Richard Formato

Richard Formato is an avid catch-and-release fly-fisherman from Wytheville, Va. When not on the water, he operates a small business there. Formato loves to fly-fish in his native Southwest Virginia because of the great water and wonderful people. He also loves to fish the flats and shallows of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic whenever work and weather permit. He is on the Department of Conservation and Recreation's board of directors and is a trustee of the Shenandoah National Forest and Skyline Drive.

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From Gathright Dam to Covington, the Jackson River provides 19 miles of quality trout fishing on a stream that compares with the big water of Wyoming and Montana.

Orvis rated the Jackson as No. 20 among all the trout streams in the United States.

A lot of it is privately held.

In 1994, a Virginia judge ruled that landowners holding a grant from King George III were entitled to private ownership of that portion of the Jackson within their property boundaries. His judgment was upheld by the Virginia Supreme Court. So now it’s history.

A few landowners own sections of the river, the river bed, and the trout within their waters. Posting and privatization became so widespread that in 1996 the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries discontinued its stocking program.

At first the trout population declined, and then, paradoxically, a good wild rainbow trout fishery has developed below the Gathright. A fair number of browns can also be found there. Both the number and the size of these fish have approached the levels seen when the Jackson was stocked.

At first glance this must seem a slam at Virginia’s trout stocking program. But the Jackson River is an anomaly, where consistently cold water, heavy insect population and a solid freestone bed are conducive to spawning. There are many streams where these conditions don’t exist and would have little or no trout population without a solid state stocking program.

Last Saturday I had the privilege of fishing Cliff View, one of those “King’s Grant” properties, some six miles above the town of Covington. It was a day when October began to feel like winter, with a cold wind sweeping past the cliffs, rippling the water and throwing my casts back at me. Occasionally I’d get a thrill from hooking a huge sycamore leaf and reeling it in. If only I had thought to bring my fishing gloves! Oh, well, that’s autumn fishing, and worth all the minor hardships therewith.

After going through my streamer box, trying all the old standby Buggers and Glitters without success, I tied on an old reliable Prince Nymph. Fishing the seam of a rapid emptying into a hole deeper than my chest waders, I began to get hits. Finally I hooked a rainbow that gave me a fair tussle. When I reeled him in, I was astonished to see a bite mark on his side, two clearly defined sets of teeth. It looked like a monster brown trout had tried to make lunch out of this 9-inch fish and couldn’t hold on. He was a beautifully marked wild trout, and I released him as gently as possible, realizing the stress he had already been through.

Darkness came early on this cloudy, windy day, and I began reeling in one last time. Suddenly I heard a splashing behind me, and turned to witness a huge fish roiling the water, chasing minnows in the shallows. The only part of him I could see clearly was the tail, which appeared to be about the size of my hand. I quickly roll-casted into his vicinity, knowing full well that this fish didn’t reach its huge size by being gullible. And sure enough, he ignored my Prince. But it was satisfying to realize that such monster fish existed in these waters.

My wife, Cathy, informed me the next day that Reel Lady Kathy Mueller had caught three sizeable rainbows in the same area I fished the day before. I have previously fished Cliff View an entire day without catching a single fish. But that’s what autumn wild trout fishing is all about. It’s called “challenge.”

The main attraction at Cliff View is an impressive 18-hole golf course, with fly-fishing running a close second. The inn and golf course plus two miles of the Jackson River are owned and operated by Susan and Frank Sponaugle. Frank says, “I don’t charge for the fishing but rather for the use of my property by fishermen. We can offer some of the best secluded river action in southwestern Virginia.”

Fishing costs $40 per rod per day, $25 for each subsequent day. For directions and additional information click on cliffviewinc@cs.com or phone (540) 962-2200.