Fly Fishing for Bass
A good friend routinely goes bass fly fishing in December. He catches large bass in the sections of the river behind the dams in water that is 10 to 15 feet deep. Chapman’s dam on the North Fork of the Shenandoah and Massanutten Dam on the South Fork of the Shenandoah are excellent locations.
You want to fish as deeply and slowly as you possibly can. In order to effectively fish this deep water I use a fast sinking head line. Thirty feet of the head on this line sinks at 4 to 8 inches per second. Then I attach a Murray’s Fluorocarbon 6ft 2X Sinking Leader. Then I attach a Murray’s Tungsten Conehead Marauder in black, olive, or pearl in size 4. Swim these slowly along the stream bottom by stripping them 4 inches every 6 seconds. If you even suspect you have a strike, set the hook quickly with both the rod and the line hand. Often these strikes in deep water are difficult to detect.
Fishing for Trout
As the delayed harvest and large trout streams become cold in December, many of the trout move in below the natural springs. The water coming from the springs is considerably warmer than the stream itself. There are large populations of Cress Bugs and Shrimp below these springs. These springs are easy to locate because there is rich green weed growth around where they flow into the stream from the bank. By using a Cress Bug size 14 & 16 and Murray’s Shrimp size 14 & 16, I can usually catch a trout below these springs. Listen to my podcast on the tactics I use to fish these springs.
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