Fly Fishing West Virginia
From a purely traditional approach, fly fishing involves trout. Period. For these avid anglers, only a trout will do. Anything else is just a nuisance.
Fishing is like most other human endeavors, though, so it’s difficult for all fly fishermen to stick with all the rules all the time. Some people just need to expand their horizons a bit, test the boundaries, and break a few rules. Some fly anglers are even happy to catch other kinds of fish.
Fortunately for all of us, there’s plenty of opportunity when fly fishing West Virginia waters. The abundance of trout keeps the traditionalist happy while the variety keeps the more adventurous fly fisherman coming back for more.
About 20 percent of all fish species found in West Virginia are game fish, great for eating but ideal, too, as pure sport when catch and release is practiced. For the most fishing excitement, the fish with the most fight in him is the most desirable. That’s one reason the trout is so highly valued by fly fishermen but they’re quite tasty, too.
Other species that make fly fishing West Virginia waters so rewarding include the bass, walleye, crappie, catfish, and stripers. When salmon make their way inland to West Virginia during their migratory cycle, even die-hard trout fishermen get distracted. Add to this list the many panfish abundant in West Virginia waters and there’s something here to keep every angler happy – and well fed – pretty much all the time.
One characteristic all these fish species have in common, besides residence in West Virginia, is their interest in eating flies and other insects that live above the water. When these flying critters land on the water’s surface to forage their own food, that’s when the fly-eating fish strikes. That’s also when the fly angler strikes.
For the most success, the fly angler has mastered the art of making lures (flies) that look almost exactly like the flying creatures the fish love to eat. For added success, the angler will also master the art of casting his line to perfection, so the action of his fly landing on the water’s surface mimics exactly the ever-so-delicate touch of the live insect landing there to feed.
It’s this human involvement, the perfection of technique, that keeps many anglers interested for a lifetime. This desire for perfection in fly fishing is also a reason some anglers choose to focus on trout alone while others enjoy the subtle differences between the species.
