6-03-08
Greg Smith, a resident of Ohio, accompanied me on a rather productive full day brook trout outing. I’ve seen a bear or two near this particular stream, most of the time as we descend off the mountain tops into the brookie filled waters below. The bears are completely harmless, and are very shy and afraid of humans. (This is true except in the case of a “fed bear,” which results in the bear losing its fear of humans and associating humans with food. A fed bear is a dead bear.)
We didn’t see any bears this day, but we did commence to having some of the best brookie action I’ve seen in several months.
Greg landed somewhere in the ballpark of 40 brookies, many of which were in the 6-9 inch range. We could have stretched out an additional two more to 10 inches or better. The best bite of the day occurred in the late afternoon, as the terrestrials were fired up and the aquatic insects were ever present. Midges, crane flies, caddis, sulphurs, giant black stoneflies, and Light Cahills were seen flying about. We caught most of the trout on attractor dry flies. The surroundings were breathtaking, and the weather and water levels this day were picture perfect.
| Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | |||
Water temperatures will continue to drop on the freestone streams, while the spring creeks in the area will remain a bit warmer. The winter months deter many fisherman from wetting a line, but equipped with the right fishing gear and clothing, winter fishing can be both enjoyable and rewarding. Midge activity has been bringing several fish to the surface the last two weeks. BWO and the winter stonefly hatches will also force feeding trout to the surface, with most anglers opting for long leaders and fine tippets.
Water levels on most of the area's trout streams are still low, with the clear water making sight fishing a go-to technique.
The larger warmwater streams are still producing a few nice smallies, musky, and walleye.
Due to the increase in water levels, float fisherman can once again enjoy the tranquil setting of the Greenbrier River.