First time to SNP - Suggestions?

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Ryan Payne

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Apr 24, 2012, 6:36:27 AM4/24/12
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I'll be heading up to Shenandoah National Park this weekend to camp at Big Meadows Campground. I'm planning to chase some Brookies while I'm there... my first time fishing in the park. Does anyone know anything about the streams in this area of the park? I'll have my 4wt, and I'm willing to hike down the mountain if necessary. But, I'd love to find a stream that is accessible by foot from Skyline Drive.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Ryan

Jeffrey Nowak

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Apr 24, 2012, 9:26:33 AM4/24/12
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Ryan,

Just hit SNP last weekend particularly Hughes river. Fishing was not the greatest, I hiked in about 2 or 3 miles through some steep terrain and got skunked! I saw a few other guys fishing who told me that the brookies were hitting gnats and that the fish were tiny to begin with.

In the past I have had good luck with White Oak canyon. Its a bit further south on Skyline and supports bigger fish however, the hike is still pretty intense. You wont get the bigger (7 inches plus) fish unless you do a 3 mile plus hike in and go past some of the falls. Harry Murray has an amazing book about fishing the park I highly recommend it.

Good luck let me know how you do!
Keep Fishing~
_jeff


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Dalton Terrell

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Apr 24, 2012, 10:00:59 AM4/24/12
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Ryan,

Harry Murray's book is a good idea, as is Harry Slone's Trout Streams of Virginia, which has a pretty good section on Shenandoah National Park. Another, even better idea is to go pick up a map of SNP at REI or another outdoor store and look for the blue lines. Every one of these creeks is accessible by foot from Skyline Drive and nearly all should have fish; just pick one that is trail accessible, near your campground and give it a go. For flies, I would pick up some size 14 and 16 dries (maybe some Mr. Rapidans, Orange Stimulators, Klinkhammers, etc), you won't need to match the hatch. Have fun, this is one of my favorite places to fish, especially this time of year.

Dalton

Danny Barrett

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Apr 24, 2012, 10:04:37 AM4/24/12
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The book us great. I have a copy.  As long as ur tossin a 16 prince about a foot below a 12 parachute royal wolf you will hit brookies.  I tie my flies with a little less material then the store bought ones and put flash in the prince. The one thing ive learned after fishing SNP my whole life, there is no suh thing as having your prince to close the the bottom.

Danny Barrett

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Apr 24, 2012, 10:06:46 AM4/24/12
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The Rapidan is only a 2 mile hike down from the Meadow. Its the most upstream section by Hoovers house. Its a great history trip and fishing.

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Ryan Payne

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Apr 24, 2012, 10:25:21 AM4/24/12
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Thanks for all the great info! I will pick up one of the suggested books for future trips. The suggestion to get a map from REI is a great idea too.
 
I've heard that the upper Rose river is a good place to fish/hike. Anyone been there?
 
I'll post a trip report after the weekend.
 
-Ryan

On Tuesday, April 24, 2012 6:36:27 AM UTC-4, Ryan Payne wrote:

Fred

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Apr 24, 2012, 3:01:18 PM4/24/12
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White oak is prolly one of the best Nd not as far hike S rose river

Bryan Lanier

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Apr 24, 2012, 3:22:25 PM4/24/12
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A buddy and I are going to gunpowder falls Saturday am. Where's the best place to park and start? Flies?

Any hints at all are appreciated. 

Thanks
Bryan Lanier 

Sent from my iPhone

Rich, Marek

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Apr 24, 2012, 3:28:01 PM4/24/12
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I would highly suggest connecting with the guys at Backwater Angler. They are extremely knowledgeable and are located a few minutes from the river.

 

www.backwaterangler.com

 

Marek

Brad Gentner

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Apr 24, 2012, 3:37:23 PM4/24/12
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If you need a guide, I highly recommend Micah Danmeyer at Knee Deep Flyfishing. He has a great blog of river conditions and knows that place like the back of his hand. http://kneedeepff.com/

If you tie, he has some excellent patterns on his blog. If there is a hatch, match it, but light colored, large wooly buggers tied heavy are a good search pattern when nothing is coming off. You wouldn't think it, but white buggers can work wonders.

Scott Stankus

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Apr 24, 2012, 3:54:10 PM4/24/12
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Remember to take proper precautions when going to the Gunpowder...
 
 
--Scott




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chef.fred...@gmail.com

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Apr 25, 2012, 3:52:16 PM4/25/12
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Falls rd . has 2 good parking spots and probably most scenic part. Caddis flies should be working and soft hackles as well.Long leaders to 7 x is a pretty muh a must

On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 3:22 PM, Bryan Lanier <bryan....@gmail.com> wrote:

Ryan Payne

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Apr 26, 2012, 11:09:44 PM4/26/12
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Does anyone know what licenses are needed for fishing inside Shenandoah National Park boundaries? Looks like I can use VA freshwater license only.. no Trout license necessary unless I'm in designated stocked/delayed harvest waters, right? Can anyone confirm that?

Thanks!
Ryan


On Wednesday, April 25, 2012 3:52:16 PM UTC-4, flyphshr wrote:
Falls rd . has 2 good parking spots and probably most scenic part. Caddis flies should be working and soft hackles as well.Long leaders to 7 x is a pretty muh a must

On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 3:22 PM, Bryan Lanier <bryan....@gmail.com> wrote:
A buddy and I are going to gunpowder falls Saturday am. Where's the best place to park and start? Flies?

Any hints at all are appreciated. 

Thanks
Bryan Lanier 

Sent from my iPhone


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Howard A

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Apr 27, 2012, 12:36:31 PM4/27/12
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that's correct.
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