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Cypress knees in Section Three |
Section Two is characterized by wide, slow water, characterless to the untrained eye. You see an island, underwater dropoffs and ledges, rocks the size of an Angus bull. This is the water where they catch the whoppers.
Rainbows were first stocked in the river in 1988 and browns in the 1991. The rainbows are harvested so quickly it is difficult to assess their populations, but the browns are thriving.
Guide Rob Woodruff notes that"every year sees brown trout to 27 inches and rainbows up to 24 inches being caught." A near 10-pounder was caught and released in this section this past winter.
Think streamers, think woolly buggers and crayfish, think weighted nymphs. Anglers can reach this area on the streamside trail from the lower campground in park, the parking lot in that same area, and the Rereg dam.
The inside of the island is a great place to test but make sure to try the other, deeper side too. Then you'll need to wade out and prospect, searching the water with weighted nymphs and streamers. Make sure to watch for risers, fins, and hatches. Some use float tubes and other personal watercraft in this area when the dam is not generating. Barbed hooks and bait are banned. Anglers will want to fish below the plunge pools, inside the island, on the dropoff ledges, and around the big rocks. Be patient. You're not going to pull out a ton of 8-inchers like you will in the park.
The weekends can have too many anglers (and there are always campers) at the Rereg dam, but other times, during the week, it's yours and it's good. The water's wide with some big boulders sprinkled in for good measure.
Some suggest that trout are reproducing in the river but there is no sure evidence yet Bring out your crayfish patterns here. Wade safely. Here and in Section Three, the river is lined in places with softball-sized rocks covered in algae. They are as slippery as walking across greased bowling balls.
Section Three is difficult to reach and by the time you drive all the way in, the dam is generating water and it's too high and roily to fish. This section is characterized by lots of islands, drop pools, cypress trees and knees, chutes, some huge pools (fish the heads all through the tailouts), some wide whacky water, side channels, rocky outcrops, big trees, and more islands.
This section of water changes drastically depending on the water flow. Anglers will have to fish even around the cypress knees. Make sure to fish the cutbanks of the islands.
The trout population of this section has suffered in the last couple of years and guide Rob Woodruff believes that two of the contributing factors included the increased water temperature (due to uneven flows during the hot months) and the subsequent de-oxygenation of the water. If the river were managed properly, the fishery could become much more productive and we could see more and bigger fish—and possibly even reproduction (although it will probably be limited to browns since rainbows need gravelly tributaries, which this river lacks).
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