upstream

It was a beautiful day and I was finally on the famous and perhaps the finest trout stream in my home state, West Virginia. I got to Valley Fork Fly Fishing flyshop around noon and spent an hour talking to Dave Breitmeier, the owner of the shop and the authority on fly fishing the Elk. I found Dave tying his famous #32 midges. We talked about the river and the reproducing browns. Dave's eyes sparkled when he showed me a picture of a brown fry. I was supposed to meet Zach Pittman for a day on the Elk, but Dave informed me that Zach had gone home after a month's fishing. I was a little disappointed but went on to the

river and began fishing. It felt good being on the Elk and I caught a small brown on the second cast. It was at the lower end of a beautiful 100 yard pool. After 45 minutes of fishing,I landed a 12 inch brown further up in the pool. It had been thundering and when the lightning got too close I went to my vehicle to wait out the storm. Drinking a coke, I was just happy to be there. It rained a little, but not much. When the rain turned to drizzle, I went back to the river and began fishing. At the head of the pool, in the middle of the river, was a large boulder. I waded out, got behind the boulder and was

fishing the current to my left looking downstream. Darn if I didn't catch another brown. I noticed the water getting a little milky. It was coming from a feeder stream upstream a short distance. I began working my way to the bank when I saw this young fellow walking up the gravel bar toward me. He was dressed in shorts and a windbreaker. " Hi Zach Pittman" I yelled, "Get your fishing gear and let's fish." Zach said there was a wall of water on the way. I said" No way. We didn't get that much rain" Zach assured me that it was true. Someone in the headwaters had emailed Dave to warn him

that they had received 5 or 6 inches of rain and the water was coming. Zach and I walked back to my vehicle and were eating a sandwich when Zach anounced " Here it comes". A wall of water 5 ft high came roaring past. Zach and I drove down the road to an old bridge and snapped these pictures. Proof is in the pudding. Always Keep Your Eye Upstream From Time to Time !!