August Fishing Report

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Rain, rain, go away! This has been the wettest summer we can ever remember. It has certainly fouled up our fishing in much of Virginia, but never fear, the fishing is very good right now. 

Out in the Chesapeake Bay there are lots of schoolie stripers to be caught on our kayaking trips. There are also the occasional redfish showing up!

Around Richmond, the Chickahominy has been fishing well for bass, pickerel and the feisty bowfin. The James River is still too high to fish, but the North Anna is at great wading levels and perfect for anglers of all skill levels.

Smallmouth fishing on the New is really heating up. The water is up, but clear. The fish are actively hitting cicada poppers, which we have for sale on this site. This September, we will be offering float trips on the upper New River for trophy smallmouth bass. This is an excellent time of the year to catch a trophy fish, on top! Contact us for more info on these world class float trips for big bronzebacks!

Don't forget, if you want to learn to fly fish, we offer casting lessons in Byrd Park! Contact us to set up a lesson and we will have you casting and addicted to fly fishing in no time!

Cicada Poppers = Smallmouth candy! 

Cicada Poppers = Smallmouth candy!

 

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Mid Summer Report

As many of you know, we have had rains of nearly historical proportions throughout the state of Virginia through May and June. 

This has led to tough fishing conditions to say the least. The good news is water levels have finally retreated in Central VA and we are taking lots of folks out to the North Anna River for a variety of species. 

Several folks are taking trips to fish the Chickahominy Reservoir with us, as well as out on the Chesapeake Bay trips at the mouth of the Rappahannock River for striped bass and croaker. Summer is a great time of the year to fish for bowfin and largemouth bass on the Chick, see the photos below of some big fish caught on our very own Bangarang fly!

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Give us a call to plan your trip!

Mid May Smallmouth on the New

We just wrapped up our spring season on the upper New River above Claytor Lake. Lots of rain made the scheduling a bit of a juggle but when we were able to get out on the water, the weather was exceptional and the fishing was on fire! Multiple fish over 15" were landed, including several over 18"!! 

Many of these fish were caught sight fishing as they were staging in shallow water looking for alewife swimming up the river. The big smallmouth fell to poppers and streamers stripped quickly along or close to the surface. Double Barrel poppers, Miracle Whip Minnow and Shimmering Minnow were our most successful flies. 

KTRW will be running some trips in late summer and early fall for topwater smallmouth eating cicadas. Don't miss out on the action!

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Mid April update

The river are all blown out across the state. It may be another week before the James or New are even close to fishable after all of the rain earlier this week. That being said, the high mountain streams in the Parks are running very well and the trout are whacking dry flies with a vengeance!

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Also, this weekend is the South River Fly Fishing Expo in Waynesboro. I'll have a booth set up and be giving a presentation Saturday and Sunday on shallow water redfish techniques. There should be several good tiers and lots of good fly fishing info, plus some beer!

www.southriverexpo.org

Spring Smallmouth!

Spring Smallmouth Bass fishing is finally here! This year is a bit different for KTRW... Head guide Chris Siess will be running full day float trips on the New River upstream (south) of Claytor Lake. This is an incredible chance to catch big Smallmouth Bass in one of the best Smallmouth rivers in the country! Many of these fish are taken on poppers as well! There will be also shots at striped bass up to 15 pounds, musky and giant carp as well!

The season has started and we've openings now through Memorial Day. Give us a call, send a message or shoot us an email for further information or booking!

Two person, full day floats are $495, one person is $395. 

 

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Shallow Water Redfish Tactics

Many folks have asked me over the years for tips and tricks on catching my favorite quarry, Redfish. Luckily for anyone interested in chasing these hard pulling, crab crushers, I'll be giving presentations on how to catch them on in shallow water at the South River Fly Fishing Expo in Waynesboro on April 21st and 22nd!

For more information, check out www.southriverexpo.com

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

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Fly Fishing Shows

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hello at the Virginia Fly Fishing and Wine Festival last weekend! It was a blast meeting many of you and I look forward to fishing with you this season!

The next show I will be attending will be The Fly Fishing Show in Atlanta on February 2nd and 3rd. I'll be tying flies and talking all things fly fishing and have some flies and swag for sale as well. This is one of the best shows in the country, come check it out!

http://flyfishingshow.com/atlanta/

Finally, I will have a tying station at the South River Fly Fishing Expo on April 21 and will be speaking there about shallow water fishing for redfish!

http://southriverexpo.org/main/

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Twenty Eighteen!

To my clients, friends and family, I just wanted to say thank you very much for all of the trips, lessons, orders and support in 2017. This was the best year I have had so far at KTRW! I look forward to 2018 and making many more memories and helping spread my love of fly fishing!

Since it is cold and gnarly outside here in Richmond, I wanted to offer $10 off fly fishing lessons through the end of January. Simply purchase a lesson by the end of January and learn to tie flies for $40! You even get to keep your own creations. Message me at knotthereelworld@gmail.com with any questions or scheduling a lesson!

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GUIDING UPDATE!

For late April and all of May until Memorial Day Weekend I will be guiding in Southwest  Virginia on the New River working directly with New River Fly Fish owner Mike Smith and running his float trips on the New upriver from Claytor Lake. Trips offered are full or half day trips with a focus on smallmouth bass on topwater. This is some of the best smallmouth bass fishing in the country! Trips will be available weekdays and on Sundays. 

New River trip pricing: 

Full day $495 ($395 1 angler)

1/2 day $375 (1 or 2 anglers)

For booking a trip, please call me directly for details at 571.334.4721 or send me an email at knotthereelworld@gmail.com. 

Five pound smallmouth

Fall Fly Fishing at Cape Lookout, NC

If you haven’t been to Cape Lookout, North Carolina by now, then a fishing trip for electric False Albacore should be added to your bucket list pronto! Come September and lasting through as late as Thanksgiving, False Albacore migrate down the East Coast following a myriad of bait species heading south for the winter.  

The Albacore maraud schools of bait in a blitz on the surface, staying up for a few minutes, but sometimes only seconds. This fishing is run and gun, and the birds are your friends in locating bait and fish. There is a level of southern courtesy here, so don’t over crowd other boats.  Cast your fly into the blitz and use a two handed strip to rip it out of the boil as fast as possible. You’ll feel the weight of the fish, strip set hard and then hang on! Grabbing the reel knob or line here is not a good idea, unless you like line burns or busted knuckles. False Albacore, like other members of the tuna family, do not stop swimming, so when releasing, they need to hit the water with a head start. Hold the fish by the tail over the gunwale and drop them in from a few feet up so they can take off under water.

Albies can be picky as trout, called “sippers,” or as aggressive as a bass, depending on the size of the bait in the water.  Flies can be a small and sparse inch and a half long, or a full size Half and Half. Albie Candies and Clousers in chartreuse and white, tan and white and chartreuse and pink are go to flies, but don’t forget Crease flies for topwater.

September through mid-October features smaller albacore in the 6-10 pound range but has other gamefish varieties too, such as Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, Red Drum, Blue Runners, Spinner and Blacktip sharks and the occasional Kingfish. Come November, the weather turns rougher and bigger Albacore up to 20 pounds show up but the other species head south.

Sharks will sometimes join the mix to chow down on bait or your recently hooked Albacore. Larger ones also follow shrimp boats as they cull their catch and can be hooked on fly… landed is another story. If you get lucky, you may come across a school of 15-25 pound bull Red Drum cruising down the beach just under the water’s surface, a pumpkin patch!

Typical equipment is an 8 through 10 weight fast action rod with a quality reel, intermediate or floating line and 200 yards of backing for the Albies. Leaders are typically nine feet long down to 16 or 20 pound fluorocarbon. Ten weight rods with heavy sinking lines are needed for the bull Drum and larger 13 weight rods required for Jaws.

If the weather turns too rough or your arm needs a rest from all of the albacore, you can always stay inshore and find protected waters loaded with Puppy Drum (Redfish up to 28”), Speckled Trout or Flounder on the fly. The False Albacore run is epic in its own right, but it’s not the only game in town!