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Dick and I are done with the Shenandoah for now. Summer's on, tourists are up - and - we were looking for something a little bigger than the 8" fish that rate as big in the park. As always, recommendations on water is only a few clicks away thanks to the internet and the state wildlife agencies posting comprehensive guides, Whether it is any good or not is another story - my hat is also off to the good folks at TriStateSportsmen.com for providing insightful advice on a number of spots - based on this intel that confirmed guidance from various fly shops, we decided to suck it up and take the three hour drive to the North Branch of the Potomac. Seems like no matter where we go, it always takes 3 hours - whether it is a 2 hour drive to the Park followed by an hour's hike to the good spots or a direct 3 hour drive.
We headed west from Manassas on 66 to 81 to 50 to drive through some of the prettiest country around. I had forgotten what a great state West Virginia is. My last run thru the state was on the Interstate thru Beckley - all fast food and modern. 50 takes you through the real heart of the state where you can see that the people represent the solid soul of America. WV is the only state where I have ever seen brown tourist signs advertising hunting - silhouettes of a guy pointing a shotgun - and there were plenty of them off 50. Clearly, this is a state where you don't mess with the right to keep and bear arms! Dick's comment - a man can never have too many fishing rods or guns.... roger that.
After a few hours on the road, we pulled into Kitzmiller for some final directions. The nice lady at the gas station/country store right over the river from WV was very helpful and provided us the final vector to get to Lostland Run while making a few sandwiches. I don't know about you, but the last few minutes before you can get out of the car and actually fish are the longest ones of the trip. Although it was only about 20 minutes from there to the trailhead, it seemed to take forever.
We turned into Lostland Run and were surprised at the number of campers scattered along the length of the road and were panicked at the thought that all of these guys were fellow fishermen. Thankfully, they were not - we got to the trailhead at 0900 and were the only folks there. It beats me why anyone would want to go into the woods and camp without a purpose (hunting or fishing), but was glad the 50 or so folks we drove by were happy to lead an aimless life sitting under a tarp swatting bugs.
We geared up and hit the water. My intention was to immediately wade across and then head south on the train tracks for about a mile to really get back into the depths of the NB. The recent rain had the water level up and the flow was very fast. Thankfully, the water was clear in spite of the runoff. The few days of relief since the rain had given the river the opportunity to both come down and clear up. But, it was still too swift here to cross.
Since we could not cross, we just started working up the west bank and started fishing. Within the first 30 minutes, we knew this river was going to be great - fish on! The river itself looks to be great trout water - plenty of cold water with deep pools behind large rocks where the fish can lie in wait. With the bright sun out and baking the canyon, we welcomed the opportunity to get in the river to cool off (with or without waders). As we worked our way up the river we came to a very wide spot where we could finally cross safely and hopped on the tracks to move from wide spot to wide spot - with limited time, we decided to skip the fast water.
The river has a variety of structure with steep, fast pitches separated by wide slower spots. Since the flow was up, we did have to make some modifications to our normal technique and add some weight to the lures to get them to quickly descend into the deep holes. Dick regretted leaving his weighted line in the truck and worked flies on the surface.
Chris and I used the technique we learned in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado. You flip the Panther-Martin up and across the river, let it drift with the current a bit and then twitch. The trout slam it on the twitch and the fight is on. The action was great in the morning and then slowed down between 1230 and 1530. The late afternoon ended up being our most productive time - that's when we caught our largest fish (everything was carefully released).
Around 1630, we had to start heading back to the truck. After a day of scrambling over the rocks, we were ready to head back to the barn. But it always kills me to just walk back out and pass by all the great water we fished on the way up.
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Steyer, MD gage reading
You always have the urge to take just one more cast. Chris kept poking me to move along and we linked up with Dick at the truck at about 1720.
Dick's day was a bit different. He fished the river upstream with us until 1230 when we took our lunch break. Since he had left his chow in the truck (Chris and I had our day packs), he headed back downstream. After eating and taking a break, he decided to fish downstream from the trailhead. He reported that there were several challenges with this given the high, fast water but eventually found a way to work the river. In addition to the flow, he had to deal with swimmers. He reported that just downstream of the trailhead there was a campground that was popular judging from the population it supported.
It's amazing how clueless some of these folks are. Dick was fishing a spot and all of a sudden about 8 people burst from the woods and hopped in the river right where he is fishing! Absolutely clueless - something we encountered with the hikers over in the Shenandoah who were very happy to walk right up and watch/take pictures of what you are doing - all an argument to find remote water where you can rely on the good manners of other trout enthusiasts.
After listening to him, it was clear that the upstream stretch of the river - that requires some energy to get to - is probably the better choice. Next time we go back, we will cut across the river and run up the tracks to get deep in the backwoods.
Bottom line: Super spot - well worth the three hour drive.
There's nothing like the after glow of a great day of fishing and the drive back through WV with the windows down enjoying the cool evening air just capped a perfect day. We stopped at a BP gas station for fuel and reconfirmed that WV is a state I could live in. In the DC area, a BP would sell stuff oriented at the urban commuter. This station was a slice of my America - it had every kind of chewing tobacco known to man, any kind of cigar you wanted as long as it cost under a buck, a wide variety of different shapes, tastes and sizes of Slim Jims and, to cap it off, ammo in any caliber you could want in case you have an urgent need to shoot something and had left your ammo at home. Notably absent were cell phone and computer accessories. Oh - one more thing - no need to pay before you pump - this is a place where honesty is taken for granted. What a great state!
Getting there:
For detailed directions, please purchase either the North Branch Map Book for $4.95 or the full 190 page Fishing guide to the North Branch for $9.95. After checkout, you can download the books instantly.
The fishing guide is also available in hardcopy - click here
Both books include detailed directions overlaid on topo maps with pictures for the confusing places to get you to the river. The key difference is that the full book walks you up the river from Westernport to Wilson using over 140 pictures with a detailed discussion of what to expect beyond the parking lot.
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