Many anglers enjoy fly fishing on the stocked trout streams in Autumn not only for the fishing but also for the views. The VA DWR began their stocking program on October 1 and will continue throughout the winter. Here are some tips to help you get some good fishing.
- Starting in October you can catch trout in the deep pools with streamers such as Murray’s Black Marauder size 10 and Murray’s Pearl Marauder size 10. Fish these slowly by stripping them six inches every ten seconds to crawl them across the stream bottom. I recommend fishing these on a Murray’s Classic 9ft 4X leader.
- In early October the little dark stoneflies begin hatching and you can spot trout rising to them in the flat pools. Once you see this go one on one with the rising trout showing them a Murray’s Little Dark Stonefly Dry size 16 using a Classic 9ft 6X leader.
- The Beatis mayflies start hatching and you can get some great action with the Mr. Rapidan Parachute Dry size 18. The last two hours of the day you will have midges hatching and the Mr. Rapidan Midge size 20 works well here.
- If you are in an area that has natural springs, a Shenk’s Cress Bug size 14 and Murray’s Shrimp size 14 works well downstream of these springs. Use a cautious approach.
- This is the time of year that I am trying to get in some last minute smallmouth bass fishing on the Shenandoah River. In the low water conditions we are doing well with a Rubber Leg Nymph (Brown) size 6 & 8. Well this fly also works well on the stocked trout streams. Something about the color and the rubber legs just draws attention to smallmouth and stocked trout.
Fly Tying Classes at Murray’s Fly Shop
Throughout the winter we offer several different fly tying classes at our fly shop in Edinburg, VA.