Mountain Trout Streams- It is prime time to fish the native brook trout streams. There are many hatches occurring this month so take advantage of it. The Blue Quills are hatching and I match this with a Blue Quill Dry size 16. On cold days this fragile little mayfly has trouble drying his wings to fly off the stream and they are shunted to the back eddies where the trout feed heavily upon them. The March Brown hatch is just getting started and I match this with a Mr. Rapidan Parachute size 14 or March Brown Dry size 14. Students in our schools have trouble seeing flies on the water so we recommend a Klinkhammer, orange size 14. Our guides refer to this as the "clown fly" but it is very effective. Fish these on a Murray's Mountain Leader 6ft 5X. Productive nymphs this week include Bead Head Hare's Ear size 14, Bead Head Prince Nymph size 14, Mr. Rapidan Bead Head size 14, and Bead Head Copper John, zebra size 14.
All of the streams in the Shenandoah National Park are in good shape. I have found the best water levels by coming in off the Skyline Drive or upper reaches of the streams. Some streams are easier to fish/hike than others. See my book Trout Fishing in the Shenandoah National Park for more information on stream access. There are alot of anglers in the mountains, so just be careful that you are not fishing behind someone. What they didn't catch, they have already spooked.
We still have a few openings in our Advanced Mountain Trout Schools in the George Washington National Forest on May 1 & May 6.
We are still booking anglers for guided trips as well in the Shenandoah National Park. Call the fly shop to book a guided trip.