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.

Recent columns

• What about Bob?
• Notes from the Charlotte Fly Show
• A chance meeting
• A wish for Jack

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• Talk fly-fishing

If some of my western fishing companions could see the little brook trout streams I fish in the mountains of Virginia, they might suspect creeping senility has already crept in.

An example is Cornelius Creek, which I “fished” Sunday, although it was more of a wet hike.

After a couple of dry weeks, the stream was a trickle among boulders with little more volume than my garden hose produces. Walking a couple of miles up the Cornelius Creek trail near Arcadia I finally found what I was looking for: small waterfalls pouring into plunge pools. This is where the hardy little brookies take refuge during low water, and I could see dark shadows scurrying for cover as I approached the pools.

There is a 20-foot waterfall farther down the mountain, with a plunge pool some 6 feet deep below it. Approaching it from downstream you can take advantage of the cover afforded by boulders at the foot of the pool.

Although the catch is sometimes small, maybe even insignificant, there are certain pluses from walking a creek like the Cornelius. I saw striking Jefferson National Forest scenery that few other eyes witness. There was not another person nor a boot track by the stream. I had my first taste of teaberries of the season.

On the minus side, I stepped into a yellow jacket nest and was rewarded with two stings on the arm and one on the cheek. Returning to a patch of jewel weed I noticed earlier, I wadded up a bunch of it and applied it to the stings. Almost immediately the pain subsided. I wonder sometimes if I should tell fly-fishing students new to the sport about such things.

I believe that what really brings me back to little rivulets like the Cornelius is a fascination and an admiration for the brook trout. There is a strain which has endured here since long before the colonists landed at Jamestown. Talking to brook trout specialist John Gunter at the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, I learned that there were two distinct species: the original ancient strain and those which were stocked during modern times.

“How do you tell the difference?” I asked him.

“There’s absolutely no difference in the markings, but we determine the species through DNA testing by satellite. It places hardly any stress on the fish.”

This brought to mind the rather disturbing image of yours truly nonchalontly fishing a brook trout stream and having my DNA pattern zapped up into the stratosphere. That’s a technique I need to investigate further.

John and I talked about what was being done for the brook trout, and I was encouraged to learn that quite an extensive program is being pursued by the department.

“Right now we have an acid sensitivity study under way, monitoring streams particularly sensitive to acid deposition every other year. Also there’s quite a bit of interest in the Southern strain of brook trout, which is the one unique to the southern Appalachians and the one which is truly native to this country. The Northern brook trout are the ones more likely to have been stocked. There’s an effort under way to differentiate the two through the DNA testing I mentioned.”

He continued, “These brook trout are really resilient, and one example of how resilient they are is how they survived the ’95 flood over in Madison and Green counties where you have streams like the Staunton River, the Conway and the Rapidan, which were devastated. This was an event which has a frequency rate of 10,000 years. And despite the flooding havoc, in five years the brook trout population has come back in a big way. In fact, in the Conway and the Rapidan the fishing is better than it was before.”

John stated that rainbows are much more intrusive than browns upon the brookie population. In Rivers like the Rose, in fact, browns and brookies are living together in harmony. The general outlook for both species in 2004-5 is booming and from the streams they’ve sampled it looks as though we’re in for a strong brook trout year. This despite the fact that they are more acid-sensitive than any of the other species.

To reach Cornelius Creek drive from Roanoke to the Arcadia exit on Interstate 81, follow Virginia 614 until you see a sign on the right pointing toward North Creek. Turn left there and follow the forestry road along North Creek to where it ends at the Cornelius Creek trail head. There is a sign on the right pointing the way.up the mountain. My advice is don’t go there during a dry spell, but wait until there’s a healthy flow of water.