Headed down to Mossy Creek Outfitters over the weekend and miraculously missed all the storms for 3 days of excellent fishing.
We hit Dry River on our own friday afternoon and had some fun with Brookies. They were more than willing to pounce on an Elk-Hair Caddis. What a beautiful streatch of water, with practically nobody on the water!
Then Saturday morning we hit Mossy Creek with the outfitters and things picked up nicely. All 4 of us did very well on Mossy in the AM, with plenty of nymph and streamer action to go around and some HUGE fish spotted I was able to locate a sipper and land a nice 16" brown on a sulpher LTD to satisfy my urge to fish dries. All said and done Mossy gave up 4 fish to me, including one really heavy rainbow.
Saturday afternoon we hit a stretch of Beaver Creek & pounded the fish on nymphs all afternoon. I landed a fat 20" fish, and broke off 2 others that were considerably larger than that. Unbelievable stretch of water! Sunday morning we were on the Smith River and fished until 1pm. Several fish to go around in the 20" plus area. I landed a twin to my rainbow on Beaver Creek the day before as well & 16-18" fish enough to wear you down.
All-n-all we hit 4 pieces of water over 3 days, and all four of us caught fish on each of them. The Guides Brian and Bob, were exceptional on the water as well as being just fine people to share water with as well. A great service with some unbelievable stretches of water to put you on. My many thanks to them for a fine trip.
Those Smith River fish are very impressive! Several in the 20" range?
What flies were you guys using and method of fishing?
I fish that water every chance I get and haven’t seen a 20" fish landed in quite some time.
I’m impressed!
We were fishing both nymphs and streamers. The area we fished was a private stretch with Mossy Creek Outfitters. Mine came on a Gold-ribbed Hares-ear under an indicator. A number of other good fish on a Golden Retriever pattern. My buddy took his on a streamer provided by the guide.
Susie Q = Smith Creek (easy to confuse with Mossy and/or Beaver as they’re kinda close together…esp if coming from NJ!)
So, you fished the private stretch of Mossy (@ the Ranch), the TU stretch of Beaver (or did you fish “Location X” private water?), Susie Q and the Dry. Fine weekend if you ask me - though I’ll tell you the public stretch of Mossy is a nice piece of water, too. Best fished after you put some time in learning where the fish are and how tricky they can be, but especially rewarding come terrestrial season.
Yep…SusieQ is where it was. Just got twisted with the Creek/river aspect It was “location X” on Beaver. We talked about the TU stretch though. I heard the public stretch was nice also, but best fished during the weekdays. We fished Dry River at the confluence of the 2 branches. both up and down a 1/2 mile or so.
Hey guys thanks for the thread, its always nice to read a good report on an area you live in. We have had enough rain to get the water levels up enough for a great start on the summer season. Yep the twins at Mossy are great guys to work with. I’v never fished with them but have dealt with them enough to know and know folks around who have fished with’em. Those guys seem to be top of the line…
I hit Mossy a few weeks back on the public stretch. Caught and released 8 fish - two on big black bunny leeches, two on a foam beetle and the remaining 4 on sulphur emergers fished dry. Public stretch. Biggest was a 26" rainbow that came out for the streamer.
The brookie fishin has been outstanding in the SNP…
Yep I’v been told about the fishin so far this year around here… Haven’t got to myself, have been going up to the mountains in WV to camp out with my boys the time I have had off , fishin reports have been good there too… I wet a line a couple times up there but to no avail as of yet …lol But I have been havin the time of my life …
ps: from what I’v heard , its been a long while that a 26 inch was caught out of the public stretch of Mossy, congrats to you my friend …
I was able to locate a sipper and land a nice 16" brown on a sulpher LTD to satisfy my urge to fish dries. All said and done Mossy gave up 4 fish to me, including one really heavy rainbow.
Too many moving pieces-parts!
