Floating the New River - July, 11th, 2011

Joe, Greg, Justin and I floated a 6 mile stretch below Hinton in an effort to beat the the heat. We fished from four one man pontoon boats. It took us about 3.5 hours to float it out. We ended up catching 38 total fish, mostly smallies with a couple of redeyes in the mix. I caught a couple on a Rebel Pop-R, a couple on a spinner, but most of our fish came off of G-tails. White was a great color. I did lose a really nice bass in the 2.5 lbs. range on a black G-tail right above CW Cabins. He got under a ledge while the current carried me downstream and broke my line. We had a fun float and got done before it got really hot.

Justin Fighting A Smallmouth and the Rapids

Bluegills & Foam Buggs - July 7th, 2011

Dad and I fished for Bluegills with flypoles and foam bugs from 7 to 10am. The fish bite was a little slow by bluegill fishing standards. We caught 46 gills and one kentucky spot. A lot of fish would chase but many wouldn't take it. The water temp was 82 degrees and rising with air temps in the 90's throughout the day.

Pond Fishing Fun - June 29th, 2011

Garrick, Avery, & I fished a Grant County Pond late one afternoon. The fishing was good even though it was really hot and humid. We caught several nice bluegills on worm and bobber and about a dozen 12" LMBs on spinners and Pop-R's. We only fished about an hour but we caught a lot of fish given the short time we were there.

South Branch in the Summertime - June 27th, 2011

  On a week long trip to Petersburg, WV I headed out and fished the South Branch of the Potomac early one morning for a couple of hours. The water was gin clear and crazy low. I waded from Welton Park at the Grant/Hardy county line upstream about a mile and a half. I water was so low that I just walked the rocky streambed from one little run to the next.  I fished in-line 1/4 oz. spinners and caught fish at every stop. I caught 18 total in around 2 hours of fishing. I caught one nice brook trout, a stocker about 13"that had washed down river from North Fork of the South Branch. The rest of my quarry were small bass, redeyes, bluegills, and lone fallfish. I had a fun morning of fishing, but unfortunately I forgot my camera at the house. The South Branch is a great summertime fishery because it's got no grass, all football sized rock bottom, good flow rates = good oxygen turnover, and colder water due the higher elevations and spring run off.