Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When the water gets up to about 45* ...this cold spell has cooled things down a little to much...expect some midge hatches in mid Feb or as soon as we get a few days of warmer weather...The Elk and the Williams always good...then Dry Fork, Durbin and Glady in the spring....and a couple of unmentioned mountain trickle streams where the native brookies lie...on the other side of Elkins and believe it or not near the Cheat.
I miss 'Pop' Casto...he was the quintessential West Virginia fly fishing legend. He could hit a 24" bullseye at 50' time after time and laugh while he did it...for the fake fishermen, he gave us the Casto spinner and short striker spinners. He taught me to use a Diawa
Mini cast and wade under the brushiest covered streams...tie on a couple of tiny split shot to get the fly out and fly fish with a spinning rod...It was the only way you could fish those tiny mountain streams...and cast about 15/20'. Those brooks would leap out of the water to take it before it hit the water...those were the best of times..
Once, we crawled to the stream, so the fish wouldn't see us...we waved our fly rods over the water and they jumped out and hooked themselves in mid air...
what an afternoon.
Thanks for the info D Kennedy..thats a pretty great story and if that would happen to me even close I think I would write a book and call it a river runs through it 2
I finished a new novel last year and am doing the sequel now...West Virginia story told through three generations. Love and war and the intensity of the sod made hallowed by the characters sacrifice and service...similar to works done by John Ehle, but in a modern time.
That little stream where the brookies would jump out of the water was ruined by flood in 1985...it was on the upper meadows of the Dry Fork. I thought 'Pop' was crazy to have us crawl through that grass and weeds...its was worth every inch...they were like living jewels...it was an experience of a lifetime to be there.
I know the David Kennedy "story" is true. "Pop" Casto was my grandfather. A better fly fisherman was never born. It would have been his character to share his knowledge of fly fishing with another. I stumbled upon this site searching for a Casto's Special, a fly that my grandfather perfected and patented. However, it was copied. The only way to tell an authentic one was his signature on the card and he signed it Pop Casto. When I was a kid he would pay me a nickel a piece to tie on the body feathers before he did his "magic" and constructed the completed fly. I only got to fish with him a couple times...maybe because a black snake lay in our path once and I was afraid to go after that. I'm trying to find a Casto's Special to keep. The only one I had was lost in moving. If anyone knows how to get one please pass on that info to this site. It was such a pleasure reading Mr. Kennedy's tale...brings back memories of someone I loved. Sure hope there are trout streams in Heaven.
I was in his little shop a few weeks before he died...bought some midge's and a few spinners...
I never got them in the water and never will now.
His greatest gift to us was himself...he was a credit to a great Wv pioneer name.
(Our real wealth is measured in the people we meet and how they improve our lives.)
I'll share one more story about 'Pop...
He came to our church once for an exhibition....set up a regular target bullseye on one side of the gymnasium.
Set up his rod and began hitting the center of the target from the other side of the gym...about 8 out of ten times (which is incredible)
He moved closer so a crowd could form around him...he had the kids and women hitting the target after they got the flow of the cast...the secret was so novel...so ordinary...
Of how to Cast effortly and easily....
I'll diviludge that secret because he would want me to do that...
the elbow is kept close to the body and all the motion is in the arm and wrist...
He said to learn it correctly, you must cheat...he would begin with a book and hold it into the body...that kept the elbow in place...
Give it a try..you will be very surprised at how much control you have over your Casts...
Last edited by David Kennedy; 12-23-2010 at 10:52 AM..
I believe you made a mistake on the distance that pop could cast.you said the distance was 50 feet, I have been fishing many years with pop and know that 60 feet was extremely easy for him. I enjoyed reading your comment about pop.
I just re-read these posts....a very humble and great man has past from our midst....
It's time to get on a stream.....and remember...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.