West "By God" Virginia

Went up to the the mountains recently to chase wild rainbows and native brook trout. We caught the weather just right, and had a great trip. We fished Seneca Creek for the most part. It is a stream listed on the Top 100 trout streams in the country by TU. All of the fish in the stream are naturally reproduced and full of beautiful colors. There were some great camping sites along the river that I'd like to check out some day.

We caught several fish this size with colors that were incredible.

The stream gets a bit more rugged as you go up the mountain. It is one of the most scenic places I've ever been. I can't wait to go back.

Stocking

We stocked the Rainbow Trout for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources last week at Brookville tailwater. They only have one guy that transports the fish from the hatchery in northern Indiana, so if we want to spread the fish out over the whole river, we need to show up with a crew of bucket carrying stockers. Here is the crew from last week.

After the stocking I got a chance to do some fishing for the trout that were already in the stream. I was lucky enough to hook into this nice trout using a Clouser Minnow on a 4 wt. This is one of the biggest fish I have caught in Brookville since I have been fishing the tailwater.

Cold Day

Headed out with Ed, Jeff and Scott to try our luck in the cold. Guides were freezing up all day. Trees were full of ice from the freezing rain the day before. We fished all day and took several good fish on both streamers and nymphs.

This one took a streamer swung through her hole.

Ed got this one on a nymph.

We had a great day, even with the freezing temps.

Bathroom

Just wanted to post these pics to preserve the moment.

Lots of work ahead in here.

Flood Waters

We have had over two inches of rain in the past two days sending all of the streams and rivers way out of their banks. Eagle creek behind my house came up all the way to my back yard.

I got a chance to get over to Brookville since they were holding back water because the West Fork of the Whitewater River was in flood stage. The East Fork where we catch trout was running at 100 cfs but off color due to run off. The run-off brought the stream temp up to 40 so the fish were much more active. As I'm driving over my fishing buddy Andy called and said, "I think you've got a big fish in you today." So I thought he jinxed me, but that wasn't the case. He was right. In the first hole I fished I caught the biggest brown I've ever caught. It was a female that measured 21" long and weighed over 4 lbs. It put up an outstanding fight, jumping three times and making several runs. I was so jazzed, but there were no other people in the area. That might have been because of the twenty mile per hour winds and the driving rain storm I was fishing in. I even had to laugh at myself as I was fighting this fish and the rain was coming down so hard you couldn't see the other bank. Fortunataly the rain didn't last long and I was able to keep fishing. The rain did reduce the visability in the stream to about 6 inches so I headed up to the Honey hole to try my luck. I ended up switching from the egg I used in the Park to a dark brown wooly bugger and took three fish. I ended up with five fish for the day and one of those a true bruizer. The rainbow in the pic was from a different day, but it was caught in the same spot as the big brown, so I thought I'd post that pic. I wish I'd had a camera for the big brown, but oh well maybe I'll get another.

Stormy Tuesday

We had a big storm last night that woke up the whole family at 3 in the morning. Lightning struck right next to the house and took out the dog fence. Looks like I'm going to have to buy a new transmitter for Skip. Could have been much worse.

First Post

As a first post it should be said that I don't have any experience with this blog deal, but I am willing to learn and see where it goes from here.

Mostly I want a place where I can record my fishing trips and maybe post a couple of pics if I can figure that stuff out. Looks like I might have that part tackled.

Went for some trout yesterday and got a couple, unfortunately nothing like the one here. He was caught and released back in November. JC, a fishing partner, got one about this size yesterday. Small shad kill came through the dam, but did not spur on any significant feeding. Met up with several friends from TU and had a great day on the stream.

Gotta love that Super Bowl game. Since it couldn't be the Colts, the Giants are the next best thing.