Elk River - Troutfest 2009

I was fortunate enough to be able to go fish the Elk River in West Virginia this past weekend. It was tough fishing as there had been some rain earlier in the week and the river was still getting some snow runoff. This made the water a little murky and swift. It also made the holes a lot deeper as I found myself using a 15' leader just to get to try and get to the bottom. I was able to get 4 on Friday and 9 on Saturday. We fished the catch and release section the whole time and the most productive pattern was a size 12 bead-head pheasant tail with a quill gordon wet fly dropper. The pictures below are of the better fish. The last brown is probably the prettiest brown I have ever caught.

I was a great time as I got to see some friends and deliver Jeff's 1wt rod to him. I am kicking myself b/c I forgot to take pictures of it. I did get to cast it and that was a neat experience. The rod is so light that it takes some getting use too.....esp. when you have been throwing a 5wt all day into the wind. It is a nice little rod and Jeff got to break it in this weekend. I will try and get some pictures up.