RTOD-Road Trip of Death part 2

Shavers Fork River, WV

You can't plan for everything and the harder you try the more you seem to forget.So Wednesday morning we followed the plan,the same one destined to fail,woke up early and hit the road.This would be the first time I have ever traveled any distance into West Virginia.It ended up taking us about 5 hours to travel north through the Appalachians and into the Allegheny mountains.We found our self in our predetermined town of Elkins,West Virginia.A really nice town and although not large definitely the biggest one around.So we checked into the hotel and went scouting with what little light was left in the day.Now let me remind everyone that the only info I have on the area is what I printed up and read....online=epic fail.The maps were correct,road locations,mileage etc.The information on size of streams and access points was oh so very wrong.I had about 4 "decent" spots "scouted" all of them were a bust except one.The only one that was accessible and had more than 2 inches of water was at the local recreation area,which means it's over fished.Not to be discouraged we headed back to the hotel for a few cold ones and to decide what to do in the morning.

Smallie caught in Shavers Fork River,WV

Morning brought relief from the heat in 58 degree temperatures.Getting an early start and a lovely hotel breakfast,haha,we hit the road.Having little experience in the area and really just wanting to get a line wet we headed for the Shavers Fork recreation area in the Monongahela National Forest.At the very least I hoped to run into a local fisherman who could give me some information on local hot spots for fishing and access.Trying to stay away from the stocked catch and release area we found ourselves at the other side of the park away from what would soon be the crowds at the swimming hole.Shavers Fork River,I love you,I really do.I didn't expect much from you but you gave a a great day.We entered the river just north of the catch and release area and using the same tactics we employed in Southwest Virginia,spinners,working upstream,etc I managed to hook into a very nice smallmouth bass.We slowly worked our way up the river and it widened and deepened as the flow slowed to a crawl.This was prime smallmouth territory and we nailed them!My brother and I easily caught a dozen smallies in the matter of an hour.Working the next set of rapids I managed to bring a nice 12 inch rainbow trout in.We worked up to the bridge and decided it was indeed time to head back and find some areas to work the next day.Sitting on the bed of the truck I realized we had not seen a single person all morning.With a little leg work we managed to go where nobody else wanted to be and it worked out for us.So to that I say thanks for being beautiful Shavers Fork!

Taking a short drive back to town was the best idea we could come up with.I wasn't feeling the gravel roads of impending doom anymore.We spent a good chunk of the afternoon traveling up and down the mountain forest roads in a thunderstorm the day before and it was indeed a waster of time.Beautiful scenery but it didn't lead us to any fishing holes.So the National Park ranger office in town was our best bet.I was put into contact with a ranger at DNR on the phone.We purchased a 10 dollar map,very detailed,and the ranger was nice enough to throw me a few bones.He gave us a few leads and we were excited about what out final day of fishing would bring.That night as we sat and stared at the 10 pounds of food we ordered I took a second to reflect.We all make a ton of sacrifices in life to do be able to do what we want.So when people tell me to calm down there is always tomorrow,I try not to get on them.The fact is tomorrow may never come and if you don't make the best of today,you may not even live to regret it.Trying to find time for this post has been difficult.I will try and wrap the road trip posts up with one more post with in the next few days.Thanks for reading and get outside!