There is so much to love about springtime in Virginia. The weather is beautiful, the water levels are perfect, and all of our fish species are active and willing to eat.
Let's start with the mountain streams. There has been enough rain in the last month to keep the little streams full and we are seeing pretty consistent hatches of caddis and mayflies. The Brook Trout are taking full advantage. They have started moving out of their winter pools and can be found throughout the river systems. Most days I am starting with a dry dropper rig and cut the dropper off once the surface eats heat up. Pick your favorite attractor patterns and have some fun.
The low elevation trout rivers are fishing equally as well. Most of the stocked waters have been stock 4 or 5 times since October. Some of the fish that have been in the rivers for months can be pretty picky by now. Look to match the natural bugs to fool these fish. My personal favorite hatch should begin on the spring creeks in the next 2 weeks. Sulphurs! Have some #16 yellow mayflies and plan to fish until dusks for some truly exciting dry fly action.
Now on to the main event. The Smallmouth Bass are in their pre-spawn haunts and are getting as many calories as they can before they move onto their beds. This is a great time to have a chance at the biggest bass in the river. Changing the color of the streamers to match the sunlight levels has been key over the past few weeks. Once these fish do pair up and move onto the beds, leave them alone. There are always plenty of fish that are not actively spawning to catch. Let them make next year's fish.
I still have a handful of prime spring dates available. If you want to take advantage of this special time of year, give me a call!
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