Trip Report: SB Shenandoah 8/13

[Miles]

Trent and I took my canoe -- "The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald" -- to the South Branch of the Shenandoah on Monday for some smallies. We got on the water around 9am, and the river was running at 2.7' and pretty clear. Lots of damsel flies around, and we did well with blue poppers -- especially on fat bluegills, of which we lost count. Trent got the biggest fish and the smallest fish of the day. He told me not to tell anyone about that tiny minnow, but it was so cute I could not resist sharing the picture. We did from mile 11 to 19, and were off the water at 4pm.

The tuber hatch was in abundance, despite it being a Monday and a work day. I think tube hatch is a misnomer, because the tuber is evidently the larval form of the creature. The immature tuber enters the water a pale pinkish white color, and the adult leaves the tubal shuck along the shoreline to emerge a brilliant red adult. At least, for the Shenandoah subpopulation.

We did our shuttle through Shenandoah River Outfitters. If you go through them, keep in mind that while you might be punctual about your 4pm pickup time, other clients are not. We didn't get out of Luray until after 5pm, which is why Trent was late for the Beer Tie and I skipped it altogether.

Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day, a lovely paddle, and some great fishing along the way.

[Gerry_Ostheimer]

Very nice trip report!

Is it possible to park the canoe and wade fish?

Or is this more of a drift fish kinda river?

Thanks,

Gerry

[Trent Jones]

Miles,

Per usual, it was a great day on the river, floating in The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Gerry,

The S. Fork can be floated or waded. You can find plenty of spots to park the boat and work patches of water that look fishy. In fact I was going to wade until Miles informed me he had Monday off and we hatched a plan to do a float.

Gear Review

                I finally had a chance to put into use one of Rob Snowhite’s Beer Lanyards on this 8 mile float of the S. Fork. Rob gave me one of these lanyards last winter and I just haven’t had the right trip to bust it out. So, Monday morning, knowing full well Miles would not be consuming any alcohol, I packed enough beer for two and chucked the beer lanyard in my pack….it was amazing! The beer was always close at hand and if I made a long cast and wanted a sip…I could conveniently take a drink while keeping an eye on my fly. If a fish did hit, I could react without fear of having to land my beer somewhere on the canoe where it might spill. I never lost a drop of beer do to spillage. It is also a great place to hook on nippers and hemostats. Over all I give this product a 10.

-Trent