Stream Category: Put and Take – A
Wild Trout:
Stocked Trout: Brown and Rainbow
Other Species of Note: None
Gear:
Dry Flies: Adams, Caddis, and Terrestrials
Nymphs: Stone Flies, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Hares, Midges, Mop Flies, and Squirmmy Wormies, Perdigon
Streamers: Kreelex, Minnow Patterns, Articulated Minnow Patterns
Waders: Yes
Net: Yes
Wading Stick: Yes
Casting: Tuck, Roll, Spey, and Overhead
About:
Big Cedar Creek is a part of the rare few places in Virginia that look like they should be in Colorado. Also Big Cedar Creek should not be called a creek, believe me it’s a small river. Big Cedar flows right into the Clinch River, I could be biased because I love the Clinch Valley area, but I definitely would recommend going to Big Cedar at least once. One reason for it is that the area surrounding Big Cedar is just a gorgeous area. Big Cedar, itself, is not mucked up with trashed, people in the area keep this river kept up and in pristine order. The second reason why I am a little biased towards the Clinch Valley is that I dispatched trains going through that area for almost six years. The third a final reason I love the Clinch Valley area is that the people there are just down to earth people; they are friendly, you could probably leave your car unlocked, and they will do their very best in helping you if you’re ever in need. However Big Cedar Creek is not very accessible to anyone, except those that live in the Clinch Valley area. For those that live in the Roanoke area, it is at least a three hour drive (depending on traffic on I81).
Big Cedar is just one of those few streams that it is hard to explain with words; it’s definitely a freestone creek for a majority of the area, however sometimes it transforms into a flat limestone creek. Just be very careful where you walk, I would definitely bring a wading stick with you. This stream you can use technique known to fly fishing: from streamers to spey this stream will accommodate you. Fish here can be pretty big for stocked fish, but the majority of the fish you will find are your normal 10-12 inch fish. But occasional you will lay into one of the fish that has escaped from a private section of Big Cedar, these fish are monsters. Fishing some areas (limestone flats) can be difficult, you have to aim for the deeper sections of the flats, or look for some type of structure that trout will often lay in. As you get in the freestone area fish it like you would any other freestone stream; there are a couple areas that have very deep holes that are really promising. However they are towards the end of the stream, where it feeds into the Clinch River and it’s about a 2 mile hike to this area.
Additional comments:
Parking is great here, you have your own parking lot. Also there is a trail that covers the entire stream, sometimes the trail gets a little above the stream, but for the most part the trail is right next to stream.
Directions:
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