Back Creek Delayed Harvest

Stream Category: DH

Wild Trout: Very Probable 

Stocked Trout: Brown, and Rainbow

Other Species of Note: Possibility of Steelhead and Brook Trout

Gear:

Dry Flies: Adams, Caddis

Nymphs: Pheasant tail, Prince, Hares Ear, Stonefly patterns, Copper John, Perdigon, Squirmy Wormy, Mop, Hot Spot Flies

Streamers: Sex Dungeon, Kreelex, Wooly Buggers

Waders: Yes

Net: Yes

Wading Stick: Yes!!!!!!!

Casting: Overhead, Roll, Spey, and Tuck

About:

What can I say about the Delayed Harvest Section of Back Creek that I haven’t already said in the post about the main section of Back Creek… ? Well it is technically a tail water that is stocked. Located in Sunrise, Va this stream has been reconstructed  by Dominion Power after they built a dam to generate power, now this dam and Dominion Power has created one amazing fishery. 

Fish this area just like I have mentioned in my regular Back Creek section, but fish deep. Again, make sure you have a wading stick. This water when it is high can move very fast, and even at its lowest it moves faster than most water in other near by rivers and creeks. 

Additional comments:

Parking can easily be found throughout Back Creek, and the camping area/fishing ponds near the Dominion Power house. Just be mindful of the “No Trespassing” signs. Also you will definitely be in bear country, be mindful of this. Also do not expect to get cell phone service, make sure you let someone know that you are going here and when you expect to be back. 

Directions:

Back Creek

 

Stream Category: A

Wild Trout: Unknown

Stocked Trout: Brook, Brown, and Rainbow

Other Species of Note: Possibility of Steelhead

Gear:

Dry Flies: Adams, Caddis

Nymphs: Pheasant tail, Prince, Hares Ear, Stonefly patterns, Copper John, Perdigon, Squirmy Wormy, Mop, Hot Spot Flies

Streamers: Sex Dungeon, Kreelex, Wooly Buggers

Waders: Yes

Net: Yes

Wading Stick: Yes!!!!!!!

Casting: Overhead, Roll, Spey, and Tuck

About:

Back Creek is one of those streamers that will fool you in a heart beat, make sure you have a wading stick. This is the only stream I have ever fell in and ruined a phone. It happened so quickly that I didn’t even have a chance to recover. This stream moves fast, even at its lowest, beware of sudden shelfs in the water you are wading in. 

As far as the stream itself, well all i can simply say is “beautiful.” This is a stream out of a story book, the down side is that unless you live close by then it will be a drive. However the drive is also beautiful. It is definitely a freestone creek with lots of limestone. The fish here have so many places to post up and hide in that it is unreal. But don’t be dishearten by this fact: yes you will lose flies a lot on this stream if you are fishing deep like you should, but the rewards are marvelous fish and one of the most secluded areas to fish in. I have never been out west to the Rocky Mountains, however this area makes me feel like that is how every stream is out west. 

Honestly I have caught fish at this stream on almost everything, they are vicious.. However you must read the water, and sight fish. Look for deep holes or shelfs that fish can hide in, they are there. I prefer hot spot and mop flies on this stream the most, just because it gives those fish a little more to entice them to strike. But most streamer patterns also work, just be prepared to be hung up a lot. 

So if you noticed on the “Wild Trout” section I put “Unknown,” this because there is a lot of speculation on whether this stream actually holds wild trout or if just continues to hold hold-over trout. Either way you can fish this stream year round and catch fish in it, just like the Jackson River. Also there is a slight chance that you might catch a steelhead in this stream. They were introduced by the State of Virginia into Lake Moomaw, with the hopes that they would go up the Jackson River towards Hidden Valley and also up Back Creek to spawn. However, again, there is much speculation as if this ever succeeded. I for one have never caught a steelhead on Back Creek. 

I highly recommend this stream, big fish do exist in this stream and it is one of the few that you can fish year round. 

Additional comments:

Parking can easily be found throughout Back Creek, just be mindful of the “No Trespassing” signs. Also you will definitely be in bear country, be mindful of this. Also do not expect to get cell phone service, make sure you let someone know that you are going here and when you expect to be back. 

Directions:

Jackson River (Hidden Valley)

Stream Category: Put and Take – A

 

Wild Trout:

Stocked Trout: Brown, Brook, and Rainbow

Other Species of Note: None

 

Gear:

Dry Flies: Adams, Caddis, and Terrestrials

Nymphs: Stone Flies, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Hares, Midges, Mop Flies, and Squirmmy Wormies, Perdigon

Streamers: Kreelex, Minnow Patterns, Articulated Minnow Patterns

Waders: Yes

Net: Yes

 

Casting: Tuck, Roll, and Overhead

About:

Honestly I was optimistic like I was when I first began this website, when I was young, loving to explore – hearing of great places to fish and wanting to fish them, still thinking that they would be amazing, that I would never get skunked, that every fish that I caught would be like the big ones on social media and in magazines. However now that I am older and wiser I have become very grim over the state of fishing in Virginia.

A lot of the books and information that is out there for anyone to find are often very outdated. Always check the copy write date on a book, not to mention what publication of the book it is. Honestly several of my posts are probably outdated, but I don’t think they are outdated enough for me to re-do them in their entirety.

So when I first heard of the Hidden Valley section of the Jackson River I was super stoked about going there, my buddy made it sound like it compared to the South Holston and Watauga Rivers of Tennessee. Both of which I have visited and will always admire. Now fast forward several years later, a buddy and I (who also has heard amazing things about Hidden Valley) see that it has been stocked the day before and decide to go to Hidden Valley. At that point in time I was living in Blacksburg and he was living in Pembroke, no matter how we went we were looking at a minimum of a two hour drive. So being young and stupid (there are a lot better places to fish in the Blacksburg area than Hidden Valley) we decided to take the day off and go see what all the fuss was about. Upon first seeing the place it was as describe, the Mecca of Virginian fly fishing; perfect parking, you could easily cast over handed, you could streamer fish to your hearts to delight. However what we quickly found out was that this was hardly the case. The water was low, the parking lot was filled with vehicles, the bridge leading to the bed and breakfast was as packed as Myrtle Beach, and that at almost every good hole or run there was already someone there.

Granted I knew that Hidden Valley was put and take, put I thought the people that would be there would have a little bit more class, especially since so many fly fishermen had recommended to me. Again I was wrong. By the end of the day my buddy and I were so disgusted of the place that we gave up only after being there a couple hours, yes we had caught some fish, but they were not the fish of legend.

So several years go by and one of my fishing buddies has heard stories of Hidden Valley and how great it was and wanted to go. I told him my original experience with the place, but he insisted that we go. Guess what we found… the same fucking thing that I had seen several years before. But being wiser and older I had learned how to combat fish, sadly my buddy didn’t know how to do that. I would bomb people’s holes with my nymphs, I would cast with reckless abandonment, and eventually a good hole would be ours. Hey spin fishermen due to same thing to us fly fishermen all of the time, it is only fair that they get a taste of it back once in a while. Needless to say we caught some fish, decent, but not great. After that we left. Since then I have been back only one more time and that was just to get photos of the damnable place.

Ok, enough bitching, as you can already tell – I do not recommend going here. The Hidden Valley of the Jackson river is a very lazy freestone stream, with the proper eye ware you can spot most of the trout from the banks. The spots going towards the Special Regulation section are a bit tougher to get to, but I do not think they are stocked as well as below the bridge at the bed and breakfast. Below the bed and breakfast just follow the path, look for any side openings in the brush and go explore them. There will be one section that the stream just opens up and almost becomes like a limestone stream, there is good fishing here if it is not packed.

So the moral of the story is having the correct information before going somewhere is often crucial, that is why I continue to do this website. If I had only known about Cowpasture or Bullpasture, I would have easily gone there instead of Hidden Valley.

Additional Comments: Parking can be found at the Hidden Valley Parking lot.

 

Directions:

 

Jackson Valley (Hidden Valley Special Regulation)

Stream Category: Special Regulation

 

Wild Trout:

Stocked Trout: Brown, Brook,  and Rainbow

Other Species of Note: None

 

Gear:

Dry Flies: Adams, Caddis, and Terrestrials

Nymphs: Stone Flies, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Hares, Midges, Mop Flies, and Squirmmy Wormies, Perdigon

Streamers: Kreelex, Minnow Patterns, Articulated Minnow Patterns

Waders: Yes

Net: Yes

 

Casting: Tuck, Roll, and Overhead

 

About:

Sadly I have never fished the Jackson Hidden Valley Special Regulation area, except a small bit of it located towards Hidden Valley. But I imagine that the area would be a combination of Jackson 623 and Jackson Hidden Valley. The best way of fishing this would be to fish with a buddy and bring two vehicles, one that can be left in the Hidden Valley parking lot and one that can be left at one of the camping parking areas at Jackson 623.

Hopefully one day I can give a better write up than just this write up. I have always heard and read that this section of the Jackson River is what Virginia fishing should always be like.

Additional Comments: Parking can be found at the Hidden Valley Parking lot or the Jackson 623 camping areas. It would also be a good idea, since you are in bear country, to carry or keep a can of bear mace with you. Also it would be a good thing to keep a bell on you at all times. Remember you are in Bath County – it has little to no cell phone service, always tell someone where you are going and when you will be getting back (roughly) just as a precaution.

 

Directions:

 

Jackson River (Route 623)

Stream Category: A

 

Wild Trout:

Stocked Trout: Brook, Brown, and Rainbow

Other Species of Note: None

Gear:

Dry Flies: Adams, Caddis, and Terrestrials

Nymphs: Stone Flies, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Hares, Midges, Mop Flies, and Squirmmy Wormies, Perdigon

Streamers: Kreelex, Minnow Patterns, Articulated Minnow Patterns

Waders: Yes

Net: Yes

 

Casting: Tuck, Roll, and Overhead

About:

Maybe it was because I haven’t paid that close of attention to this part of the Jackson River on the VDGIF maps and the stockings website, or I just never noticed there was a difference between Jackson 623 and Jackson Hidden Valley; either way I thought Jackson 623 was a part of the Jackson Hidden Valley, only divided by the Jackson Hidden Valley Special Regulation part.

But now after I have fished it and seen the difference with my own two eyes, these two areas of the Jackson are completely different. I also imagine that the Jackson Special Regulation is like this area combined with the Hidden section of the Jackson (see my write up of the Jackson Hidden Valley Special Regulation Section). Anyways, this portion of the Jackson River is very, very rocky and reminds me a lot like Back Creek. There are holes here and there, and a couple longer stretches of slower moving water, but for the most part this water tends to move fast (or at least it was when I was there after a heavy rain).

Honestly I fished this section the way I would fish any smaller mountain stream, I aimed for pockets behind rocks, deep holes, and avoided the ripples like always (I loathe fishing ripples). I caught a few fish here and there, but none of the fish were large enough for me to brag about  

Additional Notes: There are multiple parking areas in this area, just look for the fishing signs. Also remember to carry out what you bring in.

 

Bullpasture River

Stream Category: Put and Take A

 

Wild Trout:

Stocked Trout: Brook, Brown, Rainbow, and maybe Tiger Trout.

Other Species of Note: None

 

Gear:

Dry Flies: Adams, Caddis, and Terrestrials

Nymphs: Stone Flies, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Hares, Midges, Mop Flies, and Squirmmy Wormies, Perdigon

Streamers: Kreelex, Minnow Patterns, Articulated Minnow Patterns

Waders: Yes

Net: Yes

 

Casting: Tuck, Roll, and Overhead

About:

Just like its sister, the Cowpasture, this stream… if only I knew what I now know about them. Good grief, so much of my time was wasted trying to figure out Back Creek, Hidden Valley, and 623 of the Jackson.

Just like the Cowpasture Bullpasture is a freestone stream, however the difference is the major holes and drops that you will see in Bullpasture. Sure there are some long straight stretches, but not like the Cowpasture’s.

Mop flies, Perdigons, Squirmmies, and Kreelex’s did the job for me. I also was able to euro fly fish in several sections, but the majority of your nymphing will come through stike indicators.

Just like I said in the Cowpasture write up, I think that Cowpasture and Bullpasture are being used to test the waters (so to speak) in terms of stocking Tiger trout throughout Virginia. Even though I did not catch or see anyone that had caught a Tiger out of Bullpasture does not mean they are not there. In fact, if I get a chance to go back, I will stop at the fish hatchery at Coursey Springs to see if this is the case. Regardless they are definitely Tiger trout in Cowpasture… but maybe not in Bullpasture.

 

Additional Notes: Parking when you come in. Also remember to carry out what you bring in.

 

Directions:

 

Cowpasture River

Stream Category: A

 

Wild Trout:

Stocked Trout: Brook, Brown, Rainbow, and Tiger (I visual saw a person with two Tiger Trout)

Other Species of Note: None

Gear:

Dry Flies: Adams, Caddis, and Terrestrials

Nymphs: Stone Flies, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Hares, Midges, Mop Flies, and Squirmmy Wormies, Perdigon

Streamers: Kreelex, Minnow Patterns, Articulated Minnow Patterns

Waders: Yes

Net: Yes

Casting: Tuck, Roll, and Overhead

About:

Cowpasture River is one of those streams that I wish I had known about earlier in life, I would not have wasted a large majority of my time on certain streams if I had known about this river. The fishing here is simply amazing, even with low water. Also even if all of the stocked truck chasers in the world came followed the truck to Cowpasture they would be in for a rude awaking, that or a work out.

In order to get to the stocked portion of the Cowpasture: you have to stop at a specific parking lot, then walk almost a mile just to get to the river or more just to fish certain areas. So yeah, if you are a spin fisherman, or one that harvests fish, then there is no hard feelings between us… you earned the right to fish this river. Would I love to see a delayed harvest section, a catch and release section, or a special regulation set on this area? Sure, but honestly it is not going to happen, especially when Spring Run is just up the road.

The Cowpasture is a flat freestone river with a lot of insect activity, but not a lot of big holes. I caught a lot of my fish using Mop flies and Perdigon flies, but also the fish here love midges. As far as Streamer fishing goes, the sky is the limit, there are several bait fish in this river, and I am sure that some hungry hippo of a trout would love to eat your streamer. I prefer the Kreelex.

Honestly if you are fishing in Bath County, forget about Hidden Valley and 623 of the Jackson, rather fish here at Cowpasture or on up the road at Bullpasture. They just seem to be a fly fisherman’s dream come true.

Additional Notes: Parking when you come in. Also remember to carry out what you bring in.

 

Directions:

 

Wilson Creek

Stream Category: A and Fee Fishing During May-October

Wild Trout:

Stocked Trout: Brook

Other Species of Note: None

Gear:

Dry Flies: Adams, Caddis, and Terrestrials

Nymphs: Stone Flies, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Hares, Midges, Mop Flies, and Squirmmy Wormies

Streamers: Kreelex, Minnow Patterns

Waders: Yes

Net: Yes

Casting: Tuck, Roll, and Overhead

About:

Wilson Creek to be honest is a hit or miss stocked, freestone, tail water stream that is open year round. It resides in both Bath and Alleghany Counties, and both sides are stocked year round. The water that is supplied to Wilson Creeek is from Douthat Dam/Lake. I have personally been there many times year round; sometimes there is water, sometimes there is no water. I am baffled how the state of Virginia can make this stream a pay stream like Big Tumbling Creek and Cripple Creek, without having the water to support the stream. I am confounded on how they release the water from the dam, you would think that they would release it often to support Wilson Creek so that it would always have the correct water supply. Sadly this is not the case.

Honestly, I love and loathe Wilson Creek. When it has water and it has been stocked, you can catch nice sized brook trout all day long, However when there is no water, the brook trout are often easily spooked and very hard to find (except under a few bridges). What I suggest to do if you want to fish during normal fishing season is to wait until you see that Wilson Creek has been stocked, using VDGIF’s website, and if it has recently rained or snowed then fish this creek. During the summer months, other than calling the park to get a fishing report, there is no way of knowing that the stream has water or not (unless it has been raining for several days there).

When the stream has water; there are fast runs and nice sized holes that trout hold up in. However I do suggest fishing up stream instead of downstream. These brookies have some very good eye sight, and they will often see you before you see them. Keep your rig lite and simple; if you are nymph fishing I would suggest using a lite strike indicator (like the New Zealand strike indicator), I do not recommend euro nymph fishing here. Realistically you need to be able to cast up stream so that the fish will not see you, even if are fishing from a bank. Streamer fishermen need to stick to the bridges only, or if you have a very long cast, walk around the hole you are going to fish so that the fish will not be spooked by seeing you. Honestly I have never tried dry fly fishing at Wilson Creek, but if I did I would use a dry/dropper rig and keep to the traditional Virginia dry flies.

 

Additional Notes: Parking can be found throughout the park, please make sure to pay the fee for parking. 

Directions:

 

Spring Run

 

Stream Category: Special Regulations – Catch and Release

Wild Trout: Rainbow, Brown, Brook

Stocked Trout: 

Other Species of Note: None

Gear:

Dry Flies: Adams, Caddis

Nymphs: Stone Flies, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Hares, Midges, Mop Flies, and Squirmmy Wormies, Grey Scuds

Streamers: Kreelex, Minnow Patterns 

Waders: Yes

Net: Yes

Casting: Overhead, Tuck, and Roll.

About:

Spring Run has always been a miss for me, I really have never experienced such a skunking in my life in regards to one stream. What infuriates me is to watch a fish rise right where they are supposed to rise, and then them not hitting anything. What is even more infuriating is that everyone swears by this stream, how awesome it is, that it is where the monsters come to play, yet I have yet to even get a bite. 

Ok with that being said; this spring stream is simply beautiful. The area around it is well maintained, and there is hardly anyone there when I have been there. It has some very long deep runs that you see in spring fed streams, some very deep holes, and a lot of vegetation to contend with. Other than that fish it like you would any other spring creek and hope for the best. 

Honestly I would not have anything bad to say about this stream, and I still recommend it, but just be prepared for a skunking. Hopefully one day I will catch one of the monsters there that I have personally seen. 

***Side Note: I have only been here when it was very skinny water***

Additional Notes: 

There is a parking lot located at the stream. 

Directions: