Stocked Trout Streams -- I have a good friend who enjoys fishing the delayed harvest streams for trout. He is a good fisherman and uses primarily a Murray's Marauder, black size 10. Frequently he'll have a large trout swirl at his Marauder but not take it solidly. His favorite trick is to leave that trout alone and go back and try him the next day. This usually gets him. In fact, recently he used this ploy and on the return trip he caught a 4-lb. rainbow and a 4.5-lb rainbow from the same pool on this fly. Passage Creek in Fort Valley was just stocked this week including the delayed harvest section.
Mountain Trout Streams -- Early this week I checked some of the streams in the Shenandoah National Park and you will have better water levels by coming into the streams from the Skyline Drive. I prefer to fish a dry fly with a dropper. Use a Quill Gordon Dry Fly size 14 or Mr. Rapidan Dry size 14 on a Classic 7.5ft 5X leader. Off the bend of the hook of the dry fly, tie on an 18-inch piece of 5X mono. Then tie on a Mr. Rapidan Emerger size 14, Quill Gordon Nymph size 16 or Bead Head Prince size 14. In most cases your dry fly will act as your indicator. The water temperature has been around 40-42 degrees.
Our Mountain Trout Fly Fishing Schools have a few openings left if you are interested in learning more about fishing the native brook trout streams. We have changed the Wednesday May 8, 2024 to a beginner/intermediate class instead of an advanced class. This meets at Graves Mountain Lodge in Syria for a classroom presentation then off to a stream in the Shenandoah National Park for hands on instruction. For more information and to register, see our website.