Jackson River , Natural Well area (mainly), 25-26 Aug 2008 (Mon–Tue) — Bob Jenkins

        Stand Facing the River is the title of the Introduction in Paul Schullery’s excellent new book, If Fish Could Scream. An Angler’s Search for the Future of Fly Fishing). I just had to face the Jackson again—this week, as my last outing was on 4 Jul; lately having just “retired,” my research was losing efficiency; and I “had to” test some new flies designed by Andrij Horodysky of Virginia Institute of Marine Science. After that last Jackson River day of landing 32 wild trout, I didn’t expect nearly the same result, and sure didn’t get it in numbers, and anyway I don’t like counting fish. But ooh, a fine Brown came to net.

        25 Aug in Intervale (lower tailwater). The immediate Covington region had been very dry the past few weeks; a just-ended gully-washer had the river slightly turbid. One hour in early evening of drifting a rootbeer Caswell’s Creek Grubb in a run and riffle produced 1 Rainbow of 11”, and a smaller trout was lost. Based on this and other recent fishing in the lower tailwater, the trout population seems smaller than well upstream, likely due at least somewhat to the community having many  residences and fish harvesters.

        26 Aug in Natural Well area (upper tailwater). Fished two reaches for 9¾ hr within 0900–1915 hr. Standing before the river, how stunning it was. Mountains framing the upper tailwater corridor, fields green from recent rains, and diverse late-summer riparian flowers in riotous profusion: deep purple Ironweed; large Yellow Daisies, Goldenrod, and another yellow-flowered species; crimson Cardinal Flowers enticing hummingbirds; white-headed Queen Anne’s Lace; and a pale lavender-flowered herb.

        River flowing 292 cfs, 14.8-15.1 C (60-ish F), as in much of the summer. The previous day’s late afternoon storm had the river slightly turbid in morning, but cleared in afternoon. Cool day, 70s F; mostly cloudy; extended rain predicted to start in late afternoon or evening.

      Hatches: Paraleptophlebia spinners in late morning to early afternoon, in few small areas of river margin. A group of Caenis briefly seen, near bank. Midges occasional. Fewer than 5 olive-like mayflies lofted offriver. Ant fall significant but not carpeting (whereas in late Aug 2006 ants carpeted some of the upper river during at least three evenings, and most or all fish were up; maybe still to happen this year).

        Successful flies, but shunned by many risers, most of which sipped tiny ants, were a #16 Parachute Ant, #12 rootbeer Creek Grubb, #14 black Caswell’s Panfish Spider, and most  fish took Andrij’s just-designed #16 black Splitwing Beetle. Subsurface fishing used 5x tippet, topside with 6x. Two breakoffs, both apparently good fish, appallingly happened at the 5x-6x knot (once with Orvis Tippet Knot, once Blood Knot). I thought, screw 6x, and fished a beetle on the remaining 5x; it helped check a big Brown from reaching a log.

        Only 3 Rainbows of 10-11” were landed during 0900–1630 in one reach. I don’t know why in fast water I had only 2 takes on a tandem-fished burnt orange Creek Grubb and, on point, a rootbeer Andrij’s Nitro Caddis Pupa.

        Moving somewhat downstream to fish during 1700–1915 hr, many more fish were rising than had been above. Landed 7 more —1 Rainbow of 11”, and 6 Browns, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11”, and … (see below).

        At a small copse of Sycamores, rising was only occasional, quite disparate from the locked-on(?), anting risers in midriver and along the opposite side — a setup for throwing a beetle. Casting under or just out from the canopy, 4 of the smaller Browns were landed on the beetle, and 3 other takes were on the same fly, the fly being lost on the first breakoff.Then another of the smaller Browns there took the Spider. Action was essentially nonstop. Most or all takes were by Browns, an unusual concentration of the species for the Jackson.

        Working upstream met many refusals of various flies, and took an 11” Rainbow on the ant, the fly lost on the second breakoff. Getting chilled and rain imminent, I was about to return to the SUV. But a spot by a bankside log looked good, like so many targets in the reach, and I judged a cast especially right-on, the drift dragless, and after about two feet the second Splitwing Beetle disappeared in a small ripple. Tightening, the fish was on, felt sizeable, and bull-dogged a goodly spell. It appeared to be 15–16” out in the river but extended 2” past the 16” hoop of the net (whose lucky charm is an embedded Grateful Dead button). The fish had moderate body build, ample mouth, very golden, no red spots. 18” !!! — my best wild Brown (since an 18-incher on Smith R in 1976 that fell to an Isonychia nymph). Glowing with its capture and release, I essentially quit then. Rain began as I started driving home (and next day back to studying new species of redhorse suckers in my Roanoke College lab).

 

Jackson River, upper tailwater,  2-3 June 2008 (Mon-Tue) — Bob Jenkins

      The upper river and riparian corridor looked terrific, the river clear, flow normal at 278 cfs. Mon evening bright sky, pretty clouds, air warm to cool, water 62.5 F; night down to 57 F. Tue first light 0500 hr, sun up at 0600, air rose to ~80 F, cooling in afternoon overcast and rain to ~70 F, water 62 F. Didymo almost imperceptable at Natural Well; very sparse in Cabin reach, occasionally a small gob driifting; substrate in many stony areas covered with “rich-looking” brown organic floc.

      On Mon I fished Natural Well during 1900-2100 hr, during all of which mayflies, seemingly mostly Cream Cahills, emerged at low to moderate rate and trout rose at about the same pace; several mayfly spinners were aflight.  In early and mid dusk a few, small to large species of caddisflies became moderately frequent, some probably emerging and some surely ovipositing. Whereas in mid dusk emergence of mayfly duns seemed to taper, slash and jump rising probably to caddis became more common. Not having caught a bug, I don’t know the identify of the caddisflies but it’s quite probable they were some of the same species reported below. Overall many trout showed by rising, hence lots of targets were presented. But catching trout was not easy, partly as fish in different current paths apparently favored, or fell for different flies from those taken by nearby fish, and some flies were shuned. Landed 2 Rainbows, 11-12”, 1 Brown, 8”; lost 2 fish including the largest.

      Mon night after consuming a Hardees big burger and fries in Covington, it was ~2230 hr and I noticed some stores with outside night lights on, so from walls and windows I collected and preserved in ethanol profuse aquatic insects for about one hr (after telling clerks what I was up to and why, to avoid visitation by cops. Owing to the late hour, the NBA game being essentially over, and thinking to hit the river in early morning, for the first time I decided to forego paying for a motel room and tried to sleep by the cabin in my SUV.

      On Tue I awoke several times including at first light and attendant bird calls, and slipped into the river at 0600 hr, a first by hours for me on the Jackson. Surprisingly, mayflies were hatching, trout were rising, and the first cast resulted in a brief hookup! Through 0730, 2 Browns 8” and 12.5” and 1 small Rainbow were landed; again the largest fish was lost. Bushes were net-whacked for trout bugs, these preserved in ethanol, and breakfast was found at The Bait Place.

      Rerigged and heading upriver for 20 sec, it dawned that my keys, both sets, one key turned in the ignition, had just been locked in the SUV… Luckily I found a stout steel rod to pry and slightly hold open the top of the driver’s door, and an inserted stick tripped the lock! I didn’t want to face this at end of fishing, and didn’t want it on my mind while fishing, nor did I favor a dead battery.

      During 1100-1500 hr I fished intermittently upstream from the cabin. Aquatic insects — the obvious ones being mayfly duns (mostly cahills) and caddisflies — were sparse and rising was occasional. During 1330-1430 rain twice drove me to an old shed, and the third rain drove me out for good; rain jacket was back in the SUV. Flies and rising had tapered to nearly nil during rain (unlike the situation other anglers concurrently had at Natural Well). I had landed 4 more browns of 7-10” and 1 small Rainbow, a poor score. Maybe in anticipation of easy catching, I wasn’t fishing well. Instead of concentrating on one rising fish at a time, to peg its unseen lie and play the fly-changing game, I threw to several risers in turn during brief periods.

      Both days the largest fish were lost, both probably 14-15”; no break-offs. All fish both days were wild; the 11” and 12.5” fish were strong, each making two good runs — gotta love the CFO for its outrunning purr. The ratio of 6 Browns to 2 Rainbows landed on Tue is my first mainly-Browns catch for a day on the Jackson, reflecting fishing mostly slow currents. All trout were taken on mayfly imitations — dry flies or emergers, the latter including #14 and 16 Parasail Emerger and Sulphur half nymph, half adult; 5x or 6x tippet.

      Insects from cabin area, upper tailwater, 3 Jun; studied microscopically 20 Jun 2008:

      Nymphs from boots — Baetid, tiny, 1.  , 2 spp, 1 each.  Ephemerella prob. dorothea, 1. Eurylophella (s.s.), 6. Adults netted from bank flora (chromatic coloration partly dissipated with examined microscopically) — Maccaffertium, 2 pale subimago, 1 male imago, dorsally banded, sterna cream. Stenacron, 2 subimago, pale (was cream or yellowish). Ephemerellid, 1 med-sm (9 mm; fly size 14-16) female imago, body tubby, mostly dark brown; ventral abdomen reddish brown; legs all pale, pale + dusky mottled, or all dusky; tails gray. Leptophlebiid, prob. Paraleptophlebia, 1 female subimago, body (9 mm; fly size 14-16) gracile, med brown; legs pale; tails pale and with fine black intersegmental marks. Caddisflies, at least 5 spp; sm to med; abdomens blackish, tan, or green. Cranefly, 3  sm adult.  Chironomid, 1. Adults collected from night-lighted windows in Covington — many, mostly caddisflies and mayflies, but the big, tedious job of sorting and identifying them is unfinished.     

Jackson River, Natural Well area, 3-4 Jul 2008 (Thu-Fri) — Bob Jenkins

      During prepping and co-teaching a course for 3.5 wk in May, hence not following troutstream insect hatches, I vowed to amply fish in June, but studies of suckers interceded, so this outing marked a long month between visits to the Jackson.

      River was clear, level moderate, bankful at 281 cfs on Thu, rising slightly on Fri; water 59-60 F; Didymo present in trace amount.

      No major hatch was detected. On Fri an Isonychia dun emerged, so too a sulphur, and a few other mayflies including a few tiny baetids and three cream-appearing duns, probably cahills. Small craneflies were usually aflight just above the water, some ovipositing. In late Fri morning a troop of very small mayflies, probably Paraleptophlebia, flight-danced along shore. Midges were sparsely were about. Rising was frequent Thu evening, and only occasional all day Fri but usually timed close enough to effect many rising-fish target/s. Rises in morning were often  splashy or jumps, indicating emerging caddis pupae (pharate adults; pupal shucks were found), and most caddis seemed to fly off-river.

      Thursday had nice weather at dusk. After sleeping not well in the SUV, upon wading in on Friday, early daylight began with a brief rain; morning was mostly cloudy; rain in early afternoon, and thereafter the sky was almost always heavily overcast and the river much fogged. Eyestrain developed by continually trying to watch a strike indicator, and it was nearly impossible to follow a dry fly during dusk. Fog on a river can be pleasant, but…

Thursday’s fishing started very late owing to emails with colleagues concerning a study of certain minnows, other fussing, packing, and the 1.5-hr drive. I slipped into the river with little less than 1 hr left of fishable daylight and no notable insect hatch, although fish were rising moderately often.  I had 4 takes on a dry fly: one maybe a “short rise” (splashy turnoff at last instant); one fish pricked, not hooked; one lost after being on-line for a good while;  and a strong 13” Brown landed. The latter 3 fish took by a “confident” rise, as if the fish “thought” my fly was something on which it’d been feeding. This was a breif but fine start of the foray, as the fish at the site are much pressured by flyfishers, many of them caught and released at least once. I had fished entirely with a dry #16 grizzly Fore-and-Aft, the body of black tying thread. This fly design has a long history but seems rarely used today; the Renegade pattern is a wider-bodied (peacock herl)  example. Fore-and-Afts are often considered to imitate “nothing and everything”; to trout they might resemble two butt-conjoined midges!  I’ll tye more of these, especially with cream hackle (visibility to angler) and the body separately cream, yellow, or light orange, to simulate sulphur and cahill mayflies.

      Friday I fished most of the day, about equally in pools, runs, and riffles, totaling ~11 hr from midway within break-of-dawn to late dusk, discounting driving around, eating, sheltering during rain, and chatting with landowners. This was my best day ever of catching wild trout, totaling 32. Landed were 29 Rainbows of 8-13”, and 3 Browns of 10, 11, and 14”. None were gill-hooked; no bleeders; only 1 fish brokeoff (at the fly knot — no tippet left trailing from the fish); and all fish were released and swam away strongly. By the 18^th fish landed, I thought the nearly non-stop landing of fish and having many other takes was getting boring. I wondered what the 20^th fish be — a 13” Rainbow, very nice; and the 21^st — the largest Brown, from a pool tailout.

      All but one of the first fish 25 fish took my mostly brown Isonychia nymph (gen 3) fished below a dun soft-hackle with a bright green body. By the 10^th fish the Iso had become so bedraggled that dubbing extended past the marabou tail; ribbing was gone. Right after the 25^th fish I left the rig in a tree. Rerigging with a green Nitro Caddis above a fresh Iso, fish 26-29 were caught, until a midriver snag entangled the rig. Wanting to score at least 30 fish for the day, I bent on a bright green, gold beadhead Cazzie’s Creek Grub caddis larva, and that succeeded, with 1 fish landed of 4 briefly hooked. For those 30 fish, the brief exception to fishing sunken flies was in early afternoon, with the previous evening’s Fore-and-Aft; four risers refused it from the surface; one of them grabbed it sunken. All fish were strong, fought proportionate to their size; usually good zzz-ing of the reel. Tippet for subsurface flies was 5x, for dry flies 6x.

      Wanting to fish dry in evening, I headed upriver to the site of the previous evening and its pressured fish. Time had grown short, into late dusk (or so I preceived under a leaden sky and fog), by delightful chat with a landowner and a fellow who regular fishes the reach but whom I hadn’t met. The Fore-and Aft took, a 13” Rainbow; the next fish broke it off. Lastly, a formerly untried prototype I tyed ~20 yr ago, of an upside-down, dry subimago (dun) mayfly, in cream cahill colors, took an 11” Rainbow. USD flies have the hook ride above-surface and partly shrouded by feather barbs. I and many other but surely not all anglers believe the hook-in-water of normal dryfly design can be a turnoff to “educated” trout.  Whatever, that made 32 trout for the day, and 1 breeding male Common Shiner, Luxilus cornutus, the only one I’ve caught up there. All this from at most ~½ mile of water — a fine day.

      I apologize for assidously counting fish, and plan to not do so in at least most future outings. Comparative data are useful to have, but counting distracts from fishing.

Upper Jackson River (Poor Farm), June 7, 2008 - Devon J. Munro 

    Fished the upper Jackson, hiking down from the Poor Farm area today.  Fished for about 3 hours from about 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Not great hours and it was bright sun and 95 degrees, so there was zero action on top.  Very little luck until we tried a large black stonefly nymph in the pools.  That brought out some larger 14 inch rainbows, about five in quick succession.  A couple had the slender build and bright colors of holdover fish.  We also hooked about the same number of small redeyes at the tail end of the pools, so apparently the sun had driven the trout deep into the head of the pools.

The big highlight of the day though was spotting a bald eagle taking off about 30 yards away from me over a bend pool well into the special regulation area, more exciting than the fish to be sure.