Shenandoah National Park in Winter

[diamond rush]

I was driving back from DC from visiting family this past Sunday, and decided to stop and visit one of my favorite east slope streams in the Shenandoah. It's a popular stream, so you'll probably recognize it if you're familiar with the area. Please refrain from posting the name in here. I'm happy to answer PMs, though. The Shenandoah National Park is an incredible fishery. If you value nature and solitude, it's paradise.

Weather was cold; 20s and 30 mph wind. In the draws, I couldn't feel the wind. As long as I kept moving, I was fine. No hatches of note. I saw a couple black stoneflies coming off, but nothing significant. All fish were caught on my winter Shenandoah custom tie: size 16 2xL hook, beadhead gold-ribbed black hare's ear heavily weighted with lead under the body. You gotta get down quick in the plunged pools. Its meant to mimic the black stoneflies and caddisflies that hatch. Presentation trumps pattern in the park anyway.

Water levels were very high for this time of year. I was hoping for stained water due to the weather this weekend. But it all fell as snow and the water was gin clear. Very pretty, but it made fishing a bit tougher.

All-in-all, I caught 2 nice 8-9" brookies and lost a couple more. I only fished about an hour after the hike in. A 9" brookie is a very nice fish in the park.



Trailhead


Caught a nice on in this hole.


No out-of-the-water pics when its that cold


View downstream


Another trouty hole


In my opinion, this is the best hole in the park that I've found.

[brookfieldangler]

Originally Posted by adventurewonk

So, you posted a bunch of pics and directions to some place that you want locals that recognize the location to ¨refrain from posting the name in here¨ only to claim how awesome it is but refuse to tell other that read your post WHERE is is so you can bogart the hole for the other 364 days out of the year that you aren´t there????

So basically you tell every one what a great fishing spot you know but then tell them to bugger off on how to get there....????

Real classy...

Nice first post

Apparently you haven't been around fishing forums all that much so I'll cut you a bit of slack.

People don't go out and put in a ton of legwork trying to find productive spots just to share it with every one in the world.

You obviously missed the point of this post so here it is: The poster went out and caught some nice fish, took some great photos of some awesome scenery, and shared some pretty good info on fishing the area for you enjoyment. Take at that and don't expect people to draw you a map to where the fish are. Get out and explore, that's half the fun.

[theboz]

Nice spot! Shenandoah has some real beautiful spots as well as streams and plenty of them. The pools in this one look exceptionally fishy ! Great pics!

[diamond rush]

Originally Posted by adventurewonk

So, you posted a bunch of pics and directions to some place that you want locals that recognize the location to ¨refrain from posting the name in here¨ only to claim how awesome it is but refuse to tell other that read your post WHERE is is so you can bogart the hole for the other 364 days out of the year that you aren´t there????

So basically you tell every one what a great fishing spot you know but then tell them to bugger off on how to get there....????

Real classy...

Actually, I have drawn a map to this hole and shared it with people on this site in the past. My much bigger concern is to keep this thread from showing up in google search results. The eastern slope streams of the Shenandoah National Park get tremendous pressure due to their proximity to DC.

If I posted the name of the stream along with the general location, pictures of nice brookies, and pictures of the best holes, I would expect the place to get much more pressure. I place a high value on solitude and tranquility when I fish.

[axle27]

I don't see why people get all nuts about this. Harry Murray did a book years ago about fishing the streams of SNP. He notes each stream, where they are and how to get to them. He might have made some enemies in doing so, but it's all out there.

I fish some streams in SNP, but I, nor anyone else, owns any of them. Go out and find them...

Nice pics.

[mrl0004]

This is my kind of report! Nice job dude. I would like to try out SNP sometime. I spend all my time in NC or GSMNP when I can get away. The brookies are certainly bigger in SNP.

[Diver Dan]

Originally Posted by adventurewonk

So basically you tell every one what a great fishing spot you know but then tell them to bugger off on how to get there....????

Real classy...

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate hot spotting? If not, let me correct my oversight. I hate hot spotting.

[woodrivertroutbum]

Originally Posted by adventurewonk

So, you posted a bunch of pics and directions to some place that you want locals that recognize the location to ¨refrain from posting the name in here¨ only to claim how awesome it is but refuse to tell other that read your post WHERE is is so you can bogart the hole for the other 364 days out of the year that you aren´t there????

So basically you tell every one what a great fishing spot you know but then tell them to bugger off on how to get there....????

Real classy...

So, you're lazy, expect handouts from the people that put in the work and then get mad when they don't give you what you want? Real Classy...

Excellent report. There are very few spots, if any that no one knows about but when it comes to gems like this, the less people that know the better. The people that are going to put in the time to find these spots and catch these fish are a lot less likely to ruin it than people that were told exactly how to get there and have had it made easy for them.

Around here there are easy to access spots that I will happily point people to and give tips on how to fish the area. On the other hand, there are small creeks that I have put a ton of time in to finding. On these creeks I have never seen anyone else and like it that way. I know that if anyone else fishes these areas, they most likely put in the same time and effort and will appreciate it as much as I do.

[Diver Dan]

What? You don't want to trade pretty scenery and fish filled waters for trash and dead water? How selfish or you.

[stonewolf]

Very nice i love popping into holes like that its nice to step into pools like that even with snow on the ground lol

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