New Trout Fisherman, Went to Rockbridge and Northfork River last weekend, had a bit of an odd (but successful) experience.

[jimithyashford]

So, I am just learning to fly fish, trying to get my cast, figuring out different kinds of flies, and I figured I'd head somewhere where I could for sure get a fish on just to get used to what landing a fish with a flyrod feels like.

First: My casting still stinks. If I have a LOT of room to back cast, I can cast out in front equal to the distance I can backcast, which is maybe 30 feet tops, but I can't shoot line at all. I'll keep working on it.

So, Rockbridge was pretty neat, and nice little place. Kinda expensive to be honest, that's the real down side, but otherwise really nice. I'd say if it was 20% cheaper it would be right about what I think it's worth, but as a splurge while I'm learning, not too bad.

So, I was out there fly fishing for maybe 2 hours, and didn't get any fish on. I tried floating flies on the surface, tried nymphs under a bobber at the right depth to practically roll off their faces, nothing. There were plenty of other fishermen out, and I saw a few flyfishermen land fish, but really not very many.

So finally I put the fly rod up and switched to a rooster tail, and immediately first cast, a big one. And not just a first cast fluke, every time I pulled a roostertail through them, they swarmed it aggressively.

Since you have to pay by the fish there, I put the rooster tail away and thought I had cracked the code, they are in the mood for reactive strikes at moving targets, ok so I'll fly fish streamers then, to try and get that same kind of bite. Another hour, nothing. I tried a couple different colorations, I tried letting the streamer just float past them, tried stripping it in quickly, tried stripping it in in short little hops, tried basically every retrieve I could think of, and they'd kinda chase it a little, but never bite it.

So eventually I switched back to a roostertail and they immediately started hammering it against, and I very quickly caught honestly more fish than I wanted to pay for and had to stop myself. 

I fished for about 4 hours total, but caught all my fish on the roostertail in about 10 minutes, my final weigh out was 13ish pounds of fish with an average of 3.1 pounds per fish. It was expensive, but I've got trout for the next 3 months in my freezer.

So, in my very limited experience so far, Trout lose their minds for a rooster tail and don't seem to care much about anything else. 

 

After that I drove over to Northfork, where I have heard there is good Trout fishing in the blue ribbon section. I waded out into some of the riffles and went back to flyfishing, using nymphs and streamers with enough weight to keep them down a bit in the heavy current, and I did land one Smallmouth, that was fun, but no trout.

 

Anyway, that's the result of my trout trip last weekend. 

Will I ever go back to Rockbridge? Maybe as a treat for a friend or something where they definitely want to catch fish, but for my own self, probably not. Don't get me wrong, if you want to 100% catch as many big trout as you want, it's the place. But it was actually too easy (once I switched to rooster tail that is) it almost felt like cheating. It wasn't as rewarding as I'd like.

I will say, I had a burger in their restaurant before leaving, and I dunno if I was just really hungry, but that was one of the best burgers I've ever had.

[WestCentralFisher]

You can catch loads of trout on spinners, for sure. My go to is a little Panther Martin, but rooster tails work great too. 

I'm a spin fisherman primarily, who will go to a fly rod when needed. Low, clear water for wild or at least stream resident trout, a #16 or 18 generic nymph under a little foam strike indicator will fish circles around spinners most times. But on the same creek, if the water is up and even the tiniest bit stained, give me the spinner and I'll catch fish all day long, and bigger ones on average, too. With freshly stocked fish, again, give me a spinning rod. 

[T.J. Clarke]

My first trip to Rockbridge felt a little expensive but the second trip seemed like a bargain.  I started thinking of it differently;  no Hoosiers tossing beer cans, no canoe/raft party animals floating by, no loud kids splashing behind me, throwing rocks, no shoulder to shoulder crowds, 2 pound plus fish, quiet place to learn and hone skills, one of the most remote counties in MO, very scenic.   

[tjm]

 

5 hours ago, jimithyashford said:

So, I am just learning to fly fish, trying to get my cast, figuring out different kinds of flies, and I figured I'd head somewhere where I could for sure get a fish on just to get used to what landing a fish with a flyrod feels like.

I think practicing the fly cast should be done in a non-fishing situation, so that you can concentrate on one thing at a time. When I started fly fishing back in the '70s catching fish on the fly was so easy that it took me almost twenty years to learn to cast and I'm still not very good at it. Fish are a major distraction. If you want to catch fish and the spinners are working , just keep doing that. On the other hand if fly casting interests you, lock the spinning rod in  the attic, leave it there until you master the fly rod. Take a casting lesson or two and cut the hook off a couple of practice flies, then make those nice casts into muscle memory before going after fish again. 

When you do go fly rod fishing, the most important  thing is not your cast, but  where you stand, the location of your feet  make the angle and distance of the cast good or bad. And nothing can really fix a bad casting position except moving to where the water is helping rather than hindering your  presentation. 

On whether Rockbridge is worth the price or not, that's up to the individual, it would not be to me, I would not even drive there to fish if it was free because I'd have to pass too many other streams to get there,  but it obviously is to each and all of their satisfied customers. And if I were spending that $210 day as a means of  learning,   I'm sure that I'd be better off to put up some more $$$ and find a guide willing to give instruction. 

It's good that you enjoyed the outing and now you have an idea of what you like and if you even like trout fishing. 

[Quillback]

I don't know how far Roaring River is from you, but Nov. 1 starts the catch and release season.  Tim's Fly Shop is somewhere near there and I'm sure you could get tips on what to use from them.  

[tjm]

Not much difference between flyrodding for SMB and and flyrodding for trout. They eat all the same foods and live in similar water. Reading the water is going to require the same skills and figuring out the presentation angles is the same set of problems. Anywhere in the Ozarks is a good place to fly fish with the possible exception of the  reservoirs. It can be a bit hazardous to wade when boats are flying by and throwing wakes.