Fall means back to fishing

 Now that (my) hunting seasons are over, waters have cooled (and how!) and the fish begin to feed in preparation for winter, it's time to get the lines back into the water. 

Locally, things are starting to pick up.

Chickahominy:  The clarity has improved significantly from late spring. There were concerns regarding the high temps the reservoir experienced throughout the summer, and while we don't know the toil it may have taken, I can report there are fish present!  With about 30" of visibility, and some heavy weed...er, shrub...growth in the shallows, there are fish to be caught. I spent about 90 min out this past Sunday, landing a fat 13-14" fish, followed by a trout which measured right at 20", while having a couple others come unbuttoned and two or three other strikes. Today I was a bit more prepared with fleece pants under the waders and fished just over 2 hours, again landing two fish, one a bit larger and heavier than Sunday's largest, with a handful of other strikes. Most fish are being taken within the pockets of openings in the weeds, although the large fish today was caught in "open water". Not enough activity to recommend a single fly, however, from what I noted and have heard, brown woolly buggers (ha!) and #10 black woolly worms seem to be doing a lot of the work.

The reservoir is approximately 3' lower than springtime highs.

Krumbo:  The recent report I received was "there were some fish caught, but not fast fishing". Interpret that as you wish. 

Blitzen:  No recent report, however, daily temperatures are fluctuating between mid-30's to high 40's while running fairly consistent at 50 cfs.