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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Why would anyone return to a river with a name like Pigg? I found four good answers to that question last Sunday, one of them a 14-inch rainbow that put a precarious bend in my #2 rod. Reason No. 2 was a 12-incher and three and four were in the 8- to 9-inch class.

But to recap, Sunday morning dawned with a falling mist like fog letting down its skirt on the land. Rising at 7, I watched the Weather Channel and the sky for a couple of hours while downing a pot of coffee, and finally decided there was no threat of heavy rain. So at 10:30 I parked at the gates of Waid Park and jointed up my rod. I had been advised by Scott Martin, director of Franklin County’s Department of Commerce and Leisure Services, that the most trout-productive stretch of the Pigg was not where I had waded in two weeks ago, but farther upstream. This sounded like good advice, so I started off down the first walking trail to the right. Fifteen minutes later I reached a gravel road and decided to turn left, as a number of towering silos showed to the right.

Ten minutes later I was relieved to see a stocking sign on a venerable sycamore tree overlooking a ford in the river. It looked pretty deep for even a four wheel drive, but wading turned out not to be a problem. I’ve never had much luck fishing where roads ford a stream, so went downsstream to a set of rapids with a deep run below it. Tying on a black Wooly Bugger, I let the current carry it into a back eddy. On my fifth cast I hooked a small rainbow, a stocker from his color. Trying a number of similar pockets I had five or six hits that were rather unenthusiastic, probably because it was nearly noon by now. It seemed appropriate to try something smaller that they could take without much effort.

A #16 beadhead Pheasant Tail Flashback nymph brought in my next catch, a slightly larger rainbow with a more vivid scarlet stripe than my first catch. It began to sprinkle now, stirring up some action, and I lost my last Pheasant Tail on a hefty fish. Tying on the a beadhead Prince nymph I hooked into a lively fighter that turned out to be around 12 inches. I then waded upstream several hundred yards where the Pigg turned into a more sedate meadow stream and there began to drag in vari-colored minnows plus a sun perch. This was my signal to return to the more boisterous water below the ford where I had started.

Because it was starting to rain harder I hurried up my cast a little, working an eddy below a jutting rock. I was suddenly jolted by the most authoritative strike of the day, and began to worry about the bend in my little #2 rod, jeopardizing its safety. After four energetic laps around the pool this heavyweight went to the bottom and sulked. I kept the pressure on him as much as my little rod would allow, and felt him beginning to tire. I was finally able to beach him, a bulky 14-incher sporting a brilliant stripe. This seemed like a fitting end to the day’s expedition, particularly when the wind picked up and dark clouds began moving in.

The water temperature in the rapids was an even 60 degrees, probably a little cooler than usual because of recent rain. The stream here averaged 30 feet across, with a hard stone bottom that made for easy wading. It was relatively free of silt, unlike the stretch bordering the park, and I saw at least one redd. It looked to be made by trout although I never hooked any fingerlings. I believe this to be primarily a warm water stream but with a few holdovers because of the deep, overgrown holes.

The walk back to my vehicle in chest waders took 25 minutes, which I figured to be about a mile. When I return here on a hot day I will bandoleer the waders and wear walking shoes.

To reach Waid Park from Roanoke drive US 220 south to Rocky Mount where you take Virginia 40 west to the traffic light at the Minute Market. Turn right on Six Mile Road (Virginia 640) and go about two miles to the Waid Recreation Center sign on the left. Just past the dumpsters is a hiking trail to the right, which hits a gravel road after about a quarter of a mile. Turn left there and follow the road until it fords the Pigg River.