Rapidan

[abbie mcmullen]

Hi all! I am thinking of exploring the Rapidan river in the next couple weeks. Does anyone have any tips where to go? Thanks!

[Yambag Nelson]

There are only a couple of access points. I prefer to walk down from skyline drive but some people don't care for the hike back out.

[Cam Buglione]

I did a camping / fishing weekend on the Rapidan last fall.  If you park on Skyline and take the Mill Prong Trail down a little over a mile to Rapidan Camp, and then take the unpaved path (horses) down ~1/4 mile there are a lot of good spots to throw a fly

https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/upload/RapidanCamp_RoadTrail.pdf 

Did pretty well there last November.  On the same trip I also tried fishing the Rapidan from the bottom up starting outside the park boundaries, but didnt have much success in the lower portions

[MikeV]

Has anyone fished the regulation waters on the Back Creek tail waters... to the west of Jackson River? According to Beau Beasley all other sections of Back creek are off limits. Supposed to be more of a small river and very scenic, mostly healthy rainbows. Just curious, might add it to my April trip to the Jackson..

[Misha Gill]

Just a heads up, if you head down to the Rapidan and access it from the bottom, the road to get there is very, very rough. It's borderline washed out. Trent advises me that this is the normal state of affairs, so don't count on it being fixed. I was able to drive in with my subaru outback but it was pretty hairy and I had to really concentrate on what I was doing. It's a sweet stream though. I caught a good number of 8-12" brookies. I tight line nymphed and various stonefly patterns in s16-18 worked well. Dry dropper also worked but it's not as effective in the big pools. The fish were primarily hanging in the tails of pools. 

[Gregg DiSalvo]

Misha, that's a fantastic size range for doah brookies.  I may have to find my way to the rapidan.  I've always avoided it due to no clearance with my car and perceived crowds, but your report is very promising.  Maybe i'll hike in sometime from the top.  

[Andrew Sarcinello]

You can also park at the end of Graves Mill Rd and hike in from the lower end - long hike to get to good water but if you aren't able to drive the rough road its another option to consider.  And you get to hike downhill at the end of the day.  I've always gotten distracted and gone up the Staunton though...lol. 

[Andrew Sarcinello]

Minor correction - that would be the lot on Graves Rd.  You take Graves Mill Rd for a while and then turn right onto Graves Rd.

[Gregg DiSalvo]

that sound like a good excuse for a hike

On Friday, February 23, 2018 at 11:36:14 AM UTC-5, abbie mcmullen wrote:

[Misha Gill]

Greg - yeah man! The first fish I got was a gorgeous 10" male and I thought my day was made. Then I caught a few more that size and ended the day with a 12" fish, which is a trophy for the Shenandoah. I'm going to post a trip report with more pics on my blog soon (districtflyfishing.tumblr.com), I'll put it up here too. 

What was hilarious about the day was that I forgot to bring any tippet. So I was scavenging tippets from various old leaders. I lost my tight line rig in a tree and didn't have enough for a new leader, so I switched to a dry-dropper. And that ended up working better in the stretch I went on to fish. Stuff like that made it a very memorable day.

I feel a little bad hotspotting but I am mollifying myself that the Rapidan is no secret... and I just fished at the first turnoff.

[MikeV]

Thanks for the map and info.  I would like to do a Rapidan trip this Spring at a time recommended by members here. Might do a stay over someplace and make it a multiple day thing.. 

[Misha Gill]

Post is up! Let me know how I did!

https://districtflyfishing.tumblr.com/post/171327151995/tippet-and-the-river-i-put-off-fishing

[Evan D]

Great post man!!

[Matt S.]

I really enjoyed reading that. You had an awesome day those were nice fish!

[Misha Gill]

Thanks guys! I thoroughly enjoyed myself.