Many of the mountain streams now have very heavy Gray Fox Mayfly hatches and the trout feed heavily upon them. The Spirit of Pittsford Mill size 14 is very effective during this hatch when fished on the lip of the pools and over the upper corners of the pools on a 7 1/2 ft 6X Classic Leader. An excellent ploy in the deep pools is to fish a Mr. Rapidan Brown Soft Hackle Nymph size 14 on a 3ft 6X mono dropper below the dry and cover all of the pool.
You asked so we delivered. We just received our NEW Mountain Leaders which are 6ft long and designed for these small mountain trout streams.
Stream Conditions: This is a great time to park on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Skyline Drive, and National Forest roads on top of the mountains and hike down the trails to fish the upper sections of the streams. You can also access many of these streams by coming in from the bottom, hiking in a mile or so to get to the better water. You will get your best water level by coming in from the top/headwater areas of the streams.For more information on these streams and access, check out my book Trout Fishing in the Shenandoah National Park.
Skyline Drive is now open in all sections. This can change frequently if we have storms. To check the status of the Skyline Drive please call 540-999-3500, option 1, option 1 for the latest update before heading to these streams.
Recommended Gear: I am using a 6ft or 7 1/2ft 5X Leader on a 2 to 4 weight fly rod--preferably 8ft or shorter.