By: Chris Shaffer It’s no secret that the Blackwater River is one of West Virginia’s most treasured trout fisheries. Located roughly an hour from Elkins this well-known river is inches from Davis and Blackwater Falls and receives heavy stocking to the beat of roughly 20,000 fish each year. Trout plants are well underway and more […]
By: Chris Shaffer While trout stocking beings in January in West Virginia it’s February that marks the start of larger trout plants. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources has already been releasing trout into the state’s rivers, creeks, lakes and ponds and almost a million more are coming this year. We called Jim Hedrick, […]
By: Chris Shaffer Trout stocking has been occurring weekly in South Carolina’s Upstate. However, most of the trout plants are taking place in park lakes and special regulation delayed-harvest areas. That will all change in late February as full trout stocking resumes. However, the East fork of the Chattooga River is getting some pretty impressive […]
By: Chris Shaffer Trout season is about to screech to a halt in West Virginia. On the heels of five months of aggressive trout stocking the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources is about to take their foot off the gas as lakes, rivers and streams begin to warm. Fortunately, there’s still time to cash […]
By: Chris Shaffer Hat Creek, Upper Sacramento River, McCloud River, Pit River, Fall River and many other systems in the mountains above Redding get lots of publicity, and for a good reason. They are heavily stocked, well promoted by fly shops and frequently show up in fishing reports, on hashtags and Facebook posts. Meanwhile, there […]
By: Samuel Davidson We’ve been catching lots of trout since the opening day, but never have had the opportunity to catch trout this big this season. This is the biggest fishing week all year at Big Tumbling Creek. The creek is loaded with brooks and rainbows right now and the Virginia Department of Game & […]
By: Chris Shaffer We had no plans of fishing the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River. Meanwhile, paralleling the system on the way to the South Branch of the Potomac we couldn’t resist making a cast. On the other hand, even on a Wednesday fishing pressure was high. We struggled to […]
By: James Swearingen Looking at the forecast for this weekend I’m expecting good conditions for the trout opener in the greater Pittsburgh area. They are calling for rain all day today, which is likely to raise stream levels and spread fish throughout the system. I’d say that’s a good thing. This will spread the fishing […]
By: Chris Shaffer Following a summer marked by low and warm water levels this weekend’s cold snap in the Southeast spurred an incredible trout bite in Cherokee, North Carolina. While Monday and Tuesday saw nominal pressure, those who were fishing saw 10-fish limits in fewer than 30 minutes in some instances. “It’s the warmest summer […]
By: Chris Shaffer Loons interrupted silence all morning. Otherwise, the calm, mirror-like Birch Lake surface exploited where trout were jumping. Many trout leaped consecutively, and from all directions. We were having a blast trying to cast towards them when a voice from 50 yards behind us encroached on the action. “Are you guys using bait?” […]
