Actually, this isn’t a poll.

For a feature on today’s Outdoors page in The Roanoke Times, I listed what I believe are some of Virginia’s best fishing spots. I suspect some might argue with a few of my choices.

Is Smith Mountain Lake really the best lake for trophy largemouth bass? What do you think?

I referred to data from the Virginia Angler Recognition Program, info that tells things like that if you want to catch citation yellow perch like the one pictured here, Claytor Lake is a good bet.

But a lot of this is subjective. Also, length restrictions kept me from going into much detail. It would be possible to write a book on Virginia’s best fishing.

Anyway, let’s hear your thoughts.

Catching a muskie on regular tackle is not easy.

On a fly rod? Ridiculous. (Yet, addictive.)

Gary Swank fooled this one earlier this winter while fishing with guide Blane Chocklett, who also is not only a muskie fishing specialist but an innovative creator of flies, including giant muskie flies like the one pictured here.

The difficulty of fly fishing for these critters is not about the flies. Flies can sometimes out-perform lures because the fish aren’t used to seeing them, and I’m sure that can be the case when muskie fishing. Plus, when you get all that hair and those feathers waving around in the water, it’s got to look pretty tasty to a big predator.

The work is in the actual fishing. Casting a monstrosity like that on a 10-weight fly rod, then stripping it back is physically demanding. I’m in decent shape and I managed about an hour of it on my trip with Matt Miles. Then I quit with a whimper and went to lure fishing.

So extra kudos to Gary for making it happen!

Just passed by the Roanoke River (downtown) and saw fishermen. It got a dose of trout this morning.

I stopped and checked out a few holes but couldn’t see much. That’s a good thing. The water has some color. It’s not bad. In fact, it looks about perfect.

In the stocked stretch I saw at least a dozen anglers so the word is out.

As I mentioned in a note in my column in The Roanoke Times this morning,  the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has released an updated access map for the Jackson River tailwater.

If you don’t know the history of this story, you can find updates (and LOTS of discussion) in several previous blog posts, including this one from July of 2011,  THIS ONE from this past July and THIS ONE from this past October.

You can find the map HERE on the DGIF website. The top of the page includes this note:

“Note: Pursuant to Va. Code § 28.2-1200, the riverbeds in the Commonwealth that have not been conveyed by special grant are the property of the Commonwealth, and may be used for fishing by all the people of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is presumed to own the bottom of rivers unless someone can prove ownership obtained by a valid grant. The courts have not addressed fee simple ownership of the Jackson River bed, but have addressed the rights of riverfront property owners against members of the general public and have found in favor of the riverfront property owners. Riverfront land owners have brought successful civil trespass claims against anglers fishing in the two portions of the river highlighted on the map (locations are approximate). In light of these court actions, anglers may find it advisable to seek the permission of the riverfront property owners.”

My favorite phrase is “anglers may find it advisable…”

Some may knock on doors for a chance to fish for trout like this beautiful rainbow collected during DGIF sampling, but I suspect that most anglers will likely find it more appealing to fish elsewhere.

The  Roanoke chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America tends to get some interesting guests to speak at its membership meetings.

Apparently the field was a little thin this month because club president Bob Corbitt asked if I’d mind giving a presentation on my recent trip to Alaska.

As a member of the club I agreed to take one for the team.

I told Bob I’d try to give the meeting a little plug on my blog. I’m doing that now. Yeah, it’s kind of late. But I’m a guy who hasn’t yet put together my slide show for the presentation. (Yeah, gonna have to get on that.)

So, if you don’t have plans, and felt like you didn’t get enough of Alaska through my blog postings, come on down.

The meeting is at the Woodlawn Methodist Church in Roanoke, near the Coffee Pot diner. It starts at 6:30 and the club feeds you.

As has been widely reported, not quite two weeks ago the defendants in a trespassing case on the Jackson River gave up their fight.

Some streamside landowners, joined by the developers from whom they purchased their lots, had sued the men saying that they were trespassing by wading the river. The plaintiffs claimed that centuries-old grants from the King of England proved they owned the river bottom (on which they are still taxed).

The anglers claimed that they were simply following the maps published by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. (They hoped the state would join them in their fight, a hope that was in vain.)

The plaintiffs won and the defendants eventually opted to withdraw from the fight rather than to pursue appeals and keep racking up massive legal bills. (And you better believe the plaintiffs racked up massive legal bills, too.)

Although the judge’s order prohibiting the defendants from trespassing on the river pertains to those anglers, it sets a precedent. Will anyone else care to challenge the landowners now? Would you?

But plenty of questions remain. For example, what will happen with those DGIF maps? Will the agency alter them by marking as off limits the section that was in dispute in this latest case?

Also, this case was about anglers stepping on the river bottom, not about fishing. Can we still float through and fish? Even though signs erected by the above-mentioned developers state that public fishing is not allowed. Do those crown grants support that (as they were legally found to on sections upriver)? Does the right to “privatize” the water extend to areas where the developers don’t own the shoreline, but rather lease it?

Looking beyond the section claimed by the Rivers Edge on the Jackson River developers, what will happen on the rest of the river? Most riverside landowners have been fine with public fishing. Will they be emboldened to now claim the river as theirs? Or will the public still be welcome to float and fish most of the river between Gathright Dam and Covington?

And what about other rivers where streamside landowners can trace ownership back to those crown grants?

A thread on the Jackson that I started this summer has featured some interesting discussion. Some folks are clearly passionate about this, which is understandable. Take two of the most vocal: King George III and Patriot Paddler. Some interesting back and forth between those two!

Much of the discussion on that thread has focused on what has happened. We need to think now about what will happen.

Anyone care to make predictions?

I’ll start: I predict I will be spending some time in the coming on a story about the potential future implications of this case.

Trout stocking season opened yesterday.

As I mentioned in a note in my column today in The Roanoke Times, some fishermen have expressed concern about how expansion of the Roanoke River Greenway in Salem might impact stocking in that popular put-and-take section.

One of those guys is a regular correspondent who has been complaining about the greenway for years.

I am an unapologetic greenway fan. I believe the greenway gets people out and about and is a great, easily accessible gateway to outdoors physical activity.

I also believe it has enhanced access to the river. After all,  it’s a path that follows the riverbank.

The greenway critic disagrees, at least when the topic is trout fishing.

He says that it has hurt fishermen because, among other reasons, they now must park in designated spots and walk farther to fishing holes. The new section in Salem, for example, is an area where fishermen were able to simply pull off the road and walk directly to the river. They can’t do that now.

He also questions whether stocking crews are doing as well as they once could in spreading fish out. I would argue they should be doing better — but to do so will involve coordination with gatekeepers so the truck can actually get on the greenway.

I don’t disagree that, for someone who is truly mobility-impaired, there are limited spots to fish the stocked section of the river. But are there fewer spots than there were prior to the greenway? Let’s face it, rivers are not, generally speaking, easy to access for people with impaired mobility. But is the concern really about people who are physically unable to walk to the riverbank to fish? Or about people who simply don’t want to walk much at all to fish?

Read more »

During my trip to Alaska one thing I kept in mind was how lessons I was picking up there might translate to Virginia.

As I wrote for a feature in today’s Roanoke Times, I believe plenty of those lessons can translate here even if we are targeting different fish, animals, etc.

The big one up there for me, fishing-wise, was using beads for trout. It is THE method when trout are mixing with spawning salmon. Even though we don’t have salmon here, trout still will hit eggs. So why not beads?

Read more »

This is my current view.

After exactly four weeks in Alaska, I’m back in Roanoke.

The trip back was long, but uneventful. I got to the airport in Anchorage at midnight Monday night and landed in Roanoke 16 hours later.

It was great to see Mary and the girls waiting for me outside security at the airport. It was also great that all of my bags arrived in one piece.

After a long night’s sleep, and I mean a loooonngg night’s sleep, I am back at my cubicle. I was relieved that my Roanoke Times security badge still worked!

It was odd to see the sun this morning, and to experience 80 degrees.

Regular readers are probably tiring of my tales from Alaska. They are about to end. But I do plan at least one more thing, an analysis of techniques that worked up there, and how those techniques can translate to fishing (mostly) in Virginia. The piece, to run on the Outdoors page in The Roanoke Times on Friday, will be speculative, but I think some of the things I did up there will work great here.

Thanks again to all of you who tuned in to my postings from Alaska. My blog readership numbers were solid — and the many supportive comments certainly didn’t hurt, either — and that certainly helped ensure that my badge still worked this morning. As you all know my outdoors coverage focuses almost exclusively on the region, and it always will. It was nice to be able to do something extraordinary (as in the location) and still have people interested.

Don’t get used to it, or worry that I will start jetting off to exciting locales on a regular basis. Mary has also let me know that four weeks was too long, which I take as a good thing that she actually likes having me around. Also, I footed this bill on my own, and it took a big bite out of my fun budget for a couple years.

That said, Alaska is an attainable destination.

Yes, if you go all out and set a trip up through an outfitter it can get pricey, especially if you’re talking about something like hunting brown bears or dall sheep (which require an outfitter).

But it’s possible to do it for a relatively modest amount of money, especially if you travel with friends and share costs. Maybe I’ll try to do a piece that breaks down the costs and planning.

Now, back to focusing hunting and fishing in Virginia!

Two hours of fishing the rising Ibek Creek in a driving rain produced this 6-pound silver salmon.

CORDOVA, Alaska — Wednesday brought a welcome break from the incessant rain that has plagued this week-long (with no end in sight) visit to this remote little town in Southcentral Alaska.

I spent the break at the Cordova airport.

Kraig Cesar, the last remaining member of my party, had finally said “Enough is enough.”

With required business travel next week he had no choice but to bail, booking a flight out of Cordova to Anchorage so he could catch his plane back to Virginia late Thursday night.

While the ferries have not been running – today’s cancellation is the fifth in six days – flights have been getting out of here, albeit with lots of delays.

Again, the weather was actually decent yesterday afternoon.

Here. Not in Anchorage.

So the 737 Kraig was to be on sat on the tarmac for several hours. Sure, I could have just dumped him and gone fishing. But I am not one to leave a man behind. So we waited out the delay in the RV – appropriately labeled the Sunseeker – until he finally got the call to board about 3 p.m.

On the way to the airport we’d driven over Ibek Creek, which had dropped a goodly amount since the heavy rains earlier in the week.

Naturally, heavy rain started falling about the time Kraig left.

I geared up on the side of the road and hit the creek – it’s really a river — along with a half-dozen other Gore-Tex clad anglers. Read more »