Post by Elisse

We (finally!) learned to fly-fish, something I've been aching to do for Years- ever since those pricey LL Bean catalogs would turn up in my NYC mailbox and tantalize me with incredibly expensive trips... I did it once back in 1981 in Ireland, and it was pretty magical to see a trout leap into the air and take a fly (not mine, I hasten to add). I always thought the hand-tied flies, made with feathers and beads and such, were, well... Pretty, and I've secretly coveted one of those cool fly-bedecked hats like Col. Blake wore in M*A*S*H for years, and even considered buying some to turn into earrings... I found it fascinating to look closely at all the different kinds of flies and see the work that goes into creating 100s of different kinds of fake bugs in all their stages of life...
Plus, for the last 8 years we've lived on one of THE best trout streams- the Elkhorn Inn is right on Elkhorn Creek, famous for its 24"-32" trout- and many of our guests are Trout Unlimited members and avid fly fishermen- but although they taught me to hand-tie a fly at our dining table, not having the gear or the knowledge, we'd never done any fly fishing! But now we have! And we'll be able to do it at home! YAY!
We booked a full day with Bobby Bower of www.profishwv.com at Glade Springs, (for a fraction of those LL Bean trips!) and had THE best day! After getting our WV fishing licenses, we spent the morning learning the rudiments of the sport on a lake at Glade Springs, practicing our casts & learning about the equipment, and the difference between "woolly buggers" and dry flies...

Bobby then drove us out- WAY out!- to Glade Creek-on-the-New, and dressed in our spiffy new waders & boots, we hiked out into the middle of the white water, and really did it! And Elisse caught her first brown trout on a dry fly!!!!

Though Dan didn't land himself a trout, he did get some good nibbles, and we truly had a GREAT day! We learned just enough to be dangerous- and got well and truly bitten by the fly fishing bug! So we now have to get all the cool stuff so we can do it at home on Elkhorn Creek! No, fly fishing isn't exactly an inexpensive sport, but we learned enough from Bobby to know that it doesn't have to be insanely expensive, either! And since we've already paid for our fishing licenses for the whole year, and we live right on a great trout stream, we now have high hopes that if we get the Stuff, maybe some of our Trout Unlimited guests will take us out behind the Inn and teach us some more!

Great Fly Fishing Quotes

Fly-fishing is the most fun you can have standing up."

~by Arnold Gingrich, 1969~
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"A trout is a moment of beauty known only to those who seek it."

~by Arnold Gingrich~
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"Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains."

~by Henry David Thoreau~
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"Listen to the sound of the river and you will get a trout."

~Irish proverb~
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"It is not a fish until it is on the bank."

~Irish Proverb~
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"A bad day's fishing is better than a good day at work."

~Anonymous~
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"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles."

~by Doug Larsen~
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"O, sir, doubt not that Angling is an art; is it not an art to deceive a trout with an artificial fly?"

~by Isaak Walton~
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"Here comes the trout that must be caught with tickling."

~by William Shakespeare, Twelfth Nigh,t Act II, Scene ,1 Line 2~
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"If fishing is like religion, then fly-fishing is high church."

~by Tom Brokaw~
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"If fishing is interfering with your business, give up your business."

~by Alfred W. Miller~
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"Calling Fly Fishing a hobby is like calling Brain Surgery a job."

~by Paul Schullery~
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"The difference between fly fishers and worm dunkers is the quality of their excuses."

~Anonymous~
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"Some go to church and think about fishing, others go fishing and think about God."

~by Tony Blake~
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"The two best times to fish is when it's rainin' and when it ain't."

~by Patrick F. MacManus~
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"Angling may be said to be so like the mathematics, that it can never be fully learnt."
~by Izaak Walton, 1653~
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"I am not against golf, since I cannot but suspect it keeps armies of the unworthy from discovering trout."
~by Paul O'Neil~
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"In my family, there was no clear division between religion and fly fishing."

~by Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It, 1976~
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"Rivers and the inhabitants of the watery elements are made for wise men to contemplate."

~by Izaac Walton~

West Virginia Trout Stocking Report 1st 1/2 May 2010

May 12, 2010

•Bear Rocks Lake
•Brandywine Lake
•Brushy Fork Lake
•Bullskin Run
•Cranberry River
•Dry Fork (Tucker, Randolph)
•Elk River
•Evitts Run
•Glade Creek of New River
•Horse Creek Lake
•Meadow Creek of Anthony
•Opequon Creek
•Paw Paw Creek
•Pinnacle Creek (lower)
•Rocky Marsh Run
•South Branch (Smoke Hole)
•Wheeling Creek
•Whiteday Creek
May 10, 2010

•Big Clear Creek
•Burnsville Tailwaters
•Clear Fork of Guyandotte River
•Conaway Run Lake
•Fall Run
•French Creek Pond
•Horseshoe Run
•Laurel Creek of New River
•Laurel Fork of Holly River
•Left Fork of Holly River
•Little Clear Creek
•Lost River
•Mill Creek of New River
•Mill Creek Reservoir
•New Creek Dam #14
•North Fork of Fishing Creek
•R.D. Bailey Tailwaters
•Red Creek
•South Fork of Fishing Creek
•Stonewall Jackson Tailwaters
•Summit Lake
•Sutton Tailwaters
•Teter Creek Lake
•Trout Run
•Waites Run
•Warden Lake
•Watoga Lake
•West Fork of Greenbrier River (railroad grade)
May 7, 2010

•Berwind Lake
•Clover Run
•Conaway Run Lake
•Dry Fork (McDowell)
•East Fork Greenbrier River
•Little River East Fork Greenbrier River
•Little River West Fork Greenbrier River
•Mason Lake
•Middle Fork River
•Newburg Lake
•North Fork of Cherry River
•North Fork of Fishing Creek
•Shavers Fork (Bemis section)
•Shavers Fork (lower section)
•Shavers Fork (upper section)
•South Fork of Cherry River
•South Fork of Fishing Creek
•Summit Lake
•Watoga Lake
•West Fork Greenbrier River
May 6, 2010

•Anthony Creek
•Beech Fork Tailwaters
•Big Sandy Creek
•Blaney Hollow and Morgan Run
•Coopers Rock Lake
•East Lynn Tailwaters
•Elk River
•Glady Fork
•Kings Creek
•Knapps Creek
•Laurel Creek (Clay)
•North Fork of South Branch
•Rhine Creek
•Shavers Fork (lower) Railroad Bowden to Bemis
•South Branch (Smoke Hole)
•Tomlinson Run
•West Fork of Twelvepole
•Wolf Creek
May 5, 2010

•Anawalt Lake
•Blackwater River
•Buckhannon River
•Buffalo Fork lake
•Cacapon Park Lake
•Cherry River
•Deer Creek (Nicholas)
•Deer Creek (Pocahontas)
•Greenbrier River
•Laurel Creek of Cherry River
•Left Fork of Right Fork of Buckhannon River
•Meadow Creek of New River
•Middle Creek
•Mill Creek of Opequon Creek
•Milligan Creek
•Paint Creek
•Pond Fork
•Right Fork of Buckhannon River
•Shavers Fork (upper) Railroad Cheat Bridge to Beaver Creek
•South Mill Creek Lake
•Tilhance Creek
•Tuscarora Creek
•Tygart Headwaters
May 4, 2010

•Back Fork of Elk River
•Buffalo Creek (Brooke)
•Castleman Run Lake
•Desert Fork
•Dunloup Creek
•Gandy Creek
•Hopkins Fork
•Laurel Fork (Randolph)
•Lost River
•Lower Cove Run
•Middle Wheeling Dam
•Moores Run
•New Creek
•North Fork of Patterson Creek
•North River
•Shavers Fork (upper) Railroad below Catch & Release to Bemis
•Spruce Knob Lake
•Sugar Creek
•Trout Run
•Waites Run
•Williams River
May 3, 2010

•Bullskin Run
•Cranberry River
•Evitts Run
•Jimmy Lewis Lake
•Long Marsh Run
•Mill Run of Back Creek
•Opequon Creek
•Pipestem Lake
•Rocky Marsh Run
•Seneca Lake
•Shavers Fork (upper) Railroad Catch & Release
•South ranch (Franklin)
•Thomas Park Lake
•Tuckahoe Lake
•Tygart Tailwaters

Birthday Fishing

It has become a tradition in the Bower family to do what we love the best on our birthdays, go Smallmouth Bass fishing on the New River, in our backyard so to speak. Many of the people we spend our time with are amazed by the fact that we would choose to go out and do what we do for a living on a rare day off. I can see where they are coming from but my office has a much better view than any cubicle around. The bi-annual birthday trips have been everything from a two day overnight camping trip on the Upper New River to a three hour tour under The New River Gorge Bridge, our favorite trip continues to be fishing the Gorge section or The Lower New. The local outfitters have coined a phrase on this section as “Americas Best Whitewater” and there are many good reasons for this distinguished title. Even after spending the last 20 years or so in a raft it is still the incredible Smallmouth fishing that makes me want to go “rafting” the New River Gorge! Any chance we get to fish the Lower New is considered a treat as our outfitter runs commercial trips quite regularly when the water levels are just right. The best thing about the birthday fishing trip is you can be real greedy and not have to take turns rowing the boat as we do on the other days we go out and fish for fun. So if you see us out on those two beautiful days in July you will usually find Carla and Bobby sitting in a green fishing boat with our friends just fishing, cause that’s what we both like to do best. Bet you I catch more on my birthday than Carla. Bobby Bower, Pro River Outfitters Guide/Head Dishwasher

Glade Springs Fly Fishing School

Ever since that movie where a river runs through Brad Pitt’s waders, the sport of fly fishing is among the fastest growing sport in the United States. All types of people from all kinds of backgrounds are purchasing fly rods and trying to make the perfect loop. We have found one of the best places in the country to help a wana-be Brad Pitt to perfect and learn the art of the fly. The Resort at Glade Springs in Daniels, WV is a great place to learn both on the land casting clinics and on water lakes and ponds that are scattered over a mature golf course closed to the public for fishing. Our “Fly Guys” will share with you what you need to know to enjoy the sport of fly fishing on your own. Most anglers will hook into a scrappy bluegill or a Largemouth Bass while practicing on the golf course ponds. PRO River Outfitters is proud to present the “Glade Springs Fly Fishing School” These customized programs are for all skill levels from the first time fly fisherman or fisherwoman to a lifelong angler that wants to work on and develop their skills. Every fly fishing school is geared to each of the students specific skill level and can evolve over time with advanced levels of teaching. By Bobby Bower

PRO River Outfitters

Pro River Outfitters in southern West Virginia specializes in custom guided float fishing trips on a 70+ mile stretch on the New River and many of its tributaries. These streams and rivers offer some of the best Smallmouth Bass fishing in the United States. The rugged mountainous landscape makes it very difficult to fish along the banks of these high volume rivers. We float and fish atop these boats and can move all around the river casting towards the banks and around the rocks from the same kind of rafts used to run whitewater. Fitting the boats with aluminum frames and sitting in high back swivel seats for maximum comfort is always our goal. Most people when thinking about a fishing trip see it as sitting in one spot for hours with a hook, a bobber, a cooler, and waiting for the reel to sing! We too like to hear a singing reel, love to have that cooler quite handy but sitting in one spot is not an option. On a full day float trip on the New River an aggressive angled can make up to a thousand casts and have the chance to hook well over 100 Smallmouth Bass. Some of our guests prefer to kick back a bit more and only cast when the guide puts them on a hot spot. Most fishing guides come from a white water background and decided they had enough of getting thrashed over waterfalls but would never admit this, fishing trips are good soul points for these folks that have a love for the rivers that cannot be denied. The fishing boats are set up to hold two anglers, one on each end and one guide that sits in the middle of the raft with oars like a director or conductor pointing, talking, rowing, joking, unhooking, and tying all while navigating the craft down the river to the next honey hole. You will find out for yourself when you decide to come and visit that the fishing guides aren’t shy or quiet and will keep you entertained even if the fishing is a bit slow. By: Bobby Bower

Guide brings excitement to world of fishing!

May 10, 2010

Guide brings excitement to world of fishing
By Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald Reporter

There was a time when a fishing trip came down to a fiberglass rod, a discarded coffee can filled with nightcrawlers and a red-and-white bobber to let you know if something with an appetite had pulled up to the table.

Live bait is unheard of when Bobby Bower takes his clients on an outing on the river.

And don’t expect to see some Huckleberry Finn types in straw hats and tattered overalls stretched out lazily on the bank, eyes open only wide enough to watch the tell-tale jump of a bobber.

What you do on one of Bower’s trips is pile into a 14-foot raft, built with aluminum and stainless steel frames, and equipped with swivel chairs, while a guide rows in the middle, carefully moving in all directions.

“You’re not just sitting around with a bobber and worm, bored out of your mind,” Bower says.

“It’s real exciting. The guides are telling you to throw here, or 10 feet toward that rock, catching eddies. You’re running small rapids. It’s constantly moving a different scenery at all times. It’s not boring. After a day, you’ll be worn out.”

Bower has been fishing since a grandfather and uncles took him as a youngster, back when the waders were a few sizes too large and he wound up getting an unscheduled bath in the streams.

A Beckley native, he began guiding rafts within a year after graduating in 1987 from Woodrow Wilson High School, engaging in sort of a trial-by-error, learn-as-you-go experience on the finesse of hooking fish with delicate dry flies.

“I kind of got into fishing for smallmouth bass out of rafts,” he explained.

“I found that was the ultimate way to do it. I spent 15 years or so guiding fishing rafts part-time for a lot of different outfitters. Eventually, I decided to go on my own.”

Bower runs his own business with wife and partner Carla, and is the concierge of activities at The Resort at Glade Springs, spending summer months hosting corporate groups in town for a meeting and some relaxation once they’ve taken care of business.

Fishing is the main part of his itinerary, although Bower might also arrange some other adventures, such as zip lining.

“We show them a good time,” he said. “They can’t wait until next year after they’ve had fun on the river.”

Right on the Glade Springs property, Bower conducts fly fishing classes using the well manicured golf course, since it features elevated tee boxes and greens that afford his students the perfect environment for learning the intricate art of fly casting.

“Within the first couple of hours of picking up a fly rod for the first time, you can catch some fish, and it’s instant gratification,” he guarantees.

Yet, it might take a novice fully a decade to really become adept at the art.

Pro River Outfitters, as Bower calls his business, provides a variety of custom raft trips on the New, Greenbrier, Elk and Gauley rivers, traditionally productive streams for smallmouth bass, walleye and several species of trout. To reach his website, go to www. profishwv.com.

Trout have been called “the Cadillac of freshwater fish,” but seldom do any of Bower’s customers keep what they catch. It’s basically a catch, photograph and release approach.

“Every now and then those guys will be wanting to keep one,” he said.

“I’ll just talk them into just taking a picture and we’ll put it back so it gets bigger the next time. We pretty much use all artificial bait. On our float trips on the New River for smallmouth, we still use flies or spinning gear. It’s all artificial. It’s easier on the fish. If you’re fishing with worms, a lot of times the fish will swallow them and it’s hard on them.”

Last summer brought some keen disappointments with constant rainfall, but so far, this season looks more promising, he said.

Bower has witnessed a broad spectrum of executive types occupy seats in his rafts. In fact, about three-fourths of his clientele are energy firms, coal mining companies, insurance, law and medical firms, and contractors. Local businesses rely on Pro River Outfitters to help them show the corporate leaders from out of town a good time.

“It’s a good way to show them the country and it’s a natural team-building,” he said.

“It’s a convenient way to meet, on the river bank, have a big lunch. Everybody has a good time. And sometimes there’s a little friendly competition.”

Until a modern revolution, fly fishing was once the sport of the wealthy, given the high-priced bamboo rods and assorted equipment. Nowadays, just as tennis has come down to the working class, fly fishing is an affordable avocation.

“You can get into the sport of fly fishing for $200 and $250,” Bower said.

“You don’t really need to go out and spend a whole lot of money until you find out if you’re going to like it and keep up with it. You can invest a lot of money in fly fishing. I’ll help them and guide them the right way with dealers to find what’s best for what they’re going to fish for.”

Bower has seen the beginner arrive after throwing out big sums on gear and outfits before casting the first dry fly in his course.

“You don’t need that to go out there and catch fish,” he said.

“It doesn’t have to be a rich man’s sport. You can do it affordably. Once you have your basic gear, it doesn’t really cost much other than your gas and your fishing license to go out there and enjoy yourself.”

Flying fishing has undergone another 21st century change, it appears. More teenage girls are showing an interest, arriving with either mother or father to learn the art.

Bower tailors his float trips to the paying customers. That means a brief outing of three to four hours, which would cover up to 4 miles, or the more challenging dusk-to-dawn trip.

“This is not for the weak of heart,” Bower warns. “It’s a long day. If you sign up, I’m not going to let you take a nap any way through it. If you’re going to get me out there that long, you’re going to have to fish hard. I’ve seen people laying on the floor, arms falling off at the end of that day. I’ve also seen people catch 100-plus smallmouth a day on the New River, which is awesome.”

Nor is the river a place to stay attached to the aids of modern technology.

“I’ve see my corporate business types have their Blackberrys out, and the first five minutes see them shaking them this way and holding them up, trying to get service, and 30 minutes later, that thing is in the bottom of the dry bag,” he said.

“They’ve got a cigar lit and a cold drink open. Their feet are kicked up and they’re having a blast. It doesn’t take long when you’re fishing to lose all that technology.”

For Reservationg Call:304-575-5252
www.profishwv.com