Smith River upstream (west/northwest) of Martinsville, Virginia is a year-round cold water river due to the Philpott Dam bottom releases. This means that you can fish for trout in the hottest part of the summer, and they are likely to live after you release them.
I headed west about 4 hours from my hangout and fished the section between the Philpott Dam and the Martinsville Dam. I caught many Brown Trout, but I don't believe any of them were over 10 inches. I'm confident there are some bigger fish in that section, but they are likely hanging in the Doe Run access (see aerial at the end of video), just upstream of the Martinsville Dam. This is a guess, of course, since I didn't catch any and I'm not very familiar with the Smith River, other than what is online on the Virginia DWR website, which offers a lot of good information.
dwr.virginia.g...
I didn't experience an evening hatch in the 1 1/2 days I fished this river in middle July. However, there were a few flies hatching during the daytime, which brought Brown Trout to the surface, mid-day. I did catch a few on the fly with Sulphur Dry patterns (small size 18ish). Most of the fish were caught nymphing (tight line) using TH Perdigon type nymphs and one took to the rubber legs. The key was to get it down and close to the bottom and the trout would come out of the rock they were hiding and take.
Beware: There are kayakers, canoers and SUPers that float this river frequently. Most are respectful of your fishing but some will float right into where you are casting (check out 07:12 on my video).
Good luck! Life is ticking...better get flyfishing!
00:00: Smith River Intro
00:04: Doe Run Access Aerial
00:11: Philpott Lake Dam
01:02: Downstream Access to the River
01:21: Early Morning Sunshine Through the Trees
01:40: First Brown Trout of the Day (Dry-Dropper Rig)
02:21: Tightline Nymphing Brown Trout
05:09: TH Perdigon Nymph
05:13: Wading Along the River Bank
06:04: Brown on the Dry Fly
07:12: SUP Dude and His Dog!!!
07:36: More Browns on the Nymph
08:32: River Access Road
08:55: Nymphing a Hole
09:46: On the Dry Fly
10:34: River Access Road
10:41: Doe Run Access and Aerial
#troutbum #fishingequipment #troutfishing #trout #angler #virginia
6 сен 2024
