Just Cleaning Up Around Here

After fishing western Maryland a couple of weeks earlier, I thought what better way to give back to a resource than to participate in a stream clean-up on the main branch. It's also a good (justified) excuse to go fishing again.

This trip would also be the first outing of the year for my son, Ross. He always looks for opportunities to get out on the water - even if there is a little bit of work to be done first. He also doesn't mind the 4:30 AM wake up call because he can sleep for the almost 3-hour car ride.

We met a couple of friends in Morgantown, then it was on to the river for the clean-up.

The Youghiogheny chapter of Trout Unlimited sponsors this clean-up every year. The turnout was low, but so was the trash - of course I'm comparing this to the Elkhorn clean-up.

After walking a few miles of road and maybe collecting a bag of trash (that's a good thing), Ross commented that, "compared to the Elkhorn clean-up, this is more like a scavenger hunt than a stream clean-up".

We had a nice lunch, provided by the hosting TU chapter, but I could tell Ross was getting anxious to hit the water. While our friends decided on a nearby delayed harvest stream, Ross and I decided to hit a new brookie stream.

We only took one rod in - I wanted Ross to do most of the catching!

I was wet wading and I could tell by the water temperature that they were still feeling the effects of the heavy snow two weeks earlier. I guess what I'm saying is the fish weren't cooperating for Ross.

I started him out on a dry fly, then switched him over to a small green woolybugger - both with no luck. I let him fish the first few runs by himself, then I grabbed the rod to give a nice pool a second go at it. I knew he wanted to get his hands on some fish!

Sure enough, we landed our first brookie of the day, and I let Ross release him.

 

We continued this operation as we worked our way upstream. I would let Ross work the pool over pretty good, then I would grab the rod and give it a try.



 

 

It worked out several times as we landed several nice brookies. Ross seemed alright with this - he enjoys handling the fish and releasing them.

 

 

We fished as late as we could, keeping in mind it was a Sunday, we had a 3+ hour ride home, and Ross had school the next day. 

 

He was very patient but I could tell he was disappointed he hadn't landed any by himself when I told him we had to start the hike out. I did tell him we would hit a few more pools on the way out and we did.

 

The first nice run I spotted, we stopped to check it out. I spotted a nice brookie feeding actively in the tailout and while I found him, Ross spotted another one on up in the pool - and he didn't have the benefit of polarized sunglasses. I was impressed!

 

I put on a dry/dropper rig and let him try for the first fish in the tailout. The fly line got caught on some woody debris and put the fish down, so he moved on up the run.

 

His first drift through the run and he hooked his first brookie of the day/year! With the excitement of Ross landing his first brookie of the year, I didn't get any photos.

 

This was also Ross' first Maryland brookie - to go along with West Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. He's only a few states behind me but I have a few years on him.

 

I look forward to returning to this clean-up next year and Ross made a recommendation for next year. He wanted to know if we could clean up along this stream, which is maintained behind locked gates at both ends. The TU chapter is looking into it!

 

So, with this clean-up on Sunday, I also had the annual Elkhorn clean-up the following Saturday. I was tired of driving (which doesn't happen often) but I owed it to my mentor and friend who recently passed and was the coordinator of this event.

 

I was on the road at 4:30 AM again but this time I didn't even pack a rod. We knocked out the clean-up in no time. I heard comments that things are starting to look up in the area - but it's all relative. In the same amount of time we filled maybe a truck bed full of trash on the Savage we filled up 2-3 roll-off dumpsters on the Elkhorn. We also had many more volunteers on Elkhorn - a true reflection on a great man. Ernie Nester will be missed!

 



 

 I had a nice lunch, chatted fishing and fishing trips with some good friends, then it was on the road for the 4-hour ride home.

 

Chris

West Virginia Brookie Bum Adventure - Part 3

With the backcountry adventure cut short and behind me, it was time to do some exploring. The only thing better than finding a new gem is sharing one of your finds with good friends and that is where I found myself on day six.

After having an outstanding day on Sunday on a new brookie stream and finding the browns out to play below the forks, I had to share it with a couple of good friends. This day would be a bit different as we would stop about a half-mile short of the forks in an attempt to coax some of those wild browns into coming out to play.

This section of stream is high gradient, boulder hopping, pocket water at it's finest. Can you spot my two fishing partners for the day?

Unfortunately, the water level had dropped about 6" in the previous four days and the brown trout were nowhere to be found. However, the brookies were more than happy to cooperate!

As we made our way to the forks, I let my partners do the majority of the fishing as I had already added this stream to my personal list a few days earlier. The drop in water level made stealth a little more important but didn't slow the brookies down at all.

Phil adding the left fork to his list.

Chris checking the box shortly thereafter....

...and then the double.



With a 3+ mile hike out we made it a short day, even though we fished past where I had gone earlier. The stream looked to be getting a little more gradient to it but we had done well.

On the way out Chris was able to do something I was unable to do on my prior trip to the forks - he caught a brookie out of the right fork. It was in the second pocket above where the right fork dumps in but it was still in the right fork. I may need to do a little more exploring on the right fork.

By Thursday we were already established in the USFS campground in preparation for the WVAngler campout weekend and the Middle Fork of the Williams Bucket Brigade scheduled for Saturday. That evening we spent a good amount of time hanging out with the other early arrivals for the weekend, talking fishing - these events are great for gaining important intel for future explorations.

Day seven would be a whirlwind, marathon day - hitting as many brookie streams as possible in two different watersheds. We would start at the top of the North Fork, stopping only long enough for each of us to catch a brookie; then repeating the same as we drove up the South Fork. This section of the report will be as fast and furious as our fishin was for the day.

New stream #1:

New stream #2 and trib of stream #1:

We both struck out on stream #3 - many streams in these two watersheds are highly acidic and many of them have limestone fines dumps on them. We both proclaimed this stream "dead".

Stream #4:

We both struck out on stream #5, so it was on to stream #6:

The final trib we fished on the North Fork came with an asterisk - I mentally "starred" this stream as a need to fish it again when I can spend more time on it. Stream #7 - I caught these nice two brookies in back-to-back pools:

The summary for the North Fork was seven streams (all new to my personal list) and brook trout in five of them.

Next on the agenda was a repeat on the South Fork with the only difference being we would be driving up the South Fork - versus going down the drainage on the North Fork.

Stream #8:

Stream #9:

Stream #10:

Stream #11 was another asterisk stream and the biggest stream we fished on the day - it also gave up the largest brookie of the day:

The final stream of the day (#12) produced a brookie below the culvert, but nothing above the culvert or the road. My conclusion: the culvert was not "fish friendly" and the stream above the road appeared fishless.

What this stream did, however, produce was an amazing discovery - something you don't find unless you do a little exploring. As I watched Phil prospect a couple of nice pools, something caught my eye on upstream. What we discovered was an amazing 20' waterfall!

But with this beauty, there was also a "beast". Nearly the entire South Fork watershed is owned by an out-of-state paper/timber company. As beautiful as the waterfall was, this clear cut job was equally ugly!

With this we called it a day, we had real work to do the next day. The totals for the day: 12 different streams fished and brookies caught in 10 of them (all new to my list).

That evening in camp the remaining WVAnglers would arrive in camp and we would, again, exchange stories and intel. I picked up a couple of tips that I would follow-up on before the adventure was over.

Day eight started with the fourth annual Middle Fork of the Williams Bucket Brigade. I have blog entries for the previous two I had been part of, and when you think it can't get any bigger...

The first year (2008) there were just over 30 volunteers, in 2009 we had over 60, in 2010 we received partnership with Walmart and we had over 100 volunteers. Again this year we partnered with Walmart and we had over 120 volunteers. We were able to move over nine tons of limestone sand a quarter-mile into the Cranberry Wilderness Area, one 25 pound bucket at a time - and we did so through a very impressive thunderstorm that rolled across the mountain!

This is by far the single largest TU volunteer event in the state, and quite possibly anywhere in TU. This is even more impressive considering the physical labor involved.



Following the Bucket Brigade Phil had to return home, so it was soloing again in search of brookies. My plan was to follow-up on a tip I received in camp. It would be a short, 1.5-mile, flat, trail hike but when I got to the trailhead I checked out the map and thought I could cut this hike down by going through a public hunting area. Eight days of hiking, followed by the Bucket Brigade, was beginning to wear my body down so I was looking for any short cut I could manage.

The map showed the trail going completely to the public hunting grounds - I never found it!

I did, eventually, make it to water but what I found was a very low gradient stream. Had I not been told it contained brookies I would have passed it by as a fine chub stream. I did manage to pick up a couple of little guys when I found good moving water.

I continued to work my way upstream but the profile never changed, so I started fishing in and around the root balls. I missed a couple of brookies before landing this guy in the 10" range.

On dead legs with no trail, I didn't push it. I did manage to fish about a half-mile of stream, add another new stream to my personal list, and managed to have these "locals" walk up on me.



Back at camp there was many of West Virginia's finest home-made adult beverages to be consumed. There were many stories told, a guitar and a mandolin came out, and there was some good music to enjoy by the campfire. It's always a good time when the members of WVAngler get together!

I don't know what time I crawled in my tent but I was one of the first to awake - I had seven hours of driving ahead of me. I packed up my camp, said my goodbyes, and headed down the road. But before I called an end to Brookie Bum 2011, I had one more stop to make.

I added one more new (roadside) stream to the list to close out my adventure.

With the release of this final brookie, I called a closed to my West Virginia Brookie Bum Adventure. Some of my totals:

• 24 streams fished
• brookies caught in 20 streams
• 15 new brookie streams added to my personal West Virginia list
• and over 60 miles hiked

I can't wait until Brookie Bum 2012! I'm not sure where it will be but I do know Shenandoah National Park is a leading candidate.

Chris

And Sometimes it Rains!

April was one of the wettest months in history! In the Cincinnati metro area we were 3/4" of precipitation away from the all-time record...and it continued into May.

This weekend outing back home had multiple goals. It was the WVCTU Spring Council Meeting, the Blennerhassett Chapter Campout, the WVCTU Fly Fishing School, and my annual outing into the Seneca Backcountry with my WVU Professor friend.

It was one busy weekend and it started with a 4-hour drive to WV then, after waking at 3:15 AM, another 3-hour drive to the trailhead. Unfortunately, it had rained several days prior and was raining as I met my friend.

You can see from the USGS Water Gauge (normal flow of 300 CFS), we were 4X the normal flows!

As opposed to making the ~ 10-mile trek we chose to explore new water on the other side of the mountain. I had fished a number of streams in that area which my friend had not. The only thing better than exploring new water is sharing it with a good friend.

The first stream we stopped at has had major work done to it over the past few years, including tree plantings and livestock fencing in the headwaters. From the bridge crossing the stream has two very distinct profiles. Upstream it is a lower gradient stream, meandering through large hemlocks and open, high meadows.

This section of stream reminds me of Tonahutu Creek in Rocky Mountain National Park, just above Big Meadows. Both are equally beautiful!

Downstream from the bridge it takes an entirely different profile. It is a high gradient, plunge pool type stream that is my preference when chasing the natives. You'll have to excuse the quality of the photo, I was using my waterproof video camera...did I mention it was raining?

The water was moving pretty good and we managed to pick up a couple of small brookies (sorry no photos), so we decided to try another of my favorites in this major watershed.

We drove the short distance to the trailhead of another stream that originates in Virginia and flows through West Virginia before meeting up with the Potomac. By the time we made it to the trailhead it had stopped raining, but had the damage already been done?

Instead of hiking to where the trail meets the water, we barreled down over a steep embankment to the water and almost immediately started picking up fish. The water was up a bit and still moving pretty good but it did not prevent these small jewels from coming out to play.

Then magic struck! As we made it to this large, green pool the big boys decided to come out to play...on top!

I fished the tail out while my partner hit the head. I picked up two of these nice specimen (on top).

Then, as I was standing and watching, my partner picked up this big guy - probably pushing that 12" threshold.

We continued to pick up a few fish here and there as the water continued to rise from earlier storms. The sun also played peekaboo with us on and off and every time the sun would come out heavy hatches of yellow sallies would come off - what a great time to be on the water!

By the time we decided to call it a day, the water was up to the point the only place we could find to cross was crotch deep and ripping. It made for an interesting crossing with a DSLR camera around my neck, but I made it.

The other great thing about spring: the wildflowers are out and the critters are awakening. I found this Jack-in-the-Pulpit streamside.

This little guy also met us on the trail for the hike out.

He's a harmless black rat snake but I wouldn't recommend this trail in the heat of summer. It is one of the rockiest, snakiest trails I have ever been on and it's located in Timber Rattler Central!

Following a great evening with good friends around a campfire, day two included the State Council Meeting and the Fly Fishing School. The question was: where do I fish before the council meeting?

I had marked several tribs of the upper West Fork of the Greenbrier fr exploration, so today would be the day. I thought that with a couple of hours to fish I could hit a couple of them...until I actually made it on this first stream.

In the lower reaches the stream flows through a beautiful high meadow before transitioning into the hardwoods. Over 100 years ago this was home to a logging community and there are still remnants of this.

The recent rains seemed to have passed through this small stream already but I still only moved one fish in the meadow. Once I got into the section of stream with good canopy it was a different story.

Sometime since the logging had stopped, somebody had done some major instream work on this stream. There were standing K-dams, log dams, and log re-routing of the stream. The little brookies seemed to appreciate all of the hard work.

It's always good to see the little guys in the stream too.

The fishing was so good and seeing the amount of work done on this stream was amazing. Add another WV stream to my life list. Needless to say, I didn't make it to any other tribs before I had to head over the mountain to WV State Council...too much water, too little time.

I had been anticipating State Council for weeks now! Not for reasons you would expect, but because I would get the return of my Vandalia bamboo #003! I had broken the butt of this rod the previous summer while chasing (unsuccessfully) Paiute cutthroat on Silver King Creek. Phil Smith, the rodmaker, was replacing the reel seat with a piece of 2,000+ year-old bristlecone pine we had picked up during our 2008 Colorado Cuttslam trip.

Following State Council it was back across the mountain for a presentation at the WVCTU Fly Fishing School. What was my presentation? Travel planning and native species, of course.

It was another great evening with great friends around the campfire.

The next morning it was goodbyes to old friends and decision time again. Back to the headwaters of the WF of the Greenbrier? A couple of friends had fished another small trib the day before and recommended it and it was on my route home.

Once on the stream, it didn't take long for #003 to return to form....the return of #003!

As always, it's good to see the little guys in there.

With over seven hours of driving ahead of me, I spent only enough time on the stream to validate a healthy population of brookies. Add another stream to the WV life list, then it's Cincy bound.

Before I could make it to the hard top, I ran into one more of the natives. This grouse wanted to play chicken!

Although the rain put a damper on day one, it was a great weekend with great friends! I can't wait until my next trip "home", I'm going to do something I've wanted to do for years. I'm going to take a week of vacation and stay home in West Virginia - backpacking through the Cranberry Wilderness area.

Until next time...

Chris

Elkhorn Clean-up 2011

Well, after a very long and eventful winter I was finally able to get in some REAL fishing....and it's April!

This event is an annual TU outing for me. Unfortunately it just happened to be the first "real" outing of the year. Fortunately, though, it coincided with my son's spring break and our annual trip to the Smokies - so this would be my son's first Elkhorn Clean-up.

As with many spring outings you must dodge rain and high water, and I've only attended one (of five) Elkhorn clean-ups where high/fast water was not a factor - an this year was not one of them.

We arrived on Friday for the Saturday clean-up, which gave us a full day to fish THE best wild trout stream in the state. In the last 4-5 years, this is the only time of the year where I fish a West Virginia stream that is not a "native" stream.

The flow and the levels were up in the main stream, so it was tough fishing for my son and I. We made the decision to move up one of the tribs...and it was fish on! I caught three of these guys in about five minutes.

I picked up a few more little guys before we made it back to the campground for the annual Friday night dinner and festivities.

We almost made it through dinner before the rain started and we also got a campfire started before the real storms hit! My son and I piled in the camper when the massive storms hit: thunder, lightning, and hail! Our host said that those were some of the worst storms he has ever encountered in a camper.

The next day was the actual clean-up and the numbers were down again this year. We had ~100 volunteers in 2009, ~80 in 2010, and just over 60 this year.

The numbers were down, but it also appeared the trash was too. It may have had something to do with the high flows and storms - most likely it was swept it on downstream.

Before:

During (with my son right in the middle of it):

After:

Following lunch it is usually back to the stream but this year was different; we had high water, forecast for more storms, and plans to head to the Smokies. So, with all of that we packed up and headed south a day earlier than planned.

Next entries will be from our annual father/son trip to the Smokies but first I wanted to post some photos my son took. He likes to carry a camera too. He has already "dunked" one camera so I let him carry my waterproof and he doesn't do too bad. All of these photos were taken by a handheld, underwater, video camera:

Maybe it's just because he's my son, but I think (for a 10-year-old) he does pretty good with a camera.

Chris