Fly Fishing Seneca Creek, WV

On the two sections of the Seneca we fished those two days, Caleb expected to find about a 50-50 split between brookies and bows, but it turned out t0 be heavy on bows, making up about 80-percent of our catch

A cold front was coming through the area, and it may have affected the hookups as a good number of incredibly fishy spots seemed surprisingly free of trout despite some (surprisingly!) respectable casts and drifts.

Nothing wrong with a few spots having no one home, especially when a couple of the bows that came to the net off the freestone creek were in the 12- to 14-inch range. (I lost one rainbow that was probably 16-inches…sigh.)

The smallish width of the creek sections I fished those two days allowed for relatively easy casts into pocket waters (a brookie favorite) and drifts in deeper, faster runs (a bow fave) with a 9-foot, four-weight rod.

(A five-weight would give more stick to bigger fish and a three-weight would certainly be more sporty…)

While not necessary, a 10-foot fly rod may help with getting across close-up currents and high-sticking, but it could be a little long in places with tight bushes and overhanging trees. Come to think of it, a long, telescoping, adjustable tenkara rod would be fun.

While records are inexact, rainbows reportedly were first introduced into West Virginia by the U.S. government in the early 1900s when the fish were moved from West Coast federal hatcheries across the country by train, likely in milk cans.

Milk cans?! I guess business class seats weren’t available…

Anyway, while the wild bows in Seneca are widely rumored to be descendent of the McCloud Redband Rainbow strain (of Northern California), it’s more likely that these original stockers were a mix of redbands, coastal rainbows, and hybrids, according to David.

He told me that based on his research: “It’s likely that the West Coast federal  hatcheries weren’t overly concerned in those days with keeping strains genetically pure and, instead, were more interested in producing fish for the purpose of stocking streams.”

That assertion makes total sense to me.

Indeed, some  of the rainbows had coloring similar to the beautiful redbands I previously encountered while fishing the salmon fly hatch on Oregon’s Deschutes River, so it’s likely that far-off redband genes still run through Seneca Creek trout. 

DNR’s rainbow stockings in Seneca Creek reportedly ended in the early 1960, evidence that the fish are naturally reproducing well in this spring-fed stream. Equally exciting, the water is limestone-influenced, creating an aquatic insect-friendly environment.

While there were no major hatches while I was there in October, mayfly and caddis hatches are reportedly prolific, according to David, tracking closely to the schedule of most Central Atlantic bug hatches.

Thankfully, it was early enough in the fall that we didn’t have to endure the dreaded “leaf hatch.”

The dry-dropper rig on 5x tippet is a classic for the Seneca and very effective; skating a rust-colored October caddis dry fly across the water in pools, especially around structure (e.g., log jams and large rocks), drew some electric strikes from both bows and brookies.

The fishing wasn’t terribly technical (in my estimation) the days I fished it, but like the Elk River, Seneca Creek can reportedly be fickle, especially for the newer, less experienced fly angler, according to Caleb.  

Thankfully, Seneca Creek’s flows were good, a welcome situation with all the drought this year in many parts of the East. A shot of precipitation would certainly make the fish happy, but there was plenty of water for good angling when I was there.

David tells me that public fishing access is good on the Seneca. The two sections we fished had plenty of parking and there’s a catch-and-release section within walking distance of the Seneca Rocks crossroads.

Do bring a wading stick and boots with some bite (e.g., cleats or felt) as I found moving in and across the creek pretty darn slippery at times. The stream might benefit from a good push of water to clean off some of the “rock snot.”