Everything That Swims: More High Water, Colder Temperatures, and 2-3" of Snow

We fished for a couple hours on Sunday, trying to find some holdovers in a rhododendron thicket surrounded section of Straight Branch below Bear Tree Lake. The air temperature was 23 degrees, there was 2-3 inches of snow on the ground, and it was fairly windy, so hand exposure was definitely not pleasant, but we made the best of it.The deepest sections of water in Straight Branch are maybe 2-3 feet deep, the stream is comparable to the Upper Rapidan just below the prongs where it is very small. Wyatt landed one 9" stocker and I landed another 9" stocker. We only saw one other trout in the creek.
We decided to give Whitetop Laurel a try on our way our since fishing was so lousy at the other creek... The water flowing through Whitetop was scary, I wouldn't have felt comfortable wading across the stream anywhere. However, Wyatt managed to cross a spot where the creek forked, so he was experiencing half of the stream's power, and he still was taking baby steps in his waders, lodging his foot down in the rocks before picking up the other one. We didn't catch any at the stocked section just below the 12" minimum section at the creek junction, and stopped mid-way down the lower portion after the stream bends away from the road and comes back to it (for those familiar with the stream, we were at the stone steps on the side of the stream about 200 yards below the Jefferson National Forest sign). My dad was being a photographer for the day, but he picked up a rod at this spot and missed a couple fish on a trout magnet, so he told me about them. I was fishing a meal worm on a number 12 egg hook behind two size B split shot. I landed an 11" stocked rainbow there as well as a 6" native rainbow a bit further down stream. Well, this was probably our worst fishing trip at Whitetop, but if the high water "strikes" again when we are there, I will know what to do, because as always, when fishing, I learn something. Thanks for reading!