Vorlin
09-12-2006, 09:12 PM
Hello all,
Andy's been pretty kind with his responses and PM's to some of my comments and I thought it'd be good to let you all know where I'm coming from (my point of view) and this seemed like a good topic to do it under.
I'm in Virginia and watch the show through the forums here on the website. My main fishing area is the Rapahannock river, an incredible river in this area that provides about every sort of river angling possible with the only exception being that we don't have trout this far east in the state. Finding info on river techniques isn't always easy, particularly so for areas that you can't take a powerboat anywhere near. I found this site while searching for such info and Andy's been pretty cool about putting up with my out-of-state rear end. (grin)
I'm hoping that the purpose of the site might expand just a little to include being a place people can turn to for all sorts of river tips and techniques other than ones for trout fishing, which has plenty of it's own sites. Around here the big sport is smallmouth / crappie above the fall line and, to give you an idea, trophy fish in this area are officially considered to be 5 lbs / 20" for smallies, 2 lbs / 15" for crappie, 8 lbs / 22" for largemouth, 20 lbs / 37" for stripers and channel / blue / flathead catfish are 12 lbs. / 30 lbs. / 25 lbs. and 30" / 38" / 25" respectively.
I can hammer out 3 lb smallies pretty regularly and a guy at Gander Mtn. nailed 2 trophy smallies just a couple of weeks ago so the nice ones are around here... we just have to find and catch them!
On Sunday I caught a 3 and a half lb. or so smallmouth and this was the first time that my drag didn't just get yanked in spurts... the thing sounded like the turbo fan on a Cummins diesel! I literally did tear down and oil the reel after that fish tried to catch it on fire! One run-out lasted for nearly 5 straight seconds and the fish pulled out around 40 feet of line in that dash. The fish around here are many things but boring and wimpy aren't on that list!
One of the more "interesting" things is that the upper Rapahannock is where we do a lot of wading as we fish and a state record Longnose Gar (pike) was caught right here in the upper Rapahannock (later bested by someone elsewhere)... , trophy size Gar are 10 lbs. / 40". This isn't the most comforting thing to think about as you wade out and step into a chest deep hole as you walk out to a nice set of rocks that you want to sit on.
Motts Run Reservoir is literally across the street from my main smallmouth fishing grounds and that's where the state record Northern Pike was caught (a species I think you all know more about than we do down here). He was just a little guy, born and raised down here in the south... 31 lbs. 4 oz.
About the river angling in this area:
The fall line (the line between areas that have tides and areas that don't) is smack dab in the middle of downtown Fredericksburg and the line itself is a set of class 3 rapids. The tidal infuence simply can't be felt further upstream than the rapids because the water can't climb high enough for the tides to affect the river upstream of those rapids.
The fall line is not the same as the salt line... that's further downstream.
Below (downstream of) the fall (line) there's a silt bottom, the water is murky as anything (1-3 ft. visibility is the norm) and it's a virtual aquarium that includes catfish, largemouth, shad, perch varieties, and much, much more. The shad and herring run upriver in the autumn and, with them, come the stripers! There's something cool about being able to nail a 20 inch striper right in the middle of town!
Above the fall (line) the river is totally different. Crystal clear water flows swiftly, *often* dangerously so, over a bedrock and gravel bottom that has so many holes and boulders that the local rule of thumb is that if you can't see where you're about to put your foot then *don't move*!!! Over 70 people have drowned over the last 50 years or so in one little area alone, right smack in the middle of town. There are tiers of rapids all over the place mixed in with pools, coves and shifting sand bars that make the area a paradise for Kayaking(sp?) as long as you don't want rapids that could kill you too easily. Class 3 is about as harsh as it gets around here though there may be a set of class 4 here and there.
I'm hoping that we can all exchange tips on how to fish rivers effectively, including all various conditions of visibility and water levels. One thing I learned today is that there are fish everywhere but not necessarily the fish you're trying for. After 45 minutes of nothing but one single nibble, I decided to toss out a small hook with a piece of Fishin' Strips artificial bloodworm just to see if anything would bite at all. To my shock, I found out why nothing was hitting my huge Arkie Salty Crawlin' Grub as I cranked out a grass carp, 3 sunnies and a smallmouth bass all within a few minutes... and all under 6" in length. I think my grub weighs more than most of the fish I caught! The whole river is teeming with fish... but if you're fishing where the small ones are plentiful then you know there's a chance that they're there because they feel safe from the larger fish, at least for the moment. I guess I found their hiding place but what I wanted was the monsters, which I never did find today. Oh well, this was only a couple hundred yards from where I caught my reel-burning smallie so it's a small adjustment to find the bigger ones.
Anyway, that's enough of an intro and if I type any more I'll need an editor for this book. You all take care and good luck out on the rivers!
Virginia's official info on the Rapahannock:
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/fishing/waterbodies/display.asp?id=170
Vorlin / Scott
Andy's been pretty kind with his responses and PM's to some of my comments and I thought it'd be good to let you all know where I'm coming from (my point of view) and this seemed like a good topic to do it under.
I'm in Virginia and watch the show through the forums here on the website. My main fishing area is the Rapahannock river, an incredible river in this area that provides about every sort of river angling possible with the only exception being that we don't have trout this far east in the state. Finding info on river techniques isn't always easy, particularly so for areas that you can't take a powerboat anywhere near. I found this site while searching for such info and Andy's been pretty cool about putting up with my out-of-state rear end. (grin)
I'm hoping that the purpose of the site might expand just a little to include being a place people can turn to for all sorts of river tips and techniques other than ones for trout fishing, which has plenty of it's own sites. Around here the big sport is smallmouth / crappie above the fall line and, to give you an idea, trophy fish in this area are officially considered to be 5 lbs / 20" for smallies, 2 lbs / 15" for crappie, 8 lbs / 22" for largemouth, 20 lbs / 37" for stripers and channel / blue / flathead catfish are 12 lbs. / 30 lbs. / 25 lbs. and 30" / 38" / 25" respectively.
I can hammer out 3 lb smallies pretty regularly and a guy at Gander Mtn. nailed 2 trophy smallies just a couple of weeks ago so the nice ones are around here... we just have to find and catch them!
On Sunday I caught a 3 and a half lb. or so smallmouth and this was the first time that my drag didn't just get yanked in spurts... the thing sounded like the turbo fan on a Cummins diesel! I literally did tear down and oil the reel after that fish tried to catch it on fire! One run-out lasted for nearly 5 straight seconds and the fish pulled out around 40 feet of line in that dash. The fish around here are many things but boring and wimpy aren't on that list!
One of the more "interesting" things is that the upper Rapahannock is where we do a lot of wading as we fish and a state record Longnose Gar (pike) was caught right here in the upper Rapahannock (later bested by someone elsewhere)... , trophy size Gar are 10 lbs. / 40". This isn't the most comforting thing to think about as you wade out and step into a chest deep hole as you walk out to a nice set of rocks that you want to sit on.
Motts Run Reservoir is literally across the street from my main smallmouth fishing grounds and that's where the state record Northern Pike was caught (a species I think you all know more about than we do down here). He was just a little guy, born and raised down here in the south... 31 lbs. 4 oz.
About the river angling in this area:
The fall line (the line between areas that have tides and areas that don't) is smack dab in the middle of downtown Fredericksburg and the line itself is a set of class 3 rapids. The tidal infuence simply can't be felt further upstream than the rapids because the water can't climb high enough for the tides to affect the river upstream of those rapids.
The fall line is not the same as the salt line... that's further downstream.
Below (downstream of) the fall (line) there's a silt bottom, the water is murky as anything (1-3 ft. visibility is the norm) and it's a virtual aquarium that includes catfish, largemouth, shad, perch varieties, and much, much more. The shad and herring run upriver in the autumn and, with them, come the stripers! There's something cool about being able to nail a 20 inch striper right in the middle of town!
Above the fall (line) the river is totally different. Crystal clear water flows swiftly, *often* dangerously so, over a bedrock and gravel bottom that has so many holes and boulders that the local rule of thumb is that if you can't see where you're about to put your foot then *don't move*!!! Over 70 people have drowned over the last 50 years or so in one little area alone, right smack in the middle of town. There are tiers of rapids all over the place mixed in with pools, coves and shifting sand bars that make the area a paradise for Kayaking(sp?) as long as you don't want rapids that could kill you too easily. Class 3 is about as harsh as it gets around here though there may be a set of class 4 here and there.
I'm hoping that we can all exchange tips on how to fish rivers effectively, including all various conditions of visibility and water levels. One thing I learned today is that there are fish everywhere but not necessarily the fish you're trying for. After 45 minutes of nothing but one single nibble, I decided to toss out a small hook with a piece of Fishin' Strips artificial bloodworm just to see if anything would bite at all. To my shock, I found out why nothing was hitting my huge Arkie Salty Crawlin' Grub as I cranked out a grass carp, 3 sunnies and a smallmouth bass all within a few minutes... and all under 6" in length. I think my grub weighs more than most of the fish I caught! The whole river is teeming with fish... but if you're fishing where the small ones are plentiful then you know there's a chance that they're there because they feel safe from the larger fish, at least for the moment. I guess I found their hiding place but what I wanted was the monsters, which I never did find today. Oh well, this was only a couple hundred yards from where I caught my reel-burning smallie so it's a small adjustment to find the bigger ones.
Anyway, that's enough of an intro and if I type any more I'll need an editor for this book. You all take care and good luck out on the rivers!
Virginia's official info on the Rapahannock:
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/fishing/waterbodies/display.asp?id=170
Vorlin / Scott