Fly Fishing in May
Fly fishing in May can be wonderful on both the mountain trout streams and the smallmouth rivers. As the stream levels drop and
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Reading a Pool in Mountain Trout Streams
Reading the water, from saltwater flats to rivers to tiny mountain streams, is a skill honed from years of practice getting it wrong.
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Shenandoah National Park Access Updates
Update as of 4/24/2020 The entire Shenandoah National Park is CLOSED.From the SNP website: This is a complete closure! No hiking, no biking, no entry
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Shadow
Be careful with your shadow! Note how the anglers head and shoulders cast a shadow on the pool in front of him. This
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Fly Fishing in April
There are many things happening on our streams to provide some wonderful fly fishing in April. In this podcast I will be covering
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Trout Leader
Since I design all of our hand tied knotted leaders for specific purposes, I have designed four trout leaders to meet different needs.
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Fly Fishing Stream Report
Yesterday I took a few hours to check the native brook trout streams so I wanted to give you an updated stream report.
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Streamers for Trout
In March there are many large trout in the delayed harvest streams and large trout streams. The most effective way to catch these
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Backpacking Virginia’s Trout Streams
Virginia’s trout anglers are blessed with many trout streams which provide great trout fishing while backpacking. I just glanced through my books Virginia
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Flies to Use in March
March is a busy month for the serious trout angler in the mountain streams. It is also the time of the year that
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Tying an Epeorus Pleuralis
When I started trying to identify the aquatic insects, such as the Epeorus pleuralis, in the Shenandoah National Park, I was very fortunate
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Seeing Trout
One of my favorite forms of fly fishing for wild trout in mountain streams is seeing trout on their feeding stations then going
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Read A Rise
A trout can trick you with his rise. My fishing partner, William Downey, was the finest partner one could have and a life-long
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Fly Fishing in February Podcast
Today I am going to discuss fly fishing in February for large trout on our delayed harvest areas and large trout streams. During
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Tying Bass Streamers
The smallmouth streamers with which I catch most of my bass are flies I’ve developed myself. I grew up on the North Fork
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Deer Hair Bugs
I really do enjoy fishing deer hair bass bugs in the summer for smallmouth bass. Sometimes the bass hit it with a loud
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Fly Fishing in January
Fly Fishing for Trout Many of our delayed harvest trout streams such as Back Creek and Passage Creek have exceptionally good midge fly
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Three Nymph Rig for Delayed Harvest Trout
The large trout in our streams feed heavily on natural caddis larva, natural stonefly nymphs and natural mayfly nymphs. In order to take
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Smart Smallmouth Bass
I sent Charlie Brooks some stonefly nymphs I was developing for the Madison River. Before I arrived in September, I wanted him to
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The Grass
When you hook a large trout on Armstrong, Nelsons, or the Letort, it often tries to dive into the aquatic grass in the
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Where to Stand?
Streamer Fishing Deciding where to stand to make a presentation cast is extremely important. When I’m doing my streamer fly fishing seminars I
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Fly Lines– Terminology
We are very fortunate to have a broad selection of sinking fly lines by many manufacturers. These lines are all excellent, well-made lines
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Fly Fishing in December
Fly Fishing for Bass A good friend routinely goes bass fly fishing in December. He catches large bass in the sections of the
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Where to Fish
Late one August evening I waded across the South Fork of the Shenandoah River just downstream from Luray. I was headed toward one
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Popular Trout Fly
Two of the older gentlemen in my advanced college fly tying classes came to me with a request. A dry fly that floats
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Three Casts
For trout fishing on small/medium size streams, I use three casts to reach my goal of accuracy, delicacy, and natural drifts. In order
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Close Friends
I worked in Jake Sheetz’s custom furniture shop in Edinburg, Virginia from the time I was 10 years old until I was 15.
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Fly Fishing in November
Bass Fishing in November The cooling rivers prompt the smallmouth bass to head for the deeper sections of the rivers. They still need
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The Three Charlies
The master anglers with whom one fishes often opens doors to angling experiences far beyond the basic rewards we may find on our
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Large Bass
Many of the serious smallmouth fishermen back when I was growing up saved their vacation time for October. They would fish all day,
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Stream Levels
Watching the stream levels and planning ahead can help you when fishing the mountain trout streams. Often at this time of the year
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Fall Trout Fishing
During October, November, and December, Virginia and many surrounding states stock designated streams providing excellent fall trout fishing. These cool streams provide good
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Fly Fishing in October
Bass Fly Fishing in October Fly fishing in October for smallmouth fishing can be great. It is a transitional month for smallmouth fishing.
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Dry Fly Necks
How many top grade dry fly hackle necks does one need? When I started tying dry flies for trout I could afford only
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Away From Crowds
One of my guides fishes a great amount on his own and catches many fish. When asked how he does it…”I get away
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How Far To Cast
I am often asked in my fly fishing lessons, “How far do I cast?” Basically, I like to cast only far enough to
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Floating Minnow
Many years ago I hit on one of my most productive smallmouth tactics by accident. I was fishing the tail of a pool
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Fly Fishing in September
Bass Fly Fishing in September At dusk when the sun gets off the river many bass move onto the tails of the pools.
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Hellgrammite
When I was a youngster the natural hellgrammite was my favorite live bait for smallmouth bass. A hellgrammite is the larva of the
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Fly Fishing at Night
You can catch many large bass by fly fishing at night. Bass feed heavily at night on flies. I find I have my
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Fine Tuning Casts
There are times when regular casts on small mountain trout streams fail to give use the accuracy and delicacy needed. Even worse, the
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Nymphing for Smallmouth Bass
Some days smallmouth bass don’t seem to be interested in feeding on minnows and you can’t catch them on streamers. Other days they
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Fly Fishing in August
Harry Murray’s Podcast on what to expect when fly fishing in August for smallmouth bass and trout. Bass Fly Fishing The aquatic grassbeds
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The Challenge
The Challenge in Trout Fishing The trout rising to sip in natural insects on his feeding station a few feet upstream of me
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Change of Pace Flies
During the summer, many of our catch and release streams hold many trout. However, the angling pressure they have received all season means
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Murray’s Strymph
What is a Strymph? –A cross between a streamer and a nymph! Many years ago I was in the habit of fishing for
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