Fly fishing is sweeping the country.
It’s one of the most rapidly growing outdoor sports with an average annual growth of nearly 15 percent during the past five years.
“When trout snaps your fly on top of the water, there’s nothing like it,” says trout angler Dave Ruppel of Flat Top.
“It’s a rush of adrenaline you aren’t likely to forget.”
Fly fishing is gaining in popularity with many Mountain State anglers, and the diversity of insects in most streams make this technique challenging and rewarding.
“There’s more than 30 area streams in southeastern West Virginia that are stocked under the put-and-take trout program,” explains Mark Scott, assistant director of DNR fisheries in Charleston.
“The majority of these waters are well suited for fly fishing.”
Scott says area trout streams are listed in the West Virginia Trout Fishing Guide.
They can be found under the headings of a half dozen river systems including Gauley River, Greenbrier River, New River, James River, Coal River, Guyandotte River, and the Big Sandy River.
Popular trout fishing waters in the Mountain State include Glady Fork of Dry Fork; Shavers Fork of Cheat River; Elk River; South Branch of the Potomac; West Fork of the Greenbrier; Blackwater River; Gandy Creek; Williams River; Cranberry River; Second Creek; Milligan Creek, and Glade Creek.
Fly fishermen enjoy increasing success from March through June and often continue to have good fishing through the summer and fall.
Dave and his wife, Jenna, are dedicated trout anglers who have been fly-rodding area streams for years.
Trout stocking usually runs from January through May, but Dave prefers to wait until later in the season for his annual fly-fishing debut.
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“Most trout anglers quit fishing after the trout trucks stop running,” reasons Dave.
“This means less fishing pressure during the summer months and less competition from other anglers.”
Late spring and summer is the time for terrestrials, and grasshoppers and ants are very productive fly patterns during the period.
“Terrestrials are some of the most exciting patterns of flies to fish,” chimes Jenna, “because the trout see them as a big meal and feed aggressively.
“The strikes are often fast and furious.”
During warm weather, trout often lie at the bottom of pools, in the cooler water, where smaller flies might go by unnoticed.
“All trout feed aggressively on these terrestrial flies—grasshoppers, ants, crickets, beetles, inchworms, caterpillars, and others—from June through September,” explains Dave.
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“Most fly-fishermen have gone through the bait fishing, salmon egg fishing syndrome, and their main objective is to catch fish for fun with no intention of keeping them.
“Therefore, most of the trout taken with the fly rod are returned to the stream.”
This method of catch-and-release has become popular around the country during the past two decades and is catching on locally, the Ruppel couple believe.
“For some,” explains Jenna, “it’s catching some trout on a fly of their own making.
“For others, it’s more of matching what the trout are feeding on, and executing a perfect, drag-free presentation.”
A fly-fisherman’s presentation involves introducing a fly to a fish with the proper choice, size, and color.
Proper tippet size must also be considered. The line should be nearly invisible on the stream’s surface for maximum effect.
Even an angler’s physical position in the water must be considered. If he stands in the wrong spot, he is less likely to entice trout to take his fly.
“To me, fly-fishing is a form of hunting,” offers Dave.
“I like to go out on a stream, sneak along the creek or on the bank, spot a fish, and fish just for that fish.
“It’s a challenge. That way, you aren’t fishing blind. You can always tell the reaction you’re getting from a particular fish.”
Dave pauses, then adds, “Say for instance, you float a fly over a rainbow trout, and he comes and looks at it, but doesn’t take it. Then you either have the wrong fly or too large a tippet (the actual line you tie the fly on). If that’s the case, you need to make some kind of adjustment.”
The Ruppel duo say that tippet size is determined largely by the clarity of the water and the speed of its current.
“If you are fishing for a big fly, you can’t use a tiny tippet, or you won’t be able to cast it,” says Jenna.
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Technique, though, is more important than costly equipment in the sport of fly fishing.
“You don’’ have to own a $150 fly-rod to catch fish,” Dave says.
“But” he adds, “you won’t be able to refine your technique without adequate equipment. Poor quality rods will not allow you to master refined casting techniques and grow as a fly-fisherman.
“Poor quality rods make casting laborious. If you’re casting with a rod that you don’t enjoy using, you’re not going to fish as often.
“Fishing should be fun. If it’s not, then you’ll soon find yourself doing something else.”
Dave advises anglers to pay close attention on the trout stream. He says hooking the freshwater gamefish with a fly-rod is not as simple as it looks in magazines or on videos.
“Most fly fishing is done with what is known as a dead-drift on the fly line,” Dave explains. “That’s no pulling, tugging by the fish to indicate when to set the hook.”
He adds, “Sometime there’s little or no indication that you’ve had a strike.
“There is no tension on the fly line, because the fly has to float naturally in the current. Therefore, strikes are almost imperceptible.”
Landing the trout, after the fish is hooked, also can present another problem for the angler.
“If some trout makes a lunge while you’re trying to land him, and you’re not ready, he’ll likely break the tippet,” says Dave.
“That’s where a landing net is essential for hauling in big fish.”
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Meanwhile, many fishing enthusiasts say that trout are the best of the game fish.
Any of various small freshwater foods and game fishes closely related to salmon, trout are native to the Northern Hemisphere, but are now found throughout the world.
Trout put up a good fight when they’re hooked.
They’re very greedy eaters too.
In general, the food and breeding habits of all trout are similar. They feed on insects, crustaceans, worms, and smaller fishes and their eggs.
All trout spawn, or lay their eggs, in fresh water, generally in gravel-bottomed streams in which the female scoops out a hollow for the eggs.
After the eggs are laid and fertilized, the female covers them with sand or gravel. They hatch in approximately four to seven weeks, depending on the temperature and on the species.
A newly hatched trout, or fry, remain in the nest for a while, receiving nourishment from a yolk sac. After that, they emerge from the nest as fingerlings and begin to feed on plankton, the minute plant and animal life of a body of water.
The growth of the young depends on the availability of food and on other environmental conditions.
Trout thrive in cool, clear waters with a gravelly bottom, where the current is strong and there are rapids and deep pools.
The fish spawn in the cold weather of the fall or early spring. The eggs hatch when the temperature of the water rises in the spring.
Trout are among the most popular of all sport fishes, and in many areas of the United States streams are often stocked with trout raised in hatcheries.
They are also fished commercially, and many species have a delicious flavor.
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Top o’ the morning!