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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• Talk fly-fishing

We Virginians enjoy the precious legacy of 2,300 miles of native trout streams, as recorded by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Many of them are insignificant little feeder streams that tumble down mountainsides.

Some are so fragile I hesitate to call attention to them, like the one I described two weeks ago, flowing only 400 yards from its cave spring source to the river. Others trickle off the Blue Ridge Parkway down between rhododendron and laurel, away from any trails.

Davis Run is somewhat more robust, rising in the state game lands west of McDowell in Highland County and flowing some four miles before emptying into the Bullpasture. My cousin, Jim Sloan, told me it was an excellent brook trout fishery, so last Friday I took time off from hunting to cast a line there.

Pulling off Route 615 next to the game lands, I slipped through a fence to a promising looking pool. On either side of me there were hunters’ tents and trailers, as this was rifle season, so I took the precaution of wearing a blaze orange cap while fishing. One hunter stood with his ear flaps hanging, eyeing me curiously, as if to wonder why some misguided soul was fishing in the rain when there were deer to be killed.

Although Davis Run becomes a placid meadow stream further down, the headwaters are boulder-strewn and fast. There are stair-steps of little falls and plunge pools, and it looked like good nymphing, so I put on a #16 Hare’s Ear. Letting it slip down the rapids and drop into the pools below, I waited for a hit that didn’t come.

After fishing well beyond my 20-minute limit, I gave a sigh of resignation and put on my old reliable Prince Nymph. It’s not that I don’t like that fly, it’s just that it’s been working so well for me that I’ve been using it almost exclusively this year. I looked at the 20-odd patterns in my fly box and wished something else would work, but it was not to be. Everyone needs a bit of variety in their lives!

Sure enough, on my fourth cast of the Prince a brook trout took it and ran wiggling around his home pool. When I landed him, as always I marveled at the brookies’ brilliant colors even without the sunlight striking them. Then this little 7-inch fighter slipped out of my hand and began burrowing under the wet leaves. It took some frantic chasing to find and return him to the water. To my relief he scampered off in good health. About then the rain began to pelt down hard, so I headed back to the car over rocks covered with wet leaves. They had been my downfall up on Potts Creek, giving me a dislocated wrist, so I was extra careful.

I resolved to return here during the spring when there were some hatches out, looking forward to the challenge of dapping a dry fly or two in these tiny pools.

To reach the accessible portion of Davis Run, take state Route 250 north out of McDowell for 2.5 miles. Turn left at the Route 615 sign and follow it until it turns into a narrow gravel road. Then it’s a mile and half to the bridge crossing Davis Run where it flows out of state game land. The land downstream is private property and will take the owner’s permission for access.