Planning our next fly fishing trip. Tossed a dart and it landed in West Virginia. My little bit of research leads me to the Elk River. But I am wondering now if any of you guys on this forum are familiar with West Virginia and can give me can some help picking places to fish and perhaps where to stay.
Hi jmako,
we have a cabin in the northeastern panhandle of WVa. and you are on target with the elk river. Most of the streams in Randolph County are very good. The water problems are not in Randolph county as it is northeast of Charleston and the other 8 affected counties. As far as accomodations go, the state parks all have very nice lodges with amenities for non-fishers to enjoy. Canaan Valley is home to 4 ski resorts and the Lodge at that state park has just undergone a 20 million dollar renovation. They have also added a shooting clay range and upgraded the golf courses and ski lifts. The elk is within driving distance as is the upper Potomac (which flows into western Maryland and then all the way to DC and the Chesapeake Bay) which has a thriving trout fishery with brookies, browns, rainbows, cutthroats and tiger trout. The west probably has a lot to offer but WVa ain’t so bad of a choice. Lots of really nice folks there.
a big chemical spill just happened on the elk. check out the savage or north br. Potomac r. the new river has some of the best smallie fishing in the east.
Then go to message board and sign up. Post your question and I bet you will get 20 responses and 3 or 4 private messages from guides, maybe even the one you are asking about. I know one of the Elk fly shop guys posts there regularly. I had a chance to meet him a couple years ago, very informative.
Thanks guys; been to the WVanglers site. Still working on plans. Thanks for the input, I really appreciate it.
Probably not impressive to a lot of you guys up north, but here in the Panhandle of Florida (FT. Walton Beach) the high at my house was 26 degrees. Too cold for us thin blooded folks!