Fishing Report

Some of the most exciting smallmouth fishing occurs in the tails of the pools at dusk at this time of year. The bass move into these areas to feed on minnows and by fishing a Murray's Floating Chub Minnow or Murray's Floating Dace Minnow in size 4 & 6 in this shallow water, you can catch many fish.   Per phone calls and walk-in customers the other productive flies for this week include the Shenandoah Blue Popper, Murray's Olive Marauder, and Murray's Heavy Hellgrammite in size 6.  This is a picture of hellgrammite eggs on leaves hanging over the Shenandoah River...

Fishing the mountain trout streams at this time of the year is tricky because the water temperatures are cooler in the headwaters but the steam levels are low. Some areas are receiving more rain than others, depending on which way the thunderstorms go through.  Be sure to hide your approach, watch your shadow, and sneak, sneak, sneak.   One of my favorite tactics on mountain trout streams at this time of year is spotting them on their feeding stations then going one on one with them. The trout's subtle movements, his shadow and his color contrast from the bottom are features...

Often while you are smallmouth bass fishing, you will see several large carp feeding on the stream bottom in water 1-2 feet deep.  These carp are wary so wade carefully to get in casting position.  I use an Olive Marauder size 8, Murray's Carp Fly (in brown or olive) size 6, and a Skunk Road Kill size 8.  See our Carp Fly Special This week in our personal fishing, schools, and guide trips the Olive Marauder, Murray's Crayfish, and Shenandoah Blue Popper (on a Bright Butt 9ft 2X Leader)  have been working well. Both the North Fork and South Fork...

The trout fishing in the mountain trout streams is getting tough.  The streams are low and clear therefore the trout are very wary.   If you raise a trout on a mountain trout stream to several flies but he will not take any, then put on a Murray's Flying Beetle size 16 on a 6X leader.  Watch him closely and when he comes up splash your Flying Beetle straight out from him and 6 inches downstream of him. In most cases, he'll turn and grab the beetle. Murray's Flying Beetle You will get better water temperatures by fishing the headwaters of...

We have had some localized thunderstorms and rain showers over the last few days but so far we have not had enough rain to affect the river conditions. The North and South Fork of the Shenandoah River are clear so wade carefully.  Often when we are smallmouth fishing at this time of year, we will see carp feeding and we can't resist them.  We often see them "tailing" in water one to three feet deep. We spot them by seeing muddy water streaming downstream from their bottom feeding in water 4 to 6 feet deep. I use a Murray's Carp...