Brian brings us the forecast this week from the Shenandoah River. Temperature fluctuations over the past few weeks have our largemouth and smallmouth on a roller coaster moving in and out of spawning areas. Reports on the lower south fork are that fish a bulk of fish spawned April 12-22. We are a few degrees cooler up here at the headwaters and likely the reason we haven't seen a ton of nesting fish just yet. Both largemouth and the smallmouth are adjacent to their spawning areas. Many are feeding in the fast water and current seams. In the afternoon hours when it is sunny and warm you will see them creep into the backwaters to sweep nesting sites. The cold nights and rain in the forecast could delay spawn for some fish. We have seen active spawning sites in early June before. We will continue to observe what is going on over the next month. Just be cautious not to rip big males off of nests guarding eggs or fry. Carp have been found feeding and with the recent low and clear conditions they have been a fun target recently. We have a number of excellent carp flies that will also catch bass in stock right now. Small crayfish, hellgrammite, leech, and aquatic insect patterns are all great options. Just pick a fly that will get to the river bottom quickly without spooking the fish on the presentation. We are hopeful that the rain in the forecast for Thursday night through the upcoming weekend will help replenish some flow in our trout streams. Temperatures have normalized a bit with lows in the 40's and high's in the 60's. Overcast and rainy weather mixed with cooler temps should allow us to have some excellent trout fishing. Bugs have been hatching but streamer fishing is excellent this time of year on rainy days! We should see some larger fish caught later this week as they will be out feeding on the dark days! If we have any major weather changes or high water we will post updates as they change. Have fun out there this week!
