Thursday the 27th I left
work at 1630 and drove down to the Cheat River Valley. I stayed at
the Cheat River Canyon Campground. Its does not have a website, but
what it does have are hot showers and flush toilets. The showers are
coin operated for 4 quarters you get six minutes of bliss!
Like so many other campgrounds down
there the media-demic has made a mess of things for small business
owners. The campground is going out of business, but I heard it has
been recently purchased and we will have to wait and see what
happens.
The camp ground as it is is a
campground for the seasoned camper. The showers are set up and
antiquate for showers. The stalls are old but clean and separated by
partitions. This establishment is awesome for those who are there for
hiking, fishing, white water sports, and for those who want to get
away from the hustle and bustle of life.
There are plenty of places to eat near
by and when I mean near by with-in 20-30 minutes. Their are mom and
pop diners “Down Home Diner 300 Tunnelton St, Kingwood, WV 26537”
and main stream food venues.
I drove into kingwood for some great
home cooking and ate well. They can be found here at
https://www.facebook.com/MonroesDeli
It will not matter if you want a mouth watering steak or a dollar
hoagie like your grandmas house it will be your fault if you leave
hungry.
After arriving at the campsite and met
the fine folks there I went to set up camp. I was able to camp so
close to the river that it lulled me to sleep every night. Now there
was at times loud traffic, but it would become just white noise after
awhile.
I would wake up and head to Walmart to
get my license. I returned to the river at about 0800. Along the
Cheat you have amazing access points. The only draw back as you will
see is the rocks. I don't mind the rocks they make you get your
excersize.
You just have to use extreme caution.
As my great grandfather used to tell me there are two types of people
who fish rivers. The one person who has fallen and the other who will
fall. One of many key factors in rock hoping along the river is it
the rock is dark colored you will most likely have a slip trip or
fall. I wear my Great Lakes wading boots and they have carbide studs
in them. They give me a second chance normally, but again you need to
approach every surface with caution.
The Cheat @ the USGS station in
Albright was 490 – 512 cf/s and the information can be found here:
https://dashboard.waterdata.usgs.gov/api/gwis/2.0/service/siteagencyCode=USGS&siteNumber=03070260&open=160537
I have been fishing my
entire life and I have been very observant of my surroundings. I have
never seen until this day huge small-mouth guarding the areas where
the small-mouth hatch has occurred. I was watching these 14-17”
small-mouth hens and bulls chase after much smaller smallies. These
other smallies I think were eating the fry! I am telling you these
not so little Cheat River smallies would come in hot and run off the
other small-mouth. I did not fish for these fish who were obviously
guarding there fry.
I used my TiCr 6wt and my
egg beater. The eggbeater was the best tool for here. I am not saying
the fly rod cant be used here. So many times the types of waters I am
fishing there is no room for a back-cast. Now this is not every cast
that this is an issue. The fly of choice was a black over white
sparsely tied on a 1/0 clouser style hook with large dumbbell eyes.
The eggbeater lure of choice was a 2” power grub in a milky shad
color with a ¼ oz white jig head. The retrieve while it was warm did
not matter slow or fast. I brought fish to hand no matter which I
used.
What allowed me to hook
fish was the structure in the river and how I fished it. Their are
people out there who fish featureless waters and wonder why they
don't hook fish,
These fish are ambush
predators. They hide under submerged logs, rock ledges, and in broken
water. It matters greatly how one covers the water column.
The other thing is you
have to commit to losing flies or lures in order to have a better
chance in hooking fish. It does not matter if its a Bluegill or a
Steelhead.
I brought about 20
smallies to hand and sorry for zero fishy photos. At about 11 am the
rains came and I knew they would, but I did not think they would set
up camp over the Cheat River Valley. The river raised a solid four
feet vertically! I also want to point out that the air temps leading
up to this storm were in the 70's and the water temp was 75 degrees
and ended up at 59 degrees! So needless to say it became extremely
tough to bring a fish to hand. I fished until I was wetter than the
fish I was trying to bring to hand.
Being down home is always
a blessing and the people I meet are always so kind. In your travels
always remember in these little villages, boroughs, and hamlets they
are struggling. I encourage you to spend some time and money in there
places when we (you) can.
I also got a reel treat. I
got to fish a family pond filled with 9-12” bull gills! Omg I
forgot how fun they are to catch. Wit ha 6wt and a foam gurgler in
white it was on. The hook again was 1/0 and they had to want it. On a
side note I met new family members I did not know existed until now!
Thank you folks and look forward to getting to know you more and
better. I send my love and care to you.
Well I have rambled on
long enough.
