Front Royal Canoe/Shenandoah River Trips is
a
"Full Service" Outfitter offering the widest assortment of reel
and fly fishing accessories on the Shenandoah River. Click here to see what we have to offer!
Last Updated: October 26,
2011
|
Date: 10-25-11
Time: 9:30 - 4:30
Water: Crystal
clear
Water temp: 54
Weather:
Sunny
Temp: 70
Well, the river was up at a nice
level. I did the SP2 trip from the State Park to Karo
Landing. I got all the way down without any canoe
dragging. There was a lot of debris in the water, leaves, algae
and assorted crap. Lots of cleaning algae off my lures. It
was a real nice day, good fall weather and beautiful leaves. But
the fishing was pretty slow. Don't know if it was the rain during
the night before, or the cold water, or what, but they just weren't
biting. I got a sum total of fifteen smallmouth for the entire
day. Averaged out, that was less than two fish per hour.
Not real good fishing. I was figuring on using the spinner a lot,
like I have for the last few weeks, but that was mostly a waste of
time. I caught two small bass on the spinner. All the rest
of my smallmouth were caught on 4" senkos (green pumpkin). I
caught most of them in deeper water. Super slow bottom fishing in
slow moving water was the only pattern that worked for me. When I
say slow fishing, I mean SLOW. You would not believe how long I
was letting those senkos drift. Most of the time I was drifting
the lure on the bottom for a minute or so, reeling in one turn, then
drifting it some more. Not exactly fast exciting fishing.
Getting fish off the hook, they felt like I had pulled them out of the
refrigerator. At least half the smallmouth I caught were ten
inches or smaller, very few went as big as twelve. That said, I
did manage one fourteen and one sixteen, both fish in the deep area in
front of the houses. Also somewhat insulting was the fact that I
didn't get a single bluegill yesterday. It was just one of those
kind of days. I enjoyed the nice day on the South Fork, its
always nice to be on the river on a nice sunny fall day. But the
fishing was less than perfect for sure. It was my last trip for
the year. No complaints, this year has been a lot of fun. I
love my weekly fishing trips on the South Fork. Hope you folks
get a chance for a last trip before Front Royal Canoe Co. closes next
Monday. Good luck with your fishing.
Ed T. Date: 10-18-11 Time: 9:30 - 2:00 Water: Moderate
stain
Water
temp: 58
Weather:
Sunny
Temp:
70
Another nice day of fall fishing on the
South fork. Today's trip was a little unusual. I did the
short trip from Karo Landing to F.R.C.C., instead of my usual SP2
trip. I also used a Jackson Coosa fishing kayak instead of my
canoe. It was the first time I ever used a kayak. I must
say it worked quite well for me. If you've never used a kayak to
fish, or if you've never tried a fishing style kayak, you might give
one a try. It had a nice high and comfortable seat and it was
very stable. I was surprised at how comfortable it was. The
water level was up real nice, so it was an easy float. There was
some debris in the water, but not bad. The water temperature had
only dropped a couple of degrees since last week. Best of all,
the fish were biting. Not super hot, but steady and reasonable
all day long. Caught most of my smallmouth and a good number of
bluegill fishing my trusty #3 Mepps spinner (gold blade). Best
pattern was dragging the spinner through fast moving water below rock
ledges. The best spots were usually a good ways down from the
rocks. Didn't get anything very tight to the rapids.
Another pattern that worked a few times was hitting the slower water
off to the side of the rapids. At times the smallmouth seemed to
be sort of pooled up. I found several honey holes where I pulled
out three or four bass from the same little area. The smallmouth were
aggressive and hard hitting, but most of them were small to medium,
very few over a foot. Caught a decent quantity of bass today, but
not much in the way of size. I was also fishing a 4" senko (green
pumpkin) in the flat areas, usually in deep water. I didn't get a
lot a smallmouth with the senko, but that was how I got the bigger
ones. The last three fish I caught were the biggest I got all
day. I was fishing the senko in King's Eddy, the large deep area
just upriver from the F.R.C.C. landing. Got three nice
smallmouth, all over a foot, and the very last fish was the biggest of
the day. I normally measure my bass on the stay of my
canoe. I have it notched off in inches. Since my canoe was
back at the barn, I had no way to measure. If I was to guess, I'd
say the big one was about sixteen, 'cause it was bigger than anything
I've caught in a couple of weeks. Sure was a good way to end up a
nice trip. The weather was good. The leaves were real
pretty. And most important of all, good fishing. Short
trip, but I was happy with the results. And it gave me time to
beat out the worst of the traffic back in D.C. Next week will be
my last trip for this year. Hope you get in one or two more
yourself. Good luck with your fishing.
Ed T. Date: 10-11-11 Time: 9:30 - 4:30 Water:
Clear
Water
temp:
60
Weather:
Overcast
Temp:
70
I fished my usual trip, the SP2, from the
State Park to Karo Landing. The river level was still up
just enough to get through without climbing out to drag the
canoe. Did some serious scraping and rocking through a few of the
worst spots, but never had to climb out. Remember, this trip is
the most shallow of the bunch. Other trips are easier
paddling. There was very little debris in the water. Some
grass and algae growth on the bottom, but not a big problem. Just
got to clean your lure off pretty often. The water temperature
has dropped eight degrees since my trip last week. I heard people
fishing over the weekend found the fishing to be a lot like I reported
last week, caught lots of really active mostly small fish.
However, that wasn't what I saw yesterday. I started out throwing
a spinner yesterday, but had very little luck with it and switched over
to 4" senkos (green pumpkin). My first fish were some nice
smallmouth I caught down in the lower end of the park. Slow
fishing the senko produced several smallmouth ranging from a foot to
fourteen inches. I also caught a fairly large bluegill on the
senko, just shy of nine inches. That's an unusually large
bluegill for the South Fork. Later on, I caught a lot of
bluegill, including several big eight inch fellows, mostly on the #3
Mepps spinner (gold Blade). I caught almost all of my smallmouth
with the senko. It was slow fishing. First of all, it was
slow in method. I had to drift the lure real slow most of the
time. And second, it was also slow as far as the bite. I
only caught about a dozen bass by one o'clock. But most of the
smallmouth were nice midsize fish from twelve to fourteen inches.
By one o'clock I had only caught one smallmouth under a foot. So
the size thing was a pretty good deal. I was trying the spinner
in fast water around the rocks, but with very limited success.
Mostly getting a bluegill here and there. I caught most of the
smallmouth by fishing deep water with the senko. Rather odd to be
fishing a typically summer pattern in such cold water, but that was
what worked for me. Did pretty good in that deep area out in
front of the houses (past mile marker 33). Saw some really big
largemouth in that area again, but I just can't seem to score on those
guys. I swear the only lure that's gonna work on those big
largemouth is dynamite. About one o'clock the fishing just
shifted into high gear. I started getting smallmouth and bluegill
left and right on the spinner, like about every five casts or so.
I was getting a lot of small bass, but I was also getting a few big
ones, up to fourteen inches. Really good fishing for about an
hour and then it just died down suddenly, back to the slow fishing it
had been. The rest of the day was pretty much like it had been in
the morning, slow, but nice size bass. Kind of weird huh, the way
it got hot for about an hour and then it just went away. Strange
day. I don't know, its all how you look at it. Which was
better? A day like last week where I caught lots of bass, but a
lot of them were borderline sardines, or a day like yesterday, where I
didn't catch all that many but at least they were decent size.
Well, neither day was exactly perfect, but both days weren't half bad
either. At this point I'm happy just to get in some last trips
before winter rolls in. If the fishing is reasonable, I'm
happy. And I've seen some great fishing in the fall in years
past, so I've always got my fingers crossed. Yesterday was
ok. Not great fishing, but good enough. Good enough that I
had a nice day out on the South Fork. The leaves were starting to
show some color and there weren't a lot of people on the river.
Nice and quiet and pretty. Fishing is sort of like a form of
meditation to me, very relaxing and good for the spirit. Know
what I mean? So its always good to get in a day of fishing.
Good luck with your fishing.
Ed T. Date:10-4-11 Time: 9:30 - 4:30 Water:Clear Water temp: 68 Weather:Cloudy
Temp:
65
Missed a couple of weeks, so
it was
nice to get back on the South Fork. I fished the SP2 trip, from
the State Park to Karo Landing. The river level was decent, just
high enough to get all the way through without getting out of the
canoe. Sure has been a good year for water level. Little
bit of debris in the water, but nothing to worry about. Throw in
the cooler water temperature and you got some real good
conditions. It was kinda windy and cool, but hey, its October
already. I heard that folks have been getting some good fishing
since the water cooled, and that certainly turned out to be the case
yesterday. The fish were quite active. I started getting
smallmouth pretty much right off the bat. I spent most of the day
throwing a #3 Mepps inline spinner (gold blade). With cooling
water temperature the bass sense the oncoming winter and start chasing
baitfish, trying to stock up for the winter months. So a spinner
or a crankbait becomes the lure of choice. They were hitting the
spinnerbait hard. Only problem was getting mostly smaller bass,
most of my smallmouth were in the eight to ten inch range. Not
many fish over ten inches. I think that was because smaller bass
were more hungry and willing to hit a lure faster than the larger
fish. The bigger, older, bass are just a little more wary.
They tend to size up the situation a little more before they hit.
Sort of like adult humans as compared to teenagers. The younguns
are hungry and by god they charge right up and hit it. See, the
river is full of large bass. With the clear water I could see
lots of large bass swimming all over the place. The deep area
around the housing development is loaded with big largemouth. But
the only two bass I got over a foot were two fourteen inch smallmouth I
caught in that same deep area with a 4" senko (green pumpkin).
When it came to the spinner, the little guys were beating the big boys
to the punch just about every time. Oh well, even though it
wasn't a great day for big bass, I caught a ton of small guys.
And only lost one spinner all day. Only other complaint I have
was I didn't catch but a few bluegill. But again, a minor
complaint. While I was out in front of the houses a family of
beavers swam out and got out on some nearby rocks. They jumped
back in and swam over very near to my canoe, sat there bobbing and
looking at me. It was a mother and four pups and they seemed
curious about me and my canoe. After awhile they lost interest
and swam back over to the woods. It was all very cool.
Beats the heck out of seeing them on TV or in the zoo. It was
pretty good fishing all day, worked the crap out of those
spinners. Had one bass fly up out of the water and shake off the
spinner. I cranked just a few turns more and a second smallie
nailed it. They were really chasing it down, coming in
groups. I got down to the deep part of the river just above Karo
Landing a little early. I don't usually have much luck in that
area 'cause it gets so heavily fished, so I usually just paddle on
through. But yesterday I had the extra time so I fished it it
with a 4" Power Worm (green pumpkin) on a 1/8 oz. split shot rig.
I got three twelve inch smallmouth and a bluegill. A nice way to
end the day for sure. Sure was good fall fishing. The bass
are in the mood, cooler water, time to eat. You can bet the
bigger ones will be feeding for winter soon enough. Fall is
usually a good time to get some big bass. I shall see in the
upcoming weeks. F.R.C.C. closes at the end of the month, so its
time to get in your last trips before that long winter ahead.
Good luck with your fishing.
Ed T. Date: 9-13-11 Time: 9:30 - 5:00 Water: Slight
stain
Water
temp:
74
Weather:
Sunny
Temp:
82
Beautiful fall day on the South Fork of
the Shenandoah River. Did the SP2 trip from the State Park to
Karo Landing. Just a few days ago the river was up pretty high
from all that rain last week. But it had already dropped down by
yesterday. It was still high enough to get through without any
canoe dragging. I was surprised to find very little debris in the
water, a little bit of lawn grass from runoff was about it. No
algae at all. In fact, I couldn't see a bit of algae
anywhere. That high water just flushed the river real
clean. Nice! The fishing was fairly good. Much like
the last time I went, they weren't just slammin' it or anything.
Just a pretty typical day of fishing on the South Fork for this time of
year. Caught a decent quantity of fish, some good sized ones in
the mix. About 90% of my fishing was with spinnerbaits.
Most of my fishing the last couple of monthes has relied on soft
plastics, so it was a nice change of pace. The fish were pretty
aggressive, starting that fall thing of chasing down smaller fish,
stuffing out for the winter to come. I was getting most of them
throwing the spinner in the faster water around the rocks. A lot
of times they hit it right at that edge/line between the fast stuff and
the slack water. But I also had good luck dragging the spinner
along rock ledges in the deeper flat areas. I started out with a
Shad Rocket (chartreuse) for the first few hours, then switched off to
a #3 Mepps (gold blade). One thing nice about using the spinner
was all the bluegill. I had about the best day for bluegill I've
seen this year. Caught almost as many bluegill as
smallmouth. Some of them were sure enough worth throwing in the
frying pan. Most of the bass were under 10". Only caught a
few bass over 10, but surprisingly managed to get three that went
14". Two of those were caught on spinnerbaits and one went to a
4" plastic worm ( green pumpkin) on a 1/8 oz split shot
rig. I was throwing the worm in the flat areas the last hour or
so of the trip. Super good weather yesterday. Good day of
fishing. Good way to start the fall season. Good luck with
your fishing.
Ed T. Date: 8-31-11 Time: 9:30 - 5:30 Water:
Clear
Water
temp:
78
Weather: Partly
cloudy
Temp:
82
I did my favorite South Fork trip, the
SP2 from the State Park to Karo Landing. Hurricane Irene dumped
just a smidgen of rain in the river, brought the level up a few
inches. So it was just a little bit easier to get through this
stretch than last week. Had to get out to drag the canoe over a
few of the worst spots. Not too bad. There's a lot of
algae. Keeping my lures cleaned off was difficult. In the
worst areas I had to clean that junk off after almost every cast.
In other words, less than perfect conditions, but nothing that was
really that big of a deal. The fishing? Pretty good.
Not a four star knock your socks off day, just good. About
what I would consider average for this time of year. Fair number
of fish, mostly midrange size. I started out with a #2 Mepps
spinner (gold blade). My very first cast of the day gets me a
bluegill. I caught several more bluegill and a smallmouth with
the spinner. I tie on a 4" senko (green pumpkin) and get a couple
of smallmouth. One of them hit the senko right on the top, so for
the fun of it I tie on a Tiny Torpedo (baby bass) and start throwing it
in the shadows near the bank. I caught several nice bluegill and
smallmouth with the Torpedo by the time I reached the end of the
Park. Never got any more hits on the Torpedo after I left the
park. From that point on, I mostly fished the senko and
occasionally tossed a #3 Mepps (gold blade) in the fast water around
the rocks. The fast water did give up some decent fish, but the
deeper areas in the generally flat rock bottom spots was the prime
pattern. What I really looked for was a deeper area with some
rocks or ledges, some kind of structure. That's where they like
to hang around and ambush prey. I was usually jerking the senko
on the top, then letting it sink down to the bottom, and finally
letting it drift. The bass were hitting it at different points,
some on the top, some on the way down, some of them after it had
drifted for quite a while. The fishing was consitant up 'til
about noon, then it went dead. I caught I think one fish between
noon and one. The it picked right back up, in fact even better
than it had been, and stayed pretty good the rest of the day. I
did most of my fishing in the afternoon with the senko, but I was also
using a 4" Berkley Worm (green pumpkin) on a 1/8 oz. split shot
rig. I fished the worm mostly in the shallow spots. Most of
the smallmouth ran 8 to 12 inches, with a few a little larger.
The two best went 14". I hit a couple of good spots in the
afternoon where I just sat and caught fish after fish. Overall, a
pretty good day of fishing. Nice way to end the summer
season. Like I said, not a great day. Just a good average
day of fishing on the South Fork. But what a nice way to spend
the last day in August. Looking forward to the fall season.
Good luck with your fishing.
Ed T. Date: 8-23-11 Time: 9:30 - 5:30 Water:
Clear
Water
temp:
78
Weather:
Sunny
Temp:
82
I did the SP2 trip, State Park to Karo
Landing. Its getting shallow through some parts of this section
now, summer level. Had to get out and drag the canoe a few times
through the worst areas. Still not a major issue to my way of
thinking. Seen it worse for sure. Quite a bit of algae
now. Gums up your lures. Didn't have to clean off my lure
every time I cast, but it was still somewhat of a hassle. As far
as the bite, there was good and there was bad. The bad side of
things, it was pretty slow fishing in the morning. It improved
some after noon, but it never got really rolling. The good side,
I caught mostly decent size bass all day long. I caught a few
bass, including a fifteen incher, in the faster water around the rocks
with a #3 Mepps inline spinner (gold blade). I didn't catch a
whole lotta' fish around the rocks, but it was worth hitting them
occasionally. Surprisingly, I didn't get a single bluegill
yesterday, even though I saw lots of them in the water. Fact is,
I saw tons of bass all over the place as well, but the fish seemed kind
of skitterish, scooting away real fast when I got near them. And
I got a lot of quick grabs and slams on my lures, lots of missed
hookups. The fish were kinda jumpy. I caught the majority
of my bass with 4" senkos (green pumpkin), usually slow drifting them
on the bottom. The best spots were deeper holes in rocky flat
areas. A lot of times I had to just dead stick it and let the
senkos drift for extended periods of time. Slow way to fish, but
it can get you some decent size smallmouth. I caught a fair
number of 12 to 15 inch bass. Which helped to make up for the not
so impressive count. It improved after noon, and it really wasn't
half bad after two thirty ( I guess the earthquake scared them into
biting a little better). But even in the afternoon it was a kinda
slow fishing. Like I said, it was a good thing I was catching
nice size fish. Not a bad day of fishing. I felt mellow,
happy, and just a little bit tired when I got out of the river.
The weather was just outstanding. Sunny, not too hot, gentle
breeze. Outstanding! Only saw a couple of people on the
river. Quiet and beautiful. Summer's about done,
friends. Hope you got in some good trips this year. We
still got the fall to go, and fall fishing can be excellent. So
plan ahead. Good luck with your fishing.
Ed T. Date: 8-16-11 Time: 9:30- 5:00 Water: Slight
stain
Water
temp:
80
Weather: Partly
cloudy
Temp:
87
We have been lucky this summer with the
water level. Just when it was starting to get pretty shallow, it
rained up in the mountains last week and brought the river back up to a
comfortable level. I did my usual trip from the State Park
to Karo Landing. It was a breeze getting down the river,
didn't have to get out of the canoe a single time. There was some
debris in the water, grass leaves and a fair amount of algae were
floating around. So I had to clean off lures quite a lot.
But all in all, it was good conditions. The fishing was fair, but
a little odd in the way it was off and on. I would go through a
period where I was catching them pretty good for awhile, then it would
get real slow, then it would get good again. So I didn't catch a
whole lot of fish for the day as a whole, but I went through some
periods of pretty good fishing. I fished a variety of lures and
caught fish on about a half dozen of them, but I will mention only the
two that accounted for the majority of the catch. The #3 Mepps
inline spinner (gold blade) got me some good sized bluegill and
smallmouth. I was working the Mepps mostly in the fast water
around the rocks. In fact, my largest smallmouth for the day, a
nice fifteen incher, hit the Mepps. But I'd have to say about 90%
of my bass were caught with 4" senkos (green pumpkin). I fished
the senkos all sorts of different ways. I slow drifted them in
deeper holes part of the time, but most of my fish were caught using
the senko as a topwater jerk bait, same as you would fish a
fluke. Throw 'em out and jerk 'em on the surface, then let it
sink. Sometimes they would hit them on the surface, more often as
it sank or after it got down on the bottom and drifted a little.
I tried throwing flukes of course, but didn't have much luck.
They really wanted the senko. The deeper slow moving water was
the best bet, usually in the flat areas. I had no luck at all
right next to the banks. But a good deep pool five feet or so off
the bank was a good bet, especially if it there was some shade
involved. Like I said, the bite was an on again off again affair
yesterday, but when it was on, they were clobbering the senko pretty
good. Highlight of the day came when I tossed the senko out in a
spot just downriver from the second big creek. Tossed it out,
gave a jerk, and whammo, right on the top a big bass nailed it.
So big she was towing the canoe around. Turned out to be a
nineteen inch largemouth. Fat and pretty. I didn't catch as
many fish as I would have liked yesterday, owing to the slow
periods. Most of my bass ran from eight to twelve inches, but I
did get those two nice ones. It really doesn't matter how I look
at the count, it was a nice day of fishing. And it didn't get
real hot and I didn't get rained on. And l watched
a beautiful big bald eagle fly back and forth across the river.
Now you tell me how many places you get to see something that
beautiful. Its hard to beat a day of fishing on the South
Fork. Good luck with your fishing.
Ed T. Water:
Clear
Water
temp:
84 I felt a bit lazy yesterday, so I did the
short trip from Karo Landing to the F.R.C.C. landing. This
stretch is a little deeper than the SP2 trip I usually do, so I didn’t
have to get out of my canoe a single time. Still no aquatic grass
through this section. A little bit of algae here and there,
but not enough to be any kind of problem. The fishing was real
slow the first two hours, but it picked up pretty fast around
eleven. The rest of the day was half way decent fishing,
better than I expected for summer fishing with hot water and all.
Didn’t do real great with size, but I caught quite a few bass. I
caught a largemouth on a Crickhopper, a smallmouth on a Rebel Craw and
one smallmouth on a tube. I caught everything else on 4” plastic
worms (ringworms, green pumpkin and pumpkinseed) on a 1/8 oz. split
shot rig. Did my usual warm water thing, which means slow bottom
fishing. That pretty much sums up most of my fishing for the last
few weeks. My pattern was also the same its been for the last few
weeks, fishing the deeper areas in mostly flat stretches of
water. I didn’t spend much time fishing the fast stuff around the
rocks. That pattern just doesn’t seem to produce many fish
lately. I caught mostly smallmouth bass, with a few largemouth
and a few bluegill mixed in. Probably could have caught more
bluegill if I had thrown a spinner a little more. Most of the
bass were somewhat small, running from eight to ten inches, some
smaller, some a little bigger. The only bass I caught over a foot
was a lone fourteen incher. Not a super day for lunkers.
But I caught more bass than I figured I would, considering that’s not
my favorite stretch of river and the water temperature was less than
ideal. So I was pretty satisfied. A nice sunny day and a
fun, if somewhat short, fishing trip. Hard to beat a good day of
fishing on the South Fork of the Shenandoah. Ain’t much
left of the summer, folks. Might want to get in a trip before its
over. Good luck with your fishing. Date: 7-26-11 Time: 9:30 - 5:30 Water:
Clear
Water
temp:
82
Weather:
Sunny
Temp:
92
I did my ususal trip, the SP2 from
the State Park to Karo Landing. The river is somewhat low, but
not bad for this time of year. I had to get out and drag the
canoe over a few shallow spots, but only a handful of times. No
grass to speak of either, and that's a real bonus for this time of
year. Most years by this time the river is getting pretty choked
up with aquatic grass. The water was crystal clear and debris
free. Nice summer conditions. Only thing that worried me
was the high water temperature, 'cause that can really slow down the
fishing. So when I hadn't caught but
six bass by noon, I wasn't all that surprised. Last week was a
bit on the slow side and the water was even warmer yesterday. But
around noon the bite started picking up pretty fast. By one
o'clock I was starting to get 'em at a pretty nice pace. As the
day wore on, it got better. The afternoon dished up some fairly
decent fishing, about as good as you can expect for summertime
fishing. Caught just about all my bass with 4" plastic worms
(mostly pumpkinseed, some green pumpkin) on a simple 1/8 oz. Texas
rig. Got a couple of fish on 4" soft stickbaits (green
pumpkin). I tried spinners, crankbaits and flukes, but the worm
was the trick. I think just about any soft plastics, be it grubs,
tubes, or whatever, would most likely have worked pretty well. I
did use a #2 Mepps inline spinner (gold blade) to catch a few
bluegill. At one point I tossed the spinner behind a rock in
about a foot of water and managed to catch a 20" catfish.
Weird. I guess the warm water made the poor boy go insane.
The smallmouth were scattered around, caught them in a variety of
spots. The most productive places were deeper holes with slack
water. One good pattern was hitting the deeper areas in the tree
shadows near the banks. Most of the smallmouth were on the
smallish side, 8 to 10 inches, with a few that were downright
dinks. Not that many fish were over 10, best smallmouth was a
14. Smaller fish is pretty much the rule during summer.
When the water gets warm the bigger fish just seem more reluctant to
hit. The clear water makes them more nervous as well. So it
was a nice surprise when I caught a fat 19" largemouth on the
worm. Just above the large set of rapids that precede the twin
islands. Sweet! Got to say, with the shallow clear water,
you can see fish everywhere. The river is just chock full of
fish. I saw schools of smallmouth. Saw quite a few really
big bass swimming so close to the canoe I wished I had a dip net.
'Cause you know, seeing 'em don't mean catching 'em. Those big
bass can be so wary this time of year. Still, its nice to see so
many fish in the river. Catfish? The place is just loaded
with catfish. The South Fork is very healthy, really good fish
population. Nice sunny day, catching plenty of smallmouth, hard
to beat that. Another fun day on the river. Good luck with
your fishing.
Ed T. Date:
7-19-11
Time:
9:30
-
5:00
Water:
Clear
Water
temp:
80
Weather: Mostly cloudy
morning, sunny afternoon
Temp: 94
Hi folks. Sorry I missed three
weeks, but I had to go help my mom down in Houston. So it felt
real good to get back on the South Fork yesterday. I did my
favorite trip, the SP2 from the State Park to Karo Landing. We
have our usual summer water level now, its somewhat shallow through
this stretch. I had to get out and pull the canoe over a few
shallow spots. Not all that bad. Some debris floating in
the water, bit of grass and such, but again, not all that bad.
Pretty nice condidtions. The bite was a tad on the slow
side. Not too shabby, but not quite up to what I would call a
really good day of fishing. I had to work for my fish, slow
bottom fishing with soft plastics all day long to get the
smallmouth. The bluegill were hitting a #3 Mepps inline spinner
pretty good. However, I caught the bigger bluegills on 4" Zoom
Dead Ringer plastic worms (green pumpkin) on a 1/8 oz. split shot
rig. I used the worm and 4" soft stickbaits (green pumpkin) for
almost all of my smallmouth. Like I said, slow bottom fishing was
my game all day long. Mostly dead sticking the stickbait,
throwing it out and just occasionally reeling a turn or so to make sure
it wasn't snagged. Just letting it drift about. Slow
stuff. Same with the worm. Cast it out and let it sit, a
little bit of a hop every now and then. When the fish aren't
going after faster lures, that's the way I fish. I tried spinners
and crankbaits and flukes all day long, but the smallmouth just weren't
cooperating. My ususal pattern is to spend most of the time
fishing the slack water around the rocks. That worked some of the
time yesterday, but I had my best luck fishing the deeper holes in flat
areas. Slow pockets near the banks were pretty good as
well. You know how I always say whatever works for YOU is what
works. Yesterday I didn"t have any luck getting smallmouth to
chase any kind of action lures, much less hit anything topwater.
But there was a fly fisherman doing the same trip as me and he got them
to hit little poppers right on the top. What can I say, I have my
methods and my lures I'm confident with. Got my own style.
But there's more than one way to skin a cat. Speaking of which, I
saw a ton of decent catfish swimming around. With the HOT water
temperatures, catfishing is a definate option. The water was very
warm yesterday, 80 degrees, and I have no doubt that was most of the
reason the bass fishing wasn't exactly rockin'. But it was good
enough to make for an enjoyable day on the South Fork. As
usual, I had myself a real good time yesterday. Tell you one
thing, it was hot as all get out yesterday. But the nice thing
about the river is you can always take a little dip to cool down.
I tell you friends, even though the fishing was a bit slow, it sure was
nice to get back on the South Fork. My favorite place to fish and
one of my favorite places in the whole world. That said, I want
to mention a little something in closing. I've heard that a few
people have been leaving a lot of trash on the river lately. In
my book, that's just not acceptable. This is a beautiful place
and there's just no way we can allow it to get trashed out. I
like to think that most of you who fish know better than leaving your
crap behind. I figure most of you love nature too much to do
something so stupid. But if you see some litterbug messing up,
say something to him, or pick up behind him. Bottom line let's do
what we can to keep this place nice. Good luck with your fishing.
Ed T. Date:
6-28-11
Time:
9:30
-
5:30
Water:
Clear
Water
temp:
79
Weather: Partly sunny,
afternoon thunderstorm
Temp: 88
I did the SP2 trip, from the State
Park to Karo Landing. River level is still holding. I got
through this section without any rock hopping, but just barely.
There was a little bit of floating debris, including some algae.
The water was a little higher a few days earlier, so some of it was
probably left over from that. The surprising thing yesterday was
the bluegill fishing. Some of the best bluegill fishing I've seen in I
don't know how long. Toss an inline spinner into some fast water around
the rocks and there you go. I was using a #3 Mepps (gold
blade). I caught an amazing number of bluegill yesterday.
They ran the whole range in size, from pipsqueak to pan ready.
They hit just about anything, spinner, Rebel Craw, plastic worms
even. But the inline spinner was their favorite. They were
killing the spinner. On the other hand, the smallmouth fishing
was just so so. It was alright, but just a little bit slower than
I like. Didn't get many big bass, either. A lot of them
were around 10 inches, a few a bit bigger. Best I caught
yesterday were two that were a tad over 14. I used various lures
for the smallmouth during the day. I started out getting
them withh a Rebel Wee Craw (ditch) In the afternoon I
switched over to the Mepps spinner and 4" senkos (green
pumpkin). The last hour or so I was using a 4" tube (green
pumpkin). I caught most of the smallmouth in the same pattern as
the bluegill fishing the fast water around the rocks. Like I
said, the smallmouth fishing never really took off. I was
catching bass all day, but it was kind of off and on and I never really
caught a lot of them. Not bad, but not up to my South Fork
standards. I blame the fluctuating water levels over the last
couple of weeks, along with the rapidly changing weather. I sat
through a drenching thunderstorm yesterday. Certainly not the
first thunderstorm to roll through the South Fork in the last few
weeks. So once again I'm saying that when the weather calms down
and the river gets into a stable pattern we can expect to see the good
fishing that's normal for the South Fork in the summer. Couple
days of sunny weather and the fishing should be pretty good. In
the meantime, if the bluegill fishing keeps up like it was yesterday
there's not really much to complain about. That was some really
good bluegill fishing yesterday. If you don't have much
experience with lures, bluegill are more tha happy to gobble a
nightcrawler hanging below a float. When I want to get some
bluegill for a meal, that's what I do, a worm and a bobber. I
hope you get a chance to get out on the Shenandoah for some summertime
fun. Good luck with your fishing.
Ed T. Date:
6-20-11
Time:
10:00
-
5:00
Water:
Stained
Water
temp:
78
Weather: Mostly
sunny
Temp:
88
I did the SP2 trip, the State Park
to Karo Landing. The water level got up pretty high last weekend,
but looked to be a pretty nice level when I put in at the State
Park. The water was stained and there was quite a bit of grass,
leaves, twigs, even branches and logs floating down the river.
The leftovers from the high water. But there wasn't so much
debris as to be any kind of hassle with messing up lures or
anything. I got two nice size smallmouth, a twelve and a thirteen
incher, in the first fifteen minutes of getting on the river. I
was tossing a #3 Mepps Aglia inline spinnerbait (gold blade). Two
decent size smallmouth was a good way to start things off. I was
also throwing a 4" Zoom Salty Dead Ringer worm on a 1/8 oz. split shot
rig as well. As usual, I was mostly fishing the slack water
around the rocks. Most of the rocks were underwater, but I could
still tell where they were by the water patterns. The water was
moving pretty fast, but there were still areas of slower water around
the rocks. With the fast water, I wasn't getting many with the
worm. In fact, I wasn't getting a lot of fish with the spinner
either. After those first two quick fish in the morning, it
turned out to be kinda slow fishing. Most of the smallmouth I
caught were in the ten to twelve inch range, most of them around twelve
inches. The best I got was a fourteen. I did get some nice
bluegill yesterday, some good pan size beautys. The bluegill were
hitting the spinner pretty good all day. But the smallmouth just
weren't cooperating. Later on I switched from the worm to a 4"
senko (green pumpkin), which got me a few in places where the water was
slow enough. But the spinner was my main lure yesterday.
The water level was coming up at a fairly fast rate, especially after
noon. I could acutally feel it starting to push a little
harder. It was also taking on more stain. The fishing,which
was already pretty slow, just went downhill. I caught maybe five
smallmouth from one o'clock on. Thank god I was still getting
some bluegill. But as far as smallmouth fishing, the afternoon
was pretty much a wash. Oh well, it was still a fun trip.
Its always fun to be out on the South Fork. Once the river gets
settled down, the fishing will get back to normal. Which is to
say good. Summer fishing on the South Fork of the Shenandoah is
pretty good and usually pretty consistant. But when you get high
water it sometimes throws things out of whack. Just part of
dealing with an outdoor sport. I love fishing the South Fork, so
I just take an occasional slow day as part of the game. Good luck
with your fishing.
Ed T. Water:
Slight
stain
Water
temp:
79
Weather:
Overcast
Temp:
78
The boss (wife)
made a rare appearance on the South Fork yesterday. Been a long
time since my favorite fishing partner made a trip down the river with
me. Why is she my favorite fishing partner? 'Cause after
over thirty years together we don't have much to say to each
other. So we don't bother talking much. Perfect fishing
partner. Those of you that have been married a long time will
recognize the beauty of this kind of arrangement. Part of the
deal is Sue doesn't like to spend as much time on the river as me, so
we started out a couple of hours later than I usually go. We did
the trip from the State Park to Karo Landing. The river is in
nice shape. Still holding at an excellent level. We got all
the way down this stretch without getting out to drag a single
time. Pretty good for mid June. Since the water temp was
pretty high, I assumed soft plastics would be the best bet. We
fished 4" ribworms (green pumpkin) on 1/8 oz. Slider jigheads and 4"
senkos (green pumpkin). I was also throwing a Rebel Wee-Craw
(ditch) to test whether or not they would chase fast moving
lures. Only caught a couple of fish with the Craw, so I kinda'
figured we'd mostly stick to soft plastics. Neither one of us
likes to fish around the banks too much, 'cause neither one of can cast
with any degree of accuracy and we end up leaving a nice collection of
lures in the trees. So we stuck to fishing out in the
middle. The slack water around the rocks was the most productive
pattern. The first couple of hours was pretty slow fishing.
We only caught a few fish per hour. Almost all the bass we caught
were from ten to twelve inches, most of them right around eleven or
twelve inches. So many of them were right around the same
size I swear it was like we were catching the same fish over and
over. That turned out to be true for the whole day. To make
a long story short, turned out the fishing was slow only because we
were fishing the wrong lures. In the afternoon we tied on #3
Mepps inline spinnerbaits (gold blade). Started getting fish at a
pretty nice clip. One of those "duhh" moments. Why did we
wait so long to try a spinner? Hey, hindsight is easy. So
we enjoyed some pretty decent fishing for the rest of the trip. Caught
quite a few smallmouth the rest of the afternoon, along with a few nice
sized bluegill. We never caught anything much over twelve inches,
but we caught a good number of fish. I had been raving about that
area near the twin islands and while we were there Sue nailed a big
one. I watched her pole bend over real good, so I said, "Don't
muscle him. Use your drag. Don't muscle him." So of
course Sue just reels him on in fast as you please, pole bending like
crazy, line jerking and straining. We look down and this really
big, I mean BIG, bass shoots up close so we could clearly see him, then
crosses under the boat. The rod bends down under the boat and the
line goes ping!!! Goodbye Mr. Smallmouth. Just as well,
really. I mean, how would I have felt if my wife had been the one
to score the big lunker for the day. Well, friends, in all truth,
we had a real fine time yesterday. It was a nice cool day.
My girl said many times yesterday that she had forgotten just how
beautiful the South Fork is. If I had figured out the lure thing
better we would have been catching lots of fish all day. As it
was, we had a pretty good day of fishing. All in all, it was just
a real fun way to spend the day. Its hard to beat summer fishing
on the Shenandoah. Good luck with your fishing.
Ed T. Water:
Clear
Water
temp:
77
Weather:
Overcast, at times sunny
Temp: 88
Summer fun on the Shenandoah
River. I did my usual trip from the State Park to Karo
Landing. The water has dropped to pretty much normal level.
Fair amount of rocks showing, but still easy to get down the
river. Got through the whole trip without any rock
hopping. We've got warm summer water temperature now, so I
used mostly soft plastics yesterday. When the water warms up, I
seem to have better luck with soft plastics than I do with fast moving
lures like spinnerbaits or crankbaits. But, you know, different
people fish different ways. Last week I had very little luck with
a Rebel Wee-Craw, but yesterday I heard of a woman who caught a boat
load of monster smallies with that same lure last week. So, you
know, it pays to figure out what works best for you. All I do in
this report is tell you what worked for me. I tried hard lures
throughout the day. I caught a few smallmouth and a few bluegill
with a Mepps #3 inline spinnerbait (gold blade) and the Rebel Wee-Craw
crankbait (brown). And one thing I must point out, if you're
after bluegill, go with a small spinner or a small crankbait.
Soft plastics are not the best lures for bluegill. But like
I said, I spent most of yesterday fishing soft plastics, a 4"
grub (green pumpkin) on an 1/8oz. jighead in the morning. The
bite was fair to middlin' in the morning. Mostly fishing the
slack water around the rocks, occasionally getting a few around the
banks. The bite picked up later in the morning. I was
getting a few decent ones with the Rebel Craw in the fast water around
the rocks but mostly catching them with a 4" ribworm on an 1/8
oz.jighead. Most of the smallmouth were running in the eight to
twelve inch range, only a few were over twelve. Not a real hot
bite, but steady and reasonable. I was also using a 4" soft
stickbait (green pumpkin) in the deeper areas for slow drift
fishing. The stickbait got my best bass for the day, a seventeen
inch smallmouth, in the deep area in front of the houses.
The bite slowed way down from about one o'clock 'til about
two-thirty. Don't have a clue as to why. During that time I
switched off to fishing the worm on a split shot rig. I was still
getting fish, but it really slowed down. After about
an hour and a half of slow fishing, the bite picked back up. I
changed over to a 4" tube (green pumpkin) on an 1/8 oz. jighead
and started scoring pretty well and getting a few bigger bass.
When I got to that rocky area above the twin islands, I tied on a Super
Fluke (watermelon w/ gold flake) and started getting some nice
smallmouth. Most of the bass that busted it on the surface either
missed the lure or didn't get hold of the hook. Most of the fish
I landed hit the fluke under the surface, so I was working it
underwater most of the time. Got several nice bass in the mix, a
couple of fifteens and a sixteen. One real big bass broke off on
me. So, much like the last couple of trips I made, I spent the
latter part of the trip mostly tossing the fluke, ocasionally using the
tube. Except for that little slow period, it was a pretty good
day of fishing. About what I expect around this time of
year. Not as good as last week, but I still had a good
time. Summer fishing on the South Fork is pretty
consistant. A little better some days, a little slower other
days. Its unusual to have a truly slow day once we get into
summer. Good luck with your fishing.
Ed T. Date:
5-31-11
Time:
9:30
-
5:00
Water:
Light
stain
Water
temp:
74
Weather:
Sunny
Temp:
94
I
did my usual trip from the State Park to Karo Landing. The water
level was down quite a bit from last week, but its still higher than
normal. Not a lot of rocks showing. Light stain, no
floating debris, good conditions. I started getting fish in the
park within minutes of hitting the water. The water is warm and
the bass already seem reluctant to hit fast moving lures like
spinnerbaits or crankbaits. Soft plastics seem to work better for
me when the water warms up. I did get a few bass and a few
bluegill with a #3 Mepps spinner (gold blade) and a few fish with a
Rebel Wee-Craw (brown), but I spent most of the day fishing with soft
plastics. Smallmouth were hitting just abut anywhere.
Banks, flats, or around the rocks. But the slack water around the
rocks was the most productive. I caught most of my bass up 'til
about one o'clock with 4" tubes (green pumpkin) on a 1/8 oz. split shot
rig. Working it slow, down on the bottom, not a lot of fast
movement. Fishing was pretty good in the morning and getting
better as the day went on. Getting good size fish as well.
Only a few under ten inches, a decent count between twelve and
fifteen. It was surprising how many fifteen inch smallmouth I
caught yesterday. When I started running out of tubes I switched
off to 4" Berkley Power Grubs (green pumpkin) on a 1/8 oz.
jighead. Worked just as well. In fact I think just about
any kind of bottom fished soft plastic would have worked just as
well. The bite was getting better and better so I started getting
some with Zoom Super Flukes (watermelon w/ gold flake). They
weren't too good about hitting the fluke on the top, usually hit
it after it started sinking down. Sometimes it paid to work
it underwater or let it drift occasionally. When they started
hitting the fluke better, I pretty much switched over and only tossed
the grub once in awhile. They were biting real good the
rest of the afternoon, got better and better as the day wore on.
I was catching a lot of smallmouth. And the size was holding up
well, most of them were over ten. The last couple of trips I've
made, that rocky area just upriver from the twin islands has been THE
SPOT, especially the area upriver from the island to your right (as you
look downriver). I've been really scoring in that spot.
Yesterday I got a nineteen inch smallmouth, on a fluke, in about two
feet of water, about thirty feet up from the island. Busted
that fluke! It was nice. Lunker time. Yesterday was a darn
good day of fishing. Best day I've had this year by a solid
margin. Good fishing. The weather was hot as all get
out, but a little dip in the river goes a long ways. I heard just
about everybody was having good luck the last few days, so maybe you
ought to think about getting out on the South Fork yourself. I
sure had a good time yesterday. Good luck with your fishing.
Ed T. Date: 5-25-11 Time: 11:00 - 5:00 Water:
Stained
Water
temp:
65
Weather:
Sunny
Temp:
82
Missed last week
'cause once again the river was super high. Yesterday I returned
to my usual trip from the State Park to Karo Landing. The river
was still quite high, hardly any rocks were showing. My usual
game plan when the river level is that high is throwing crankbaits or
spinnerbaits. I usually start with pretty big lures. I
usually don't catch a lot of fish that way, but sometimes I score some
big lunkers in the process. When the water is high and stained
the big ones are less timid. So I spent the first hour tossing various
spinners and plugs. I didn't have much luck, only caught a few
bass and a couple of bluegill. Nothing all that big,
either. So I switched up and started slow bottom fishing with 4"
tubes (green pumpkin) on a 1/8 oz. split shot rig. Started
getting bass at a reasonable rate, around four per hour. Not red
hot fishing by any means, but not half bad considering the less than
perfect conditions. Most of the smallmouth were in the 8 to 12
inch range, a few a little bigger, a few a little smaller. They
were holding tight to the bottom just below the rock ledges. The
ledges were underwater for the most part, but still visible and still
setting up current breaks. Never had any luck around the banks
and not much luck on the flats, either. Bottom fishing around the
rocks was the best pattern. Around three o'clock I started
tossing some Zoom Salty Super Flukes (green pumpkin) in the rocky area
just above the twin islands. Started getting some nice bass right
off and catching them at a good clip. More often than not, the
smallies were hitting the fluke right on the top, right after the first
jerk. Aggressive! I started getting a few larger bass,
including my best for the day, a sixteen incher. For the rest of the trip the fluke was
my main lure. Occasionally they wouldn't hit the fluke, so I got
them with the tube instead. The rest of the trip was fairly
consistant fishing. Again, it was not super hot fishing, but I
felt it was pretty good considering the high water. I started the
trip hoping I'd catch at least a few fish and wound up with a pretty
good day of fishing. Nice hot sunny day (not a single
thunderstorm for a change). And lord knows I didn't put much
effort into getting down the river. So, you know, I had a good
time. I have a lot of good times on the South Fork. As the
level drops next week and the water temperature goes up a little, I
think its safe to assume the fishing will improve. Looking
forward to next week. Hope you get a chance to get out on the
South Fork and good luck with your fishing.
Ed T. Date:
5-11-10
Time:
9:30
-
5:00
Water:
Slight
stain
Water
temp:
64
Weather:
Sunny
Temp:
70
High water and bad
weather had cost me over a month of fishing since my last trip.
Oh well. I got right back to my favorite trip, from the State
Park to Karo Landing. The river looked great yesterday.
Good level and perfect conditions. The fishing was pretty darn
good as well. Started getting smallmouth pretty much right off
the bat in the park. I was getting them out in the river around the
rock ledges with a # 3 Mepps inline spinnerbait (gold blade).
Also getting a few near the bank with a 4" senko (green Pumpkin).
Most of them were around 10 to 12 inches. The bite gradually
picked up as I moved down the river. Scored my first big one, a
nice 16 incher, on the first set of ledges past the park, with the
spinner. At the next set of ledges I switched to A Rebel Wee-Craw
crankbait (brown) and started getting more hits and bigger fish.
Around eleven o'clock I caught a 19" smallmouth. I knew it was a
big fish when she nailed the Craw, so I let her run around on a loose
drag for what seemed forever and brought her in very slow. Sure
felt good getting her in the boat. Little while later I caught a
nice big largemouth in the big creek across from the houses, on a
senko, only to have it shake loose right in front of me, not four feet
from the canoe. Ouch. Not ten minutes later I had another
large bass on the senko in that deep hole across from the creek (by the
stone wall), running hard taking lots of drag. Broke off the
line. Later in the day another big one broke off on me. Let
me tell you folks, there were some big smallmouth cruising
around. I use 8 lb. line with a 10 lb. leader and I'm prtty handy
with the drag. So when a fish breaks my line he 's usually a
pretty big boy. From about eleven o'clock on I was mostly fishing the
Rebel Craw and doing pretty well with it. Caught several 15 and
16 inchers. I was occasionally throwing a 4" tube (green pumpkin)
on an 1/8th oz. jighead near the banks and that worked pretty
well. Around three o'clock, a couple of guys named Jimmy and
Bradley came by in their canoe. They had been fishing the Rebel
Craw and getting their fair share. Great minds think alike you
know. So anyway about that time I tied on a Zoom Superfluke
(green pumpkin). Never hurts to try a fluke. Sure enough, I
got a couple of bass pretty quick. Jimmy says what you throwing
over there? Soon enough the three of us start throwing flukes for
the rest of the trip. Very few of the smallies were hitting the
fluke on the top. You had to jerk it and let it sink. Sometimes
they hit it as it sank down, sometimes you had to work it underwater or
let it drift. But the bottom line was they were hitting the fluke
pretty good and any time you can get them hitting a fluke this early in
the year is a bonus. It was a good day of fishing. Only
minor complaint I had was not a single bluegill. But I cught a
lot of smallmouth and quite a few decent size ones, especially the one
lunker. It was a beautful sunny day as well. Good fishing,
good weather, beautiful river.
The kind of day that keeps me coming back to the South Fork time after
time. For your sake, my friend, get in some spring fishing on the
South Fork. Good luck with your fishing.
Ed T Date:
4-6-11
Time:
9:30
-
1:00
Water:
Clear
Water
temp:
50
Weather:
Sunny
Temp:
60
Finally.
Time for my first trip down the South Fork this year. For some
stupid reason I didn't wear my heavy duty winter gloves on the
motorcycle ride out. My hands paid dearly for that little
mistake. I decided on the short trip from Karo Landing to the
F.R.C.C Landing. The river looked real nice.
Good water level, nice clear water and no floating trash. Sure
was nice to be on the Shenandoah once again. About a week ago the
water temperature was up near 60 and I heard at least one local was
catching a few. Of course by the time I hit the water yesterday
the recent cold spell had dropped the water back down near 50.
Fish just don't go for water temperature taking a dive back down.
Not a good sign. Well sir, I didn't get a bite. Not a
single bite all day. Its called getting
skunked. I got to tell you, its been years since the last
time I got totally skunked. Oh well. Like I've said many
times, fishing is not just about how many fish you catch. I had a
pretty good time just getting out on the river again. It warmed
up and turned into a very enjoyable day. So I look on the trip as
sort of a good shake down run. Plenty of good fishing trips ahead
this year. The water will warm up and the fish will start
biting. So I'm looking forward to my next
trip. Early spring fishing is a bit of a gamble, but some of
my favorite days over the years happened pretty early in the
season. I urge you to get out on the South Fork and take a whack
at it. Its always fun.
Ed T. Water Temp 44.6 Clarity - Clear Clyde reports that fishing has improved a lot since the middle of March. He was catching big smallies off the landing before the water came up. With good river flow and warming water temperatures, the fishing is only going to get better from here. Ed T. will be on the river starting next week and will submit reports the rest of the season. Get out here and wet a line! Don R. |
Guides And Links We Recommend
River Hawk Tours - Tom McFillen - Main Stream-Shenandoah River
Eastern Trophies - Bill Heresniak - South Fork - Fly and Spin Fishing
