I love fishing; it’s been in my blood since I was a young girl. My husband, Bob, and I have fished many mountain streams and creeks in our long years of marriage. We have taken our son, Tom, and daughter, Cindy, fishing since they were old enough to walk. Cindy wasn’t in love with it, but Tom couldn’t get enough of it and he loves it even more since he’s gone through his teen years and older.
The excitement of a fish, especially a trout, grabbing hold of your line and fiercely battling to get the bait and leave the hook is amazing. It’s a thrill for a fisherman that is hard to express. It’s great to have a trout fighting while you try to reel it in through the rough fresh water streams. It’s not a matter of snag and catch…it’s a job to get a fighting trout to a net or into your hands. It’s even more exciting when you reel one in and you’ve got your hand on it and it slips away in the swift water. The struggle to land a trout and reel it in is what makes trout fishing so great. I love the feel of the fresh cold mountain water against my legs as I scramble from rock to rock in hopes of finding the perfect spot for a trout to be hiding.
A trout loves around the edge of the banks of a stream where rocks protrude to offer a cave for them to hide, under tree limbs, around dead trees in the water, and of course, to lie in deep holes against the rock and gravel beds. I use to enjoy wading in the rivers and creeks where I could get an area of the river all to myself and fish every inch of it. I’d love taunting Bob and Tom after I’d get my limit.
Fishing takes lots of patience; persistence and broadmindedness, not a favorite of a person who gets impatient and mad when they miss a fish because that’s the name of the sport…catch some and lose some.
We’ve fished many rivers and creeks in the Virginia Area; I’m listing below some great places to go if you’re a person who loves to trout fish and likes to stay within the Virginia area, it’s easy to get there and not too far to travel either.
Bob and I found out all this fishing lead to keeping a youngster and teenager from going astray by knowing the feelings of having a family who loved to play together, expressing respect each other, showing expressions of love and just happy to be together as a family. This bond remains “still” until today.
Locations:
(1) Robinson River, Hughes River, and Rose River in Madison County.
(2) Hawksbill Creek in Page County
(3) Roanoke River in Roanoke County; Tinker Creek and Glade Creek in Roanoke County.
(4) Jennings Creek in Botetourt County
(5) Potts Creek in Craig County
(6) Passage Creek in Shenandoah County
(7) Cripple Creek (Ravens) in Wythe County
(8) Clifton Forge Reservoir in Alleghany County
(9) Maury and Mill Creeks in Rockbridge County
There are several different varieties of trout that we’ve caught over the years, I’m listing them here for you:
(1) Rainbow Trout – These fish comes in a variety of colors, hues and markings. Their back is olive-green and they’ll have a silvery cast on their sides fading to a silvery-white belly. Pinkish and light rosy red band extends from its cheek almost to the tail, and they’ll have either large or tiny black spots or specks to none at all. I use to love to see these fish in the water as the sun would glint against it exposing the beauty of the rainbow trout…a real sight to view.
(2) Brown Trout – These fish colors vary from natural brown, olive-green on their backs with lighter sides, with a brilliant yellow-gold on their underside, with yellowish-green, unspotted fins. Notice they’ll have black or dark brown spots on their sides, and if you look closely, you see some red spots with light blue rings. It’s hard for me to spot these fish in the water but Tom is excellent at spotting them in water.
(3) Brook Trout – I love the Brook Trout because of its beauty. It’s one of the most colorful of all trout, I think. Their back is a dark-olive green with light wavy, wormy looking markings. Their sides are lighter, and many times, with a bluish cast to them and they have yellowish spots and red spots with a blue halo around them. Their fins have an outer edge of white with a prevalent black line separating it from the orange. This is Bob’s greatest catch of all; he loves to reel in a Brookie.
There are gold trout also but I’ve never been able to catch one of them to be able to give a good description of one.
Trout will feed on various types of bait, i.e., kernel corn, colored marshmallows, power baits, yellow cheese, salmon eggs, dry flies, wet flies, streamers, nymphs, worms, minnows and small spinners and spinner-buck tails. I’ve found trout will hit anything that’s got color to it, especially yellow in nature.
I’d like to mention, you can get a Virginia Freshwater Fishing & Watercraft Owner’s Guide…this is an absolute must to keep you up to date on what’s new for the year; fishing license information and fees. Also you can purchase your fishing license online: www.HuntfishVa.Com and also go Virginia Department of Game and Fisheries: www.dgif.virginia.gov/ this site has valuable information about trout stockings, locations and other information.