# Elk River in WV



## Empty Creel (Feb 21, 2010)

Greetings. I'm new to OGF.
I do most of my fishing on the Mad, but have been thinking about a trip to West Virginia.

Has anyone ever gone to Elk Springs?

The website makes me want to pack my bags immediately. But any specific feedback would be appreciated.

Does it fish consistently year round or is there a better season?


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

Clayton and Flyfish Dog can provide some info on the Elk...or "The Lady," as they call it in WV. I fish a lot in WV, and honestly prefer to avoid it. My fishing time is always restricted to weekends, and the Elk sees a lot of traffic. There's a lot of fish there, and plenty of big trout, but I prefer to get away from folks when I fish down there. I hit the smaller streams where I can avoid other people and fish in peace and quiet.


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Agreed with cream. If you're going fishing on the weekends, and it's raining or snowing, you should be good to go  Thunder and lightning clear the water pretty well and will get you some time to yourself if you dare, haha.

There are other waters that are a lot harder to access... if you're cool with driving some very sketchy roads and some fairly serious hiking, then there are definitely good places to fish. If you want it to be easy and have somewhere to park, then the lady is a good place to start 

That said, it utterly, 100% fishes consistently year round. I've had days that my dad and I caught 30 fish over 20 inches as a team, including several in the 24-26" range, and over 50 fish total 

Other days and other sections of river, I've had a harder time. It's fun though  Go try it.

Protip: Check this first, and if it's over say, 400, it's going to be between hard and impossible to wade fish.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/wv/nwis/uv/?site_no=03194700&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,62614


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## bigduck10 (Feb 15, 2009)

Pay close attention the flow charts this year before taking a trip. They have had tons of snow in that area. Once Mother Nature starts with the melt it will be hard to fish.
I fish the Casselman in Maryland just east of Morgantown just across the state line. They have about 2 feet of the white stuff still on the ground.


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## Flyfish Dog (Nov 6, 2007)

I live only 50 miles from there, It is fishing well right now but the snow has been a real pain though. Starting to melt a little now but the storm from last Thurs thru Sunday dropped over 26 inches at my house and I am sure a lot more at Elksprings. Give Amanda or John a call and reserve a room as you will not find better accomodation next to a river that holds a lot of big fishs. Ask what has been good and they will show you and you can pick some up if you dont have them. They can be tricky sometime but I always have caught fish but a lot of people seem to find it rather tough going. Funny how Cream says it can be crowded and I usually have it all to myself and do see a few but rarely. Cream, you are gonna have to get down there and I will show you where you can catch some pretty brookies along with the bows and browns.Also to tell you the truth I have fished the Elk many time when it's high and chocolate and they will still pick off a dry fly off the top! Big Streamers kicks ass big time to. If anyone goes there before the next Healing Waters, be sure to buy some tickets for a box of 12 Balsa wood/foam small mouth Poppers and Sliders for a good cause. They were donated by me for the them. Here are few pictures from a few weeks ago.


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## riverKing (Jan 26, 2007)

flyfishdog
I see alot of pictures of those big rainbows, but they look beat up like hatchery fish. I know there are alot of wild browns but do you have any guess as too what percentage of the fish are wild, in particular the bigger fish.


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Uh oh, I'm gonna go ahead and interpret this as a call-out... here's a little more elk river eye candy 









26" brown 









Good sized spawning brookie









Dad's 24" rainbow









My copperhead 









Angry, angry lady... She tried to kill me in that stuff.


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Also, riverking: I'd say half the rainbows and 2/3rds of the browns are wild, with the bigger browns more wild, and the bigger bows less so.


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## Empty Creel (Feb 21, 2010)

Thanks for all the great advice guys. It's much appreciated.

Clayton -
I met you and your father a couple weeks ago on the Mad. You guys had just finished up and we were just getting started. You told me about WV, which prompted me to post the question here hoping for some insight. 
Your pictures allowed me to put 2 and 2 together and figure out the connection. Thank you.

Not that it matters now, but we had decent success with midges that day. Griffith gnats seemed to work OK in 18 or 20.
Assuming water levels are acceptable, we'll probably hit the river again this weekend. Hope to catch you guys again soon.

Tight lines,


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Oh that was you? Excellent! Glad you guys had more luck than us  that was my very first skunk in a year though >.< 

Note: the last time I got skunked was ALSO on the mad, haha. If you want to read into that, you'll find that getting skunked doesn't actually happen in WV...


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

Flyfish Dog said:


> I live only 50 miles from there, It is fishing well right now but the snow has been a real pain though. Starting to melt a little now but the storm from last Thurs thru Sunday dropped over 26 inches at my house and I am sure a lot more at Elksprings. Give Amanda or John a call and reserve a room as you will not find better accomodation next to a river that holds a lot of big fishs. Ask what has been good and they will show you and you can pick some up if you dont have them. They can be tricky sometime but I always have caught fish but a lot of people seem to find it rather tough going. Funny how Cream says it can be crowded and I usually have it all to myself and do see a few but rarely. Cream, you are gonna have to get down there and I will show you where you can catch some pretty brookies along with the bows and browns.Also to tell you the truth I have fished the Elk many time when it's high and chocolate and they will still pick off a dry fly off the top! Big Streamers kicks ass big time to. If anyone goes there before the next Healing Waters, be sure to buy some tickets for a box of 12 Balsa wood/foam small mouth Poppers and Sliders for a good cause. They were donated by me for the them. Here are few pictures from a few weeks ago.


OK, you may have to make a believer out of me this spring. I've only been there a few times with a friend a few years back, we must have been in a bad region because I saw way too many truck chasers for my taste (which translates to more than 2).


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## icebucketjohn (Dec 22, 2005)

Fished the Elk River near Webster Springs a little with my dad when I was a youngster., but like others have said, I prefer less hectic areas and smaller streams. Granted the catches in those small streams aren't as great, but the solitude and serenity is splendid. Too bad it's been decades since I did any trout fishing. Would certainly like to do so a few more times before I turn to compost!


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