Pacemaker Fishing Forum

I was able to coordinate a trip to WV with my friend Jeff Zurawski.  I have fished with him several times over the last 3 years.  He lives near the Greenbrier, but knows the Elk, Maury and New Rivers as well.  He has a nice 12 foot raft and it is quite a treat to fish with him.

This time, I decided to come down the day before and leave the morning after our trip.  We did 2 sections of the Greenbrier.  I stayed at the Greenbrier River Campground, which has cabins, campers and regular campsites for campers and tents.  The owners do a great job and it was very convenient.  I stayed in the '64 Shasta.







I just happened to be right at the ramp for river access!  I tried the fishing and on my second toss of a ned rig in between some rocks, caught a nice smallie about 2 pounds or so.  It broke the line due to abrasion while lifting it out of the water, but I was able to grab it for a quick pic.  I did not catch any more there after a brief attempt.





This raft took out at the ramp the first evening.



Jeff met me at the camp at 7am and we set up the shuttle before shoving off for our first day.  The scenery was nice and the fishing was sporadic.  I was the Rock Bass champion, with about a dozen.  We both caught smallies, but nothing big.  Jeff had about 20 and I had about 12 or so.  I did not sleep well the first night (adjustment and a little critter that was trying to make a nest or something).  I really did not feel I was 100% on my best game.  This fishing is mostly fast and you have to hit the spots with the right lure and presentation.  It seems that part of the river was already post-spawn.  I only got some pictures of the scenery.  We floated for about 9 hours and had a great time.











We did the same thing, with a different section on Thursday.  I got a little more sleep and tied on some lures I thought would hep me maximize my success after learning the water conditions.  We started in a little slower section with a nice slower pool before an island split the river.  On my second cast, I hooked a small SM and I knew I had made a good choice (cotton candy 4" grub on a 1/8 oz. jig head.  A few minutes later, I hooked something heavier and when I started reeling it in, I saw it was a Musky!  I had 6 pound test on that setup.  I told Jeff, Musky and he thought I saw one.  Then I said, I hooked a Musky and he got his camera.  He shot a little video and took a picture.  At first, the fish did not know he was hooked, I loosened my drag and once he realized, the fight was on!  I saw the hook was in the corner of the mouth and it was not near it's teeth.  I got it near the boat a couple times and after 1 missed net attempt and one jump completely out of the water, Jeff netted the fish.  It was a handful.  The hook came out while it was in the net and I was finally able to lift it for a picture.  Jeff took a quick measurement while I was holding it up and he measures 36" curved, so he estimated 38 to 39".  It was thick and obviously post-spawn.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOtuBojGUXE

This section had some slower and deeper pools to fish thoroughly and lots of different habitat.  Only smallies and the Musky were caught.  We probably had about 30 fish up to 14 inches.  A couple scenic pics.







I slept much better the last night and made it home safe today.  What beautiful country it is!

Last edited by drxfish (May-14-21 3:58PM)