current downstream towards the fish and then BAM it was on. An interesting side note to this story was that Craig and I had brought my brother along with us who was more interested in hanging out than fishing. Having started his liquid diet early that morning he took up position on a swinging bridge just above us and was nearly three sheets to the wind around the time I caught this fish. The humor was in the fact that the setting almost seemed scripted like a scene from a River Runs Through It. There Craig and I were skillfully fly fishing for trout. I had successfully spotted, stalked, and hooked a large Brown on a tiny dry fly that I tied. At the moment that I was about to land him Craig hollered out as he also hooked and landed a nice trout slightly upstream from me, scoring us the coveted and often rare feat of "Doubles" when both anglers catch a fish at the same instant. There we both stood, masters of our domain, conquers of both fish and nature and just as the heavens were about to open up and the celestial music was about to start we were both jolted back to reality by my brother bellowing from his perch on the swinging bridge yelling, "WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP."

Craig's Pond

Craig's Pond has always been a cool place to hang out. While members of the fairer sex may tend to disagree at times when some of life's common conveniences aren't readily available, it is a great place to camp, fish, barbecue, sit by the fire. have a few beers, and just simply have a good time. Originally stocked with everything from monster catfish to striper bass it has evolved over the years to more of a largemouth and panfish pond with the occasional channel cat roaming around along with a few other species. This place will always have special meaning to me. I will always think of the pond with fondness as it is a place that holds many childhood memories for me. From the time we were kids Craig and I would often fish the pond, trekking back and forth between there and his parent's house. It's probably less than a mile on a graveled road with a very moderate grade to it, but kids that we were we felt more like serious outdoorsmen that were able to weather anything that nature threw at us, that was until we got bored or it was dinner time in which case it was back to the house. As kids it was a place of dock fishing for bluegills, making smores, camping out, and telling ghost stories by the campfire. Many of those elements are still there, but as we've grown so have many of our tastes. A steady supply of chips, soda, and the occasional hot dog that made up our camping rations as children has turned into all out barbecues with steaks, burgers, shrimp, and chicken amongst other things. We've gone from root beer to real beer, and dock fishing for bluegills by hand has given way to putting a properly placed dry fly right above their noses or breaking out the heavy equipment and chasing largemouth and catfish. We've also made some really good friends as we've grown, like John and Austin, that are practically family now who have also fished and camped at the pond. Though we've gotten older and some things have changed the feeling remains the same. It's a neat place to go where I feel like a kid and an adult at the same time.

Tales from Turkey Creek

Turkey Creek is a great place to go when nothing is biting anywhere else and you just want to catch some fish. True it is a trout hatchery, which is made up of 4 or 5 ponds with the actual creek flowing though the hatchery, but who cares? You keep what you catch, and pay for what you keep. Prices are more than reasonable, at around $2 a pound, and the gentleman that owns the property, Mr. Brewer, is more than friendly. It really is a great place to go if you want to just hang out and have a relaxing, productive fishing trip when every place else is nothing but hard work. Mr. Brewer primarily stocks Rainbows and occasionally Brook Trout, both of which grow to average and above average sizes with a few getting into the trophy fish range. Craig and I discovered this place a few years back over a summer as we were driving all over Monroe County looking for a good place to fish. Second Creek had been a bust and we really wanted to get into some fish. We knew of a hatchery at Zenith, but found it to have long been closed. We kept driving and asked around until we eventually stumbled on Turkey Creek. It is actually pretty difficult to describe how to get there. There are a lot of back roads, and while I can show you how to get there if I'm with you don't bother asking for written driving directions as I believe it would be easier to write down how to get to the North Pole than to Turkey Creek. I'm not ashamed to admit that my citation Brook Trout came from Turkey Creek. My own brother turned in two citation Brook Trout the same day, but honestly where in the state are you going to catch Brook Trout that big? Natives don't get anywhere close to citation size, and if you do catch a citation Brook it is more than likely a stocked fish so what's the difference? It is what it is, and what it is is a cool place to fish if you want to catch some nice size trout when everywhere else you go is barley active at best.