chub minnow

Al has it about right. Based on my experience last week I'd want it to be well below 800 cfs to think about seriously fishing. I tried at higher flow and I couldn't put enough weight on the fly rod to get to the bottom. Tried with the spincast, but again, the current was so fast that I couldn't really get down and get the action I wanted on any of my lures. Tried banging the banks and maybe got a few bites, but then again it may have just been submerged grass. I'd say that you want a max of 500-600 cfs to be able to have a "good" day of fishing. I felt safe floating it at 800-1000 cfs but fishing was more or less a waste of time primarily due to the current rather than the stain in the water. I'd say visibility was 3'-5' on Monday the 24th. Rain ended Saturday morning the 22nd.

Ditto that! Just got off the river a few days ago and she was pumping. Fishing was poor to non-existent. We floated Baptist to Pulltite and almost never paddled except to steer. If it keeps raining like this every 3-4 days you may need to reschedule your trip. This was the first time I have ever been skunked on a 3 day float, but the water was just way too fast and stained to get anything in front of them. If you are going mainly for the fishing and the gauge at Akers is over 1000 CFS I would seriously consider moving your trip. The river was closed below Pulltite when we got off. Flow was about 1100-1200 cfs at that time at Akers gauge.

Unfit to hike eh? Sounds like "alternative facts" to me!

We floated the Bryant from the Hwy 14 bridge last spring - April 9-12. I would not have wanted to start any higher up (Vera Cruz) but there was plenty of water for a loaded canoe there at that time . It was flowing at about 460 cfs at that time. If it was significantly less than that I would consider starting further down. The fishing was good and the solitude was EXCELLENT. We did not see a single boat the whole four days. We did encounter a few folks at access points on the weekend, but not enough to even field a basketball team. There was a festival going on just east of the 14 bridge when we launched, but after the monastery I don't think we encountered another soul. We caught lots of smallmouth, goggleye and kentuckies. I actually caught my first fish right above the monastery bridge on a mister twister curly tail grub. I made a very long cast and instantly felt the tug of a solid bite. The fish immediately started doing huge cartwheels, probably 2.5-3' out of the water and I thought to myself that this did not seem like a smallmouth, but it sure was putting up a good fight. I few minutes later I netted a 15"-16" rainbow that was fat and sassy. I was not expecting that. I had heard there were a few bows in there, but did not expect to catch one that far above Rockbridge, especially on bass tackle. We camped three nights on the river (it's more a river than a creek really) and took out at Hodgson Mill. I felt like this was just about perfect in terms of being able to fish hard and explore the sights along the way. One thing I will tell you is that getting a fully loaded canoe over the Monastery bridge is a major P.I.T.A., but it was worth it. If you like solitude and don't mind getting out of the boat a few times both the upper Bryant and upper North Fork are highly recommended. Unless you come off as a total jerk when you interact with folks, I don't see you having any problems with landowners whatsoever on either stream.

I think you are on the right track. We did a big trip starting at Topaz, ending at Sunburst in med / low conditions and that was some skinny water above Hebron access. Plus the smallmouth fishing didn't really turn on until after Indian Creek anyway. I'd definitely recommend starting no higher than Indian Creek. While there is private land below Twin Bridges, it still very much has a wilderness feel and is very scenic for several mile below Twin Bridges. On the last trip it seemed like there were ample campsites for the 10 miles below Twin Bridges until North Fork and Rainbow Springs come in to the river. This is the same area where the trout fishing really turns on as well. I've float camped the river several times and never had a problem, but don't ever build a huge fire or get overly obnoxious either. We usually don't stop and set up camp until right before dark. People tend to get more upset if you post up on their private property mid-afternoon and start blasting tunes and mixing margaritas. I don't recall many island campsites, but then again I usually just write those off due to flooding concerns and lack of firewood. I've had a couple of bad experiences with not camping high enough and I don't intend to repeat it! If you like wilderness, take a look at upper Bryant sometime as well.

I think it's usually around the first of November....

It's definitely not just the newly American. I talked to a guy at the public access right in Pineville that was clearly born and educated in McDonald County based on his grammar. He had a stringer with about 20 goggleye (he thought they were crappie!) and a dozen or so (mainly short) smallmouth. "Theyz gunna havum a fish fry tooo-nite". I've had my license / cooler checked by the warden at that location more than once, but of course they were no where in sight that day. I've actually been checked probably a half dozen times on Big Sugar, Little Sugar and the Elk in the last couple years. Never have encountered him on Indian though. The last couple times he even remembered me well enough to know that my Playmate cooler would be full of trash that I picked up along the way and not illegal fish. So I do feel that enforcement is on the upswing based on my personal experience, but I agree that the numbers are way down on any fish over 6-8".

We took the boy on his first full fledged overnight float trip. He made his dad proud even though he wasn't too interested in fishing. We put in at Twin Bridges on Saturday mid-day and camped just a ways past Hammond Camp that night. At camp we had a major rock breaking session to see what was inside. We discussed the geology that created the rocks and how long it took the river to cut down to where we were. He seemed genuinely impressed (finally!). Floated to Patrick on Sunday and he did all the rapids including the falls on his own with applause at a couple of locations. We had to stop at Upper Rainbow Springs so he could extinguish a fire someone had left burning on the gravel bar. There were a fair amount of people on the river but that section was never even close to crowded especially for a holiday weekend. Everyone loved it. I didn't get to fish as much as I would have liked (never do!) but I did manage a North Fork slam; smallmouth, kentucky, goggleye, rainbow and a brown. None of them had much size, but I was happy! I did have a really nice rainbow on for a minute just below Blair but lost him before I got a really good look. The wife caught the big fish of the trip, a nice 14-15" smallmouth. All of the bass were caught on bitsy tubes and crawbugs. I caught a couple rainbows on a prince nymph and the brown came on a Pat's rubberlegs I tied myself for the first time before I left. That was a nice treat as well! Below Blair bridge I saw a group of 3 big fish that I'm 90% sure were stripers. They appeared too slender to be hybrids and were all three probably 24-30". I tried to get a cast in but they were gone before I was even close. All in all a great weekend, I even got a commitment for another trip out of the boy, I think he's hooked on the white water.

Good goggle!

While Hickory is much closer to Cherry Corners, I'd say Capps is more likely due to the dam just upstream of Hickory Creek. I kinda doubt that fish jumped over the dam at Lime Kiln park.

There is a turnout of sorts on Habberton Road by Neil's bluff where you can take out without too much hassle, but it's no boat ramp like TB or 412 access. One thing to keep in mind is that if the wind is out of the north, that last stretch can be a bear - especially in a canoe.

I did some fly flinging right where the river (War Eagle) meets the lake below the mill on Sunday and nada. Tried everything from clousers to woollies to a big old sasquatch. Hit four nice holes really hard and not a nibble.

There's a stray buoy at Lost Hill - Shell Knob but that would be one heck of an upstream trip!

MTV still exists?

I don't tie a lot of flies but #14-#16 zebra midges are one fly that I tie a fish with a bunch. I've had really good success catching numbers and better sized fish with these. I'll tie them in all sorts of combinations of black or red with silver, gold and copper wire and bead heads. This is my go to fly when I'm getting skunked on Beaver Tailwater - it almost always produces.