Jim Brewer, May 2008
Homes Weekly/Charlottesville Business Journal
Staffordsville
A good year for me is when I don’t owe IRS any money in April; I’m not asked to be in anybody’s wedding; and I get to fish the New River. This year, I’m 1 for 3. IRS needed a little something last month, my brother Charlie is getting married in June, but I did get to fish what has become my favorite river in the world: the New. I also fished it with Perch Maynard, one of my favorite guides.
I have fished with numerous guides on the New and other rivers, but Perch is one of the best anywhere. He’s knowledgeable, friendly, keeps the conversation going without dominating and he knows how to catch fish. Fishing with my brother, Pat, from Charleston, WV, we put 52 smallmouth in the boat along with somewhere between 100 and 150 rock bass. Rock bass, often called redeyes, were eating everything in sight, including any and every smallmouth bait we tried. The feisty and very tasty fish were spawning and didn’t let much escape when it approached the banks. We may have caught twice as many smallmouth without the redeye competition, but it’s hard to complain with 52 quality bass.
For the first year I can remember, we caught very few “dinks’. I call a “dink” a smallmouth under 10 inches. I bet we didn’t catch a half dozen in that range. Most everything we caught were quality fish – lots of 15”-16” fish and better.
We used mostly plastic worms but caught a few on top water, and a couple on plugs. Perch said that on an extremely calm day last week, the fish were on top all day long. There are few experiences more exciting in outdoor sports than catching smallmouth bass on top water baits, especially with popping bugs and a fly rod.
When fishing the New – it’s about 175 miles from Charlottesville - I really like going over the night before. That way you can get an early start the next morning and not be too tired on the drive home that evening.
I met Pat in Staffordsville on Sunday afternoon where we fished for wild rainbow trout in a private spring creek that flows through Perch’s property. I fiddled around and caught 8 or 9 on a small pheasant tail nymph. The biggest I landed was about a foot long, but there are trout in that creek that go better than 5 pounds. They’re huge and the dickens to land. I had one of the big ones on – briefly. He snapped my 6x leader like it was sewing thread.
Pat and I stayed in Perch’s Fisherman’s Cottage, cooked a few steaks on the grill and were ready to roll early the next morning. We were in fish all day long. No muskies, this time, but that’s always a possibility on the New River.
In my opinion, the New River is Virginia’s finest smallmouth fishery. A state record, 8 pound, 1 ounce smallie was caught there in March 2003. The fish was released and caught later, and released again. The New also holds the state muskie record at 45 1/2-pounds.
The scenic river is clean, full of baitfish and the dam at Claytor Lake keeps water levels under control. Perch said that 4 of the last 5 spawns have been in the excellent category, which bodes well for the future.
Maynard also said that the next three months should offer top-notch fishing. For starters, all the big females, which recently spawned, should return to the feeding lanes with eating on their minds. In July, the top water action heats up and the muskies start biting. By August, 100 fish days become common and fly fishing is outstanding.
If you’d like to make your outdoor year a little brighter, call Perch Maynard at 540-921-4407 and book a trip on the New River. If possible, stay at his lodge and try to catch one of those huge trout on light line. But good luck!
Tom "Perch" Maynard