Shenandoah, VA
Anyone have any experience fishing Shenandoah National Park in the fall? Might be taking a trip there at the end of October beginning of November and was wondering if the fishing will be any good at that time. Any suggestions on flies, streams, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
What part of the park are you possibly going to?
We are looking at staying in Luray, but if you have other suggestions I am all ears. Nothing is set in stone yet.
Shoot a PM to Grubb. Tim lives in Luray & knows that neck of the woods better than most. If he has the time to get out with you, he'll most likely get you into some fine fishing.
Mike
FAOL..All about caring, sharing, & good friends!!
The fly shop in edinburg is a source of info, I know Harry would be glad to help. Murrys fly shop, www.murraysflyshop.com. The Shenandoah will have awsome smallmouth action, keep your options open, but weekends can be like fishing on the beltway. The VGIF will start start stocking again in October, I love the Hawksbill in Luray and what they have done to make that a clean, healthy stream again. Last time I went a caught a fingerling rainbow (I have heard some landowners are stocking their private land and they migrate). But if you want to stalk the wild brookies in the park, short rod, any fly, and stealth, and hope for a wet summer - so far NOT.
You'll want to pick up a copy of Harry's book: Trout Fishing In The Shenandoah National Park. That's usually about the time of Indian Summer & the smallmouth fishing on the Shenandoah River used to be fabulous beyond the bass-a-cast reports !Originally Posted by GRP
As an aside, is the Shenandoah back? I thought there was a problem with fishkills and the source couldn't be identified.
When I first started dating my wife, I took her to Harry's smallmouth bass school. G-d what a blast. Must have had a smallie on every five minutes. Fly got so beat up, there was nothing but lead wire and a piece of chenille hanging off and they were still nailing it.
She told me, "Dammit, you never said this was so much fun."
I hate to rain on the parade, BUT brookies WILL be spawning then. Generally I've seen them pairing up in numbers around the second week of October and they'll be actively spawning all the way through early-mid November. Of course, the closer you are to Skyline Drive, the earlier the fish are done. But that is spawning time which means I won't fish for them from early October until Thanksgiving.
Mr. FTG,
Thanks for the reminder, definitely would not want to ruin the spawning.
No kills reported yet this year and action so far has been really good. When I first started fishing the Doah in the early 80's it really was a fish every cast (almost), but in the 8"-10" range. Big fish ~2lb + were there but mainly for the madtom (bait) fisherman. I dont think it is all the way back, but it is much better than say, 5 years ago. And Harry is great, he's been doing this for a lotta years.
Not to hijack the post, as far as the source of the kills, I think it is nutrient run off, i.e chicken litter. A few years ago litter was processed and used for cattle feed (thats right, it is high in protein) but they stopped that and started spreading it on the fields. The Ag people say that is not the prob but the timing corelates with the kills. Just my opinion, maybe some others have a different prespective.
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