Fall in Virginia's Blue Ridge

[waskeyc]

Friday afternoon I arranged my affairs to leave work just early enough to stop at a stream before heading home without being late to the boss and kids. It had been a while since I had made it up to the Blue Ridge, and I was anxious to go before all the leaves were gone. I drove to one of the half-dozen or so wild trout streams in my area and accessed it from the lower end. After rigging up my 8' 4wt rod and loading my gear into my backpack, I had just under 30 minutes before I had to leave and make it home on time. I parked at the end of a county road right next to some trees with National Forest boundary markings on them, and right across the creek from a house guarded by a dilapidated bridge and knocked-down gate with a No Tresspassing sign still attached. The bank I was on was public property however, and that is where I intended to stay.

I rigged a size 10 self-tied comparadun onto a brand-new 7.5' 5x leader and cast to several pools, catching this guy on the 3rd or 4th pool. The red boundary marking on the far bank indicates that I may have briefly wandered on to private property. The water was up from last time I visited one of these streams, due to recent rain and lower temperatures. I did not see any spawning fish, and the one I caught looked to be alone in the pool.

Fall Brookie.jpg

After releasing him, I stopped to take another few pictures of the surroundings before heading back home to my regularly scheduled evening of diaper changes, dishwashing, and picking up toys.

Fall Colors.jpg

[pillcaster]

nice, thanks for posting - i hope to be out tomorrow......
its a great time to be in the Old Dominion

[ScottP]

Very nice pics. I fished a stream near the Park boundary a few years ago (a little bit bigger than the one in your photos); picked up some 6-9" trout. As I moved upstream, the fish started pushing 12" - woohooo! I rounded a bend and came to a house on the far bank; the owner came out to inform me, nicely, that I was fishing on their property (I missed the signs, somehow), and asked that I move upstream a bit. As soon as I got back on public water, the size of the fish reverted back. Fun times.

Regards,
Scott

[waskeyc]

... As I moved upstream, the fish started pushing 12" - woohooo! I rounded a bend and came to a house on the far bank; the owner came out to inform me, nicely, that I was fishing on their property (I missed the signs, somehow), and asked that I move upstream a bit. As soon as I got back on public water, the size of the fish reverted back. ...

I have often wondered what the fishing was like say, 1 mile downstream. Since few landowners own more than 100 yards of streambank, it's never made sense to me to ask permission to find out. But your experience certainly brings that question back to the forefront of my mind.

Since my local streams are not in or near Shenandoah N.P., they do not receive much pressure even on the public stretches due to their small size and lack of stocking (except for one that has a road next to it), and the nearby landowners are mostly either hunters or just want a peaceful place to live in the woods. So the biggest difference between the public and private water is mostly the size of the stream. And maybe peak summer temperatures.