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The Newsletter of the Virginia Capital Chapter of TROUT UNLIMITED

Meetings

Next Meeting of TU Capital Chapter – September 18 - 6:00 PM at Byram’s Lobster House – September 4 is Labor Day. We will do an equipment swap.  So bring your old equipment and a pocket full of money if you want to.  It’s going to be a fun evening!

Just a note on meetings:  We will meet the first Monday of every other month.  Same place same time.  We will let you know in the coming issues what we plan for each meeting.  Meanwhile, anyone not able to get there who may be in need of transportation, call Andrew at 804-389-0812 and get a ride. 

Reminder to New Members

For all new members, when you sign up using the membership form, please indicate that you are signing up to Chapter #184.

July 10 Meeting

Great meeting.  Vacation and all, there were about 20 folks there and it was a good conversation.  Andrew led with updates regarding our Chapter business and we went on to discuss special events, like a fishing trip being planned on the Jackson.  We can get into that one later. 

The discussions turned to money – we still have some, but not enough to fund Shield’s lake next year and continue to do a lot of the stuff we want to do with the paper, etc.  So we’re asking members to donate another five bucks this year (or more if you really feel generous) to help build the kitty.  Some of you enjoy reading the Chapter paper, and we all get credit for events we plan.  We need money to keep our chapter alive.  Over the past 6 to 8 months our monthly meeting attendance has increased substantially, with at least 15 to 20 members showing up each time, and many are new.  We had two folks come to this meeting to join or rejoin.  This is good news and exciting.  Please help us keep this thing going and chip in. 

This coming month, our hope is to have some pictures and some folks who bring equipment they want to swap for other stuff or sell. It should be a great night.  So bring stuff and your first born if you really want to, and see what you can get for all of it.

The Kispiox River – Home of a World Record Steelhead?

Downstream the sun was rapidly sinking behind the mountains, casting a rosy glow on the peaks and highlighting the snow which had fallen overnight at the higher elevations.  The temperature was also dropping and I zipped my windbreaker tighter around my neck.  I knew it would go below freezing during the night.  It was only October 4, but the winter comes early in Northern British Columbia, putting ice on my windshield every night for the last week. 

I was fishing a short run below the Kispiox Indian village which had been very productive earlier in the week, yielding two fish on and lost, and one landed – a big buck of 37 inches and 19 to 20 pounds.  The Kispiox in spite of its small size, is famous for its huge Steelheads.  A good caster with a Spey rod can almost cast across it.  Its fish are uniformly heavy, deep in girth, with some growing to monster proportions.  One winter for a well-known fishing magazine listed the top ten Steelhead streams in the world most likely to produce a fish over 30 pounds and put the Kispiox, number two on the list.  The Babine which lies about 60 miles northeast was rated number one because of its documented production of large fish, one of which was caught in an Indian weir and weighed 52 pounds. 

My shoulder was aching from seven hours of casting and I was almost ready to call it a day when Monty, my guide, asked if he could fish the run just below me.  I said, “Sure, go ahead.  I’m quitting when I finish here.” 

Within five minutes I heard him yell, “I’ve got one on!”  I didn’t pay much attention, finished my run and then walked down to watch him play his fish.  It was obviously a good one because he kept losing rather than gaining line and could only follow the fish downstream.  He gave me a running commentary as they fought.  “This is a BIG fish!  He was laying ten feet offshore behind a small boulder.  I don’t know if I can ever land him.  The water is too swift!”

This continued for 30 minutes to a spot one-quarter of a mile downstream where he was finally able to bring the fish into an area of quiet water.  I had been following on the bank and got my first look at the fish.  It was a monster – the biggest Steelhead I’ve ever seen in my life!  My 37-incher was small in comparison.  This fish had a tail like a boat paddle and the width across his back was greater than the width of my upper thigh.  Monty had his rod high in his left hand, keeping good tension on the line, and attempted to “tail” [grab the fish by the tail] the fish with his right hand.  When the fish felt the pressure, he made a strong surge forward, the fly pulled out of his jaw and he was gone! 

We estimated his length at 44 to 45 inches and weight at 30 pounds. The estimated record for a Steelhead on a fly stands today between 32 and 40 pounds and the Kispiox may be the home of the fish to break it in the future! 

• Fly from Richmond to Vancouver, British Columbia (about 5 ½ hours and $500.00 US round trip).
• Take a jet (Air Canada, $500.00 US, round trip) to Smithers, British Columbia, which is two hours northeast of Vancouver.
• Rent a car ($250.00 US, per week) and drive to New Hazelton, 45 minutes west.
• Stay at the Robbers Roost Motel.  The rooms are spacious, super clean, newly decorated with stove, refrigerator, with small dining area and bath.  The rate is an unbelievable $32.00 US, per night.
• The Kispiox is 15 miles away.  You will need a special license to fish it because it is a classified water in the Canadian system (cost, about $22.00 Canadian, per day), plus your provincial (state) and Steelhead fishing licenses (cost about $85.00 US).
• Food – buy it at the local grocery and cook in your room.  The local restaurants are average to poor at best.
• Guides are available.  Monty, my Kispiox Indian guild, charges $200.00 US, per day, uses a large raft and provides lunch.  Others are available, but fees are out-of-sight, up to $500.00 US per day.  Dr. Marshall England

Fishing up the James

The sun is just rising and there is an orange hue on the highway in front of me.  I can see the mountains.  I’m headed west into the Shenandoah out Route 60.  It’s 5:00 AM and it’s quiet except for the Bluegrass music playing on the radio.  There’s a cup of coffee in my cup holder and I can smell it fresh and hot and  - Lord, how I love the Virginia mornings.  Work is done for the week and even though it’s not quite the weekend, I’m going fishing and it’s just got to be a great day.

It’s the James today – just below Lexington about 25 minutes.  My guide meets me at a Shell station Arcadia exit 168 and we’re off.  The morning is perfect.  There’s a slight haze on the water when we begin and the rock formations on this stretch of the river make it look like something that belongs in Montana somewhere.  The water is clear and runs cool – maybe a little too cool this time of the year for bass.  But we’re bound and determined – today it’s Smallmouth – all day. 

We hope for some top water action.  The bug we start with is a foamy bright yellow popper looking bug with a yellow tail.  It hits the water with a plop and I skitter it back.  It’s an interesting looking bug and quite frankly, if I were a fish, would probably find it pretty hard to resist.  But then again, that’s me – and what makes fishing what it is, is simply that not every good-looking bug is that interesting to a fish. 

A few casts – no success - and the decision is to go under the surface.  This time with a blue streamer slick shiner minnow looking thing.  With an intermediate sinking line, it fishes just under the surface, not more than a couple of feet down.  Strip then twitch, strip once and twitch twice – not too fast, but not to lazy either.  About the third or fourth cast and he’s on.  The James produces the first one – 15 inches, a green-black and gray – a dark beauty.  Bass hit veraciously.  Some folks argue more than an angry Brown Trout. But if you have that conversation with a dyed in the wool trout fisherman, it becomes a “betcha a beer” conversation.  And being a trout fisherman but loving the way these bass hit – I can see me getting pretty loaded before ending that argument. 

The day goes on and the fish continue to cooperate.  A long strip, two short twitch strips, and another long strip.  The fish seem to hit after the pause on the long strip, but in each case, not without the two twitch strips in sequence.  I watch the minnow to see the action. It looks real enough – at least from above the surface.  The streamer does the job and before 4:00, we boat sixty.  Some are small – eight to ten inches.  But there are a few nice fish in that mix and they all make it worth the trip. 

Right around 4:00 PM, the wind kicks up and it gets cool.  There’s a front moving in.  No clouds or rain, just wind.  And the fishing shuts down – flat down!  Not a strike or even a chase.  Odd.  Fortunately, we’re only a half-mile from the take out and it’s been a great day.  We’re off the river by 5:00 PM and quite frankly, I’m beat – still enthused, but ready for the ride home. 

In a little over two-and-half hours, I’m back home, putting my equipment and flies away.  It was a great day – just as good as I though it would be.  I’m relaxed, but still thinking about the casts, the strips, and the hits.  I lean back on my easy chair and slumber off.  It’s 9:00 and the little woman wakes me up in time to go to bed.  She tells me she’s not going to ask me what I was dreaming about – especially since most of the time it caused some sort of a silly grin on my face.  But she knows, deep down, she knows – it’s the fish. 

A Day of Work on the Rapidan River

There were about 12 members form the Fly Fishers of Va ( many are also TU members), as well as an equal number of National Park people. We worked the lower section first then moved up to the upper section in the afternoon.  We cabled off a section of the river and then placed an net across the water. The crew with portable electro-shocking packs walked up the stream with netters picking up the shocked fish. They in turn were taken to area to be counted, sorted  weighed, etc. A small sample of brook trout were taken by the biologist looking for disease and metal content (mercury from China - hard to believe).  They found all types of suckers, minnows, as well as an American eel and bullhead.

All fish were returned to the water with just a few not making it. We made three passes on a hundred  meter section. . This operation took about 4 hours. 

We then moved up to the waters just above Camp Hoover and made just one pass on  that hundred meter section. This area has a large population of Brook Trout. The water is much colder the at the lower section. The Biologist again took a sample of the trout for a  quality check.  The park people were pleased with the results of the sampling and they were thankful for our help. Nice group of guys.

We had one young guy, a son of one of the FFV members who just fell in love with the total process. It was neat to see him get turned on so to speak. I just wished more kids his age could have been involved with this type of experience. 

There are pictures, but they were unfortunately not forwarded for this article.  You can contact Andrew Stiles if you are interested. 

If anyone gets a chance  to take part in a sampling work day, go for it you will learn a lot and be giving back to the sport you enjoy.  Nancy and Phil Johnson - FFV

Ask The Trout

Questions:  What is a Microburst? 

I’m not a scientist or weather person, but I can tell you it is a nasty thing.  It’s not a tornado nor is it a hurricane, but it is a gust of wind, rain, that blows – often times cold – down one side of a mountain and up another, generally laying some waste to trees and landscape in its path.  I remember one trip on Rock Creek in Montana a few years back when my guide rounded a bend in that river and directed his raft quickly to the nearest shore.  I remember the sky when we turned that bend! On one side of the bend the sun was shining, and as soon as we made the turn, it got dark - a hazy gray.  It got colder and the wind turned – well – more than blustery.  It looked like a windy rainstorm heading directly at us. 

The guide jumped out of the raft and dragged me with him.  He told me to throw all my stuff on the ground and find the nearest rock.  We hid together just as the wind reached our position.  I remember trees falling around us and all manner of debris flying through the air.  It was over in seconds and the sun came out right after.  When I looked up from the rock, the raft was up on its side, lunch and clothing were still there – or somewhere near by – and there was a path of trees coming down the mountain to the river, that were laid out like match sticks. 

Something Got in the Way

I have to apologize to our members for the tardiness of this issue. It seems as though each time I sit down to write an article or gather together those that have been sent to me, something else grabs my attention.  I would like to say that it’s a fishing trip to a lake or nearby stream.  Unfortunately more often than not, these days, its travel and work related travel at that.

On rare occasions it isn’t work however.  Just this past weekend, I was sitting down to write when I came across an ad from Orvis for a pontoon raft (they call it a Personal Fishing Device – rather nondescript if you ask me, but what the heck).  It was on sale and to tell the truth, with my latest fancy being pond fishing, it got my attention.  So it was off with the computer and into the truck to visit my favorite Orvis store (in fact the only one in my area) at the Short Pump Mall.  Rich, the manager there and a great guy to talk with about fishing (he was a float guide at one time), sold me.  Now, to figure out how to get this new little piece of gear home – unnoticed. Hmmmm??

So I bought it for my wife.  The good sport that she is, I’m almost positive she’ll let me borrow it now and then.  In any event, it’s home, in the garage, and calling out to me daily since last Sunday when I picked it up – “time to fish.”

Ah, but first – it needs outfitting – which, as it turns out, is the real reason for missing deadlines once again.  The boat is made by Water Skeeter especially for Orvis for fly-fishing and with some serious modifications, it might actually be a good fly-fishing float boat.  The pontoons skins are coated with PVC and are made of 1200 denier fabric.  That’s real good for rivers and ponds:  puncture resistant and tough.  The color’s OK – they’re all green, there is no color choice.  But the cargo cases and rod holders need modification.  I cut the rod holder with a larger slot to allow the reel to seat inside it.  Without modification, the holder doesn’t hold anything.  I also added some elastic cords and ropes in a few strategic areas to allow fastening what might be needed out in the middle of a lake or pond.  There’s a larger cargo case that sits behind the seat.  Half of it is for cold drinks and while that might be fun to think about (you can tell these things were designed in California), it may be more functional to have a carrying case to carry things that could become necessary out in the middle of the water during a trip in some unfortunate circumstance; like a repair kit, rain gear, life preserver, mushroom anchor, pump, and such.  So again, some modifications had to be made – took out the cooler and divider and made the bag bigger to store some serious gear.

Last, but not least, there are no extras and my choice was to buy some for those most unfortunate times during a trip that seem to happen more often that not.  I bought extra oar locks (these break at the most inconvenient time), locking air valves (they only supply one and there is no other way to fill the pontoons with air) and some extra tie downs, and straps (Velcro is a good thing to keep aboard) There is an air pump that has to be tied down to the frame somewhere – if you look hard enough you can find a place to do that.  I am not certain it is a very good air pump and my intention is to replace it the next time I can get my wife to go to the outfitter’s store with me so she can buy one – since it IS her boat.

There is a small pouch on each of the pontoons on top to store fishing and other supplies.  That’s good, but these must be modified too, to allow more organized storage.  I strapped them down because they are attached only with a Velcro strip on the bottom of each pouch.  I believe they sink better than they float and in my case, that’s sure to happen.  It might be good to put some Styrofoam in them to keep them afloat in the unfortunate circumstance that one comes loose and falls into the water. 

In all, I think I have it fixed – but will almost guarantee that something was forgotten.  We’ll be on the water this week end and if you don’t hear from me in a couple of months – or at our next meeting, well, you’ll know that there was a serious something missing.  See you on the water.  Pete

End of Aug '06 Newsletter