The Beast

Truly if ever I had wished to have had a camera on a fishing trip this would have been the day, although wrestling with this beast while simultaneously trying to take its picture may have proven futile. I was wading in front of the dam, as I have done hundreds of times before, fishing primarily for smallmouth and pan fish. I was using one of my black elite spinners tied to imitate a bait fish or leech. I had only been at it about 10 minutes working the lure along the outside of a weed bed when I felt a strong pull at the line. The strike was firm but not overly aggressive, which proved to be very deceptive as to what was on the end of the line. At first I thought that I had hooked a carp. Being that this was a bigger fish I was sure to set the hook quite hard. That's when it really started to fight. It had the weight of a large carp or catfish and bulldogged its way downstream the way a carp or catfish often does, but something was different. It began to fight violently and aggressively almost like a bass. I saw a quick flash of it and immediately thought monster bass, but the body was too long. This was a Musky, and a BIG one at that. I would estimate that approximately 98% of the fish I catch weigh 3 pounds or less. Fighting these fish usually involves little more than just reeling them in. This fish; however, was truly a fight. Different tactics were required. I fought with it for several minutes letting it take line as it ran pumping the rod and reeling in line as it tired. I couldn't help feeling under equipped. I had a medium light fishing rod, no steel leader, no net, no boat, and no real means of landing this brute. As he finally tired I was able to reel him in next to me and get a rough measurement against marks I have on my fishing rod. This guy was in the 40 inch class, somewhere between 40 and 42 inches as measured by the markings on my rod. I've never really been intimidated by a fish, but this one had me a little more than concerned. He was still pissed off and thrashing about, snapping at me as I reached for him. The prospect of grabbing a hold of roughly 3 and a half feet of teeth and bad attitude had me a little hesitate as to how to handle him. I initially considered grabbing him up under the gill plate but reconsidered as he snapped and thrashed about. I then went to grab him behind the head. I grabbed the leader and positioned myself next to him, my hand literary inches from his head when he snapped and shook his head violently one last time severing the fishing line in the process. I don’t consider this a defeat though. The fish was fooled into thinking this lure was prey and took it. I hooked this brute fair in the mouth, no foul hooking was involved. It was a text book fight and I did all the right things to wear him out, get my hand on the leader, position him next to me, and get a rough measurement. I was going to release him anyway this just prevented injury to the fish and myself. I had caught a musky each of the last 3 years in April on lures that I have made. I was beginning to think that the streak was going to end this year, but on the last day of April I got another one. Coincidentally each year the musky keeps getting bigger so I’m really looking forward to what I catch next year!

Shanklin's Ferry

Spring has finally arrived and fishing is starting to heat up. Austin and I decided to take my boat and fish Shanklin's Ferry. I have wanted to fish there for a long time, but never had the opportunity. It was a day of firsts for me. It was the first time I had ever fished Shanklin's Ferry, it was the first time I had tried my new boat motor in the river, I caught my first fish on my new St. Croix Mojo Bass rod, and most importantly it was my first Smallmouth citation. I have been after one of these for a while, and while I've caught thousands of bass over the years I have yet to catch a Smallmouth that qualifies as a trophy, until now. I caught this 4lb, 20 inch stud using a skirt jig with plastic crawdad trailer. The bass was in a text book spot in a current

break on the bottom edge of an island. This gave the bass easy access to deeper water, which was converging from both sides of the island. Ausin took the role of river guide, as he had fished Shanklin's Ferry most of his life, and like any good river guide he put us on the right spots to catch fish. Austin himself ended up catching some really nice bass and we have vowed to return for a couple more trips before the end of May when the water levels drop due to Claytor Lake holding back water and before the Holiday/Summer crowds invade.

Ice Fishing

Sometimes things don't go according to plan. Being smack in the middle of January and deepest darkest winter, it is natural that most of us are starting to get a serious case of cabin fever. To help treat this ailment Austin, Brian, and I decided to fish the Bluestone for trout. We were just coming out of a 3 week arctic chill that had temperatures in the single digits on many days. The water table looked normal and the temperatures were mild that day so we decided that the time was right. It was a bit of a surprise to find that about half the river was frozen over when we arrived. We had figured that the moving water would have prevented some of this, but as it turned out the best holes to fish were almost completely frozen over with a thick sheet of ice. One of the most interesting things we saw was a big fat otter on the bank near one of these deep holes cleaning himself, marking his territory, and diving into the hole to catch some lunch. We managed to pull a few fish out of these holes as well, but most of our success came with fishing a shallower stretch of river, between the deep hole where we started and the deep holes at the Mountain Creek Lodge, where the moving water limited ice buildup. There were several trout staging in this area, and in-line spinners proved too tempting for them to ignore. We all caught numbers in the double digits, and it proved to be a successful day.

Monster Trout Day on the Bluestone!

I don't know if I'll ever have a day, with trout at least, that will ever replicate the one Austin and I had on this day. The Bluestone had been heavily stocked a few weeks prior to this day. We gave it a try a few weeks back, but the water was high and rising fast. That coupled with the fact that the river was littered with leaves made it next to impossible to get to many of the fish holding in deeper water. This day, however, conditions were next to perfect. The water was at normal levels and had a slight tint to it. That combined with the fact that it was overcast made sneaking up on fish easier. The leaves had been flushed away as well, which made life a lot easier. I really don't think that you could go wrong with lure selection this day as the fish were ravenous. I believe they would have hit a bare hook given the opportunity. We used in-line spinners to smashing success. Austin ended up catching 53 and I caught 50. Most of this is due to the over stocking of this small stretch of river that undoubtedly will not be sustainable, but hey strike while the iron's hot. We caught several hold over fish from last year which is encouraging, but the highlight to my day was a 24 inch 5 pound rainbow that I caught. I finally have a trophy fish to put on the wall and a day I'll forget.

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.