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Shenandoah River

Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:35 am
by Bob J
I’ll be heading down to the south fork of the Shenandoah for the first week of October. Wondering if the smallies will still be active enough for poppers, or should I be thinking clousers and crayfish patterns? Has anybody fish down there this time of year?

Re: Shenandoah River

Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 9:20 am
by BiggerThomas
Bob J wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:35 am
I’ll be heading down to the south fork of the Shenandoah for the first week of October. Wondering if the smallies will still be active enough for poppers, or should I be thinking clousers and crayfish patterns? Has anybody fish down there this time of year?
Bob, when I've been unsure in such circumstances, I've used a dropper fly set up. For example, I'd use a popper up top and then a small clouser minor as a trailer fly below.

Re: Shenandoah River

Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 7:10 pm
by Bob J
Great idea - I usually don’t think of that for smallies. Maybe a hellgrammite pattern under there would look good.

Re: Shenandoah River

Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:55 am
by Rusty Spinner
Bob J wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:35 am
I’ll be heading down to the south fork of the Shenandoah for the first week of October. Wondering if the smallies will still be active enough for poppers, or should I be thinking clousers and crayfish patterns? Has anybody fish down there this time of year?
Give Bryan at the fly shop a call and ask him what's going on right now on that river.

https://www.whiteflyoutfitters.com/

Re: Shenandoah River

Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2020 7:47 am
by Bob J
Thanks - will do!

Re: Shenandoah River

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2020 7:47 am
by martalus
https://www.murraysflyshop.com/blogs/fishing-report

You might be able to glean some info from Murray's fly shop as well. Its a bit quaint, but I think they have been in business for decades and he has written several books on fly fishing for brook trout in the mountains as well as smallie fishing in the Shenandoah river/both forks of it. Water temps have come down considerably in the month of September (from around 80 to the low-mid 60s) but they should be stable for a while and smallmouth will be on the feedback stocking up for winter. Flows are low enough for wading but a bit too cool for a day of wet wading, unless you are an Icelandic viking.

Re: Shenandoah River

Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2020 7:02 am
by Bob J
Thanks - I will definitely stop in there and purchase an autographed copy of one of his books. The report seems fishy (in a good way), thanks!

Re: Shenandoah River

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2020 6:55 am
by Bob J
Reached out to Murray’s fly shop. Tried to set up a guided trip but we couldn’t get our schedules aligned. When Harry saw this he sent me a detailed email of spots to fish and what flies to throw. Class act. Will be stopping in for flies and to have a book signed.

Re: Shenandoah River

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2020 9:10 am
by njcatchrelease
I've used Mossy Creek Fly Fishing guides in Harrisonburg, VA. Not sure how close they are to where you are going to be fishing but they are great.

Re: Shenandoah River

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2020 12:32 pm
by lightenup
I canoed the Shenandoah river a few years back. Caught lots and lots of smallies. Most were tiny..about 8 inches, got a big one on a deep pool. the small ones hit anything and were everywhere. the big one was in a deep pool and took a black woolly bugger. the small ones sit in every crack and crevice you can find. Not sure what fork I was on but the scenery alone was worth the price of admission. We rented a canoe at a small outfit outside of Luray.

Re: Shenandoah River

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2020 12:33 pm
by lightenup
We also hiked to some waterfall in one park. the stream was full of little brookies...didn't bring a rod.