Looks like I’m going up there to visit the lady girl for 3 days before we go back down to the Keys and I figure there’s gotta be some good fishing around that way. Going to toss the 3 wt in the backpack and try to toss the fly a bit.
Anyone have any experience with that area?
yella bote
black motor
You will be very close to Mossy creek. Certainly worth fishing. You will need to stop in a fly shop, both Bridgewater (Mossy flows thru) and Harrisonburg have/had them, in order to get a private property pass to fish, should be cheap or free. Havent fished it in years, so my hatch data isnt up to date, but big streamers always worked for me at dusk. Keep your profile down and stay out of the creek. Some redfish sized browns live there, but they arent dumb. Have fun!!
Newman
www.gtownkingfisher.com
I’ve fished up in stuarts draft in the shenendoah Nat park and have done pretty well. Last time I was there was June and we were using hopper dropped patterns. Caught a few nice browns and bows up there.
Yes indeed I have. Fishing along Mossy is absolutely gorgeous. You’ll realize why I claim its the best commonwealth/state in the union! (I know that comment will ruffle some hackles 
) But back to the fishing there…
There’s lots of different rivers along that stretch of 81 and despite growing up in Virginia I’ve only ever fished Mossy, and that was just once this spring. (Too much other fishing close to home) There’s also the South River and Buffalo south of Harrisonburg as well. You need to go down to the VDGIF in Verona to get your free pass. If you call them they can also mail it to you. It’s about 20 minutes south down 81 from Mossy Creek.
Mossy is ranked as one of the top spring creeks on the east coast. The fish in there are really big browns and some bows and it is hard as hell to fish. I got skunked this spring when fishing, though did see a few rises. Lots of weedy growth and your casts have to be accurate. It’s really small, running through a cow pasture and those fish could easily be spooked. If you are planning on fishing it soon, I would guess the hoppers and terrestrials will be showing up. I’m not sure about the hatches. I fished with streamers and got no love. Look around on the www.mossycreekflyfishing.com website and they should be able to help you out. That’s the local fly shop in Harrisonburg. Here are pics of Mossy in February. It’s alot greener now.
I do fish the Shenandoah Natl Park a lot which is going to be an hour drive or less from Harrisonburg. lots of brook trout fishing in the high mountain streams. They are fairly easy to catch and hit dry flies. Also some amazing hiking up t
Hey Rapchizzle,
I lived in Charlottesville Virginia for 3 years 2006-2009. I fished a lot in that area. Harrisonburg is where I spent a large amount of my time fishing. Mossy Creek is indeed the best spot to go for large Browns, but you have to get a land owners permission permit. You can get this from the Verona DNR office. It is the last exit before you get off of I-81. But, Mossy is tough if you don’t know the area. It took me about a year of fishing it 1-2 times a week and I didn’t really start catching those big browns until a year later. So I would not reccomend going unless you get a guide. If you do want to get a guide call up Brain or Colby Trow. They own Mossy Creek Flyfishing in Harrisonburg across from the mall on highway 33. www.mossycreekflyfishing.com
Brian and Colby also own the rights to a lot of private waters. You can rent a day permit from them for these streaches of water. I would do that if you will only be there for a few days. They stock and maintain these rivers and it is usually all catch and release. You will need to have a 5wt rod if you hit these streams, there are some 25" browns and bows in these sections of water.
Shenandoah national park is a great place to go if you want to catch some native brookies. From Harrisonburg take highway 33 up to the park. There are dozens of trails that have streams that run along the path. I was amazed that there were fish in some of these streams, b/c it was so small. The brookies aren’t larger than a pound in most cases, but they are the prettiest fish i’ve seen. Use ant patterns and you will have fun with your 3wt.
Feel free to send me an email and I’d be more than willing to tell you about some good spots I found on my own. I also have a virginia TOPO map somewhere that I logged a lot of info over the 3 years I fished there.
Hit me up if you want to borrow it.
rjmchugh@gmail.com
The Small mouth bass fishing will be really good this time of year - the end of the summer. The New River, James River and Shenandoah River are all awesome Small Mouth Bass Rivers. Very fun on the fly. There is a place in Scottsville VA called James River Runners that you can rent a canoe or bring your kayak and have them drive you 6-10 miles upstream. You can float back to the takeout all day while catching 100 smallies on the fly!
Very fun!