Fly fishing in May is wonderful whether you plan to fish the native brook trout streams or the smallmouth rivers. There are many people heading to the native brook trout streams in the Shenandoah National Park and National Forest. I don’t let the number of fishermen deter me from taking advantage of this great fishing. I simply do not fish a stream where other anglers are fishing. There are two methods I use to assure I have the water to myself.
- There are many streams that have feeders that provide fishing as well. For example many streams in the Shenandoah National Park have 3 or 4 branches and feeder streams that hold great populations of wild trout. See my book Trout Fishing in the Shenandoah National Park for more information on the streams in the Park.
- Second, don’t go in any trail head where you see another car. There are 21 trout streams which are accessible off the Skyline Drive so just choose one where you see no other cars. Also if you can sneak away during the week instead of the weekend, you will have better success of getting away from others.
This is a great time to hike in the back country to camp and fish for several days. If you are careful in selecting the location for your camp, you can fish a different stream each day. Listen to the rest of my podcast.
Fly fishing for Bass
The 3-year old hellgrammites are presently going through their final growth phase before hatching into the adult dobsonfly. The largest concentrations of these larva are in the riffles and the cobblestones for the next 100-200 feet downstream of the riffles. The Murray’s Heavy Black Hellgrammites in size 4 are by far the most productive pattern. Listen to the rest of my podcast for more information on hellgrammites and fishing with crayfish.
We still have openings in our Full Day Fly Fishing Schools and Half Day Fly Fishing Lessons for Summer 2022.
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