The shallow tails of the pools in our rivers hold large populations of chubs and dace minnows. At dusk the bass cruise these areas to capture these minnows and you will often see the wake of a large bass coming from 6-8 feet away to catch these minnows. The Murray's Floating Minnow (Dace or Chub) are both very effective in catching these bass. The Clouser Crayfish, Olive size 6, Shenk's White Streamer, and Shenandoah Blue Popper size 6 have been working well this week in our schools and personal fishing. The best fishing will occur in the early morning or the last two hours before dark. If you are fishing in the middle of the day, be sure to fish the shady banks and around downed trees--anything that provides protection for the bass from the bright sunlight. Fish all of these on a 9ft 2X leader.
I have had many customers calling today for an update on the stream conditions. Surprisingly the heavy rains we received last evening did not cause any problems near us. The North Fork of the Shenandoah River is clear and fishable in the Edinburg through Toms Brook area. In fact, we were able to conduct one of our Half Day Fly Fishing Lessons on the river today. The next one will be conducted on Saturday July 23. The South Fork of the Shenandoah River is clear and fishable. There are many areas to wade and float this section of the river. Foster's Landing is my favorite for wading. If you have the option, plan a wade/float trip. Put in an access with your kayak and fish downstream. When you get to a good section of the river, beach your kayak and wade for awhile..then repeat. This will allow you to get to different areas of the river and avoid heavily fished areas that are close to the road.
My book, Virginia Blue Ribbon Streams covers the game commission access on the North and South Fork of the Shenandoah River along with many other bass and trout streams in the state of Virginia. You can also stop by the fly shop and look at our master map with the access places marked on it.