10/05/2016 Rockbridge

By Bob Randall on Sunday, October 9th, 2016 in Fishing reports, Social Events, No Comments

Three of went to Rockbridge last Wednesday, Oct 5, to Rockbridge Trout Resort.  Hoping the rain would pass ahead of us, Fred Brown, Pat Collins, and myself postponed our departure from Springfield until 8am.  For the most part it was dry on the way over and we were completely expecting blue skies.  We did see a little blue now and then but it was mostly cloudy and intermittently rainy.  We persevered.

The first Wednesday of each month is their “Appreciation Day” when the waive the $25 fee normally charged to fish.  You have to ask for the discount.  That works for the Catch and Keep fishing where you have to pay for you fish at $4.50/pound before cleaning.  You cannot release your catch at that price.

Upon arrival at the office, we were told that the fishing hadn’t been very good, that the trout were spawning early, and bunching up.  Oh, well, we were there so we might as well fish.

I’ve only fished there once before, Fred had fished there many times, Pat was a new fly fisher with only 2 or 3 hours of fly fishing time under her belt.  The information we were given seemed to be true.  I caught three nice ones that were 15, 16, & 18 inchers.  Fred also caught three but I don’t think we measured them.

We observed a group of four fishermen in a semi-circle all fishing the same hole.  They seemed to be doing well in that one spot.  Yes, the fish were grouping up.  Up at the mill pond, there was a large group of fish at the lower end.  The fellow who was fishing that group caught a number of fish but all but one was foul-hooked.  He didn’t seem to mind fishing that way.  I tried fishing in it but I used a bright egg pattern so I could watch for the fish to take it into their mouths.  Still, if I missed the hook set I was liable to foul-hook another fish.  I don’t believe I’ll fish a group like that again.  Although, I saw a few small mayflies in the air, I never saw any rise from the surface nor did I see any fish working near the surface.

I used my insect seine once to see what I could find in the water.  I saw a lot of small flat worms and maybe some leaches.  I found two or three very small nymphs that I believe to be mayfly nymphs but my 4 diopter reading glasses were not enough to make them out for sure.  I have to practice more with the seine.

As with all fishing trips where no one gets hurt, it was an adventure.

 

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