Fishing Report 30-May-2016

Happy Memorial Day everyone, and hello to the sun!  Finally, after what seemed like a month of rain, a stretch of good weather said hello to our area, and the fish responded.  In honor of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, I did what I felt best respected their legacy, and fished as hard as I could.  This resulted in what may have been my first 100 fish day, with an unbelievable four hours spent on Chris Green Lake.  While what I caught may not have been overly large, I brought more than enough to the boat to satisfy the ever growing void caused by all of the recent rain.

The weekend started with my first mate keeping watch over the lake Friday; on the lookout for the tell tale ripples left behind by fish enjoying the evening hatch.  While very adorable, she does pose a noise hazard, and makes it impossible to sneak up on any Grass Carp.  Luckily, the lake water looks to be clearing faster than anticipated.  Hopefully, this good stretch of weather will hold, and the clarity will continue to increase, allowing for better sight fishing opportunities.

Holding down the front of the boat, while waiting for the next fish

After playing host on Saturday to some friends from out of town, I was ready to get out and stretch the lines on Sunday.  What followed is some of the most active fishing I've ever experienced...anywhere.  Over the course of four hours, I boated some 100 fish, with 60-70 being crappie, and the rest a mix between bluegill and largemouth bass.  The crappie were found holding by two beaver dams, and reminded me of small tuna in the way they were aggressively pursing flies.  While I did snag a few on topwater, I quickly realized getting the fly down a foot or two resulted in a flurry of furious attacking...which prompted the small Clousers and damsel fly streamer patterns to come out.  Even though the crappie were in the 5-9 inch class, catching these on a two weight rod was more than satisfying...especially with the occasional largemouth bass to crash the party.  The trick was to keep the fly moving, even if only with subtle twitches.

This morning I decided to head up into the mountain blue lines, to cap my weekend off with breathtaking scenery, and a few brookies.  The fishing was a bit slower than expected, with less activity being found on the surface, although I was able to witness the occasional back flip as a trout lunged after my dry.  Overall, the better action was found below the surface, with the dropper being the hot item.  Personally, my favorite dropper to use is a lightning bug nymph, tied in most any color.  I believe as long as it has a bit of flash, the actual color of tinsel is not overly significant.  In addition to a few adult sized trout and creek chubs, I was able to have some fun with a few juveniles, and the good news is the future continues to look bright, as the fingerlings were happy and fat.

The juvenile brook trout were out in force, and appear to be very healthy

Hopefully, you were able to get out and enjoy this beautiful weekend as well...if not, well it is never to late to pick up a rod, and cast a line.

Rain and Travel

Well...this is awkward.  After all these days coupled with an unusual amount of rain (yes, just about everyone in the region broke their consecutive rain record), and an annoying packed work schedule, I do not have a fishing report to write.  Yes, I assume they are biting, but I have not had the pleasure of pursuing their hunger.

...hopefully, I'll have something next week.

Fishing Report 7-MAY-2016

It's been a while since my last fishing report update, and there is good reason, other than laziness.  My goal was to have a clever update to include a photo of a flounder caught on the fly...sadly such a photo was not meant to be...nor any real report to speak of.

This past week, my Uncle and I went to Wachapreague, VA to target flounder.  The trip started off well enough, with three keepers pulled in off of conventional spinning tackle.  The goal was to help put enough fish in the ice box before pulling out the 8 weight to catch a seldom targeted fish on the fly.  Unfortunately, those three flounder were the only caught of the trip.  The already poor weather turned worse, and our trip was basically a wash out.  The goal is to return to the VA Eastern Shore in the summer, and take another crack at the flatties.

The three flounder of the trip...but they were all over 18"

To make up for the busted trip, I took advantage of being near my family's farm in Maryland, and took an hour to fish for stocked trout in the Patapsco.  Believe it or not, this trip saw my first rainbow on the fly (caught off of a PMX hopper imitation).  In retrospect, it's difficult to catch a rainbow when you only fish native brook trout waters :).  While not large or spectacular in any measurement, it is still another milestone in my fly fishing scrapbook.

Always love catching trout off of a dry.  This particular trout did a backflip out of the water to take the PMX,

I was hoping to end the week with a trip up to a blue line stream in the Shenandoah, now that the Rocky Mount fire is out, but a day wasted waiting on a FedEx package, and a surprise project to replace my mailbox post postponed my brookie adventure to next week.

Oh well, sometimes just getting out is reward enough in itself...and sometimes just being able to get out can be a daunting challenge.  The good news is the weather is clearing, and the warmer temperatures are returning...next week should be better :)