Shenandoah River Canoe Fishing / Camping Advice?

[Addicted to Smallies]

Fellow Virginia anglers, I've been a frequent reader and sometimes poster (hopefully SOME of my posts were helpful!) and now come to ask the Northern VA folks for some advice. My 9 year old son has been fishing with me for years, but now he wants to do a canoe/camp trip together once Spring is fully in gear around here. We have our own canoe, so we don't need (or want) to go with an outfitter, but rather just a Daddy/Son weekend getaway, with just the 2 of us.

From what I hear, the Shenandoah is the perfect first-time trip, but I was wondering if you guys have any advice about a) other river options, or specifics on what parts of the Shenandoah are best / where we should fish/camp.

Right now, we're thinking of putting in at the Rt. 50 Bridge, fishing for a day while we drift/float, staying overnight in our tent at the Watermelon Park campground, then drifting down to take out at the Rt. 7 bridge. Only about 14 miles, but should make for a good couple of easy days, and I've heard the fishing in that part of the river is good for both smallies and largemouth. (What about catfish or the ever elusive musky in that part of the river?)

Any tips or advice you could give me? I want his first overnight fishing trip to be a great one, so I'm open to any/all suggestions. I grew up doing this kind of stuff, and it seems like kids today just don't get to have the same adventures that I did as a kid. Since he's interested and asking, I thought I'd get some advice from any of you guys to help make it a special trip for him.

And, of course, a full trip report will be posted here afterwards.

[quanjig]

Sounds like you are going to have a blast!! while you say that you have done this before, I would suggest a life jacket that fits him well and check river levels before you put in!!

[hokiebass804]

sounds like an awesome idea!! as far as float lengths go, these can really vary depending on how fast the river is flowing. I have done a 12 mile float on the new ( most recently two days ago) that took as little as 5.5 hours ( didnt know if you wanted to make it longer or shorter) and as long as 9.5 hours. Obviously the amount of times we stopped played a factor, but i would say alot had to do with just how fast the water was flowing that day/ wind influence. im sure yall could make 14 miles work for both days though! hope its a blast!

[dhami013]

I've gone down the Shenandoah several times. We always went through Shenandoah outfitters, started at 1 and stopped at 8 I believe for the first night. I'm sure you could call the Shenandoah outfitters and ask what they recommend as well.

As far as fishing goes if you plan to do any of that. Various cranks, hula grubs (watermelon. red flake), baby brush hogs, some jigs, and ultra light tackle and baits work well.

[mudkart]

http://www.frontroyalcanoe.com/

http://www.shenandoa...m/About_us.html

http://www.lowwaterb...campground.com/

We've used all the above for camping/canoe rental/shuttling. I can recommend them all. Sounds as if you have a plan already though. There is a stretch of the river, about a mile, on the float that includes the state park (Andy Guest?) that is kid friendly and full of willing fish (though you won't break any size records; OTOH, this float does have some deep water, so the potential for big fish is there). I've found that using our canoe for the float, then paying one of the canoe companies to shuttle us back to the launch is the most flexible and affordable option. The float I'm talking about is from the state park launch to the Karo takeout (don't miss it!, rapids are just beyond). Water conditions can be found at the front royal canoe site above.

[hardyat]

I was born and raised in western Maryland. I have made numerous float trips. If you would like I will give my email address and will exchange give so great trip locations, if you like camping and fishing

[Hyrule Bass]

last time i fished the shenandoah at the Rte 7 bridge the water was pretty shallow, not even waist deep out in the middle, but that was two years ago...

[SteveinVA]

My buddies and I did a long trip from 50 to 7 in one day. Great stretch of river. Some shallow spots that you may have to get out in drag, but that was in the middle of the summer. Along with the lures mentioned above, I would also like to suggest texas rigged senkos, and red/white roostertail inline spinners.

I put the senko out behind the boat and just dragged it down the river. a few snags but also caught some fish doing that.

to answer one of your questions , my buddy did catch a 24" catfish on a rooster tail. strangest thing I ever saw.

Your son should have a blast, sounds like a great time

[SteveinVA]

Just looked at your route. Dont know how early you plan on getting started, but you could end up spending a good part of the afternoon at the camping ground if you get started early. It shouldnt take long to get from there to 7 either. Just FYI

[Hyrule Bass]

Just looked at your route. Dont know how early you plan on getting started, but you could end up spending a good part of the afternoon at the camping ground if you get started early. It shouldnt take long to get from there to 7 either. Just FYI

not sure about 50 to watermelon park but watermelon park to 7 isnt that far i dont think. But they could spend time parked in a few spots in the canoe. if they find a good bite they may want to stay in one spot for a little while. plus they can still fish from the park...

[MCS]

_{The ramp in front Royal to the low water bridge is pretty deep (great for the catfish by the dam in front royal), the part from the low water down to route 50 ramp is also fairly deep. This is the area that they stocked the muskies in. Last year I heard a guy got a 42 inch muskie above the low water bridge. If you could I would enter at the low water bridge and float down from there it has some good pockets for smallies and cats.. Have you ever been to watermelon park? It has the reputation of being a hang out to the local fruit pickers and sometimes it can be full of trash(as can the rte 50 ramp). We did a camping trip on the Potomac last June, Left out of Brunswick and went up to some islands accross from knoxville. The whole bank from Harpers Ferry to Dickerson is C&O Canal Park. you can camp on the islands or the bank on the MD side. Caught a ton of Smallies on jigs, live shiners, and rapalas(blue/silver). Picked the C/O and some creeks for helgramites, the catfish loved them, We even got one walleye on a rapala(rainbow trout).}

[Addicted to Smallies]

Thanks for all the great advice so far... very helpful! Will make sure to post a report once we do the trip. May rethink the put-in / take-out spots based on some of your comments, though.

[Addicted to Smallies]

Well, it's been a while, but I promised a trip report. As things turned out, we opted to do the Upper Potomac instead of the Shenandoah. Put in just south of Harper's Ferry and took 2 days to head down to a takeout just above the Falls. GREAT TRIP! We caught 100+ fish if you count all the bluegills my son pulled in, as well as about 25 nice smallies, several largies and a couple of catfish. We camped on one of the islands and had a blast. Nothing like waking up early, making some fresh coffee and seeing the world start to wake up. No problems at all and had a great father-son bonding experience. Highly recommended, but would suggest a weekday instead of the weekend if you want to feel alone on the water... the river was absolutely packed with folks on Saturday.

[Broke bass fisherman]

Glad you had a blast. Hopefully in a few years I'll be able to take my daughter.

[MCS]

Great to hear you had an awesome trip.

[Hyrule Bass]

sounds like yall had fun. a good portion of the river you went through is catch and release only for smallies i believe, supposedly because its a trophy smallmouth area...