Jackson, Jordan Run, Mare Run, and Left Prong of Wilson -- license checked for the first time!

[TurbineBlade]

Jackson:

We pulled in below Gathright Friday having already noted how high the river was on the route to the dam.  Dern!  Anyway, we decided to pull in and make a few casts just for the heck of it and then move along if nothing happened.  As I was strapping my waist pack on a black SUV pulled in right behind us and we were approached by an Agent.  It's kind of odd -- though I think I always have all my licenses packed, I still experience a moment of unease hoping my license wasn't water soaked, or placed into a different pack, or forgotten or something.  Anyway, we both were "legal" and the guy let us go about our business.  Not that there was any business.   The fishing there was a musty fart not unlike the cloud lingering above Covington.  Man that town stinks.  

After dropping heavy nymphs and leeches (and some other crap) into a few pockets/seams that I could reach without washing away, we decided "this is stupid" and moved along.  I was kind of in a poor mood at that point.  As we packed up a couple of folks going for a walk indicated that the water was up pretty much everywhere (Back, etc.) and temps still a bit cold.  He then proceeded to tell me that I was "probably not getting deep enough" so I just thanked him and nodded, thinking of 3 tungsten leeches I'd just lost from not getting deep enough with a Teeny BS-100 and a 4' leader.  

Wilson:

We pulled onto the old road with the abandoned rail car and found the upper "brookie" section at about 3:30 pm.  I was in a foul mood about the Jackson and vowed to never again mess with stupid rainbow and brown trout on stupid, big rivers near towns that smell like dead gerbils. 

This is a really tight stream, but holy cow was it worth fishing!  This was a our first "great" brook trout day of the season.  A 6" fish was a lunker and I don't blame folks who don't care for that kind of fishing, but I loved it and would do it again.  Using a 9' rod to find (usually) ONE good opening to make a back cast, bow-and-arrow casts, etc. are really a lot of fun to us.  There's something comforting about pulling fish after fish out of all the spots that look like they should have fish.  Love it Love it!  

(Lots of rain overnight after Wilson)

Jordan Run:

Is there a stream here?  Wow, we had to us 4WD to navigate the road leading to it, and I had to heave 2 fallen trees out of the road as well.  Long story short -- we couldn't find any *obvious access to the stream short of bushwhacking through God-forsaken jungle down a mountain.  However!  We saw lots of bear crap, 2 grouse, and a lot of great vegetation.  I may not try this one again -- it's a bit too rough to be practical.  

Mare Run:

This one has potential.  I was amazed by the singing of birds and the number of pine trees all along this stream.  If fishing REALLY tight spots isn't your thing, don't go here.  That said, even with pretty high water, I managed a couple of trout in the "soft" spot right against the banks which the midges were piling up trying to avoid the rip of the current.  There ARE fish still in the streams when they are running high ;).  I'd return to this one with better flows and think it would be a good, tiny/tight stream to fish.  

Make sure you have your license on you!  Sometimes I swap bags, etc. and worry I might leave mine at home.  When you literally never get checked you can kind of get complacent about it.  

I'm hoping to fish for shad soon for my once per year trip to DC.  Keep the reports coming!  ;)  

Oh!  I forgot the part about hiking, spending time at the cabin with Bethy, smoking 2 good cigars, and drinking beer.  

Gene