Current Local Conditions

8/6 Taka with a nice 'bug' fish on the S. Fork Shenandoah. He landed about 80 fish on bugs Saturday Aug. 1st. Fishing has been killer!

James and Shenandoah Rivers: The fishing this week has been incredible. We did a bit of carp fishing on Monday on the main stem Shenandoah. 100's of feeding fish were found in the shallow water. We used 6 and 7 weight rods with long leaders and small crayfish patterns. Fish were landed in the 8-12 pound range with a few shots at bigger fish. The carp fishing on the South Fork isn't nearly as good as the main stem, but there are a few spots where you will see them feeding in shallow water. The smallmouth fishing has been excellent. We have been fishing topwater bugs most every day now. We are using long leaders to help keep the fish from spooking. Use a very stout leader in a 9' length in 14-16 pound test. We then adding about 12-16" of fluorocarbon tippet material to this. This setup will allow you to turn over flies at long distances and help keep you from spooking the larger fish. We are also fishing big crayfish patterns along the deeper banks and in the ledges. We are catching some of the larger smallmouth on these flies when the water is dingy from early morning carp feeding or when rainfall stains the river too much for a good topwater bite. The biggest largemouth this year have been taking the large size 2 clawdad in Olive. We have been on the Shenandoah almost every day and will be the rest of the week! Keep an eye on the water for us. There have been multiple instances of poachers using spear guns on the South Fork harvesting gamefish. Anyone fishing the river needs to have the Wildlife Hotline number for the VDGIF Conservation Police in their cell phones!!! The number is 800-237-5712. Call if you see anyone using nets, spears, seines, snagging, or can fishing. This is a growing problem on our favorite smallmouth fisheries. Please help us eliminate this problem.

Mountain Streams: We received a few good reports from the Park streams recently. The Conway fished well and is holding decent water levels. Fishing this weekend should be pretty good with the rain we are receiving today and tonight. Ants, yellow stonefly patterns, and small size 16-18 attractor dries and long leaders in 6X should be in everyone's arsenal. Also be sure to try a small size 10-12 streamer: buggers, golden retrievers, kreelex, muddlers, and mickey finns, and black nose dace in the deeper runs. Keep an eye out for heavy localized rain over your favorite brook trout stream. Summer fishing can be excellent after a good rain as the fish will really start to feed hard when the water starts moving. Hit the Jackson Tailwater, Smith River, or the Holston for the best cold water action over the next 2 months. We had a very good report of 100's of 10-14 inch browns landed near Martinsville on the Smith. Have fun and be safe!

Spring Creeks: Mossy is very low and clear but the terrestrial fishing has been solid. Ants, beetles, crickets, and small hopper patterns will do the trick. We are using long 9-12' 5-6X leaders with a soft 3 or 4 weight rod. Big fish have been spotted on all lengths of the public stretch. Although many of these fish have moved on streamers during periods of rain, they will readily take a well placed dry fly. The drakes and a few spotty Hex have been seen flying around right before dark. Look for fish jumping completely out of the water after these large mayflies. A PMX pattern will imitate a hopper as well as these large mayflies very well. It is one of our most successful fly patterns we use and guide with in August. We have plenty in yellow, olive, and royal right now in all sizes.