I took my sons (7 and 5 y.o.) for a two-night camping/fishing trip to the South Fork of the Shenadoah River near Luray VA this past weekend. The fishing was pretty good (at least for quantity, which is what matters when fishing with the young ones, IMO), and could have been alot better for anyone with waders or a canoe/yak. We fished from the west bank at a number of spots, beginning at Bixler's Bridge to mile marker 13.

We lost count of the sunfish and fingerling smallies.

another smallie.

...and a sunfish trying for a 3" dinger...

..and another, also on a 3" dinger..

This largemouth fell for a rage shad...

..and this 2 lber' for another 3" dinger..

..the boys caught many smallies in this size range with 4" dingers...

..our oldest caught his PB smallmouth (1lb. 2 oz.) using a texposed 7" powerworm.  He's still talking about it 2 days later....

 Yours truly caught his best smallie this year, 2 lbs even, black/blue flake Fat Ika.  It fought like a 3lb largemouth.

I'd say you are living the good life. Enjoy your kids because they grow up way to fast.

Were you up Page Valley Road in the National Forest? (It's a few miles past Shen. River Outfitters' building) I think I recognize some of those spots but maybe not. That's great that you and your sons had success. That is a nice area down there. There are loads of decent largemouth in the 3lb range in the submerged laydowns along the banks in the slower moving water in that section.

See any of those torpedo sized carp?

Nice Fish Mike!

Were you up Page Valley Road in the National Forest? (It's a few miles past Shen. River Outfitters' building) I think I recognize some of those spots but maybe not. That's great that you and your sons had success. That is a nice area down there. There are loads of decent largemouth in the 3lb range in the submerged laydowns along the banks in the slower moving water in that section.

See any of those torpedo sized carp?

Yeah, we fished along Page Valley Road at a number of places, mostly in the GW National Forest.  Basically, we'd park and walk along the bank north or south to find good spots.  The only spot north of SRO would be the mile 13 boat launch.  The water is nice there, relatively deep, slow, with some weed-free spots.  

We saw no carp, but again we were stuck to the bank.  Wading or canoeing would cetainly open up your options and yield more fish.  

Did you get anywhere up near those ATV trails? That's where I was. I don't remember what Mile marker we were at.

If the water is clear you can see the carp from the bank swimming in schools. There are some giants in there.

Nice looking spot man...makes me miss home!  Way to go with the catchin, looks like it was a lot of fun!

Did you get anywhere up near those ATV trails? That's where I was. I don't remember what Mile marker we were at.

If the water is clear you can see the carp from the bank swimming in schools. There are some giants in there.

One spot we fished slightly north of the ATV trails, using what could be described as an ATV trail, except someone had dug an anti-ATV ditch across it.  This would be about mile marker 8.

The water was very clear everywhere we looked, but still we saw no carp (if they were there we would have seen them, we could see alot of the fingerling bass in the pics, before catching them, that is).  Fish of the size you describe would have been unmistakeable.

Way to go, mudkart.  All children should be as fortunate to have a dad like you.  As you well know, they will remember these times for the rest of their lives....

Big O

Did you get anywhere up near those ATV trails? That's where I was. I don't remember what Mile marker we were at.

If the water is clear you can see the carp from the bank swimming in schools. There are some giants in there.

One spot we fished slightly north of the ATV trails, using what could be described as an ATV trail, except someone had dug an anti-ATV ditch across it. This would be about mile marker 8.

The water was very clear everywhere we looked, but still we saw no carp (if they were there we would have seen them, we could see alot of the fingerling bass in the pics, before catching them, that is). Fish of the size you describe would have been unmistakeable.

oh well. must have been hanging around somewhere else.