Current Conditions On the Elk and others ...
May 26th , Down to the big waters of lower Elk today ! Just a great day spent with a whole crew of new fly fishers . Made some new friends and did some catching up with some old ones and of course caught some beautiful fish :) !
May 23rd & 25th , Similar days with both giving us some really good brown trout . No phone along the 1st day with some regular clients but got some good pics the 2nd day with group #2 . This was the 1st time on the upper river for both groups . Sounding like a broken record but hatches were weak until quite late but she fished great all day long . Moved a pile of fish both days !
May 20th , Just can't stay away when it's fishing this well . Hatches were spotty until late when the sulphurs came off heavy and the the top water got very good indeed . She fished well all day though and served up some great wild fish !
May 17th , Back on the upper river yet again and yet again she took good care of us . Not a great hatch day but the Lady fished well regardless of that fact ! Big Sulphur hatch and the river exploded at the end !!!!
May 15th , Introduced a couple of my favorite clients to the joys of Elk River butter :) .
May 14th , Forgot the Phone yesterday but did remember to take a few pics today ! Just a good solid day spent with a new Elk"o"holic :) .
May 4th and 6th, A few pics from the last couple trips on the Lady ! She is low for early May but fishing well . Sulphurs are starting , Grey Fox and March Browns are on and still Hendricksons in the mix as well . Going to be a great next few weeks !
May 2nd , Just a very good 3 hours on the NFSB this evening . All 3 species caught with plenty of browns and brookies and a couple of bows . March Browns and a few Sulphurs with a decent March Brown spinner fall to top off the evening . Water is low but obviously it is fishing quite well ...
April 26th , 2024 , Another good day on the upper river ! We had to work for them with the river down , the sun bright and cool windy conditions but the Lady rewarded our efforts with browns to 19 & 1/2" and bows to 15"s . Another slow hatch day though things picked up in the evening and we got to jump on them pretty good for awhile :) . See you on the river !
September 17th, Does it get better for a guide than putting someone on their personal best wild brown and wild bow on the same trip ? Hmm... nope ! Arrived to low but fishable flows and the rainbows came to hand early and often , Good day already but felt like something was missing ... Enter 2 absolute downpours that had water pouring off the mountain and turned the river brown quickly and within an hour she started to rise ... The brown water put the brown spotted fish on the feed and we hit 4 good ones in the last hour of the trip with the one pictured the best of the 4 . Good day !
August 2nd & 4th , 2 good days spent on the lower reaches of the Lady with a couple hours on the C&R the 2nd as well . Good temps , decent flows and she served up a nice mixture of bows and browns with 3 or 4 brookies thrown in the 2nd . had a client catchb his pb brown trout the 4th . No Codie so no pics ...
July 26th , Spent 5 or 6 hours this afternoon and evening attempting to beat the heat in the cold waters of the Lady . She was in a fairly good mood giving up some really nice wild bows and a couple wild browns despite it being blast furnace hot out today . Flows have dropped off a little more than I expected and I am hoping we get a t-storm or 2 over the next few days . See you n the river !
July21st , It was a good day for catching smaller wild fish ! It could have been a great day period but the 3 big ones I hooked all beat me ... Had a big brown within 5' of the net twice before he made another run and the hook pulled loose . Really would have liked to hold that one and said "gotcha" but it was not to be . Like wise for 2 very good bows with 1 going air born a couple feet and shaking loose and 1 that I just tried to force a little too hard that popped me off . Nonetheless it was just a good time on the upper river spent catching a pile of wild trout . Not a lot of bugs or rising trout until late but they were feeding down all afternoon . Good flows for late July and milky the way I like it . Caught the 1st 3 of this years baby browns , one of which is pictured below :) . See you on the river !
July 17th , Really good summer day on the upper river guiding a fellow Elk"o" holic and excellent angler ! A little bit of early top water action followed by solid nymphing action until around 5 when it turned into very good nymphing action indeed . Netted two 20"ers , both beautiful male browns and got to fool with rainbows up to about 17"s with the best doing a cartwheel and coming unbuttoned in a little non-descript pot hole . At the end we got some good top water action courtesy of the best Cahill hatch I have hit in several weeks with most of the rising fish turning out to be mid-sized browns . Just a great day . It pays to get off the bench and into the game !
July 11th , Hit the lower C&R for the evening . Flows were great , the river was ice cold and all 3 of us caught some beautiful wild fish . Not much hatching and only a few that came up at the end but still a great time spent with good company and good to feel the cold waters of the Elk Springs section on a July evening when most other larger streams are running close to 70* (some more) and shouldn't be fished now . Both C&R sections still have great temps . See you on the river !
July10, As promised here is your upper river update ... Good flows , temps were superb (58* ) and the fish fed well all afternoon and off the charts the last 2 hours or so . 7 - closing time was simply as good as it gets for July . Lights out top of the column action for better then 2 hours ! Codie caught a couple late in the 15-17" range which were the 2 best of the trip with all the rest 14" and down but what they lacked in size this evening they way more than made up for in numbers . We took a few pics early then just fished . Hopefully they will give you a feel for the Lady this evening . Really want to hit the lower C&R tomorrow but it's going to be awfully hard to pass up another slice of upper river pie ... See you on the river !
July 7th , Headed to the NFSB C&R section this evening figuring that the temps would be ok with the big level bounce ... wrong ! Moments after the 1st picture I stepped in to the beautiful flows and discovered it was definitely too warm to be fishing . Should have stayed up by the house or went to the Lady but it was too late to relocate that far so off to a blue line we went ... The trib was on the low side but still nice and cold and we played with the brookies until dark ...
July 1st , Upper river yet again and yes she was at low as it looks . Solid numbers day with a lot of fish moved though they were all in the size range you see below . Very weak hatch day until late when the Golden Drakes and Cahills came off right at dark . Best game again was suspended emergers and nymphs in very slow water .
July 2nd , A repeat of yesterday with 3 real nice browns today to go along with the bunch of smaller fish . Better hatch , spinner fall and rise at the end as well . When I get the brown pics I will share them . Pretty fish !
Wet wading in the cool waters of the Lady is a great way to beat the heat !
July 2nd , A repeat of yesterday with 3 real nice browns today to go along with the bunch of smaller fish . Better hatch , spinner fall and rise at the end as well . When I get the brown pics I will share them . Pretty fish !
Wet wading in the cool waters of the Lady is a great way to beat the heat !
June 29th , Not enough time to take another trip to the Lady this evening so we had to settle for the NFSB 4 miles from the house ... As usual the local water took pretty good care of us . Flows are good , temps ok and the trout willing . Good evening !
June 27th , Good 3 hours on the upper river this evening . Cold with light rain and the fish were rising when we arrived with some tiny bwo's and Yellow Drakes coming off and the fish seemed to be keying on the latter . We got into a bunch of fish though the majority of them were smaller fish with several mid-sized thrown in and we each got ahold of 1 really good one but failed to net either :( ... Flows have dropped off since the other day but are still good for late June and water temps are excellent . See you on the river !
June 24th , We have even more water and the fish are apparently pretty happy to see it :) ! Good nymphing all day with another big rise of fish at the end courtesy of a good Light Cahill hatch . Moved a lot of trout today and being on the upper river they were of course all beautiful wild fish . Keep the rain coming ! See you on the river .
June 20th , We have water ! Big rain last night and we left the river at dark drenched . Today we returned to find brown water but great flows . Ended up nymphing most of the afternoon moving some fish on Iso nymphs . Weak hatch day until late then as the "bugs" picked up the fish started to come up . So good to see current through the pools again ! Hopefully this continues ...
June 19th , No Codie so no pictures today :( ... However it was another pretty decent day of suspending nymphs in very slow water . Mostly browns in the slow water with a few beautiful wild bows thrown in . Slow hatch day in the rain and we didn't get the olive hatch I expected but was kind of nice to come off the river soaked for a change . Another good rise at dark . It will be interesting to see if we get a level bounce out of the rain . Taking off for another round up top in a few minutes and will update (hopefully with pics ) tonight or tomorrow morning . See you on the river !
June 16th , Upper river in very low flows again today . Steady action all day though definitely slower than the last 7 or 8 trips up there . Water temp topped of at 62* so all is well in that department . Good hatches of tiny Bwo's 24-28's during the overcast periods with sporadic Cornuta hatches late afternoon and Cahills , Yellow Drakes and a few #18 Sulphurs at the end . Big Rise of fish at dark ! Most of the fish to hand were smaller today though we got ahold of several very nice bows 16" - 18" . The big bows were more active than their Brown Spotted counterparts . All in all a very enjoyable day spent sight fishing for wild trout in challenging conditions ! See you on the river .
June 16th , Upper river in very low flows again today . Steady action all day though definitely slower than the last 7 or 8 trips up there . Water temp topped of at 62* so all is well in that department . Good hatches of tiny Bwo's 24-28's during the overcast periods with sporadic Cornuta hatches late afternoon and Cahills , Yellow Drakes and a few #18 Sulphurs at the end . Big Rise of fish at dark ! Most of the fish to hand were smaller today though we got ahold of several very nice bows 16" - 18" . The big bows were more active than their Brown Spotted counterparts . All in all a very enjoyable day spent sight fishing for wild trout in challenging conditions ! See you on the river .
June 9th & 10th , Absolutely lights out top water action the 1st evening on the lower river ! Dry & dropper , throw fly , catch fishy fishing . All 3 species with more browns than brookies or bows . Not a lot of hatch activity until the magic hour but they were more then willing to come up anyways . Day 2 was hotter , sunnier and not as easy but my people were willing to work for them and we ended up moving a lot of fish . Had a MONSTER brown fly out from under a rock and attempt to swipe a 13" bow from us . . He gave up 5' from our feet ... Yellow Drakes , Cahills , Iso's and a few Sulphurs comprised the evenings "bugs" with the Yellow Drakes being the heaviest . Flows are very low but temps are still good and she is fishing well . See you on the river !
June 8th, Slaty in low water again this evening . The cruising trout looking for and chasing down nymphs emerging in slow water game is still definitely on . Water temps peaked at 62* at 4pm so all is still well in that department . Mixture of tiny Bwo's (heavy) , Light Chaills , Yellow Drakes and Iso's with another good mixed spinner fall at dark . Most of the fish were about the size of the one below though we did get popped of by a much larger brown and moved a few good rainbows . Just another good day on the upper reaches of the Lady !
June 3rd , Simply had to slide over to the upper reaches of the Lady tonight even though we only had a couple hours to spare . The drive took longer then the time we had to fish but with the way she has been fishing we figured it was going to be worth it . It turned out to be a good choice :) ...
June 2nd , The string of good days on the upper river , in the low water, continues ! Fished the hottest part of the day (11am-5:30) . Almost all the action was in slow water with the fish cruising looking for and chasing nymphs swimming up to emerge . We countered by suspending small Possum nymphs off the bottom of a Usual . A couple of the better browns came 4 or 5' to take it . Fascinating sight fishing and an unusual "game" to be playing on Slaty in low water , bluebird skies conditions . I guess as long as they are willing to keep playing it I will be willing to keep hiking in to join them :) .... See you on the river !
May 30th , Back on the upper river yet again . Hard to stay away when it is fishing this well !! Good Iso action again as well as another afternoon spent suspending drake emergers for good browns in the slow water . The latter has been quite productive and is , to me , just a very interesting game :) ! Another big Coffin Fly fall at dark which gave us a 19" brown male , then a big bow and then an 18" heavy brown in less then 10 minutes to wrap things up . Big bugs + wild trout = Great times
May 28th , Down to the big waters of lower Elk today ! Solid action all afternoon with all 3 species caught . The river is low but really fishing well ! Drake emergers and small streamers were the ticket . More pictures to follow when they send them . We got into some really nice 3-4 lb bows today ... See you on the river !
May 26th, Another great day of wild trout fishing on the upper reaches of the Lady ! Iso's heavy in some sections and the fish were on them ! In others mostly Green Drakes with some Light Cahills and Grey Fox in the mix . The river is low , we had bluebird skies and it was cool but bugs are the great equalizer . Good Grey Fox and Coffin Fly fall at dark and we found a little non- descript run filled with good ones . It was actually pretty darned good all day though with rising fish most of the afternoon . See you on the river !
May 23rd , Blue line time today ! Water is getting low but the fishing was still good . Not much hatch activity but found rising fish on several sections and of course being brookies they were willing to come up anyways :) ...
May 22nd , Slaty today ! Blue bird skies and the water a bit low but was a fairly productive nymphing day with some top water from about 7:30 till dark (courtesy of a fair Sulphur hatch) to top it off right . The Green Drakes have started and the Iso's are picking up steam .
May 20th , Slid off the mountain for a pretty decent 1/2 hour on some hard fished local water . Decent Sulphur fall which brought up several of the brookies and one beautiful brown . Good to have the rod back in my hand for an evening ! As you can see the NFSB is in great shape .
May19th , Great day to be fishing a pair of soft hackles on the Lady . We got into them immediately and often ! All day , solid , wild trout action ... Grey Fox and Bwo's trickled off all day joined by both #14 & #16 Sulphurs late afternoon . Spinner fall was good but no fog tonight with only a modest rise of fish . Fog or no the magic hour produced the best fish of the day and some dry fly opportunities after a full day of slinging lead . Just a good solid day on the Elk !
May 16th , Blue lining today ! Good mixture of bows and brookies and the stream was beautiful . Sparse hatches of Bwo's and Gray Fox all afternoon in a steady light rain , Good times :) !
May 15th , Back on the Lady again after a few days on the Potomac side of life . The Red Fog has arrived ! Big #16 Sulphur fall though most of the spinners didn't hit in time . Still a fun evening with rising wild trout and great company . We fished alone :) ...
April 11 , Good evening spent with my daughter exploiting the Grannom hatch on the North Fork . It was a little past peak on the section we hit but still good solid action swinging a pair of Grannom soft hackles in the runs and riffles . Good times and the NFSB was beautiful . A few Quill Gordon spinners at the end but no top water to be had ...
April 6th , Back on the Lady today ! Good day of wild rainbow fishing . Got into them early and fairly often with the best about 16"s and the rest from 11-14"s . Kind of a weak hatch day with some Quill Gordons and #18 Bwo's being about it . The river was beautiful !
March 30th , Fun day spent in the back country chasing brookies . The water was beautiful and the fish "happy" ...
March 22 , 2023 , Well the 2023 guide season is finally under way ! Still some melt water working through but with some Quill Gordons hatching this afternoon we found some wild rainbows willing to smack a soft hackle ... Good flows (maybe a bit lower then I expected with the melt ) with good clarity . Other then the Quill Gordons there were #16 black stones and a few #22 & #18 Bwo's . Enjoyable afternoon on the Lady !
August 7th & 8th , We have water !!!! Finally got major rain over a couple days and at least for now flows are great . Both days produced lights out action on one of my favorite Pendleton wild trout streams . The fish were at least as happy as I was to see the flows . Just outstanding dry & a dropper fishing .
July 19th , Water getting thin on the smaller streams , still fishable on the mid-size ones and still in good shape on the Lady . Probably should have done the latter but this was closer to home and fished well . Water temps were good , the fish were active but stealth was more important then normal . I would stick to streams with good pool structure or of course the Elk until we get more rain .
July 3rd , 4th and 5th , Just outstanding flows and temps on the Lady for July !! What a pleasure it has been to fish for wild trout mid-summer with no worries of stressing them . Light hatch activity with Iso's , Cahills and tiny bwo's being predominate . The wild bows have been more active then they were during main hatch season . Good times !
June 20 - 25th , We bounced all over the region this past week before finally ending up on the Lady for a couple good days in the much colder flows she is deservedly famous for . She is in great shape for late June and fishing well . The Potomac side of life , while providing good fishing , is badly in need of some fairly heavy rain . Getting a bit thin ...
June 10th through the 14th , Spent all week on the Pendleton side again between a couple good small waters and the NFSB River in the evenings for a couple hours . Flows kept getting progressively lower until mid-day the 14th when we got a big level bounce from the storms . Good to see good flows again . We are in pretty decent shape for mid-June :) ...
Some streams are already into the 2nd round of Iso's with the little #14 being heavier then the big ones . Still a few Green Drakes on a couple little streams with the river dominated by Iso's , Light Cahills , Cream Variants and Golden Drakes . Also still some #18 Sulphurs around with a couple sections of the North Fork producing moderate spinner falls from them . The one constant across the board seems to be #24 Bwo's . Good time to be on the water , beating the heat , with terrestrials getting ready to play a much bigger role in things . See you on the water !
Some streams are already into the 2nd round of Iso's with the little #14 being heavier then the big ones . Still a few Green Drakes on a couple little streams with the river dominated by Iso's , Light Cahills , Cream Variants and Golden Drakes . Also still some #18 Sulphurs around with a couple sections of the North Fork producing moderate spinner falls from them . The one constant across the board seems to be #24 Bwo's . Good time to be on the water , beating the heat , with terrestrials getting ready to play a much bigger role in things . See you on the water !
June 5 through 9 . Spent 4 of 5 on the Pendleton side with decent flows and good fishing . The 5th day was an evening on Slaty with a pretty decent rise at the end . All streams could use some rain ... Bug activity good on the rivers and fair on the smaller waters . A soft hackle tied for an iso was a pretty decent thing to have in the box ...
May 31st , June 1st & 2nd , 3 tough , hot , bright sunshine , lower flow days on the upper river with part of the 2nd day on the Lady's more popular region . All 3 days produced some beautiful wild trout , very few bugs until very late (then too many all at once ) and at least a couple big fish hooked though none of the beasts landed . Flows are definitely better on Elk below the springs(note picture below on left) with the major pools on the upper river back to being lake like . Hate to say it but the Elk valley needs more rain ...
May , 30th , Had about an hour to kill so slipped off the mountain to the closest stretch of river , with butter on my mind ! Some times you just have to accept it was not meant to be ... Still even the river Koi are better then a sharp stick in the eye . Well it is a close race lol ... A lot of water on the North Fork although clarity was very good .
May 29th , Spent he evening on one of our local wild trout waters watching my daughter catch beautiful brookies and wild bows . Good times !!
May 28th , With Elk still brown my client decided to reschedule which left me with an evening without something to do . Hmm... you already knew that wasn't happening ;) !! Off to the wild trout waters it was with the rods in our hands tonight . They are all in fantastic shape and fishing quite well indeed ...
May 25th , Yet again spent the day on the upper river chasing wild fish . Hoped for a repeat of yesterday's snoutfest and for about an hour and 1/2 it seemed to be the case . Had a client hook an absolute beast of a brown getting good ride time and almost getting it to the net but it had 1 last run in it and whipped our butts . After the hour and 1/2 the skies cleared , the bugs went away and we settled into tough mode for hours moving a little one here and a little one there . At the very end we hit this really nice slab of wild Elk butter on a Sulphur Unusual . Nice way to end the day . The Lady's lower reaches are next ...
May 24th , Back to upper Elk for more wild trout action . What a day ! Hit the water around noon to find greatly increased flows and the water milky . Game on :) !! Green Drakes , Iso's , 14&16 Sulphurs , Grey Fox and Light Cahills were all already coming off when we got there and the fish were rising . We spent 5 &1/2 hours on the 1st 2 holes . Fantastic mid=day top water action . The evening rise was only so so and served up a bunch of little fish but after all the better fish earlier the river owed us nothing .... See you on the river !
May 22nd , Just a great day on the Pendleton wild waters ! Had a 1st time brookie fisher and she absolutely rocked the house . The day started with a 10"er which turned out to be the 1st of many that size or slightly larger . No real "big" natives but a ton of very good ones . I think she is hooked :) !
May 21st , Tough going with 1st hot sun and low water followed by a 1 & 1/2 hour downpour ... Still managed some beautiful wild browns on the upper river under the less then prime conditions .
May 19th , Back on the upper river again . Slow going early moving 1 here 1 there mid-day but starting around 6 thing began to get interesting ... Great Sulphur hatch (both 16's and 14's that got progressively heavier as it went and topped of with a big Grey Fox spinner fall thaty had the good fish just chopping by the end . We got into a good number of really good browns and hooked 2 REALLY good browns with the 2nd being an absolute beast ! 3 hours of outstanding top water wild brown action . Flows were somewhat better today though some more rain would sure help the mid-day fishing See you on the river !
May 18th , Slower today on the lower end of the Lady's wild trout water but still moved some quality fish . Iso activity fairly heavy already which was a surprise as I have not seen any a couple miles up river . If you go in via the lower trailhead you would be wise to have those nymphs in your box ...
May 17th , Just solid all day action on the upper Elk today . Low flows but active fish and some really good slabs of wild Elk River butter out and about . Sulphurs and Grey Fox carrying things .
May15th , Sulphurs !! The big show has arrived at least on upper Elk . Very good Sulphur hatch this evening and the good butter was on the fin . Flows much better then last week , still a tad low but a huge improvement . Sparse Grey Fox and tan Baetis hatches mid-day but it was one of those grind it out nymphing days until the Sulphurs started . Got fairly interesting then .... Good to see !
May 14th , Another great small stream day this time in Pocohontas County . Definitely off the beaten track and they were therefore extremely co-operative . Flows a little lower then Pendleton but not too bad .
May 12th, Great day spent catching truly wild fish again . Flows are perfect and the wild bows and brookies were on the feed . Most enjoyable couple of hours on one of the local streams . Truly blessed to live in this beautiful place !
May 19th , Back on the upper river again . Slow going early moving 1 here 1 there mid-day but starting around 6 thing began to get interesting ... Great Sulphur hatch (both 16's and 14's that got progressively heavier as it went and topped of with a big Grey Fox spinner fall thaty had the good fish just chopping by the end . We got into a good number of really good browns and hooked 2 REALLY good browns with the 2nd being an absolute beast ! 3 hours of outstanding top water wild brown action . Flows were somewhat better today though some more rain would sure help the mid-day fishing See you on the river !
May 18th , Slower today on the lower end of the Lady's wild trout water but still moved some quality fish . Iso activity fairly heavy already which was a surprise as I have not seen any a couple miles up river . If you go in via the lower trailhead you would be wise to have those nymphs in your box ...
May 17th , Just solid all day action on the upper Elk today . Low flows but active fish and some really good slabs of wild Elk River butter out and about . Sulphurs and Grey Fox carrying things .
May15th , Sulphurs !! The big show has arrived at least on upper Elk . Very good Sulphur hatch this evening and the good butter was on the fin . Flows much better then last week , still a tad low but a huge improvement . Sparse Grey Fox and tan Baetis hatches mid-day but it was one of those grind it out nymphing days until the Sulphurs started . Got fairly interesting then .... Good to see !
May 14th , Another great small stream day this time in Pocohontas County . Definitely off the beaten track and they were therefore extremely co-operative . Flows a little lower then Pendleton but not too bad .
May 12th, Great day spent catching truly wild fish again . Flows are perfect and the wild bows and brookies were on the feed . Most enjoyable couple of hours on one of the local streams . Truly blessed to live in this beautiful place !
May 4th , Fun day spent catching wild fish on one of the Pendleton streams :) ! Last night downpour had the stream colored up a bit and the good fish were feeding . Good times with good company ! More small stream fishing tomorrow .
May 3rd , Slaty was as low as I have ever seen it this time of year . Honestly looked like late June ... March Browns , Grey Fox . a few Hendricksons and some tiny Bwo's no spinner fall . Got into a couple really nice fish and picked up some little bows nymphing what was left of the runs . All the major pools were lake like with no current . WE NEED RAIN on the Elk drainage ! Much better flows on the Potomac side . Back to the Pendleton wild trout waters tomorrow .
May 2nd , On Elk today :) . Water is very low for early May ! A few March Browns , a few Hendricksons and a couple Grannom were all the Lady served up Moved some fish but defintely had to work for them in the low water and bright sunshine . Still good to be on the river !
April 26th , Been forgetting to update ... Anyways another good day on the Pendleton wild waters catching wild bows and brookies . Good hatches of Bwo's , Blue Quills and really good Quill Gordon activity . Solid all day action !
May 3rd , Slaty was as low as I have ever seen it this time of year . Honestly looked like late June ... March Browns , Grey Fox . a few Hendricksons and some tiny Bwo's no spinner fall . Got into a couple really nice fish and picked up some little bows nymphing what was left of the runs . All the major pools were lake like with no current . WE NEED RAIN on the Elk drainage ! Much better flows on the Potomac side . Back to the Pendleton wild trout waters tomorrow .
May 2nd , On Elk today :) . Water is very low for early May ! A few March Browns , a few Hendricksons and a couple Grannom were all the Lady served up Moved some fish but defintely had to work for them in the low water and bright sunshine . Still good to be on the river !
April 26th , Been forgetting to update ... Anyways another good day on the Pendleton wild waters catching wild bows and brookies . Good hatches of Bwo's , Blue Quills and really good Quill Gordon activity . Solid all day action !
April 6th , All area streams are "running full" and still a bit on the cold side but we hit fishable hatches of both Bwo's and Blue Quill's today with a fair number of rising wild fish . Good times with good people !
June 26th , Forgot to update after the last few trips ... Anyways the Lady was on fire from 11am when we started until we quit around 9:30 PM . We started well down into the general regs area and it was on from the opening bell :) ! Most of the action was on Iso softhackles with the Copper Killer coming in 2nd for the 1st time in quite a while . Later in the day we hit a good Golden Drake hatch which got under way around 8 pm and had the fish up serving up lights out top water action until dark .
June 26th , Forgot to update after the last few trips ... Anyways the Lady was on fire from 11am when we started until we quit around 9:30 PM . We started well down into the general regs area and it was on from the opening bell :) ! Most of the action was on Iso softhackles with the Copper Killer coming in 2nd for the 1st time in quite a while . Later in the day we hit a good Golden Drake hatch which got under way around 8 pm and had the fish up serving up lights out top water action until dark .
June 16th , Back to the Pendleton wild waters today . Absolutely lights out brookie fishing . Too many good ones to count . Back to the Elk side tomorrow ...
June 15th , Classic Slaty Fork high brown water day ! Got into some great fish nymphing then a decent rise at dark and got into some more ... Really enjoyable day . Been way too long since I had the opportunity to do this :) ...
June 12 , Another good day on the Potomac wild waters ! Much better flows after the rains and the brookies were in a good mood ;) ... So good to have normal levels again !
June 10th , Hit 3 streams and caught 4 species of trout today ! Little bit of a level bounce and a good rise at dark . Hard to complain ...
June 8th , Smoked em today :) ! We got into them immediately and repeatedly ... Much better flows then on the Lady yesterday and better flows then a few days ago here on the Potomac side of life . Just milky enough to take the edge off things and the trout were apparently pretty happy to see the level bounce ! Codie's copper killer continued it's onslaught with many taking it as it lifted at the end of the drift . Fun day !
June 7th , Back to the Lady again for the day . The old girl is quite low now and it started out tough but we found a couple corners where the flows worked and they were on the feed ! Forgot to take the phone so no pics today but we got into pretty decent numbers of fish . Browns , brookies and bows graced our net with Codie's special soft hackle being (as it so often is) the fly of the day . On to the Potomac side again tomorrow .
June 5th , Yet another good day at the office today ! Back on the Potomac side today introducing 3 new fly fishers to the sport . Hot and sunny but the river was quite good to us . Really good sight fishing in the low flows ! As I have said several times this week yes the flows are down but the fishing is very good right now ...
June 5th , Yet another good day at the office today ! Back on the Potomac side today introducing 3 new fly fishers to the sport . Hot and sunny but the river was quite good to us . Really good sight fishing in the low flows ! As I have said several times this week yes the flows are down but the fishing is very good right now ...
June 3rd , One of my favorite parts of my job and maybe the one I take most seriously is taking the kids and grandkids of one of my long time clients fishing . Had just such an opportunity today and we made the best of it :) ... Once again headed for the lower sections of the Lady and once again it proved to be a pretty decent choice . Steady fishing throughout the day in the low flows topped off with a pretty decent spinner fall at dark . More browns then anything which of course was fine with me ...
June 2nd , Spent the day with 2 excellent anglers on one of my favorite Potomac wild trout streams . To say they caught a lot of good brookies would be an understatement ... Nothing to hand over 11"s but just tons of 9-10" fish . Yep it is low and rain is needed but it was onfire :) !!
June 1st , Most excellent day on the Lady ! Very consistent from 11:30 - dark . All 3 species as well as a couple smallies in the mix . light Cahills , isos, Golden Drakes , Cornutas and a few Sulphurs with the Iso's and Golden Drakes carrying things . We got into them early and often :) ... Just a great time on the lower river !
May 28th , Little wild fish = big smiles ! The smile in the 1st picture is the result of his 1st ever trout on the fly . There were of course more ... Great day spent on the Potomac drainage wild waters . Oh and there was water falling from the sky late afternoon . It had been so long it took a moment or 2 to figure out what was happening ;) ... See you on the water !
May 27th , Massive mixed spinner fall this evening right at dark . It was a shooting gallery :) ! Definitely the best rise I have seen so far this season . Really enjoying the new stomping grounds !
May 26th , Another great hour and 1/2 on the Potomac side of life . Got on them pretty good with mostly brookies co-operating and a couple bows thrown in . Alas no butter this evening . Lots of Iso's and a few Coffin Flies but it only took an Unusual up and a BH soft hackle P-Tail down to get the job done . Still cool enough for the brookies in the main stem ! Hard fished water 4 miles from my front door .
May 26th , Another great hour and 1/2 on the Potomac side of life . Got on them pretty good with mostly brookies co-operating and a couple bows thrown in . Alas no butter this evening . Lots of Iso's and a few Coffin Flies but it only took an Unusual up and a BH soft hackle P-Tail down to get the job done . Still cool enough for the brookies in the main stem ! Hard fished water 4 miles from my front door .
May 25th , Spent a couple hours on the NFSB this afternoon and found surprisingly good fishing to be had in the low flows . Started at the C&R where we jumped on them immediately (15" brown on the 1st cast , 12"brookie on the 2nd and a Tiger on the 4th ) . Within 20 minutes though we were surrounded by swimmers and decided to head back to the car and move up river . Good choice :) . Stopped about 6 miles up and hiked down 1/2 mile and fished back . Steady action for mostly smaller brookies (8-10") and had the river to ourselves . Had we gotten into some more browns it would have been perfect but it was still hard to complain ... See you on the water !
May 19th , Spent the day on Slaty . She is very low for this time of year . No flow through several of the major holes . We didn't light it up but caught some quality wild trout with a 2-3 lb bow being the best today . Sparse hatches of Grey Fox , Hendricksons and #22 Bwo's throughout the day with a moderate Sulphur hatch around 8 this evening . Fair Grey Fox spinner fall but in the low flows only sporadic top water action to be had . Fun day on a challenging wild trout gem !
May 19th , Spent the day on Slaty . She is very low for this time of year . No flow through several of the major holes . We didn't light it up but caught some quality wild trout with a 2-3 lb bow being the best today . Sparse hatches of Grey Fox , Hendricksons and #22 Bwo's throughout the day with a moderate Sulphur hatch around 8 this evening . Fair Grey Fox spinner fall but in the low flows only sporadic top water action to be had . Fun day on a challenging wild trout gem !
May 16 & 17 , Spent a couple evenings on the NFSB river about 10 miles apart . Very similar results with both sections producing pretty decent mixed spinner falls and decent rises of fish . Cool thing was catching 1 native , at each location , in the big water . You just never know what you will find :) ... Along with the 2 little brookies there were browns to 18" and bows to about 15"s with better numbers of the bows . The stream is beautiful right now ! On to the Elk drainage for 3 of the next 4 days :) .
May 12th , 3 in a row :) ! Another good long mixed hatch with plenty of rising fish and though we were not able to stay until dusk there was a heck of a spinner fall setting up ... 7 different mayflies on the water today !
May 11th , Another very decent rise this afternoon ! Just sat and watched these . March Browns and Grey Fox were the bugs of the day ... Almost walked back to get the rod but after a long cold winter/spring it was simply enough to just watch . If you look closely at the 1st picture you will see my daughter has her Mom's knack for capturing airborne fish with a camera ! General Regs water on a fork of the Potomac :) ...
Both forks have now produced good rises of fish , cold weather or not . Hopefully Slaty will soon follow ... Going to be an interesting month !
May 12th , 3 in a row :) ! Another good long mixed hatch with plenty of rising fish and though we were not able to stay until dusk there was a heck of a spinner fall setting up ... 7 different mayflies on the water today !
May 11th , Another very decent rise this afternoon ! Just sat and watched these . March Browns and Grey Fox were the bugs of the day ... Almost walked back to get the rod but after a long cold winter/spring it was simply enough to just watch . If you look closely at the 1st picture you will see my daughter has her Mom's knack for capturing airborne fish with a camera ! General Regs water on a fork of the Potomac :) ...
Both forks have now produced good rises of fish , cold weather or not . Hopefully Slaty will soon follow ... Going to be an interesting month !
May 10th , Finally !!! For the 1st time this season got to put people on some good big water , top water action . Good mixed hatch and they came up for hours . With all the cold weather I was beginning to wonder if and when it would finally happen . Well the wondering is over on the Potomac at least . I could have been totally happy just sitting and watching them rise . Nice mix of browns and bows ! Hopefully the beginning of a good long stretch of match the hatch fun :) .
May 5th , As you can see below much better conditions on the North Fork today though still a lot of water for old legs :) ... The brookie stream by the house on the other hand is looking sweet . Now , if we can avoid another monsoon , it should be game on this week again . See you on the water !
May 4th , Spent the day on Slaty . Water was up with good color but definitely still a tad colder then normal . Sparse hatches of March Browns with a few Grey Fox and bwo's in the mix as well . No surface activity but moved fish on soft hackles in the heavy water . Not on fire by any means but you can feel the season up there starting to unfold finally . Just need a warm week to really get the big show under way . Unfortunately the current forecast doesn't appear co-operative ... See you on the river !
May 2nd, Spent about an hour on the North Fork this evening , hoping to catch a good spinner fall . Did catch a spinner fall (Quill Gordons and a few March Browns) but the density was lacking and the rise was modest . Still enough to bring some fish up and was able to stick most that did :) ... Flows are awesome and of course being the North Fork clarity was as well . Evening fishing should only get better as the coming week rolls along !
May 2nd, Spent about an hour on the North Fork this evening , hoping to catch a good spinner fall . Did catch a spinner fall (Quill Gordons and a few March Browns) but the density was lacking and the rise was modest . Still enough to bring some fish up and was able to stick most that did :) ... Flows are awesome and of course being the North Fork clarity was as well . Evening fishing should only get better as the coming week rolls along !
May 1 , Finished up days of wild trout chasing on the Pendleton County wild waters yesterday . All area streams are in great shape and fishing well now . Hatch activity is good - very good on a couple and sporadic on several others .
I believe Spring may have finally arrived ! The bigger waters are producing some good March Brown activity in the lower , warmer sections with Blue Quills and Quill Gordons still predominate higher up . Should be hitting the Elk a couple times this coming week and will update after ...
April 29th , Hit a section of the same stream we did yesterday , just 5 or 6 miles upstream . Same result :) !
April 28, We hit another of the Pendleton streams today , one legendary for producing big brookies . Moved a ton of fish , got snapped off a couple times on 5x and netted fish up to 11"s but were unable to put one of the big fish in the net today ... Just a great day on one of my favorite streams !
April 27, Good day on the road less traveled . Hit an upper Potomac trib today going in fairly deep . Good numbers of really good brookies 8" - 10" with several much larger fish both sighted and hooked .
April 26 , Reasonable 2nd 1/2 to the day with the wild trout action warming along with the temperature as the day moved along . Really good hatches of #18 bow's and Blue Quills with a few Quill Gordons in the mix as well .Should be a heck of a week with the forecast calling for 70's - 80 * :) !
I believe Spring may have finally arrived ! The bigger waters are producing some good March Brown activity in the lower , warmer sections with Blue Quills and Quill Gordons still predominate higher up . Should be hitting the Elk a couple times this coming week and will update after ...
April 29th , Hit a section of the same stream we did yesterday , just 5 or 6 miles upstream . Same result :) !
April 28, We hit another of the Pendleton streams today , one legendary for producing big brookies . Moved a ton of fish , got snapped off a couple times on 5x and netted fish up to 11"s but were unable to put one of the big fish in the net today ... Just a great day on one of my favorite streams !
April 27, Good day on the road less traveled . Hit an upper Potomac trib today going in fairly deep . Good numbers of really good brookies 8" - 10" with several much larger fish both sighted and hooked .
April 26 , Reasonable 2nd 1/2 to the day with the wild trout action warming along with the temperature as the day moved along . Really good hatches of #18 bow's and Blue Quills with a few Quill Gordons in the mix as well .Should be a heck of a week with the forecast calling for 70's - 80 * :) !
March 8th & 9th , Back on the Lady for a couple days ! I love the Pendleton wild waters but it sure felt good to be back on the river ! With the melt water passing through the system the 1st day was better then the 2nd but both days served up some quality fish , mostly on ##24 Possum nymphs . Not a lot of "bug" activity in the cold water but some tiny Bwos and a few #16 Black Stones were out and about . Got to see a few old friends and net some stunning wild rainbows !
March 7th , Well after no winter and several days in the 6o's Mother Nature decided to exert her will the night before 3 days on the water … We started the day at 20* with 20 mile per hour winds . What can you do ? You fish :) !! Fun day spent in the backcountry chasing wild trout !
February 16th , All area streams have great flows and are in very fishable condition . Expect good black stone activity ...
January 24th , It has flat out poured all evening . Best guess is that you will be better served tying flies and dreaming of Spring . Should be a lot of water tomorrow ...
January 21st , All area streams are beautiful right now with tiny black stones , black midges and a few Bwo's hatching .
January 13th , Flows are up a bit on all area streams , with good clarity ! Black stoneflies are the order of the day now .
December 16th , The North Fork is absolutely beautiful right now ! Sat on the banks a couple days ago and just watched the fish rise . Just thought I would share a few pics of one of the bigger waters in the new neighborhood today :) … All area streams have great flows again with the "Dries" running on Elk !
January 24th , It has flat out poured all evening . Best guess is that you will be better served tying flies and dreaming of Spring . Should be a lot of water tomorrow ...
January 21st , All area streams are beautiful right now with tiny black stones , black midges and a few Bwo's hatching .
January 13th , Flows are up a bit on all area streams , with good clarity ! Black stoneflies are the order of the day now .
December 16th , The North Fork is absolutely beautiful right now ! Sat on the banks a couple days ago and just watched the fish rise . Just thought I would share a few pics of one of the bigger waters in the new neighborhood today :) … All area streams have great flows again with the "Dries" running on Elk !
December 10 , 2019 , As you can see below even the little streams are looking good again ! The North Fork of the South Branch is beautiful as well .
December 6th , Flows are still low but definitely better on all area streams . Very fishable ! Starting to see tiny winter stones finally . Let the winter games begin !
November 22nd , We are receiving some much needed rain ! Hopefully this will give us a at least , moderate level bounce . All the area streams could use that :) ...
November 17th , All area streams and rivers are low and clear . Good sight fishing conditions but expect them to be on the spooky side :) . Stealth will pay dividends ! Some 22 & 24 bwo's and 24 - 28 black midges coming off sporadically in the afternoons . There is some top water action to be had but you are way ahead to nymph while waiting for it ;) ...
November 15th , Below is a look at the North Fork of the South Branch at Judy Gap . As you can see it's on the low side but very fishable. All area streams are in similar condition . Weather willing hope to hit a couple this weekend ! Will update after ...
November 22nd , We are receiving some much needed rain ! Hopefully this will give us a at least , moderate level bounce . All the area streams could use that :) ...
November 17th , All area streams and rivers are low and clear . Good sight fishing conditions but expect them to be on the spooky side :) . Stealth will pay dividends ! Some 22 & 24 bwo's and 24 - 28 black midges coming off sporadically in the afternoons . There is some top water action to be had but you are way ahead to nymph while waiting for it ;) ...
November 15th , Below is a look at the North Fork of the South Branch at Judy Gap . As you can see it's on the low side but very fishable. All area streams are in similar condition . Weather willing hope to hit a couple this weekend ! Will update after ...
November 5th , Well headed out with the river in mind but , as has been happening lately with alarming frequency , the jeep veered suddenly to the left and we wound up here … Turned out that a couple hours worth of "here" was just the ticket . Caught plenty of each of the age classes shown and spooked a couple that were another age class up . Been about 40 years since I caught my 1st wild bow on this gem , she is still just as loaded as ever and either trailhead is now 15 minutes or so from my door . Life is good !!
November 4th , Hit our favorite blue line today for a couple hours . So good to see flows back where they belong :) . The spawn appears to be over but still have to watch out for redds . Nice laid back big dry and a dropper fishing ! Tomorrow planning to hit some much larger water nearby . Will try and remember to update after …
October 24th , Good day ! Flows are decent and holding well and the brookies are active . Combine these things with fall colors and you have the makings of a pretty decent day … Best to hand was around 11"s but had ahold of one pushing 15" s . Absolute beast of a brookie ! Nothing better then a day spent in solitude chasing wild trout .
October 23rd , We have water again :) ! Got about an inch of rain 2 days ago through yesterday morning which proved to be enough to return us to very fishable conditions/flows again . Have a back country trip for brookies tomorrow . Will update after . Should be a good day ! Stay tuned …..
October 16th , Finally getting a pretty good shot of much needed rain ! Hopefully this will bounce all our area streams back up to truly fishable levels ! Stay tuned ...
October 15th , Went out looking around , checking flows , etc … Ended up on the North Fork which while quite low is definitely fishable . Water temps good and a few up on the fin :) ...
October 12th , 2019 , Back to my old stomping grounds today … Despite how much I am enjoying the killer streams close to our new place I do not foresee a time when I will not be taking people fishing on the Lady :) . Great day spent catching beautiful wild fish ! Flows are definitely down but clarity is good and as always there is good fishing to be had if you look for it . One of Codie's "Copper Killers" in a size 20 was a pretty good fly to have in the box today ...
October 16th , Finally getting a pretty good shot of much needed rain ! Hopefully this will bounce all our area streams back up to truly fishable levels ! Stay tuned ...
October 15th , Went out looking around , checking flows , etc … Ended up on the North Fork which while quite low is definitely fishable . Water temps good and a few up on the fin :) ...
October 12th , 2019 , Back to my old stomping grounds today … Despite how much I am enjoying the killer streams close to our new place I do not foresee a time when I will not be taking people fishing on the Lady :) . Great day spent catching beautiful wild fish ! Flows are definitely down but clarity is good and as always there is good fishing to be had if you look for it . One of Codie's "Copper Killers" in a size 20 was a pretty good fly to have in the box today ...
October 11th , 2019 , Back to business again finally ! Spent the day guiding on an excellent Pendleton County brookie fishery under very low flow conditions . You definitely had to exercise extreme stealth but we were rewarded for our efforts with some great natives . Sparse hatch of paraleps had the brookies rising all day it was just hard to get close enough to properly present a fly . Saw some absolute beasts (14-15"s ) :) …
May 29th , The river is very muddy in some sections brown milky in other as a result of a huge t-storm this afternoon she should clear fairly quickly as it seems to be coming (the mud) from some tribs and wet weather streams ...
May 22 - 26 , Just a series of great trips on a lot of different sections of the river ! From the big water of Webster to the wild trout of Slaty Fork the Lady has really served up her best . The brookie below was a legitimate 13" native from Slaty .
May 22 - 26 , Just a series of great trips on a lot of different sections of the river ! From the big water of Webster to the wild trout of Slaty Fork the Lady has really served up her best . The brookie below was a legitimate 13" native from Slaty .
May 7th & 9th , 2 good days spent with 2 new fly fishers (one each day) on the Lady . Sulphurs are full bore and the river is down and beautiful . Life is good !
May 6th , Fun day spent blue lining with a couple . That part went well then it was off to the river as the temperature plummeted and it was tough sledding though we moved a few wild bows .
May 4th & 5th , Same as below :) … Back to the Elk drainage tomorrow !
May 3rd , Most enjoyable day spent watching my client whack fish on Shavers Fork . It had been almost 6 years since the last guide trip on that river . Easy laid back fishing to almost too co-operative trout . Just an over size dry and a dropper rig and it was on and stayed on !Kind of a pleasant change of pace day (2 more to go) spent in a beautiful setting with good company . Winning :) !!
May 3rd , Most enjoyable day spent watching my client whack fish on Shavers Fork . It had been almost 6 years since the last guide trip on that river . Easy laid back fishing to almost too co-operative trout . Just an over size dry and a dropper rig and it was on and stayed on !Kind of a pleasant change of pace day (2 more to go) spent in a beautiful setting with good company . Winning :) !!
May 2nd , Great Sulphur hatch this evening and a Yellow Head P-Tail emerger was a pretty good fly to have in the box :) …. Then to make a fun evening even better there was a pretty darned good mixed spinner fall and we got to end things with some top water action . Got to love this time of year ! See you on the river !
April 30th , They are here !! The Sulphurs have arrived way early . This is only the 2nd time I have ever seen them in April . Major spinner fall :) . See you on the river !
April 25th , Good Grannom Caddis activity again so of course it was time to break out the soft hackles :) … The river was beautiful with just a hint of color . There were also sparse hatches of Quill Gordons , #18 Bwo's , #22 Bwo's and Blue Quills but it was definitely a caddis day . See you on the river !!
April 24th , Great day with Grannom on the river but we decided to go "blue lining" for brookies instead . Turned out to be a very enjoyable choice :) ! Nice change of pace to throw around big dries and bang all too eager fish . Back to the river tomorrow .
April 16th , As you can see she is back to green and very fishable even at Cherry Falls . Big improvement in the last 24 hours ! Time to grab the Quill Gordon wets and head to the river … Game on :) .
April 15th , Back to the river last night, driving through a fog of Quill Gordon spinners but unfortunately it flat out poured all night . Still good to fall asleep listening to the Lady sing :) . Awoke this morning to find this ….
April 14th , Took a walk on the wild side today ! Brookie fishing is good for the soul :) ...
April13th , Another most excellent day guiding on the Lady :) ! The Quill Gordons have arrived and between them and the bwo's big bug season has arrived . We spent the day introducing them to the black art (nymphing) and suffice to say they took right to it . Best patterns today were Possum nymphs and P-tail emergers . Look for the action to only get even better now daily . Hatch season 2019 is here . See you on the river !
December 31st , Beautiful river to end the year !!
December 20th , Even the big water is back to being very wadable again as these pictures from the bridge at Curtin show . This is another very good section of river that sees almost no fly fishing pressure …
December 15th , Yeah she has come up a tad . Suffice to say the "Dries" are no longer that ... Might want to give her a couple days . See you on the river !
December 12th , Sooo good to be back out on the river with the love of my life doing that which we love to do , that being putting people on fish :) !! Just a really great trip . We jumped on them early and often with 3 browns in the mix to break up the rainbow fest ...Best fish was a 19" bow . #18 ,#22 and #24 Black Stone flies were all out in good - very good numbers and yep there were a number of trout rising :) ... Just a killer afternoon with James and Codie on Wv's finest ! Let the winter games begin !!
December 9th , I sometimes think the river is never more beautiful then in the winter :) ! Most of the snow is gone again but the river has a clarity to her this time of year you very rarely see in warmer weather . Simply gorgeous !!, I
December 7th , The river is beautiful , great flows with excellent clarity and the tiny winter stones are starting to pick up steam :) ... All in all maybe we can settle in to fairly normal Elk River winter fishing soon and leave the constant major level fluctuations behind . Fingers crossed ;) ... See you on the river !
November 22nd , No change . Still cold and lots of flow but still quite beautiful :) ... I would stay in the upper 5-6 miles unless you don't mind fighting the big water downstream (work the banks ... ) .
November 18th , Well she is beautiful again now , still a fair amount of water but beautiful ! Hopefully this trend continues for the 1st time in ... well forever and we get in some very good late fall fishing . Expect weak hattches of tiny Bwo's , ghood hatches of black midges and the tiny winter stones should be starting soon ... See you on the river !
November 17th , We are still caught in the can't make up it's mind weather cycle but she is better :) ... If the forecast holds we should have a pretty good window opening next week . Fingers crossed ...
October 27th , Tough cold conditions today but managed to put a 15" brown and a couple bows (and popped off a couple) in the net for my client in about 3 hours on the water . Only saw 1 #24 bwo and no rising fish . Still as always just good to spend time on the water with good company :) . See you on the river !
October 25th , Simply about as pretty as a river gets today . The Lady is stunning :) !!
October 24th , Not too shabby today . Hit a section of the lower river which turned out to be a decent choice . All bows and all caught slinging lead with a pair of magic maggots . Been better with some butter in the mix but can't complain :) . See you on the river !
October 22nd , Good-great flows with bwo's and paraleps hatching which is to say exactly like it has been all through the fall season .:) ... I can't remember a better water year . Here is hoping the great flows translate into a great brown trout spawning season . See you on the river !
October 13th , Cold dreary day with the river still up and just a few #24 Bwo's hatching but we managed some pretty decent fish , all caught slinging lead ... Only one brown in the mix with the rest rainbows . You definitely had to work for them in the high cold water . I was surprised (pleasantly so) to see a fair number of other anglers willing to battle the high cold flows . Should have some pics from the last 2 days to share when they send them to me . see you on the river !
October 11th, Well we got some much neeeded rain last night which should make for , especially on the upper river , some pretty decent fall fishing :) . Fishable hatches of #18 Paral;eps , #24 & 28 bwos and of course #28 Black midges are all on the water .
October 3rd , Back to very good conditions again :) .
September 27th , Blown out . The cycle continues ....
September 26th , Up and down , brown then beautiful , rinse and repeat ... What an odd weather month it has been but at least we have water , plenty of it :) ! My vacation (break at least) is just about wrapped up after next week it's back at it full time again .In the meantime know that I have been enjoying my time lost in the depths of the mountains hunting ginseng which is my other "favorite" passion :) ... See you on the river soon !
September 12th , Color better (good big trout water) but still a lot of volume . Wade carefully !!
September 10th , Blown out ! We took another big shot of rain yesterday and the Lady is brown and rockin .... Gonna be a few days ...
August 31st , Low and quite clear now . All the below still holds true but now you can expect premier sight fishing conditions as well . Yep the big fish can be caught now :) ...
August 28th , Low (but still decent flows and clear . Expect typical summer fishing ! On the C&R that means go tiny or terrestrial and down river we have another round of Iso's underway this one about a 12 or 14 . Still plenty of fishable mayfly hatches though most are rather low density . See you on the river !!
August 23rd , Great flows , a bit of color and multiple low density mayfly hatches makes guiding a pretty good way to spend an August day :) . Tiny nymphs down and ants & Bwo's on top . good times ! Good numbers of nice fish and quite a few smaller wild rainbows such as the one pictured ...
November 22nd , No change . Still cold and lots of flow but still quite beautiful :) ... I would stay in the upper 5-6 miles unless you don't mind fighting the big water downstream (work the banks ... ) .
November 18th , Well she is beautiful again now , still a fair amount of water but beautiful ! Hopefully this trend continues for the 1st time in ... well forever and we get in some very good late fall fishing . Expect weak hattches of tiny Bwo's , ghood hatches of black midges and the tiny winter stones should be starting soon ... See you on the river !
November 17th , We are still caught in the can't make up it's mind weather cycle but she is better :) ... If the forecast holds we should have a pretty good window opening next week . Fingers crossed ...
October 27th , Tough cold conditions today but managed to put a 15" brown and a couple bows (and popped off a couple) in the net for my client in about 3 hours on the water . Only saw 1 #24 bwo and no rising fish . Still as always just good to spend time on the water with good company :) . See you on the river !
October 25th , Simply about as pretty as a river gets today . The Lady is stunning :) !!
October 24th , Not too shabby today . Hit a section of the lower river which turned out to be a decent choice . All bows and all caught slinging lead with a pair of magic maggots . Been better with some butter in the mix but can't complain :) . See you on the river !
October 22nd , Good-great flows with bwo's and paraleps hatching which is to say exactly like it has been all through the fall season .:) ... I can't remember a better water year . Here is hoping the great flows translate into a great brown trout spawning season . See you on the river !
October 13th , Cold dreary day with the river still up and just a few #24 Bwo's hatching but we managed some pretty decent fish , all caught slinging lead ... Only one brown in the mix with the rest rainbows . You definitely had to work for them in the high cold water . I was surprised (pleasantly so) to see a fair number of other anglers willing to battle the high cold flows . Should have some pics from the last 2 days to share when they send them to me . see you on the river !
October 11th, Well we got some much neeeded rain last night which should make for , especially on the upper river , some pretty decent fall fishing :) . Fishable hatches of #18 Paral;eps , #24 & 28 bwos and of course #28 Black midges are all on the water .
October 3rd , Back to very good conditions again :) .
September 27th , Blown out . The cycle continues ....
September 26th , Up and down , brown then beautiful , rinse and repeat ... What an odd weather month it has been but at least we have water , plenty of it :) ! My vacation (break at least) is just about wrapped up after next week it's back at it full time again .In the meantime know that I have been enjoying my time lost in the depths of the mountains hunting ginseng which is my other "favorite" passion :) ... See you on the river soon !
September 12th , Color better (good big trout water) but still a lot of volume . Wade carefully !!
September 10th , Blown out ! We took another big shot of rain yesterday and the Lady is brown and rockin .... Gonna be a few days ...
August 31st , Low and quite clear now . All the below still holds true but now you can expect premier sight fishing conditions as well . Yep the big fish can be caught now :) ...
August 28th , Low (but still decent flows and clear . Expect typical summer fishing ! On the C&R that means go tiny or terrestrial and down river we have another round of Iso's underway this one about a 12 or 14 . Still plenty of fishable mayfly hatches though most are rather low density . See you on the river !!
August 23rd , Great flows , a bit of color and multiple low density mayfly hatches makes guiding a pretty good way to spend an August day :) . Tiny nymphs down and ants & Bwo's on top . good times ! Good numbers of nice fish and quite a few smaller wild rainbows such as the one pictured ...
August 20th , These pics are from a couple days ago but the point is this .... How sweet it is to have the conditions to do a brookies & butter trip in late August with the butter part being way down river ! Gotta love it :) ...
August 17th , Reasonable day with good flows . Moderate hatch of #28 bwos with quite a few fish rising . Olive Usuals and ants did the job .
August 15th , Spent the day doing a brookies and butter trip . The brookie fishing was smoking good with tons of 6 - 7 "ers some 8 - 9 "ers , a 10"er and hooked 2 that were larger . Down to the lower river for the evening the 1st thing I noticed were tons of iso shucks on the rocks . I would love to tell you it was lights out but while we picked up some good fish (bows & browns) , we had to work for them .... Fair rise at dark that brought good numbers up for a few minutes then just when I thought it would explode , over ... All in all a great day spent doing what I love to do . Hard to complain :) . See you on the river !
August 14th , AS litlle brown milky early at Webster , green milky later in the day . Flows are excellent for August !!
August 10th , Flat out on fire today . Off the charts nymphing action with a pretty good top water finish . Real hard to complain ... The river is light green milky with fantastic flows and other then my client only saw 2 fishermen . Just a great day to be an Elk fisher :) !
August 1st , Big and brown today . Should round into shape in a couple days ... In the meantime Slaty should be good :) !
July 28th , What a great trip ! It was just one of those days where we jumped on them immediately and flat out continued to wail them all day long ... The river fished as well as it has all year and Melody took full advantage of that fact with her pink Sage getting quite a workout :) ! . The one thing all the successful patterns had in common was size . SMALL . #22 - #32 was the ticket with a couple little (tiny) emergers just really working their magic all day . 90% of the action was underneath but there was enough top water action to break things up and keep it interesting . Thanks guys I had a blast :) !!
August 15th , Spent the day doing a brookies and butter trip . The brookie fishing was smoking good with tons of 6 - 7 "ers some 8 - 9 "ers , a 10"er and hooked 2 that were larger . Down to the lower river for the evening the 1st thing I noticed were tons of iso shucks on the rocks . I would love to tell you it was lights out but while we picked up some good fish (bows & browns) , we had to work for them .... Fair rise at dark that brought good numbers up for a few minutes then just when I thought it would explode , over ... All in all a great day spent doing what I love to do . Hard to complain :) . See you on the river !
August 14th , AS litlle brown milky early at Webster , green milky later in the day . Flows are excellent for August !!
August 10th , Flat out on fire today . Off the charts nymphing action with a pretty good top water finish . Real hard to complain ... The river is light green milky with fantastic flows and other then my client only saw 2 fishermen . Just a great day to be an Elk fisher :) !
August 1st , Big and brown today . Should round into shape in a couple days ... In the meantime Slaty should be good :) !
July 28th , What a great trip ! It was just one of those days where we jumped on them immediately and flat out continued to wail them all day long ... The river fished as well as it has all year and Melody took full advantage of that fact with her pink Sage getting quite a workout :) ! . The one thing all the successful patterns had in common was size . SMALL . #22 - #32 was the ticket with a couple little (tiny) emergers just really working their magic all day . 90% of the action was underneath but there was enough top water action to break things up and keep it interesting . Thanks guys I had a blast :) !!
July 26th , Beautiful with good flows at Webster today and some browns up on the fin . Got to love it at the end of July :) ...
July 22nd , Fun day spent chasing wild trout with several friends on the upper river . Getting low up there but still fishing well . Good company and beautiful wild bows and browns is always a winning combination :) !
July 22nd , Fun day spent chasing wild trout with several friends on the upper river . Getting low up there but still fishing well . Good company and beautiful wild bows and browns is always a winning combination :) !
July 18th , Back to green milky already ! She should round into really good shape over the next couple days and isn't too shabby now . So good to have these flows in mid-July !
July 17th , We have good flows again after the storm but she is quite brown at the moment . Shark cahsers only :) ...
July 14th , Another good tiny fly day with a Webster butter big fly chaser :) ! Just typical Elk River summer fishing with the river low and clear . Good to be able to finish off the day with #12's on 5x after nymphing with 28's on 8x all afternoon . So many games , so little time ;) ... See you on the river !
July 12th , Celebrated my 60th birthday with a guide trip that was pure Elk River . 8x and 28's and 30's . Caught all 3 species on the tiny flies but they were definitely on their game in the slow water:) ... Low and clear !
July 7th , Well the good news is we have fantastic flows again especially for July !! This of course will only make the lower river fishing even better then it has been and it has not been too shabby ... The bad news is the "dries" came down brown yesterday and are now only back to milky brown . The window has opened for some Slaty sharking but has momentarily closed on the outstanding midge fishing we have had on the lower C&R . That's one of the great things about the river , always a new game to be played ! Expect the top water tiny fly action to get better as the week moves along though you may wish to cash in a Bergoo butter or Downtown brown trip to pass the time while this takes place . See you somewhere on the river :) !!
July 5th , Sorry for the gap in reports . Just forgot to write ... Anyways ... bit of a level bounce in the lower river thanks to a t storm yesterday . Good flows for July with some color entering the river at the bottom of the C&R ... Not a lot of hatch activity mid day in the heat but the fish were reasonably co-operative and wet wading the lower river is a great way to escape the blast furnace . We picked up all 3 species with a couple wild browns in the mix . Stopped at the trestle on the way out and watched the fish sip for awhile . low and gin clear , very different from the conditions 6 - 10 miles down . So many different experiences to be had on the Lady right now . Pick your pleasure !
June 30th , Great day spent fishing with Codie :) ! Started on the C&R and ran smack into the best midge fishing so far this year . Hard to beat 8x and 28's in my book and we got a good dose of it finally . Decided to run down river 9 or 10 miles and play a different game for a couple hours which turned out to be a pretty good idea . Big dry and a dropper fishing that lasted until dark .Caught all 3 species with a couple bass thrown in for good measure :) . Just an all around good time on the Lady , with my lady !
July 17th , We have good flows again after the storm but she is quite brown at the moment . Shark cahsers only :) ...
July 14th , Another good tiny fly day with a Webster butter big fly chaser :) ! Just typical Elk River summer fishing with the river low and clear . Good to be able to finish off the day with #12's on 5x after nymphing with 28's on 8x all afternoon . So many games , so little time ;) ... See you on the river !
July 12th , Celebrated my 60th birthday with a guide trip that was pure Elk River . 8x and 28's and 30's . Caught all 3 species on the tiny flies but they were definitely on their game in the slow water:) ... Low and clear !
July 7th , Well the good news is we have fantastic flows again especially for July !! This of course will only make the lower river fishing even better then it has been and it has not been too shabby ... The bad news is the "dries" came down brown yesterday and are now only back to milky brown . The window has opened for some Slaty sharking but has momentarily closed on the outstanding midge fishing we have had on the lower C&R . That's one of the great things about the river , always a new game to be played ! Expect the top water tiny fly action to get better as the week moves along though you may wish to cash in a Bergoo butter or Downtown brown trip to pass the time while this takes place . See you somewhere on the river :) !!
July 5th , Sorry for the gap in reports . Just forgot to write ... Anyways ... bit of a level bounce in the lower river thanks to a t storm yesterday . Good flows for July with some color entering the river at the bottom of the C&R ... Not a lot of hatch activity mid day in the heat but the fish were reasonably co-operative and wet wading the lower river is a great way to escape the blast furnace . We picked up all 3 species with a couple wild browns in the mix . Stopped at the trestle on the way out and watched the fish sip for awhile . low and gin clear , very different from the conditions 6 - 10 miles down . So many different experiences to be had on the Lady right now . Pick your pleasure !
June 30th , Great day spent fishing with Codie :) ! Started on the C&R and ran smack into the best midge fishing so far this year . Hard to beat 8x and 28's in my book and we got a good dose of it finally . Decided to run down river 9 or 10 miles and play a different game for a couple hours which turned out to be a pretty good idea . Big dry and a dropper fishing that lasted until dark .Caught all 3 species with a couple bass thrown in for good measure :) . Just an all around good time on the Lady , with my lady !
June 26th , Another very enjoyable trip yesterday :) ! Tiny flies and ants were definitely the ticket with the rainbow below being one of the ant victims . She was just starting to really light up when the downpour put an end to the evening :( ... Oh well you'll have that from time to time .
June 21st , Solid day :) ! Hit the river with client at 11am and walked straight into a mixed Bwo hatch ( 22's , 24's and 28's) that was still happening 5 hours later ... Rising fish the entire time , lots of rising fish . Interestingly enough they were letting the 22's pass unharmed and feeding on the 2 smaller olives . Typical Elk River ! A #28 Olive Usual with a #24 P-tail emerger proved to be a deadly combination . Finally got tired of the game and headed about 6 miles down to finish and hit all 3 species on Iso's . Good nymphing with the river taking on a bit of color . Real hard to complain . See you on the river !
June 20th , We decided to go downtown brown hunting again with just about 2 hours time to devote to it tonight . Figuring a couple hours of 5x big dry and an iso dropper fishing would be just the ticket we rigged up at the Jeep and hit the river maybe a little too cocky . Got even cockier when we saw they were already rising well . 20 minutes later after more refusals then I could count slowed down and took a look at the water .... tiny Bwo's !! 8x and #24's were attached and it was game on :) ! Most unusual for the lower river . Selective sippers in the Webster , gotta love it :) !!
June 20th , We decided to go downtown brown hunting again with just about 2 hours time to devote to it tonight . Figuring a couple hours of 5x big dry and an iso dropper fishing would be just the ticket we rigged up at the Jeep and hit the river maybe a little too cocky . Got even cockier when we saw they were already rising well . 20 minutes later after more refusals then I could count slowed down and took a look at the water .... tiny Bwo's !! 8x and #24's were attached and it was game on :) ! Most unusual for the lower river . Selective sippers in the Webster , gotta love it :) !!
June 17th , Flat out rocked again today !! The lower river is on fire :) . Big dry and a dropper fishing again from around 4-dark . It simply never let up .... Caught a ton of these :) !
June 16th , Well it was way past time for a trip to town for a little "downtown brown" action . Now these trips always start off with a trip to the Main Street Cafe to pick up a couple of the best cheeseburgers Wv has to offer and it is definitely part of the experience ! Then with full bellies it was off to the river and the browns were way beyond willing today :) ! Early and often , big dry and a dropper fishing , lights out for a couple hours with a couple bass thrown in for good measure . Decided around 5 to work our way up river and the brown trout fest continued until dark with only one brookie in the mix the rest pure, sweet , Webster Butter . Just another fantastic day on the Elk less traveled and never had another fisherman in sight on a Saturday .... Gotta love it !! Isos , Light Cahills , Golden Drakes and what I assume will be the last of th Sulphurs for the season that far down were all in the mix with a good Cahill spinner fall at dark .
June 13th , Good late afternoon action on the lower river again today . Fun exploiting the Iso hatch :) ... Fantastic flows for June !
June 9th , Another great day of nymphing with a very good rise at the end . Finally she is down to normal and as is normal when the river is down go tiny :) ..... A #24 P-tail emerger and a #28 little black pupae were good things to have in the box today ...
June 8th , The river is beautiful , hatches are coming late but heavy and it is back to easy wading . Better cash it in before we get drenched again . I almost feel like I am getting away with something when it is not brown and rocking this year :) . See you on the river !
June 9th , Another great day of nymphing with a very good rise at the end . Finally she is down to normal and as is normal when the river is down go tiny :) ..... A #24 P-tail emerger and a #28 little black pupae were good things to have in the box today ...
June 8th , The river is beautiful , hatches are coming late but heavy and it is back to easy wading . Better cash it in before we get drenched again . I almost feel like I am getting away with something when it is not brown and rocking this year :) . See you on the river !
June 5th , Back to fairly decent yet again . Still a lot of water down river but the C&R is wadable . iso's , Sulphurs , Golden Drakes , Green Drakes and several different Bwo's all out and about today . Moved fair numbers of fish but had to work for them today . Expect things to pick up as she continues to drop ....
June 2nd , Planning on heading this way tomorrow ?? I would advise against it :( ... Give her a couple day !
June 1st , Headed back up to the C&R section to take a look after a 5 day down river binge :) ... Unbelievable to see the river empty June 1st but that was the case . Nothing happening on top so we played bridge troll for an hour or so until the bug show got underway . It was late but it was good :) .... Sulphurs hatching , Iso spinners , Coffin Flies , a few Light Cahills and #18 Sulphur spinners heavy at the end . Not a full blown boil but still a very good rise !
June 2nd , Planning on heading this way tomorrow ?? I would advise against it :( ... Give her a couple day !
June 1st , Headed back up to the C&R section to take a look after a 5 day down river binge :) ... Unbelievable to see the river empty June 1st but that was the case . Nothing happening on top so we played bridge troll for an hour or so until the bug show got underway . It was late but it was good :) .... Sulphurs hatching , Iso spinners , Coffin Flies , a few Light Cahills and #18 Sulphur spinners heavy at the end . Not a full blown boil but still a very good rise !
May 30th , Monster #18 Sulphur hatch on the lower river had them absolutely rockin again tonight . Lights out top water from 7:45 until you just couldn't pretend to see :) .... Fished alone while the kids swam and smoked them on a #18 Un-Usual ! Feels good to have the rod in my hand for a couple nights :) ....
May 29th , The lower river was on fire this evening !! Great small streamer fishing early then a great rise the last 45 minutes or so . Nothing better then an evening on the Elk less traveled ;) ....
May 28th , Well finally thought I would get to take a big evening rise with the rod in my hand but Mother Nature had other ideas .... Yet another big storm struck the valley of the Elk this afternoon and by the time I headed down the Lady was brown :( . At this point it seems to be just tribs that are trashed (Leatherwood Creek was blood red and rocking Valley Fork almost as bad ) . If this proves to be all the issue she should rapidly bounce back . If however we got slammed up top and it just hadn't come through yet it will be shark chasing only for a few days . I will let you know tomorrow what turned out to be the case . See you on the river !
May 26th , Slow going on the lower end of the C&R this morning so rolled the dice and took them 10 miles down river to the big water .... Good choice :) !! We absolutely blew them up for hours , lights out . All nymphing until around 8 this evening. When the bugs started it was solid top water until we couldn't see . Bit of a chore wading but definitely worth the effort . Just a stellar day . See you on the river !
May 25th , Solid nymphing action all day and a pretty decent rise this evening , best of the year so far ! The Lady was in a far better mood and infinitely more approachable today (you could wade without fearing for your life ) . Here is hoping she contiues to get even better as the weekend rolls along . See you on the river !
May 24th , Reasonable nymph day with a small top water chaser ... Still a lot of water making for tough wading but if she improves as much in the next 24 - 36 hours as it has the last 24 hours should get interesting . Will post some pics tomorrow just too tired to fool with it tonight ....
May 20th , Right back to brown :( ... enough already it's Sulphur season ....
May 19th , Back to beautiful again !
May 17th , Well she blew out around 10:30 this morning ... Not horrific but rocking pretty good . If we get by without another big storm we should be back "on line" by Saturday afternoon . In the meantime this is shark chasing water on Slaty !! Time to break out the big streamers and the industrial Maggots and head for the brown trout factory :) ......
May 16th , Good day on the lower C&R today . March Browns and Gray Fox started coming off around 1:30 and were joined by Sulphurs around 4:30 -5 . Not a lot of top water but pretty good soft hackle and emerger fishing once the bugs got going . Ought to be a great weekend coming on Wv's finest . see you on the river !!
May 15th , Slaty Fork today . Very weak bug day with only a few March Browns and Gray Fox coming off under the hot sun . Reasonable nymphing although with the river down the fish tended to be on the small side but all of course were wild and beautiful . Hopefully the rain we are to get tonight will pop the levels back up a bit . Fun day teaching a new fly fisher !
May 14th , Massive Sulphur fall tonight . The red fog is here :) !! Let the games begin ...
May 9th , Good day spent blue line guiding . Nice to get a break from wading rough water :) . Only 6 or 7 in the 8 - 10" range but gobs of 6 - 7 "ers and got broke off by a brown that was large enough to seem completely out of place in this setting .... Good times ! The river by the way has dropped back to quite wadable , at least in the upper end (C&R) . Still a lot of water from Bergoo down ...
May 26th , Slow going on the lower end of the C&R this morning so rolled the dice and took them 10 miles down river to the big water .... Good choice :) !! We absolutely blew them up for hours , lights out . All nymphing until around 8 this evening. When the bugs started it was solid top water until we couldn't see . Bit of a chore wading but definitely worth the effort . Just a stellar day . See you on the river !
May 25th , Solid nymphing action all day and a pretty decent rise this evening , best of the year so far ! The Lady was in a far better mood and infinitely more approachable today (you could wade without fearing for your life ) . Here is hoping she contiues to get even better as the weekend rolls along . See you on the river !
May 24th , Reasonable nymph day with a small top water chaser ... Still a lot of water making for tough wading but if she improves as much in the next 24 - 36 hours as it has the last 24 hours should get interesting . Will post some pics tomorrow just too tired to fool with it tonight ....
May 20th , Right back to brown :( ... enough already it's Sulphur season ....
May 19th , Back to beautiful again !
May 17th , Well she blew out around 10:30 this morning ... Not horrific but rocking pretty good . If we get by without another big storm we should be back "on line" by Saturday afternoon . In the meantime this is shark chasing water on Slaty !! Time to break out the big streamers and the industrial Maggots and head for the brown trout factory :) ......
May 16th , Good day on the lower C&R today . March Browns and Gray Fox started coming off around 1:30 and were joined by Sulphurs around 4:30 -5 . Not a lot of top water but pretty good soft hackle and emerger fishing once the bugs got going . Ought to be a great weekend coming on Wv's finest . see you on the river !!
May 15th , Slaty Fork today . Very weak bug day with only a few March Browns and Gray Fox coming off under the hot sun . Reasonable nymphing although with the river down the fish tended to be on the small side but all of course were wild and beautiful . Hopefully the rain we are to get tonight will pop the levels back up a bit . Fun day teaching a new fly fisher !
May 14th , Massive Sulphur fall tonight . The red fog is here :) !! Let the games begin ...
May 9th , Good day spent blue line guiding . Nice to get a break from wading rough water :) . Only 6 or 7 in the 8 - 10" range but gobs of 6 - 7 "ers and got broke off by a brown that was large enough to seem completely out of place in this setting .... Good times ! The river by the way has dropped back to quite wadable , at least in the upper end (C&R) . Still a lot of water from Bergoo down ...
May 8th , Smokin good nymphing today . The Lady bounced back quick from Sunday's flood ... Still high enough to make wading a chore but good clarity , plenty of mayfly activity and the good fish were on the feed :) ... Expect things to only get better yet as the week moves along . See you on the river !
May 5th , Started off like it was going to be a real good one then the monsoon hit and things slowed considerably ... Absolutely bone soaking rain for hours and the river went from 300 cfs - 12,000 cfs overnight . Flood number 8 this year I believe :( ... Dropping rapdily now and hopefully will round back into shape for the weekend . We needed some rain but perhaps not quite this much ;) ... Without a doubt a #22 Possum nymph was easily the "fly of the day" .
May 5th , Started off like it was going to be a real good one then the monsoon hit and things slowed considerably ... Absolutely bone soaking rain for hours and the river went from 300 cfs - 12,000 cfs overnight . Flood number 8 this year I believe :( ... Dropping rapdily now and hopefully will round back into shape for the weekend . We needed some rain but perhaps not quite this much ;) ... Without a doubt a #22 Possum nymph was easily the "fly of the day" .
May 4th , Spent the day guiding on Slaty . Had an absolute blast !! Nothing over 16"s but caught all 3 species with 3 age classes of rainbows and browns . All beautiful wild fish . Good times !!
May 3rd , Great afternoon teaching a new fly fisher ! The river continues to awaken with a few more feding on top everyday :) . Mostly though it was nymphs and soft hackles . Caught some good fish and fought a couple great ones . Moved a bunch !
May 1st , Great day on the river ! Finally Spring arrives and with it lower water and active fish ... Started off with a #22 Possum nymph trailing a #24 Codie's Copper Killer and it was on from the opening bell :) . Early and often with the Possum producing most of the fish . Happy client = happy guide ;) ... See you on the river !
April 27th , Another day at the office :) ! Not as good as yesterday but not too bad and today we got to play top water dry fly for awhile thanks to a moderate density Blue Quill hatch . Got a hold of one real beast today but came up about 6' short :( .... Great fish fight though ! The old girl is shaking off the eternal winter . You can see and feel it a little more each day now ....
May 1st , Great day on the river ! Finally Spring arrives and with it lower water and active fish ... Started off with a #22 Possum nymph trailing a #24 Codie's Copper Killer and it was on from the opening bell :) . Early and often with the Possum producing most of the fish . Happy client = happy guide ;) ... See you on the river !
April 27th , Another day at the office :) ! Not as good as yesterday but not too bad and today we got to play top water dry fly for awhile thanks to a moderate density Blue Quill hatch . Got a hold of one real beast today but came up about 6' short :( .... Great fish fight though ! The old girl is shaking off the eternal winter . You can see and feel it a little more each day now ....
April 26th , Another good trip today ! Caught all 3 species . The Magic Maggot struck again .... and again .. :) ! Fair numbers in the 13" - 15" range and hooked 3 BIG fish landing one , a 23" brown male . , wild beautiful fish and I will share the pictures when they send them to me . Codie had just left taking what I thought was the only picture taking gadget with her when the lightening struck . Thankfully Susan had her phone and we got the shot . Big hook jawed brown beast ! Oh and the Grannom have FINALLY started !!! See you on the river !
April 23rd , Good trip today in the heavy wind with even a little top water action mixed in . Scott went one for two on the big fish putting a 20 & 1/2" bow in the net along with some other real good ones . Still something missing .... butter !! No worries ... The river knowing that was unacceptable with a Yufer on the water , served us up a beautiful little wild brownie to end things . Great day on the Lady !
April 22nd , That wild Slaty butter my buddy posted a couple days ago , looked so sweet I had to slide up for some myself ;) ... Blue Quills and Quill Gordons moderately heavy in a few spots and almost non-existent in others . Find bugs find active fish . Typical Slaty :) ! Totally hard top believe just how high the water was last week . Impressive ....
So good to get to fish to rising trout again ! Unlike their lower river counterparts the last few days the Slaty browns behaved like one would xpect with duns on th water . See you on the river !
So good to get to fish to rising trout again ! Unlike their lower river counterparts the last few days the Slaty browns behaved like one would xpect with duns on th water . See you on the river !
April 21st , Beautiful day with the river once again continuing to drop . Plenty of Quill Gordons and Blue Quills hatching but oddly absolutely no surface activity . They were however receptive to a QG nymph and a Magic Maggot fished deep . Not quite what I had in mind when I left the house but all in all a good day to be on the water . Hopefully as she continues to drop the top water will get going ....
April 20th , Ran down a couple times today in between fly orders . Really looking good now and by tomorrow should be looking great . Saw a few Blue Quills today but really just sat and watched . Ought to be a good weekend for sure !
April 19th , Back in pretty decent shape again and just in time for the weekend . No major league changes from the flooding other then the run above the trestle is free of the huge tree we picked up after the last high water . Very easy to fish again and no scaling trees necessary to do so :) . She bounced back pretty darned quick considering just how high she got . Now if we can just warm back up :) !!
April 16th , Planning on heading here the next several days ... I would strongly advise changing those plans ... We got rocked last night :( .
April 19th , Back in pretty decent shape again and just in time for the weekend . No major league changes from the flooding other then the run above the trestle is free of the huge tree we picked up after the last high water . Very easy to fish again and no scaling trees necessary to do so :) . She bounced back pretty darned quick considering just how high she got . Now if we can just warm back up :) !!
April 16th , Planning on heading here the next several days ... I would strongly advise changing those plans ... We got rocked last night :( .
April 14th , Yet another tough one under the hot sun , with the river down . Had a beginner out , moved a few then headed for easier water and caught some brookies . Fair Blue Quill hatch with a few Quill Gordons mixed in .
April 12th & 13th , Two nearly identical days , both tough ... Moved a few Thursday on #24 p-tail emergers and you had to keep after them at that . Today more "bugs" but a LOT of fishermen so we pulled and went brookie fishing :) ... Good choice ! Water temp was 49.1* today at noon so I am guessing it passed the magic 50* mark by afternoon . Hard to believe how much she has dropped the last few days under the bluebird skies ! She has dropped from 1500 cfs to 370ish this week and is now less then 1/2 normal flow for Mid-April . Feast or famine ...
April 11th , Good day ! The river is low and beautiful , easy wading for a change . Quill Gordons and Blue Quills hatching but only an occasional rise . Moved some fish nymphing with a MITB nymph though . Hopefully the top water will pick up as it warms this week ...
April 12th & 13th , Two nearly identical days , both tough ... Moved a few Thursday on #24 p-tail emergers and you had to keep after them at that . Today more "bugs" but a LOT of fishermen so we pulled and went brookie fishing :) ... Good choice ! Water temp was 49.1* today at noon so I am guessing it passed the magic 50* mark by afternoon . Hard to believe how much she has dropped the last few days under the bluebird skies ! She has dropped from 1500 cfs to 370ish this week and is now less then 1/2 normal flow for Mid-April . Feast or famine ...
April 11th , Good day ! The river is low and beautiful , easy wading for a change . Quill Gordons and Blue Quills hatching but only an occasional rise . Moved some fish nymphing with a MITB nymph though . Hopefully the top water will pick up as it warms this week ...
April 8th , Absolutely beautiful , levels perfect . Now when you combine that with the forecasted warming trend the 2nd part of this coming week .... :) Maybe , just maybe , game on .
April 2nd , We got lucky :) . It poured for a while last evening / night but the river is still in pretty good shape considering the recent weather . A little high & a little cold but all things considered we will take it ...
March 31st , Started off for Slaty but the Jeep suddenly veered to the left at Monterville and we wound up here ! Gonna have to get that darned steering checked ;) .
April 2nd , We got lucky :) . It poured for a while last evening / night but the river is still in pretty good shape considering the recent weather . A little high & a little cold but all things considered we will take it ...
March 31st , Started off for Slaty but the Jeep suddenly veered to the left at Monterville and we wound up here ! Gonna have to get that darned steering checked ;) .
March 29th , Well sometimes you just gotta take on the odds ... This is especially true with temps in the 60's after a long winter . Moved a couple in the raging water with one being a pretty good fish that popped me off on a limb that would normally be well out of the water . She has come down several feet today and should , if we can avoid another monsoon , provide some pretty decent shark chasing water by the weekend . Not a great day but beat the heck out of sitting on the bench waiting ;) ...
March 28th , What you see below is what you will get . BIG river and still rising ....
March 25th , Quill Gordons !! 1st ones this year .
March 24th , She looks good but is definitely on the cold side . Slow going today down river . Really worked way too hard for what we got into but still good to be out knocking off some rust .
March 20th , This is the "Dries" about 2 hours ago . Yep going to be a couple days :( ...
March 20th , This is the "Dries" about 2 hours ago . Yep going to be a couple days :( ...
March 18th , Well just couldn't take it anymore , snow melt or no :) ... Got to fish with one of my "river sons" today for the 1st time in quite awhile . The Lady gave me a couple real pretty fish nymphing and RJ even got a little top water action .Did I mention the water was cold ? Beautiful day and we had the middle of the C&R to ourselves ! Weak hatch of #18 Bwo's with some #16 black stones out as well and a few fish up on them . She is definitely on the rise but as of now still in good shape . See you on the river !
March 17th , Rain and 33* at river level . Left the house with hopes of some major Bwo action but starting at Webster and working my way up river I was unable to find the sailboats ... The river still looks great but there is definitely some melt water working it's way into the system now which of course is dropping the water temps and slowing things down .
March 16th , Still in great shape though I fear we have some pretty good melt water days coming . We got around 15"s total here on top with considerably more up at snowshoe (understatement ) and with rain forecast tomorrow followed by 40"s Sunday it sure looks like trouble coming ... Regardless we plan on hitting it for awhile tomorrow and will finally , hopefully have a real update for you . Between the foul weather and a pile of fly orders fishing time has been limited to say the least . That's a trend I plan on reversing ... See you on the river !!
March 12th , Well Spring was in the air yesterday , mayflies hatching , flowers blooming , etc but Old Man Winter has definitely launched a comeback effort today and a fairly successful one at that :( ...
March 16th , Still in great shape though I fear we have some pretty good melt water days coming . We got around 15"s total here on top with considerably more up at snowshoe (understatement ) and with rain forecast tomorrow followed by 40"s Sunday it sure looks like trouble coming ... Regardless we plan on hitting it for awhile tomorrow and will finally , hopefully have a real update for you . Between the foul weather and a pile of fly orders fishing time has been limited to say the least . That's a trend I plan on reversing ... See you on the river !!
March 12th , Well Spring was in the air yesterday , mayflies hatching , flowers blooming , etc but Old Man Winter has definitely launched a comeback effort today and a fairly successful one at that :( ...
March 11th , As you can see she was low and gin clear . Sat and watched at the Trestle awhile . just a few black stones out and about so decided to run downriver and see what was out . Ran into a heck of a #18 bwo hatch below Broken Bow with a few Blue Quills as well . Wow was it good to see numbers of mayflies again :) !!! Nothing up feeding on them so we just sat and watched them float by . Good afternoon . You will have to look really close at the 2 longer distance shots to see them but they were floating downriver in pods ....
March 9th , Well at the moment she is on the low side for this time of year believe it or not .... Mind you we have 8" or so of snow to go off when it warms . Tomorrow looks like it should provide a pretty good window with highs in the low - mid 30's . Not warm enough to cause melt trouble but warm enough to be tolerable . I would keep an eye out for #18 Bwo's . I have a feeling it's coming soon . See you on the river !
March 6th , Still looking great . gonna be a couple cold ones coming but you can also feel the new season about to explode :) ....
March 6th , Still looking great . gonna be a couple cold ones coming but you can also feel the new season about to explode :) ....
March 4th , Still looking good albeit a bit on the cold side . Concentrate your efforts on the area nearest the springs !
March 1st , Well she is still in great shape at the moment but it has been pouring here this afternoon so .... we are back to wait and see .
February 27th , Well it didn't take her long to get back to beautiful :) ... Didn't fish (though probably should have) just spent the afternoon walking the banks with the family looking things over . Not a bad way to spend a sunny afternoon ! Still quite a bit of flow but a big improvement .
March 1st , Well she is still in great shape at the moment but it has been pouring here this afternoon so .... we are back to wait and see .
February 27th , Well it didn't take her long to get back to beautiful :) ... Didn't fish (though probably should have) just spent the afternoon walking the banks with the family looking things over . Not a bad way to spend a sunny afternoon ! Still quite a bit of flow but a big improvement .
February 25th , Yep what you see is what we got :( .... She topped off this round at almost 5000 cfs . Gonna be a few days .
February 23rd , As you can see the Lady continues to drop . Almost old guy wadeable in sections now :) ... Now if we can just get through the next few days without getting hammered again !
February 21st , Still a lot of water but she is beautiful and as long as you are careful and stick to the edges very fishable :) . There were #16 black stones "o" plenty in town today . We will just have to wait and see what happens this weekend but in the meantime there is at least reasonable fishing to be had . See you on the river !
February 20th part 2 , What a great day to alive and fishing the Elk :) ! 70* in February is a situation you just don't waste ... Got to chat with some great friends , watch the #16 stones flutter about , catch some bows and watch Codie do the same . Most excellent day !
February 20th part 2 , What a great day to alive and fishing the Elk :) ! 70* in February is a situation you just don't waste ... Got to chat with some great friends , watch the #16 stones flutter about , catch some bows and watch Codie do the same . Most excellent day !
February 20th , The #16 Black Stones have arrived :) ! Fair numbers of them in Webster yesterday and as you can see the river is back to beautiful although she still has quite a bit of volume ... I think we will have to do a little some research on the C&R today ;)...
February16th , More fun with high water ! Eventually things will settle down . Has always happened in the past ;) ...
February 14th , At the moment she is up but looking good BUT we are under a flood watch for the next couple days to be followed by up to a foot of snow Saturday . Hopefully get to slide out for a better look tomorrow (assuming she is still fishable) .
February 12th , Even after dropping almost 4000 cfs since mid-day yesterday she is still at a record high for the day ! Might be another good day to sit by the fire , tie flies and dream of Spring . Been a bench of those this winter ...
February 12th , Even after dropping almost 4000 cfs since mid-day yesterday she is still at a record high for the day ! Might be another good day to sit by the fire , tie flies and dream of Spring . Been a bench of those this winter ...
February 11th , See gauge below .... Yet another good day to tie flies ...
February 9th , Below are pictures of the river at Cherry Falls a little while ago . As you can see she is back to very fishable but there is still a lot of water ... Wade carefully !
February 7th , Shoot ... well the gauge below Webster is at 4150 cfs as a result of the 1/2" of rain and all the snowmelt today . It was a good day to tie flies and dream of Spring which now may be the case for a few days :( ....
February 6th , As you can see she is back to beautiful again :) . Still a fair bit of snow up top but just a dusty streamside . Should be a decent weekend ahead , fingers crossed ...
February 6th , As you can see she is back to beautiful again :) . Still a fair bit of snow up top but just a dusty streamside . Should be a decent weekend ahead , fingers crossed ...
January 29th , Well the stones are definitely picking up steam :) . Ran down to town to mail out a fly order and take a look and there were #18's and #22's everywhere ! No 16's yet but it won't be long now ... Oh and the river is beautiful with great flows !
January 25th , Beautiful again . Should be some pretty good stonefly fishing coming up :) ...
January 23rd , Moderate level bounce and just a tad light green milky now , very fishable :) ....
January 22nd , Dry Fly action in January , gotta love it !! Nice warm day with #22 Black Stones and a few #24 Bwo's hatching and some rising fish ... Only 1 brown in the mix with the rest bows from 13 - 16"s . Definitely helped with the cabin fever issue :) ...
January 23rd , Moderate level bounce and just a tad light green milky now , very fishable :) ....
January 22nd , Dry Fly action in January , gotta love it !! Nice warm day with #22 Black Stones and a few #24 Bwo's hatching and some rising fish ... Only 1 brown in the mix with the rest bows from 13 - 16"s . Definitely helped with the cabin fever issue :) ...
January 19th , Should be a pretty good window opening for a little mid-winter stonefly fishing ! Stay tuned :) ...
January 17th , Well the good news is that she is finally rounding back into shape after being pretty well trashed for several days by the heavy rain and snow melt ! The bad news is that it is frigid again which while it slows things back down makes it miserable on the water . No worries though as it is supposed to fall into a warming trend that should give us a multiple day window of good winter fishing starting Friday :) ! See you on the river hopefully ...
January 11th ,Well snow melt & heavy wind today but after the recent deep freeze we absolutely had to run down for an hour or so . Nothing better then some good January butter :) ... Caught some fish and got to break in a couple of Christmas gifts :) . Good day !
January 11th ,Well snow melt & heavy wind today but after the recent deep freeze we absolutely had to run down for an hour or so . Nothing better then some good January butter :) ... Caught some fish and got to break in a couple of Christmas gifts :) . Good day !
January 10th , Beautiful Lady ! Sat and watched today , glad to finally be back riverside . Black stones and black midges hatching and a couple fish rising . Business as usual you might say but after some of the weather and life events of the last few weeks business as usual was just what the doctor ordered :) ... See you on the river !
December 28th , Bitter cold here with the tribs getting pretty well frozen over and leaving only the river in a fishable state . Of course you still have to put up with sub zero wind chills . Good time to tie flies :) ....
December 26th , Flows are still a little higher then normal for this time of year due to the heavy rain we received the other day but with the bitter cold you can expect the old girl to round into pretty decent condition over the next couple days ...
December 23rd , It is pouring ... We have had some fairly heavy rain , still continuing , early this morning . Expect the Lady to rise considerably unless it didn't happen up river . If they got what we have been getting ...
However if you are planning on fishing this morning /early afternoon as of now , at Cherry Falls , she looks like this :) ...
December 26th , Flows are still a little higher then normal for this time of year due to the heavy rain we received the other day but with the bitter cold you can expect the old girl to round into pretty decent condition over the next couple days ...
December 23rd , It is pouring ... We have had some fairly heavy rain , still continuing , early this morning . Expect the Lady to rise considerably unless it didn't happen up river . If they got what we have been getting ...
However if you are planning on fishing this morning /early afternoon as of now , at Cherry Falls , she looks like this :) ...
December 18th , No change . This is a good thing :) ...
December 12th , No change in the river . However if you are headed this way know that it is bitter cold and will be even more so tomorrow ... There was a time when I felt compelled to fish with sub-zero wind chills . Not so much anymore although I have had some very good days under these conditions . Hmmm... must be an age thing ;) . See you on the river when it warms just a bit !
December 8th , Very low and crystal clear . I would recommend staying up near the springs as we are getting the 1st really cold weather of the year and the drop in water temps will be less severe there . See you on the river !
December 4th , Low & gin clear still . Good time to break out the 2wt and head for the river ! Finally have the tying caught up so hopefully can give you all a far more in depth report tomorrow :) ....
December 1st , Another beautiful day today . Yesterday brought some rising fish for a change , about time :) ... Hopefully this trend will continue . She is gin clear though she is definitely low now for this time of year . Nothing like the low flows of this summer though . Good conditions for tiny fly fishing both top water and sub-surface !
November 27th , No change . Expect good clear flows and low to moderate density hatches of small bwo's , tiny winter stones and black midges .
November 22nd , Good flows and clarity , a few Bwo's and tiny winter stones hatching . You are still better off nymphing ...
November 17th , Reasonable hour and a half spent nymphing today with some really small softhackles presented on 8x being far and away the best thing we found . Honestly expected to find some up sipping but it simply was not the case .
December 12th , No change in the river . However if you are headed this way know that it is bitter cold and will be even more so tomorrow ... There was a time when I felt compelled to fish with sub-zero wind chills . Not so much anymore although I have had some very good days under these conditions . Hmmm... must be an age thing ;) . See you on the river when it warms just a bit !
December 8th , Very low and crystal clear . I would recommend staying up near the springs as we are getting the 1st really cold weather of the year and the drop in water temps will be less severe there . See you on the river !
December 4th , Low & gin clear still . Good time to break out the 2wt and head for the river ! Finally have the tying caught up so hopefully can give you all a far more in depth report tomorrow :) ....
December 1st , Another beautiful day today . Yesterday brought some rising fish for a change , about time :) ... Hopefully this trend will continue . She is gin clear though she is definitely low now for this time of year . Nothing like the low flows of this summer though . Good conditions for tiny fly fishing both top water and sub-surface !
November 27th , No change . Expect good clear flows and low to moderate density hatches of small bwo's , tiny winter stones and black midges .
November 22nd , Good flows and clarity , a few Bwo's and tiny winter stones hatching . You are still better off nymphing ...
November 17th , Reasonable hour and a half spent nymphing today with some really small softhackles presented on 8x being far and away the best thing we found . Honestly expected to find some up sipping but it simply was not the case .
November 15th , Cold today but she coughed up some action ;) . The river is in most excellent condition now and with the tiny winter stones getting started expect things to begin to pick up ... In the meantime I would stick with nymphing until you see fish active on top but then isn't that really always the case ? See you on the river !
November 8th , Spent the day guiding on a pretty decent local small stream . Quite a change from yesterday's fishing with the best brookie being less then 9"s . No sign of spawning activity so I believe on this one at least they are finished . Nice change of pace from the big water yesterday . Back to the river in the morning !
November 7th , Caught the Lady on the rise and taking on color today with clients and while we did not catch a ton of fish we caught some great ones with a measured 23" hook jawed male brown being the best of the day and several others in the 16 - 18" range all in fairly heavy water . It poured all day with air temps in the low 40's and we were all I believe getting quite cold until the big one struck . Amazing how a big brown can warm you right up :) ....
November 7th , Caught the Lady on the rise and taking on color today with clients and while we did not catch a ton of fish we caught some great ones with a measured 23" hook jawed male brown being the best of the day and several others in the 16 - 18" range all in fairly heavy water . It poured all day with air temps in the low 40's and we were all I believe getting quite cold until the big one struck . Amazing how a big brown can warm you right up :) ....
November 4th , Took the road less travelled today and had it all to ourselves . Had to work for them and it was a long release day to boot with some good ones either coming unbuttoned or busting us off . The fish of the day however made it to the net :) ... Very heavy bow , just under 21"s , great fish !
November 3rd , Really liking this month so far ! We have good flows , the river is beautiful and the fishing just ain't too shabby ;) ...
November 1st , Great way to start off the month :) ! Good nymph/softhackle fishing with a pretty decent rise late afternoon . As you can see the Lady is absolutely beautiful again ... Going to be a very good 2nd 1/2 of the week !
October 28th , A couple pics from the 1st 2 of the 3 trips this weekend . Good nymphing with a tiny fly top water chaser :) ! They took some good fishy pics which I will share when they pass them along . Plenty of 13 - 15"ers , browns and bows with one bow over 20"s thrown in for good measure . Great weekend spent on a re-watered Lady !
October 24th , I haven't made it off the mountain to look yet but looking at the river gauge it appears we are done worrying about no water for awhile :) ...
October 20th , Great low water trip today ! From 10x and #32's to big crickets on 5x . just a good time spent with some guys I hadn't seen in WAY too long ! We need rain badly but the trout were on the fin all afternoon . Hard to complain :) ...
October 17th , Decent nymphing today in the slightly increased flows today . You had to work for them but as they were all beautiful fish they were worth the effort :) !!
October 16th , Rain again last night so hopefully we will get another level bounce to carry us until the leaves go off .
October 12th , She was a tough girl today under the bright sunny skies but we managed a few beautiful wild fish :) ... The browns sure are pretty right now !
October 12th , She was a tough girl today under the bright sunny skies but we managed a few beautiful wild fish :) ... The browns sure are pretty right now !
October 11th , Good couple hours this afternoon . Had long release issues with a number of really good fish but still managed to put some good Elk River butter in the net along with a slew of puppies ...
Flows are still good though they have dropped substantially overnight . Everything rising was small today . The good fish were definitely feeding down ...
Flows are still good though they have dropped substantially overnight . Everything rising was small today . The good fish were definitely feeding down ...
October 10th , The river continues to slowly rise :) ! The pictures below were taken at Cherry Falls a little while ago .
Looking good !!
Looking good !!
October 9th , Wow ! I can not tell you how good it is to see reasonable flows on the river again !!!!!! Most of the storm missed us but we got good rain late last night and all morning . Believe me it will be awhile before I take current for granted again . We moved some good fish today nymphing and picked up little guys on top . Good to be back at it :) .
October 8th , Ok we are FINALLY getting some rain !!!!!! Have to wait and see what we get out of the tropical storm over the next 2 days but at least we have received a reasonable amount of moisture already , more then in the last month combined . IF we get what we are supposed to things should get back to a more normal situation by mid week . To say the least I am beyond ready for that :) ....
September 30th , Still waiting for rain ... Now I should make it clear that the Elk can be fished under these conditions . She is still plenty cold (especially in the upper end )and the fish are doing ok . Just don't expect to find much activity ... Most have moved to the big pools and you will have to sight fish garbage to consistantly get at them . Not exactly a river runs through it situation but if you really need a trout fix it is your best bet at the moment .
I would suggest leaving the small stream brookies and browns be until we get rain as they are under enough stress already from the extreme low flows . They are still doing ok in the streams I have checked on but personally I wouldn't feel right bothering them right now .
September 27th , Extremely low now but I have seen her even a bit lower . Definitely in "Elk Creek" mode now ....
There were brown trout rising down below Twin Bridges today a couple of which were 18" class and thick :) . Sat and watched them for awhile but left them be . Really didn't expect that 11 or 12 miles down under these conditions . Good to see !!
September 25th , Wow what a 10 day stretch . I appologize for the no report situation but we were robbed (house broken into ) the 17th and have been dealing with the police , insurance company , installing lock upgrades and a video surveilance system ... Having never been through this before I have to say I had no idea just how much of an ordeal it was :( . The financial loss is of course bad enough but the uneasy feeling you have at your own house is even worse .
Enough of that .... low water (and uneasyness about leaving the house) be damned we are going to be getting back to what we love this week , fishing the Elk . I have always preached that doing it was good for whatever ails you . Time to practice what I preach :) ... See you on the river again ! Elkfisher
September 15th , See the below report . No change :( .....
September 12th , Well I wish I could tell you flows were back to normal again but it just isn't the case ... IF you enjoy sight fishing tiny nymphs to very visible trout under low flow conditions then this is your river . If not .... might want to continue to wait for rain :( ...
September 9th , Back to very low and very clear ... Expect good tiny fly fishing and sight fishing in the big pools .
September 5th , Flows are back to normal for early September , which is to say low but not insanely low :) ... We had another good rain today so hopefully she will have even better flows as the week progresses .... See you on the river !
September 1st , Well we got some decent rain today finally with more in the forecast for tomorrow . Enough ? Hmmm... not so sure about that yet but it is bound to help . Stay tuned !
August 29th , She is very low now . We need (and are supposed to get ) rain over the weekend . In the meantime ... this is an opportunity to do some sight fishing for the big fish as well as get a look at parts of the river that are hidden under normal flows . You might be surprised at what you can learn that will come in useful later :) ...
August 24th , Levels are dropping fast the last couple days ... Decent rise at dark to a hatch of #32 cream midges . Other then that tough sledding today with sight fishing garbage being about the only reasonable game . We could use some rain now . See you on the river !
August 21st , No change , still great flows for late August and still Paraleps and Bwo's hatching .
August 19th , Just another great evening on Wv's finest ! Good nymphing action with a #18 Possum nymph a pretty decent choice ;) ... Loving this water for the 2nd half of August .
September 30th , Still waiting for rain ... Now I should make it clear that the Elk can be fished under these conditions . She is still plenty cold (especially in the upper end )and the fish are doing ok . Just don't expect to find much activity ... Most have moved to the big pools and you will have to sight fish garbage to consistantly get at them . Not exactly a river runs through it situation but if you really need a trout fix it is your best bet at the moment .
I would suggest leaving the small stream brookies and browns be until we get rain as they are under enough stress already from the extreme low flows . They are still doing ok in the streams I have checked on but personally I wouldn't feel right bothering them right now .
September 27th , Extremely low now but I have seen her even a bit lower . Definitely in "Elk Creek" mode now ....
There were brown trout rising down below Twin Bridges today a couple of which were 18" class and thick :) . Sat and watched them for awhile but left them be . Really didn't expect that 11 or 12 miles down under these conditions . Good to see !!
September 25th , Wow what a 10 day stretch . I appologize for the no report situation but we were robbed (house broken into ) the 17th and have been dealing with the police , insurance company , installing lock upgrades and a video surveilance system ... Having never been through this before I have to say I had no idea just how much of an ordeal it was :( . The financial loss is of course bad enough but the uneasy feeling you have at your own house is even worse .
Enough of that .... low water (and uneasyness about leaving the house) be damned we are going to be getting back to what we love this week , fishing the Elk . I have always preached that doing it was good for whatever ails you . Time to practice what I preach :) ... See you on the river again ! Elkfisher
September 15th , See the below report . No change :( .....
September 12th , Well I wish I could tell you flows were back to normal again but it just isn't the case ... IF you enjoy sight fishing tiny nymphs to very visible trout under low flow conditions then this is your river . If not .... might want to continue to wait for rain :( ...
September 9th , Back to very low and very clear ... Expect good tiny fly fishing and sight fishing in the big pools .
September 5th , Flows are back to normal for early September , which is to say low but not insanely low :) ... We had another good rain today so hopefully she will have even better flows as the week progresses .... See you on the river !
September 1st , Well we got some decent rain today finally with more in the forecast for tomorrow . Enough ? Hmmm... not so sure about that yet but it is bound to help . Stay tuned !
August 29th , She is very low now . We need (and are supposed to get ) rain over the weekend . In the meantime ... this is an opportunity to do some sight fishing for the big fish as well as get a look at parts of the river that are hidden under normal flows . You might be surprised at what you can learn that will come in useful later :) ...
August 24th , Levels are dropping fast the last couple days ... Decent rise at dark to a hatch of #32 cream midges . Other then that tough sledding today with sight fishing garbage being about the only reasonable game . We could use some rain now . See you on the river !
August 21st , No change , still great flows for late August and still Paraleps and Bwo's hatching .
August 19th , Just another great evening on Wv's finest ! Good nymphing action with a #18 Possum nymph a pretty decent choice ;) ... Loving this water for the 2nd half of August .
August 18th , Still absolutely beautiful with great flows for this time of year . Oh and we got yet another good hard rain today so it will continue :) ... See you on the river !
August 17th , Nothing like a little Downtown Brown action in August to help kill an hour while waiting to get some tires mounted :) . Honestly just went down to sit and watch the river but as they were rising ..... Also you should be aware that there were fly ants in quantity this evening . I strongly suggest you have some in the box the next few days :) ...
August 17th , Nothing like a little Downtown Brown action in August to help kill an hour while waiting to get some tires mounted :) . Honestly just went down to sit and watch the river but as they were rising ..... Also you should be aware that there were fly ants in quantity this evening . I strongly suggest you have some in the box the next few days :) ...
August 12th , Wonderful day yesterday spent doing yet another "Brookies & Butter " combo trip ! Tim is an old friend dating back to the Trout Ranch era . So good to both re-live old memories and make a bunch of new ones . Thanks for a great day brother :) !!
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August 11th , Took the 2wt out for a spin this afternoon . Good #28 bwo hatch with some #22's and some Paraleps in the mix as well . Classic Elk River tiny fly , better be on your game fishing ... The good stuff !! The river is absolutely beautiful with the flows still fantastic for August . Real hard to complain !
August 8th , Great flows . I just can't say often enough how good it is to have these flows this time of year . Between that and the mayfly activity being pretty darned good it has been a pile of fun .
August 6th , Spent the last couple days brookie guiding the 1st half then down to the river for the 2nd . Eager natives coupled with selective sippers makes for a well balanced interesting day :) ! As you can see the river still has great flows for August with a bit of color and decent hatch activity . Most excellent to have water this time of year . See you on the river ! August 3rd , Good evening this evening . The river is just a bit milky and the fish were up from the time we got there (4:30) until dark . Mixture of #28 bwo's and #18 Paraleps hatching with the bwo's being far more prevalent . Just a good classic Elk River summer evening :) !
August 1st , She is rapidly returning to her beautiful self :) . Did not fish today but did sit and watch for a bit . paraleps hatching along with tiny bwos and of course midges and some fish up feeding on them . So good to start August off with good flows ! July 30th , A couple pics from yesterday's guide trip . Started out small stream brookie fishing then down to the brown milky river to finish . Both fished well :) ... I look for the river to really rock as she continues to drop and clear this week :) ! July 28th , It has rained all day . No downpours so far just a good all day rain . I have not seen the C&R yet today but the river at Webster is beautiful :) . Here is hoping she stays that way ...
July 26th , Great top water fishing this evening ! Flying ants , tiny Bwo's and Paraleps all on the water and the trout came up all evening . By far the best rig we found was a #24 v-wing olive with an ant trailed off the back . Hours of rising fish :) ! Good to see the river back in good shape so quickly after the storm . July 25th , I got to fish with the Yufers , both the Old Man & Scott last evening . Amazingly good to see Ken back on the river !! I might add the master picked up where he left off ... The river was good to all 3 of us but particularly good to the Old Man :) !
July 24th , Clarity has improved but still quite a ways to go . None the less I still think that barring another storm she should fish (nymph) fairly well by mid-week . Tomorrow might be a good day to throw the big stuff around ...
July 23rd , What you see is what we got . Water "o" plenty just unfortunately for the moment brown .... Big T storm last night ! Should hopefully round into shape by mid-week ... 
July 21 , Well we get some rain up river and an inch and 1/2 down by Bergoo . Still on the low side on the C&R and murky . Absolutely killer flows from Bergoo Creek down but muddy :( . Oh well we will take the level bounce ... Should be good in a few days .
July 20th , The killer sight fishing continues ! Didn't take many pics on tonight's trip but did remember to snap a couple . Good fish fight , 20&1/4" rainbow which was a personal Wv best for my client :) ! More fun in the low water . There is some very easy fishing to be had and some extremely technical fishing to be had . It really just comes down to what's your pleasure on a given day . I love this time of year !! July 19th , Decent level bounce overnight . Not sure where the rain hit but it had to hit upriver somewhere ... It does not show on the rain gauges but ran into a neighbor on the river that said it poured near Valley Head last night for awhile . Regardless we have better flows while it lasts with just a bit of color .
July 18th , Got to fish with my granddaughter Abby today . Been way too long ! She got the triple play (brown , brookie & bow ) sight fishing in the low flows . Fantastic day spent with one of my favorite people on earth :) ! July 16th , Real Elk River fishing this evening , the good stuff :) !! In my mind there is nothing better then a pool full of sipping fish , feeding on tiny insects , in ultra-selective mode , unless it would be having that pool full of sippers all to yourself . That was my situation this evening ! They are at the top of their game right now ... There were those I could catch and some I just couldn't fool despite going to 10x and #32's . The drifts looked good to me but a couple of the fish just weren't buying it . This is without question my favorite time of year here ...
July 13th , Late getting this up . Ok really late :( ... Anyways still low and clear with the trout still doing fine 12 miles down . Fished for about an hour near Joe Bottom hitting fair numbers of trout on a #14 Usual . The river is getting warm down that far but still within limits however I will be waiting for a level bounce before venturing that far down again . In the meantime the C&R has been great so I suggest concentrating your efforts there until we get rain . See you on the river !
July 12th , I had to break in my B-day gift , a 9' 2wt Echo dry , last evening . Mission accomplished ! The river fished well again providing both good nymphing and very good tiny fly top water action . I might add that the little Echo performed admirably for both games .... I love low water summer fishing ! Oh and I ran into a couple young men who had a banner day fishing big hoppers . Lots of games available on the Lady in the summer ! See you on the river . July 10th , Flat out on fire this evening !! A variety of small - tiny spinners on the water had the fish on the fin and us smiling all evening . Nothing better then a river full of rising fish , the right fly tied on and only 2 other fishermen all evening . I wish the C&R had fished 1/2 this well during Sulphur season ... She is making up for it now . See you on the river
July 9th , Another great evening of tiny fly fishing with a #28 Mahogany spinner being a pretty decent fly to have tonight :) ... in my mind this is the best the C&R has fished this year , period and yet almost nobody is fishing . If you enjoy nymphing , throwing terrestrials and/or fishing the tiny flies and you are not hitting the river now you are seriously screwing up . Just sayin ...
July 8th , Fished about 4 hours this evening and we had rising fish the entire time . Tiny bwo's 1st hatching , then spinners coming back fueled the rise . There were also good numbers of Light Cahills on the water but in typical Elk River fashion the trout ignored them preferring the more numberous baetis . Excellant tiny fly fishing :) !!
July 7th , Good level bounce today with some color coming from Valley Fork . Fishing was solid all day with a nice rise at dusk . Good nymphing action all day with a pretty decent rise of fish to tiny Bwo spinners at dusk . Flows are outstanding for July !! Hopefully this continues ... July 6th , We fished for an hour or so this evening and I guess the best word to describe it would be solid . A few Light Cahills and quite a few tiny bwo spinners . It didn't boil but it was a good steady rise . Slight level bounce already with more rain on the way ...
July 5th , Hmm... we decided to celebrate 2 years of being out on our own by doing what we do ... We fished :) ! Nothing better then fishing as a family . Oh and a huge thank you to all of you for all the love and support you have shown my crew and myself on our solo flight . It has truely been humbling ...
It was good tonight but not as good as the last couple evenings . I am not complaining though ;) .... A #28 Olive Usual was a pretty good fly to have this evening . July 4th , Missed a 10 , 20 , 30 fish by an inch ... Still a 19" bow on 10x and a #30 Olive Micro Onesy isn't too bad :) ! Suffice to say very enjoyable evening fishing tiny flies to very good fish . Good to have the old faithful 2wt out on the river again ...
July 3rd , Fantastic tiny fly top water fishing this evening ! Got to watch my son Aharon land his 1st four 10x , #32 fish tonight . Very cool :) !! Also got destroyed by some major butter on the 3wt tonight . Should have taken the old faithful Superfine 2wt instead . Rematch tomorrow night hopefully ...
July 2nd , A 4 person trip today had me a little concerned with the river low and the sun shining but the Lady took good care of us :) ! What a great day full of rising fish , good fish fights and smiles all the way around . Ants and #28 bwos were the ticket today . Killer day on a surprisingly uncrowed Elk . the season of tiny flies and terrestrials is upon us . See you on the river !
June 30th , Out scouting tonight for tomorrow's "Brookies & Butter" trip . Spent a large part of the last week chasing the brookie part and figured we ought to check up on the brown spotted end of things . They are doing just fine :) ... Good Light Cahill spinner fall on the lower river tonight with a fair number of them hatching as well .
June 29th , More very good top water fishing and earlier in the day this time . Like an idiot I left the phone in the car , figuring this out after my daughter began to open a can on the trout with a black ant so no pics but plenty of memories . Finally got around to fishing myself but mostly just enjoyed watching Jordyn catch them all afternoon . Good stuff !!
June 28th , Great top water action on the Lady this evening , good to see a bunch of snouts again ! The river is beautiful again finally with great flows for the end of June and the fish were really looking up . Nice mixture of small - medium browns & really nice bows ... See you on the river ! June 25th , The springs are still brown milky with the dries clear but barely flowing . Great levels for the end of June ! We just need some clarity to return , which should happen this week . In the meantime either break out the streamers or hit some of the fantastic local smaller waters which also now have great flows again and as you can see from yesterday are fishing quite well indeed :) . Better yet do both , makes for a well rounded day . See you on the river !
June 24th , One of the great things about living (or visiting ) here is that there are always multiple trout fishing options . With the river up and murky we went with plan "B" today . Turned out to be a pretty decent choice :) .. June 23rd , Sat and watched tonight at several different locations . Not a lot happening on top at any of them with just a few Light Cahills coming off . The river is still a bit murky but not too bad . We have so far missed the big storm :) ...
June 22nd , Levels are approaching perfect but we are looking at the potential for major rain starting tonight (2 - 3"s with a possibility for even more ) so the weekend outlook is impossible to predict right now . Stay tuned ... June 20th , Better but still high and still brown ... Best guess is we are about 2 days away from game on again :) . June 17th & 18th , From low and clear to up and brown overnight . Fairly tough fishing both days with day 1 being the better of the 2 . Big level bounce today with the dries flowing again and the river brown . Still fishable but you had to want them . we did :) ... These last 2 days really made me think how it is a completely different river each day . You never get to fish "that" river again so enjoy each day as if it were your last on a given river because it will be :) ... June 16th , Hit the Ledges tonight hoping for a good rise of fish . It wasn't a very good bug night but got a little better at the end . A few Light Cahills and some tiny Bwo's (spinners) out and about but ants again proved to be the ticket and it was mostly smaller , though beautiful , wild fish that were up feeding . Probably should have been nymphing but I was in the mood for top water so ...
The good news is we have some water again ! How long it will last I don't know but it was good to see flows up again . If we can get another decent rain or 2 to back this up maybe we will be back to more normal conditions . Fingers crossed it is supposed to happen ... See you on the river ! June 15th , Small level bounce this morning in the C&R and there were fish up rising to celebrate . We chose to check things out about 11 miles down and were rewarded with some great fish most coming on ants . We are still in need of rain and lots of it .... I would have been chest deep ,standing where I am in the picture below , 3 weeks ago .
June 14th , Well the Lady is flat out low now :( ... It did however rain this evening and we are supposed to get some tomorrow so hopefully that will help . In the meantime expect to work for them and I would advise staying in the upper 1/2 of the trout stretch until flows improve .
June 13th , Not a great bug evening approx 5 miles down from the springs but enough Light Cahills to keep some butter active for us :) ! 1st time in years I took in an evening rise on the pool we were on as it is a bit of a pain in the neck to get out of there at dark . All browns this evening . June 12th , Oops missed a couple days , sorry about that , been busy fishing :) !! Good afternoon pocket water action today topped off with another good rise on the lower river . Good numbers of browns in the 14 - 17" range , and rainbows from 12" - almost 20"s . Still predominately Light Cahill's with some #18 Sulphurs and of course tiny Bwo's in the mix . Worth pointing out that terrestrials are becoming quite productive now especially mid - day . I will try to remember to take the phone/camera along today ... See you on the river !
June 9th ,More down river fun ! Spent the 9th introducing a great couple from North Carolina to the road less traveled . He ended up with the triple play (brown , bow and brookie ) while she proved to be a butter magnet . Stephanie on the river = brown trout in trouble :) ... The river is low and clear with the trout reacting by taking their game up a notch . You should too .... See you on the river ! June 8th ,Great Light Cahill hatch (and spinner fall ) on the lower river tonight and the kids and I took advantage of it :) ... Drove along just watching the river for awhile but eventually the rising fish were more then any of us could take !
June 7th , Not as good this evening but picked up better then a dozen of the sporadically rising fish, most of them coming by "bopping" a Usual . This is a trick the old man showed me 25 years or so ago . It still works ....
The most prevelant insects this evening , by far were Light Cahills with #18 Sulphurs coming in a distant 2nd and some Iso's and Baetis in the mix as well . See you on the river ! June 6th , Another fantastic evening of dry fly fishing in the cheap seats :) ! Got the triple play with a ton of browns , 1/2 doz or so bows and a brookie . Just spot fished my way upriver spending perhaps 1/2 hour at each location then on to another . Flat out boiled at the last stop ! Pretty incredible river ... June 5th , Had a blast with a couple of great young men from TU Teens of Gallipolis today introducing them to the joys of fishing for Wv native brookies . They fished hard and were totally wore out by the end of the afternoon and decided to skip the evening butter fest on the river . I cashed it in for them :) ....
Big rise of fish this evening , mostly browns , on the lower river . No one "bug" extremely heavy just a good mixed bag of mayflies :) ... June 3rd , Big hatch of Golden Drakes and #18 Sulphurs on the lower river tonight which of course caused a great rise of fish and made for a happy fisherman (and guide) this evening .
June 2nd , Another night , another good hatch and spinner fall and another good rise of fish on the lower river near Bergoo :) ... No one but the fish and bugs for company either . June 1st , Good "brookies and butter" trip today . Hit the blue line early moving plenty of 7 - 10"ers with each of the guys catching their personal best native today :) . Then spent the rest of the day on the big water of the lower river and she was good to us all afternoon and evening . Just a killer day spent away from the crowds , catching fish :) .... May 31st , Another good bug , topwater afternoon and evening , this time on the lower river . Nice mixture of bows and browns with some of the latter requiring flies and methods more familiar to C&R section fishermen (7x and #24 bwo's) . Just a good day spent on the big water :) .
May 30th , By far this was the best "bug" evening of the season , on the lower C&R , up to this point . #16 Sulphurs , #18 Sulphurs , Coffin Flies , Iso's and Gray Fox spinners , all fairly heavy . For the 1st time this season it felt like the Elk is supposed to feel during the last hour of daylight . Butter to the left , butter to the right and oh happy circumstance I had a longtime client on the water to partake . Fun evening !! May 29th , Great afternoon spent with my boy wet wading , chucking big Haystacks on 4x and catching some lower river bows and browns . Aharon with a good one :) ... 
May 28th , Good morning in the high flows today . They were whacking Iso's and Drake emergers :) . She is back to green and fishing well .
May 27th , My crew today decided to hit a favorite blue line rather then fight the river at high tide . Good choice :) ... May 26th , Well the good news is we have plenty of water again ! The bad news is below :( ... Oh well time to break out the big rods and chase brown spotted sharks !!
May 23rd , Another very reasonable day of nymphing and fishing emergers in the film . Mostly bwo's hatching with the #28's being moderately heavy all day . Weak Sulphur day on the lower C&R .
May 22nd , Tough sledding today but if you hung in there you could put together a decent day , which we did :) ... Very little bug activity until after 8pm when the Sulphurs started to come off at the same time the Bwo spinners were coming back . We hit a number of fish on Sulphur emergers but it certainly wasn't lights out action . somebody up river got a HUGE Coffin Fly fall as they flew past us by the thousands . see you on the river ! May 20th , Well the lower river rocked again today :) ... We fished completely alone again and it was on from the opening bell :) ! Both the Green Drakes and Iso's are solid now down river . Just another good day spent showing some more great people around the "other Elk" ...
May 19th , Good trip on the general regs water today :) ! Started on the lower end of the C&R ended up dodging kayakers and crowds so we headed miles down river to the road less traveled . Good choice ! Fished alone . Well alone except for a bunch of fish ;) ... Green Drakes , Sulphurs and Iso's again this evening with a moderate rise of fish .
May 18th , Best dry fly action of the year so far :) ! Sulphurs , Iso spinners and Coffin flies with the hatching Sulphurs being the ticket . Things started happening around 8 and it was on until it was just too dark to see . Miles down river ...
May 17th , Good trip yet again :) ! Back to the lower C&R today and she nymphed well all day with a little top water action at dark . Hooked some great fish with the best to hand an 18" beautiful bow . Sulphurs , Cornutas , Iso's and 3 different baetis all hatching sporadically . Fun day !
May 16th , Had the rod in my hand for a few hours tonight down river . Green Drakes , #16 Sulphurs , #18 Sulphurs and what appeared to be some Light Cahills (wasn't able to catch any of them to verify ) all on the water with fish rising at Joe Bottom and Webster Springs . All I fooled turned out to be rainbows which was a bit of a disappointment but a fun evening nonetheless . Game on :) .
May 15th , Got the Triple Play on Slaty today with browns , bows and a brookie :) ! 1st client to do so this year . Wild browns up to 19"s , wild bows to 15"s and an 8" brookie . The water was lower then anticipated with bluebird skies and the hatches came late but they did come :) . Fun day . May 13th , Big river today . She spiked about 1000 cfs this morning . Shark chasers only for the next couple days and she should be right for that game for sure :) ...
ay 12th , All rainbows on today's trip but they were active enough to keep things interesting all afternoon :) . Fish of the day was a beautiful 20" wild bow that I do not have a picture of (leaped out of the net before I could get the phone turned on )but Garret got go-pro footage of the fight and netting that I will share when he sends it along . Got to get me one of those gadgets :) !!!
May 11th , Shifting gears completely today :) ...As much as I love chasing good butter and the Lady has been hot in that regard it was great to spend a day with the little fish today :) . Big bushy dries and way too many fish to count . Good times ! Back to the river tomorrow .
May 10th , Well the guide trip butter fest continues :) .... Another couple good days in the murky water . Nothing better then wild Elk River butter . Great Sulphur and Gray Fox hatches again today with a massive Gray Fox spinner fall on the section we fished .
May 9th , Hit a different section today and the day could not have been more different then yesterday :( .... Just a few Sulphurs and Gray Fox hatching , tough wading (to say the least ) and tough fishing . Think we will shift back up river a couple miles tomorrow ...
May 8th , The butter was ripping today , good butter :) ! We hooked 4 , 20" class browns putting 3 in the net (best was 21 & 1/4" ) , lost 1 that was substantially larger , netted 4 in the 15" class and hit some beautiful wild bows from 13 - 17"s . Sulphurs and Gray Fox were both heavy with the Sulphurs absolutely pouring off the river mid-afternoon . My people took pictures of several of them and when they share them with me I will share them with all of you :) . Fun day on a murky river ! May 7th , She is improving . Still a lot of water but that water is steadily dropping and clearing . Shark chasing water but watch your step while wading .... May 5th , Blown out ! She was gin clear and low at Webster at noon with fish rising . Decided to head for Bergoo rather then fish in town and ran headlong into a brown ragin lady at Twin Bridges .... VERY localized rain event that hit up by Snowshoe . All the tribs below Slaty are low and clear . This is setting up some classic brown spotted shark fishing into at least the middle of next week :) ... stay tuned ... May 4th , The string of good trips continues :) ! Windy and cooler yesterday with showers off and on . All rainbows the 1st half of the day but around 6:30 pm the Sulphurs started to pour off and the butter went on the feed :) . Best of the day was Ian's beautiful measured 20 & 1/8 " male . Great fish fight in fairly heavy water . May 3rd , Good day on the Lady guiding today . Lots of bugs , fish fairly active early underneath and 6 takes on top to end the day . 2 rounds of Sulphurs hatching 11-1 and 4-7 , Gray Fox all day , Tan Baetis all day with some March browns and #24 Bwo's in there as well even a few Yellow Sallies . Could have stood for more rising fish earlier in the day but that would be the only complaint . had 5 or 6 hit the soft hackle hard enough to pop off , on 5x , on the take at the end of the drift as it lifted .Thanks Matt , really enjoyed it :) !
May 2nd , Sulphurs are still low density but they are here now from Slaty to Bergoo that I can verify . Time to break out the Usuals , bunny emergers , Copper Sulphates , etc ... Hard to say what the coming cold snap will do to things but I guess we will find out as it unfolds . See you on the river !
April 30th , Good , though challenging , trip again today making it 3 in a row that definitely kept me on my toes :) ... Hit a couple good slabs of butter early (one pushing 20" ) , getting ride time but losing the fight both times . So went the day as we continued to fish hard , struggle in the major runs , but hit some good fish on soft hackles in unexpected places , little corners that the crowds overlooked today . Both the old faithful Grannom soft hackle and Codie's new(as yet un-named) one combined to save the day once again . They banged them in some very fast water ! I actually love days when there is nothing happening because when you really got to work for it and come up with a way to make something happen and you do just that it is very satisfying indeed :) ! April 29th , Spent the day guiding on Slaty , upper 1/2 . water is low and clear and it was a hot one but we managed to move a number of good bows and little browns in the fast water . Good Gray Fox hatch , along with some March Browns , Tan Baetis and the 1st Sulphurs of the season #14's (not a mis-print ) . Very little surface activity with only the occasional rise . Soft hackles did the business again .
April 28th , Well we earned our fish today ... Bluebird skies , hot and very little hatching so it was all couple of splitshot fishing until right at dark when we picked up several on March Brown spinners . Got into some really nice fish though including 3 that flat out tore us up on 5x ! Best in the net were several in the 16 - 17" range beautiful bows . Only butter to hand was the little guy shown right at dark . Other then that not a bad rainbow day but you had to work for them ... Fun guide trip :) ! April 27th , She is beautiful . sparse hatches of several Bwo's today with a few March Browns and a Gray Fox or 2 in the mix also . All in all though I would advise to keep riding the soft hackles , p-tails and Possum Nymphs until she lights up right .
April 26th , Started on the lower river , not much hatching and very few on the fin despite the beautiful weather . Tired of waiting for bugs and decided to do some exploring on a lesser stream :) ... decent nymphing but still none of the top water fishing I was itching for so ended up hunting morels . I can tell you the caddis are over down river and the March Browns were nothing like the last few trips but they should still have some time left . Just an off day ... April 25th , Still just a bit high and with a bit of color and not a lot hatching mid-river (Bergoo area) today . With the forecast calling for 80's at Webster the next 2 days it seems like a good time to take in a little "in town" action . See you on the river !
April 22nd , Cold and raining , no Grannom ! Doesn't sound like the makings of a good trip but it was :) .... Steady nymphing all day with a couple different soft hackles leading the way and even several fish on top despite only weak Bwo hatches going on . Great wet day spent with some really nice people ! April 20th , Well the Grannom are full bore now on the C&R , incredible as always . Needless to say this made for fantastic soft hackle fishing . They were flat out whacking them :) !! Could not have come at a better time as it was my client's inaugural fly fishing experience . We may well have another Elk"o" holic on our hands ! The phone took a swim (yet again) and is in a bag of rice at the moment but hopefully it will work it's magic one more time as I have some pics I'dd love to share with you in the morning ...
April 19th , Finally ! Big hatch of March Browns in beautiful downtown Webster Springs today had the butter (and a few bows) on the fin . The "Downtown Browns" are back !! Nothing better then dry fly action in town .The March Browns are such an awesome hatch on the lower river . I love it :) ! April 18th , Another fantastic Spring Break day spent on the Lady with the family :) ! I It was a day full of kids , caddis , rainbows and March Browns ! My kind of day . The Grannom hatch is still picking up density daily so a pair of soft hackles is a pretty decent opening rig :) ... See you on the river !
April 17th , The rain didn't screw things up thankfully ... Small level bounce . Not a lot of bug activity this evening other the swarms of caddis and fair numbers of March Brown spinners down by Bergoo . Headed up to the C&R to take a peak and there were very few Grannom and no spinners at the Trestle at dark tonight . I would suggest loading up on soft hackles the rest of the week . Just sayin ... See you on the river !
April 15th , Sometimes you just gotta lay the rod down and look around ... Quill Gordon and March Brown spinners in quantity , grannom all over the place , trout rising and just a fantastic sunset to boot . Good evening spent sitting on the Trestle :) ! April 14th , Softhackle season is upon us :) ! The Grannom Caddis are picking up steam down river (heavy at Parcoal this morning) and started to trickle off yesterday on the C&R . This when coupled with the Quill Gordons (which have been coming off for weeks) makes for great softhackle fishing !
There were also decent numbers of March Brown spinners at Webster this evening (so they are also picking up steam) and they brought a few fish up for the 1st time in a while . Hatch season is finally upon us and I for one am more then ready for it . See you on the river ! April 13th , Some times if you can hang in when the going gets tough good things happen :) ! It started off ok today moving 4 or 5 with a couple long releases in the 1st hour and I was thinking it was going to be another fairly easy day at the office . It slowed a bit so I decided to head up river a mile or so for awhile which turned out to be a mistake as it went from fairly productive to brutally tough and stayed there for several hours ... Headed back down river and started where we left off that morning . Nothing . Pushed on up a couple hundred yards and Quill Gordons started to hatch :) . Tied on a new softhackle that Codie came up with for the QG's and it was on :) !!! Thanks for your patience Alex and I am glad the Lady gave it up for you . The seemingly dead river came to life in a hurry . Pretty good 9th inning action :) ! Oh and the Grannom have started :)) .... April 12th , Fun trip :) ! We got into them early and fairly often today , all nymphing . Gary did great for his 1st attempt at "bobberless" nymphing , took right to it ! I know I sound like a broken record but good fishing + great company makes for a excellent day every time ... Not a lot of hatch activity just a couple dozen Quill Gordons , a handful of #18 Bwo's and a couple Blue Quills but once again they were active underneath . Water temp 52* . See you on the river !
April 11th , The much needed drop in levels continues . Even the lower river is starting to look wadeable without risking your life ;) ... the leaves are finally starting to pop out in Webster so I am thinking Spring , REAL Spring , may make it here yet . See you on the river !
April 10th , A little downtown action early , then a little C&R section action tonight . Lots of spinners this evening but they did not get on the water by dark and only saw 1 fish rise twice :( ... Did however see 2 March Browns at Webster today . Great hatch on the lower river . I see some "Downtown Brown" action in the not too distant future :) . April 9th , Good 2 hours today despite the river still being up a bit and on the cold side ! Got to see a couple friends both of the human and the spotted finned varieties and the weather was amazing . Lots of Quill Gordons hatching and some #18 bwo's as well but never saw a fish rise . As usual they were active underneath though :) ...
April 7th , The "dries" are back to green though still rockin and the springs are brown . Couple more days ...
April 6th , Well she came up but as of 2pm at Webster she was still very fishable . I have a feeling though that all the water had not come through yet as it poured here on Point Mountain last night . I was in fact shocked that the Lady wasn't blood red and rockin . We have an inch or 2 of snow at the moment as well which when combined with the high winds and water levels are making this look like a good weekend to hit the vise and get some serious tying done . You may wish to do the same ;) ... April 5th , Fished a new blue line today , very small stream , fairly close to home that I have heard a few people say good things about over the years . Those few people were correct :) ! Tons of fish with a lot of good to really good brookies . By far our best brookie trip this year so far and only fished about 1/2 mile or so of it . Loaded !! The river on the other hand is better today , definitely quite fishable but still on the tough to wade side especially down river ... April 4th , No shortage of water today , tough wading to say the least but we did manage to pick up some fish along the edges . Yet another big level bounce after yet another downpour last night . Every time she starts to settle in we seem to get hit again :( ... Hard to believe a month or so ago I was worried we would run out of water with the river so low and no snowpack . I found myself wishing for rain . Be careful what you wish for I guess... Anyways there were a few Quill Gordons and a few Hendricksons coming off but no rising fish in the high flows . See you on the river !
April 3rd , Still quite a bit of water but she is definitely rounding steadily into shape . Nice green milky color :) ! I sure hope she lays down by the weekend as I would love to get into some top water Quill Gordon action ...
April 2nd , Well she has dropped and cleared considerably but still a big river today so we ended up brookie fishing instead . We will be back on the river tomorrow .... April 1st , Blown out !
March 31st ,If you were planning to head this way tomorrow know that the "dries" are high and brown . Shark chasing water albeit on the cold side but not going to be good for much else tomorrow :( . Shame too because she was beautiful today . Oh well gives me an excuse to go hit a favorite blue line for brookies and browns and unless you want to pitch big streamers tomorrow I suggest you do the same :) ... March 30th , Well it was slower today , not bad , but you had to work for them for sure ... Sunny with a cold fairly stout wind and just a few Bwo's hatching . A #18 Possum nymph was (as it so often is ) a pretty good fly to have in the box as every fish we caught preferred it over a lot of different things we tried . Good couple hours spent with my lady on the Lady :) ! March 29th , Another good day on the Lady . Plenty of "bugs" , hooked a bunch of fish , neither of us took a swim and we had the river to ourselves :) . Real hard to complain ... #18 bwo's , #12 Quill Gordons and #12 Brown Stones all on the water today in good numbers but once again never saw a rise . The river is still up and a bit on the cold side but she is definitely starting to wake up .Picked up more fish in shallow fast water then we have been which is a good sign .
March 27th ,Most excellant trip today ! Ed was brand new to nymphing but took to it immediately and we were into them early and often , bent rods "o"plenty :)...The river was beautiful with some green milky color and she came up considerably overnight which definitely had the fish on the feed . Good fishing + great company = a winner of a day ! Good times .
March 24th , Well I would love to tell you that the Quill Gordons were blanket heavy and that the river boiled but ... saw exactly 4 Quill Gordons and 1 fish came up once . It was however decent nymphing with a #24 p-tail emerger being far and away the best thing I could find today . All in all fishing was somewhere between ok and good ...
March 23rd , Fished beautiful downtown Webster Springs today . Forgot to take the phone so no pictures and honestly while the fishing was pretty good lifting a pair of soft hackles , the fish weren't picture worthy anyhow ... None the less the Lady is back to beauitiful , the fish were co-operative and the day was warm . Good times in town :) ! A side benefit of fishing in town is that aterwards you can stop by the Main Street Cafe and grab one of the states best burgers ... See you on the river !
March 21st , Definitely should have chased them downtown today (the river was beautiful at Webster) but as well as she has fished in the C&R section the last 4 days and with the bugs really coming on up there I decided to head up instead ... The farther we went up , the heavier the flows so ended up just taking some pictures and watching bugs for awhile (which is one of my favorite things to do anyways ) Good day :) ! March 20th , Another good trip in the cold melt water . The hatches are really picking up steam with good numbers of Quill Gordons joining the #18 Bwo's today . Bugs all over the river but no rising fish . They were fairly active underneath though :) ...
March 18th , Good trip today even with the river full of snowmelt , rising and taking on color as the day went the Lady served up the good stuff . Several beautiful slabs of Elk River Butter and of course plenty of good rainbows . Just real good nymphing all afternoon . Good day with some great people !
March 17th , Massive #18 Bwo hatch in the cold and snow showers today from 1:30 - 3:30 ! Only a couple fish came up but the nymphing was consistant . There were a few Quill Gordons on the cold water as well . All rainbows for me , had a buddy stick a couple slabs of butter though . Good not quite spring yet afternoon ... See you on the river !
March 16th , No change . Still beautiful , still quite cold but that should start to change over the next several days . We are so close to the good stuff now you can taste it . We just need to string a few warm days together to get things underway . Yes we now have a minor melt situation to go through this weekend but after that .... March 14th , The river is beautiful but .... IT is frigid and windy to boot . Good time to catch up on your tying while dreaming of spring ! March , 11th , Stunningly beautiful but bitter cold today ... Guess this is the price we pay for all the warm january and February days . Oh well Spring is coming :) ! march 8th , Up a bit and light green milky . pretty darned good shape considering the rain we had .... Seeing more and more #12 brown stones down river . Everything still seems just a little early . A lot will depend on whether or not we get the snow they are calling for . If we mis it look for this trend to continue . See you on the river !
March 7th , Wet cold one today but we picked up fish nymphing with a possum nymph trailing a black soft hackle . No visible hatch activity and nothing rising . March 5th , Spent the afternoon with the family just wandering around the river watching and taking pictures . Hundreds of stoneflies fluttering downriver with the majority being #16 and black but also some of the #12 brown stones early . The river is beautiful and you can feel Spring coming a little more every day . Should be a pretty decent week on Wv's finest ! March 3rd , The river is dropping and is back to very fishable again . Below is what she looked like at Cherry Falls and what it looked like here on top of the mounatin a few minutes later .... Hard to complain about the recent storms as it was way too early for her to be as low as she was . See you on the river !
February 28th , 1st good hatch of #18 bwo's this season today about 6 miles down river . Good to see the little sailboats again in quantity :) ....
February 26th , Today started out at 19* and breezy but the fishing was steady for the 1st 1/2 of the day with an #18 Possum nymph producing early and often . Not a lot hatching again today but also picked up a few on #20 black softhackles while the stones were out and about . All rainbows today . Bit on the cold side but a very enjoyable guide trip :) . As it returns to warmer this week expect the hatch activity to pick back up . See you on the river !
February 25th , Started out with rain , fairly heavy at times , then turned much colder with moderate - heavy winds , settled down for maybe 1/2 hour ( a few started to rise ) , then another squall only this time it was sleet , a wall of it :( ... We (my clients actually) caught a few nymphing and hooked a few others on a fluttering stone dry and a black soft hackle suspended off it and fished lower in the column with the latter producing the majority of the takes . Really tough conditions but the Lady served up some action for us . Hard to complain about the precipitation , we need it . See you on the river ! February 22nd , Did Slaty Fork early , just a couple little browns and saw a few good fish . Very low and gin clear . really got a good look at all the structural changes . A few black stones , a few black caddis and a couple 22 bwos were all I saw . Went down river for a few hours , near Bergoo in the afternoon . Lots of #18 bwo's on the water but no surface activity . Picked up a couple rainbows nymphing with a p-tail trailing a softhackle . River looks good on the lower end . February 21st , Well I was hoping for big hatches and snouts "o"plenty ... Instead she served up a few bugs , a few snouts and reasonable nymphing . Still as always a good day :) . Fish were caught and it was spring-like . Hard to complain ... |
