This June looks to be a great opportunity for fly fishing on the native brook trout streams and the smallmouth rivers. The steady rains have provided perfect water levels in the Shenandoah National Park for the trout. Hopefully that will last all of this month.



Let’s start this blog with the smallmouth bass rivers. The rivers are warm enough that the smallmouth are starting to feed on hard head surface bugs. Success here depends on selecting the bug which will produce the action you need in each area. The action you can get from each bug depends on the shape of the body and the cut of the bugs face.



The Shenandoah Chugger has a large fat body and a deeply cupped face. It can be made to create a loud chugging action. This will often pull bass up from very deep water and undercut banks. The Slider has a long slim body with a fine pointed nose. This type body design makes it easy to produce a gentle teasing bug action. Fish this in 2-3 feet deep water over cobblestone bottoms around shaded river banks. The Shenandoah Blue Popper has a straight body with an up-sloping face. It is very effective in the tails of the pools and around aquatic grass beds. LISTEN TO THE PODCAST>>>



Fly Fishing for Native Brook Trout



There are many little yellow stoneflies and sulphur mayflies hatching. These in conjunction with the terrestrials are providing a great source of food for the trout. The trout are more wary than they were in April so use a stealthy approach to each pool. I have tapered down to 6X leaders and use a slack line presentation so our flies will drift to the trout just like the naturals. I like to use puddle cast or a lazy-S cast to assure a good drift. LISTEN TO THE PODCAST>>>

Fly fishing for the smallmouth has really picked up over the last two weeks. The shallow gravel bars along the river banks hold large numbers of shiner minnows. The bass feed in these shiners in a hit and run manner. They literally crash into the shallows and grab several shiners then return to the safety of the deep water. Cast a Silver Outcast Streamer out in front of the marauding bass and strip it right in front of him. Often they will hit it on the first presentation. If not, then try several more cast in front of the direction the bass is cruising. Listen to the rest of the podcast.>>>



Fly Fishing for Trout



For great trout fishing in May, anglers need to be observant of the aquatic hatches and how the trout react to them. The March Browns, Little Yellow Stoneflies and Sulphur Mayflies are occurring this month. A Mr. Rapidan Parachute Dry size 14 or March Brown Dry size 14 are excellent for the March Brown hatch. The Murray’s Stonefly Dry (yellow) size 16 is excellent for the LYS hatch. I match the Sulphur hatch with a Murray’s Sulphur Dry or Shenk’s Sulphur Dry size 16. By this time of the year we are using a Classic Leader 7.5ft 6X or Mountain Leader 6ft 6X. Listen to the rest of the podcast>>>

Fly fishing in April is wonderful on the mountain trout streams as the water levels and hatches are ideal. We have good hatches of Quill Gordons, Blue Quill, and March Browns. All three of these start hatching about mid-day and continue until dusk. The spinners return at dusk. This means the last two hours of the day will have the greatest dry fly fishing.







The Blue Quill is one of the major mayfly hatches that occurs in the East






Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass



We are on the early edge of the smallmouth bass season but we picking up a few nice smallmouth. A dependable area to catch some large smallmouth is a seventy foot long ledge lying perpendicular to the flow of the river with a five foot deep cut right downstream of it. This deep cut extends sixty feet down the river and holds great numbers of bass that feed heavily on sculpins and hellgrammites. I start at the downstream end of this pool and fish a Murray’s Heavy Black Hellgrammite size 6 across stream with a swing nymph tactic which swims my flies right along the stream bottom. I can spend two hours in these areas. By studying the river closely, you will be pleased with how many of these spots you find.



Learn to Fly Fish — Summer 2024 Fly Fishing Schools at Murray’s Fly Shop

Fly fishing in March on the smallmouth streams can be productive in the bank bays. These are indentations which floods have carved back into the river bank. Some of these reach 10-20 feet back into the bank. These block major currents but hold a generous food supply for the smallmouth.



Wade or float down the river to 30 feet out from the opening. I begin my casts to the upper end of the bank bay with my flies reaching all the way to the deep part and strip it out 6 inches every 4 seconds until I swim it out into the main part of the river. The strike usually comes just as the fly enters the main current. Successive casts are made two feet further downstream until I’ve covered the whole bank bay. Then I wade on downstream to the next bank bay. Effective flies include Murray’s Marauder (olive or chartreuse) size 6 and Murray’s Heavy Hellgrammite, black size 6.



Fly fishing for Native Brook Trout



By now most of us have cabin fever and are ready to fish the mountain trout streams. March is a wonderful time to fish these streams. In early March the Quill Gordon mayfly nymphs are reaching full size and moving to the lower part of the riffles in preparation of hatching. Fishing a Mr. Rapidan Bead Head Nymph size 14 upstream dead drift into the lower section of the riffle will catch many trout. By mid March I start using a Mr. Rapidan Emerger size 14. When I will start seeing Quill Gordon adults riding the surface of the stream, I switch to a Mr. Rapidan Parachute. By mid to late March you can expect the Blue Quill hatch. Listen to my Podcast for more information.