Spring Edition - 2012
One good thing about a flyfishing outing is that most times you come away with a good story, share a great a time with friends or relatives, enjoy great scenery and you generally always learn something no matter how many times you go. I know because this has always been the case with me.
Just a few years ago I had a single angler who wanted to experience the Jackson Rver in Bath County. I always get psyched up a little more when taking folks up there as the Jackson is as good as it gets in Virginia trout fishing. We took a long hiking trek in to one of my ''honey'' spots that May day. Caddis activity was very heavy this day and we started fishing upstream in a long section of riffle water. The dry #14 Tan Caddis started turning trout heads immediately and in a 300' section we caught and released over 40 colorful Rainbows and Browns in just a little bit. One was a big ole 5 pound hook jawed Rainbow. I told my guy that this was an exceptional time so enjoy it.
About a month later I get a call from the same fisherman who wanted to return to the ''honey'' spot with his 12 yr old daughter so I booked him. He wanted a fishing companion for his other trips and felt this would be good to get her startred. He had outfitted her really well I noticed as we began an hour hike to the magic spot. It was cool this morning and I told them no fishing until we got there. We decided to start just above the previously productive water. The young lady was just getting used to wading in her new Orvis breathables. She missed a nice 'Bow in 1pool but I noticed her wanting to go deeper into the water and warned her not to get ''cocky''. Long story short a slippery rock nailed her and in she goes getting wet all over on this colder morning. I was licking my chops because we were so close to the ''honey'' section. Well the youngster got a call from Nature at this point to pee. I told her that she could go behind a tree in the leaves and we would make sure she was not seen. Wrong, she threw a tantrum right there on the Jackson stating she would only pee at a public bathroom or service station. I was hoping the father would take charge at this point to no avail. I told her the the Red and white Oak leaves in Bath County were a whole lot cleaner than most area service station bathrooms. ''Nope, no way'' was the response. I knew we would have to walk back to the truck an hour then go another 30 minutes to find one. Sure enough we started the hour trek walking out only 2 minutes from the magical fishing spot, I was hoping all the noise of the Jackson River riffles would make her ''go'' but no it did not work. We ended up going all the way back to the Coursey Springs Trout Hatchery to find a bathroom up to spec for her 30 minutes away.
Like I said you always get a good story out of just about every flyfishing trip, not all involve catching large numbers of trout but still I can't think of a better place to than go than a Virginia trout stream. Peeing in Nature is kind of nice too. John
