Henry's Fork Fishing Forecast

A regional note specific to this water: the river's character is shaped by the geology of the surrounding hills, and the trout that live here are the result of generations of adaptation to those specific conditions, which is why the patterns that work here are not the patterns that work elsewhere. the river's most productive anglers are the ones who sit still, and sitting still is harder than casting, and casting is harder than tying, and tying is harder than buying, and the anglers who sit still are the anglers who buy the least and catch the most, and the most fish are the fish the river gives back to those who sit still. The South Branch of the Potomac River in eastern West Virginia is a freestone river in the high country of the Appalachian Mountains, and the only river in the state that produces a 5-fish day of wild browns and rainbows from a river that runs through a high-piedmont agricultural landscape. The river drains a series of small streams in Pendleton and Hardy counties, runs for about 140 miles through the South Branch valley, and finally drains into the Potomac River at the town of Green Spring. What we tell our friends: The most popular trout water is the upper river between the town of Circleville and the town of Brandywine, and that water is managed as a wild trout fishery by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. The most popular access is the public water at the town of Brandywine, where the George Washington National Forest maintains a series of campgrounds and walk-in access to the upper river. The river is a freestone in the canyon and a tailwater below the dam. The most famous hatch is the PMD of mid-summer, which is the hatch every angler in the area knows about. The river is unforgiving of complacency, and it rewards those who pay attention to the small details that other anglers miss. The most famous local fly shop is the South Branch Outfitters in Brandywine, and the owner's advice is consistent: fish the upper river, fish the Hendrickson hatch, and stay out of the water. The most productive flies are 16-18 Disco Midge for the summer hopper-dropper rig, 22-24 Top Secret Midge for the summer caddis hatch, and a Leech 8-10 a Crayfish for the trophy fish. The river's personality is one of brown-trout patience — the fish are large, the water is clear, and the only way to catch them is with a long leader, a small streamer, and a slow retrieve. Stay in Brandywine or Franklin, eat at the Blue Grass Valley Diner, and fish the river in two sections — the upper meadow water above the town of Circleville and the lower freestone water below. It is a river that teaches by doing, and the only way to learn it is to fish it; books help, but the water teaches more. If you can read a river, you can read any river; reading water is the most transferable skill in fly fishing, and it is the skill that separates the best anglers from the rest.