west virginia trout fishing, trout adventures, dry fly fishing, Infinity Rod Creations, fly rod building

 

 

 

 

I would like to thank Corey B. (Possum) for contributing to the Trout Fishing Adventure Page.  During the summer of 2004, he was gracious enough to invite me on my first small trout fly fishing adventure into the mountains of beautiful West Virginia.  At that time, as far as small trout and dry fly fishing was concerned, I was extremely green.  With his help, suggestions, and my own research, I discovered the this style of fishing and the environment it involved (mountains, camping, hiking, distant locations, and the solitude of nature) was exactly the balance I needed in my life.  For this I owe him a debt of gratitude that I can happily say will never be repaid fully.  Our yearly trips, since then, into the heart of West Virginia are always filled with adventure.  Without his knowledge of the areas we visit and his navigational experience, West Virginia would be a much less interesting place for me.

 

 If you have an adventure to share that involves hiking, camping, wilderness trekking, trout fishing or any combination of the four...please feel free to contact me for inclusion in this section! 

 

Thank you,

Domenic Federico

 

Packmule, Dj, and I headed down to WV for a short weekend. Leaving Cleveland very late Friday night, (after midnight), we pulled up to our first stream as the sun was rising Saturday morning.

 

This little creek looked the same as when I fished it last year on a stream scouting trip. The previous year I had hit this stream very quickly and turned up a handful of very nice fish.  So I was anxious to see what it would provide the group with this time around.  We hiked up the trail a good 5 minuntes before Dj jumped into action and PackMule and I moved up stream another 5 min. I have never seen a stream filled with so many fish!!! Unfortunately, to our chagrin, they were all 3 inches long. Every hole had 30-40 of these little guys, Every little area and stream bed depression held at least 5-10 of them. After spending a little over an hour we packed up the gear into the Jeep and headed to out next destination.

 

Our second destination proved a little more cooperative. Getting fish to rise was not an issue for me, I just could not get a hookset in many. I've fished a little tributary to this creek that I haven't spent much time on in probably 15 years; She did not change much over the years.

 

Then we moved down the watershed a little. I always love fishing this stream as the residents are always willing to hit a dry, and hit them hard. Overall fishing was not great, but we got into some fish and the fish were always fun to battle.

 

After moving to our final destination for the weekend we set up camp and got into some more fishing. Once again the fish were there but getting them to rise and, if they did, getting a hookset proved quite challenging. Since I told the guys dinner would be ready at 6:00pm, I rode back to the campsite. Lucky for me I was safe under a tarp and dry in my folding chair, unlike Dj and PackMule who were at least a mile up stream when the thunderstorm rolled over the mountains. As if that was not bad enough the pea size hail added insult to injury.  They returned to camp soaking wet and a bit frazzled. 

 

After a nice dinner of steak, fried potatoes and steamed garlic vegetables, the sky was clearing and it looked to shaping up as a good evening. Forcing ourselves out of our camp chairs we made our way upstream yet again.. The brown to the right was tucked next to a large rock in a small bath tub sized hole. I think after landing that fish I could have just sat around and not fished anymore that weekend. After a couple casts toward the back side of the hole he hit on the first cast to the head of the hole. There was no doubt for me and PackMule, when we heard the "whomp" as he attacked my size 10 stimulator that I had hooked a beauty. Of course I left my 13 inch catch and release net at camp, so we tried to take a couple good pictures before letting him go and on his way.

 

The morning came quickly and we had camp down and ready to hit the river around 9:00am. We were off to our final destination on the other side of the mountain.. This was our first time on this section of the river and I was quite pleased to find some quality water and natural beauty. While fishing was not great, the quality of the river and it's beauty made up for the lack of an over abundance quality fish.

 

 

Just like kids we had to make some time to play in the mud...

 

 

It will be another 3+ weeks until my next time down, we are going to spend some time on an old friend that we have neglected over the years. Maybe we can get into some of those large hatches that she is known for...

 

Possum

 

 

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