Conway River Browns

[Forrest Allen]

Quick update on the Conway River (border of Madison and Greene Counties):

I did a little backcountry camping with a buddy this weekend, and got into some really nice brown trout. We came to the river from the East, and parked at the little pull-off near Haunted Creek. The recent rains came close to washing out a couple parts of that road, but 4 wheel drive wasnt necessary (high clearance was). We made the hike down to the river, and hiked down to the 3rd river crossing to fish up from there. The water was very high (see comparison of first and second pictures; first was October of 2011, second was this past weekend), and the bottom was very slick (I got to test out my new waterproof phone case by accident - it worked!). Felt soles would have been better. The water was very clear and pretty fast, so wading across many desirable spots was simply not feasible for reasons of spooky fish and poor footing in fast water. The flow was a little over 3 feet, and lowering, at about 355 cfls. 

I caught my biggest Shenandoah brown trout on a size 18 prince nymph, and my buddy caught his first ever brown trout on something similar. 

We made the cut up to the left along Devil's Ditch (where I'd not fished before) to find our place to camp. It was a gorgeous night - pretty cool, minimal wind, and a beautiful moon. We ended up doing some adventuring at night through the two rivers which was pretty interesting. Sunday morning I landed another nice brownie in Devils Ditch, where I expected only to catch brook trout. Catching a nice brown in an small pool started the day off on the right foot (3rd cast!). 

I love the Conway River for the challenge, location, and incredible fish. I'd prefer just slightly less water than we had this time, but it turned out just fine as you can see from the pictures!

Keep em wet!

Forrest

[Forrest Allen]

A few more pictures (wouldnt fit on first post)

[Andrew Sarcinello]

Really nice browns. I lost a small one in the Ditch this summer but otherwise have not landed one there yet. If you go a decent ways up you'll run into some substantial falls that probably keep browns from making it too far up there.

[TurbineBlade]

We were out there the other day as well -- only saw 1 other guy, and a crapload of deer hunters parked at middle rap parking area.  

Nice report-

Gene

[Forrest Allen]

What day were you out there, Gene? How did y'all do? 

I saw a handful of deer hunters (but only heard one gunshot), some casual campers, and only one pair of fly fishermen on Sunday. 

It sounds like I need to go a lot further upstream if I want to get after the brookies in good numbers. I dont consider myself lazy, but I know (and proved) there are nice browns within a short walk of that parking spot, so I didnt bother going too far. Devil's Ditch will be my primary focus on my next trip there, for sure. It sounds like they exist in comparable numbers to the Rapidan once you get to the good pools.

[TurbineBlade]

This was 2 weeks ago I think?  The guy we ran into was pleasant, and was moving down toward Devil's ditch whereas we were basically starting there and moving upstream ;).  

I had the experience of catching nearly all brook trout when fishing the dry and/or a shallow dropper (e.g., soft hackle).  Browns were hitting deeper nymphs, or the old Dingle Johnson if you will.  

The further upstream you go, the tighter and more brook trout you seem to get.  Eventually you get beyond where the main road follows and you kind of have to trek back in the woods.  

In any case, we love that stream. Beth seems to get bigger trout there than I do.  A month or so back she got one (maybe 14-15" -- and pretty) that pulled out drag.  Note that this is an orvis clicker reel with fairly light drag tension, but hey!  It sounded funny on such a small stream.  

That one butter brown you have there is a good one -- pictures never do justice, but I know a good one from that stream when I see it.  

Gene

[TurbineBlade]

Be careful going in there after a lot of rain - the uphill part of road (more or less where that first pull-off is down and left as you drive in) gets extremely slippery and washed out.  We had to pull 4WD that day, no lie.  

Gene

[Danny Barrett]

What part of Conway were u on

On Nov 24, 2015 10:08 AM, "Forrest Allen" <gforres...@gmail.com> wrote:

A few more pictures (wouldnt fit on first post)

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[Forrest Allen]

We mainly fished the Conway for the ~3/4 mile below the confluence of Devil's Ditch. We spent a little time on Devil's Ditch, but mainly just camped up that way. I regret not going further up for more opportunities for brookies - there were still browns a little ways up there. 

[TurbineBlade]

Watch your step on that footpath along the left bank there.  The leaves cover up some big rocks I found out ;). 

[HeaveToo]

I have fished the Conway.  It was my favorite Trout Stream when I lived out that way.  It is a beautiful stretch of water.

I use to fish the lower end of it.  I did pretty good on the native browns.  There are some tenacious brookies in there as well.

 

[Kyle Settle]

Has anyone fished the Conway recently? 

[Parker]

I drove past the Conway on Sunday. It is completely flooded and unfishable. I don't know how long until the water will drop and what effect it will have on the fishing. The gauge for the Rapidan in Culpeper gives you a sense for just how much water rain that area has had. 

[Kyle Settle]

I live a few miles from it as the crows fly. I hadn’t fished it in a few years so was just wondering if it was still worth fishing.

I won’t be hitting it for a few weeks based on the way it looked over the weekend.