THE NEW RIVER is many issues—beautiful, abandoned, harmful—however new isn’t one in all them. It was named unwittingly, so the story goes, after merchants labeled every landmark “new lake,” “new stream,” and so forth. The outline caught. But at 360 million years previous, it’s one of many oldest rivers on the planet. The New existed earlier than tectonic forces shoved the Appalachians up round it and the present carved out what’s now the New River Gorge—the longest and deepest gorge in Appalachia. It’s additionally among the best fishing locations east of the Mississippi.
As we load boats on the put-in, I survey our crew. My buddy Zach Simon guides whitewater right here and in Colorado, and his Lab, Otter, has spent extra time on the water than most people. Nate “Archy” Archambault guides anglers on the New; his girlfriend, Kate Barker, didn’t personal a PFD till this morning. Photographer Nick Kelley is snapping photos regardless that I do know he desires to unpack his flyrod, and I’m right here for the bass—and the rapids.
The New River Gorge drops 750 toes over 50 miles, creating its famed whitewater. Congress protected this stretch, and 70,000 adjoining acres, in 1978 with a Nationwide River designation. Nick Kelley
We may discover extra pristine whitewater out West, however there’s no river with a greater story. The New is a comeback child. These geological processes that uncovered sandstone and shale alongside these banks additionally uncovered seams of coal. The New River coal area boomed within the late 1800s, and the river ran black. The frenzy petered out after World Battle II, and a lot of the mines closed.
The New River recovered, largely, however there are nonetheless scars. Within the sand the place we stake our tents, you’ll be able to nonetheless see flecks of black coke from the coal ovens. In the meantime, the river suffers from continued unlawful waste dumping by residents and failing sewage infrastructure. Archy catches 24-inch brown trout in feeder streams right here, pulling them from beneath mats of plastic trash and soiled diapers. Arbuckle Creek, which flows previous the rafting firm the place he and Simon work and into the New, holds trout. It’s additionally an EPA Superfund Website, nonetheless coping with fallout from the coal business.
We land bass all week and launch each. Not as a result of we’re catch-and-release purists, however as a result of Archy and Simon refuse to eat something that lives within the New River. Nick Kelley
It feels just like the river is making an attempt to brush away our mess and win again the gorge. It feels wild. As soon as, we spook a black bear on the shore that flees over the railroad tracks. I paddle previous farmhouse-size boulders and twisted metallic wreckage. There’s no patch equipment that might repair the gashes it might rend in our rafts.
Our days on the river are lazy ones, punctuated with flurries of bites and rapids to navigate. However to catch fish—and to outlive the whitewater—you want expertise or a information. “Should you make errors, they’re big,” Archy says of the hydraulics, the strainers, the undercut rocks. “And it takes only one mistake.”
We don’t see different boaters till the final day, as we strategy the largest rapids. I assume this last gauntlet will mark the tip of our journey (Class IVs and Vs at peak circulate). However as we drift towards the takeout that lies simply previous the hovering metal bridge, a smallie strikes my swimbait. As rapidly as I launch it and solid into one other riffle, there’s one other chew. Quickly I’m catching fish on practically each throw: small ones, every as feisty because the final. I scramble to launch every so I can catch the following, all whereas enjoying keep-away with Otter, who’s as keen on fish as his namesake. Simon rows to a rock just below the floor and climbs out. He leans into the present, holding the raft so I can hold fishing. Eventually now we have to name it and provides in to the pull of the river.
Archambault bought his nickname within the Marine Corps (“Archy is simpler to say while you’re getting shot at”) and spent his first years out of the service with Outward Sure, volunteering as a liaison between veterans and “tremendous hippie raft guides.” The Florida native spends half his yr fishing saltwater, and the remainder on the New. Each time he will get a time off from guiding anglers in West Virginia, he will get proper again on the river to throw flies himself. Nick KelleyFlyfishing isn’t one in all my vices, so I opted for a medium-action spinning outfit as a substitute. This Abu Garcia Revo STX reel did the trick. Nick KelleyAfter we load gear and strap the raft body to Simon’s truck, his fellow guides drive us to the put-in in trade for beer cash. Nick KelleySimon, 35, and Otter, 11, have spent most of their lives guiding: summers on the river, geese and geese within the fall. Nick KelleyArchy caught this fish close to camp, however the most effective smallie motion is within the rapids, the place bass wish to tuck behind rocks, in eddies, and within the pillowy Vs of water simply forward of the rapids, feeding on no matter floats by. Nick KelleyIt’s simpler to muscle by flat stretches of river whereas rowing backward, however it’s essential to face rapids head-on. This permits boaters to learn the present and make the technical maneuvers sure sections require. Right here, Archy tucks in his oars to clear the rocks as he threads a slender chute. Careless rowers can simply snap oars on hazards like this, rendering themselves handicapped mid-rapid and thus extra prone to flip, get swept into hazard, or each. Nick KelleyAfter paddling my packraft all day, I tie off to Simon’s boat for the night chew. He’s ferrying a lot of camp on his 12-footer, together with the cooler filled with meals that serves as his seat, Yeti dry duffels full of sleeping luggage, a 5-gallon jug of consuming water, two spare oars, pet food, and the crew’s each day ration of whiskey. Nick KelleySimon leads business journeys with particular person, waiver-signing paddlers, and has been identified to kayak and riverboard (think about swimming with a kickboard in Class Vs), however he loves his custom-fitted oar boat finest. Nick KelleyOtter and Simon sneak in just a few casts at noon. It’s attainable to fish from the general public banks, however the terrain is so steep and the woods so thick that locals usually can’t attain the water on foot. Nick KelleyThe Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, which runs beside the river, was accomplished in 1872. It’s nonetheless energetic with freight and Amtrak automobiles, as I discovered when staff began hosing down automobiles close to our campsite at 5 a.m. Nick KelleyWe’d not have had contemporary fish, however we didn’t go hungry.
Nick Kelley
These little rapids wouldn’t pose a lot hazard if I fell in, however standing within the riverbed would. By no means attempt to stand in shallow swift water. You threat foot entrapment, which might result in getting pushed beneath the floor—and held there—by the present. Nick KelleyWe used 7-foot medium-action rods to throw PowerBait Energy Swimmers with white jigheads. This labored nicely till Simon misplaced my rod within the final speedy. Nick KelleyI’ve run rapids and not using a information, however it’s a lot safer to boat with somebody who is aware of the river—or tips on how to navigate an unfamiliar one. A superb paddler can learn a speedy like a great angler can learn the present, however we didn’t must scout the New as a result of my companions have it memorized. Earlier than every stretch of whitewater, Simon briefed me on which path (“line”) to take by the speedy, which approach to swim if I flipped, and which undercut rocks may entice me beneath the floor. Nick KelleyThere are many slow-moving stretches on the New, giving solo rowers an opportunity to catch bass. Nick KelleyRight here, Archy drops into Center Keeney, a Class IV speedy named for a coal-union organizer. It’s necessary to lean ahead, rowing (or paddling) with highly effective, even strokes to punch by large waves head-on. Hitting a speedy at an angle can flip your boat. Should you do fall in, know which approach to swim or look to your information for a hand sign. Don’t anticipate rescue—swim arduous, and by no means attempt to seize onto tree branches protruding of the river. The pressure of the present can entice you towards submerged limbs like noodles in a colander. Nick KelleyThe fishing, in fact, is finest within the early morning and night, however we additionally appear to get extra bites each time a prepare rumbles by. Archy swears the vibrations scare the fish out of their holes, and it doesn’t take lengthy to find he could also be proper. Nick KelleyFinal summer time, Simon traded a truck camper for money and this welded stand, a literal lifesaver for regular fishing by whitewater. The metallic platform provides me a raise too, making it straightforward to sight-cast to bass holding in eddies and above rapids. Nick KelleyThe large boulders lining the New additionally trace at what sits beneath the floor. Right here, Simon floats right into a cave that turns into an undercut at increased water—a loss of life entice for capsized boaters who get sucked into the opening and pinned by the present. Nick KelleyAnnually, the New swells its banks and sends mud, trash, and timber roiling downriver. This leaves tangled heaps of sun-dried driftwood alongside the seashores, offering greater than sufficient gas for the few campers who sleep there. Nick KelleyThe ultimate mile of riffles earlier than the previous Fayette Station Bridge after which the well-known New River Gorge Bridge holds a few of the finest fishing of the journey. The smallies listed here are hand-size however hungry, and hit practically each lure I throw to them. Nick KelleyThroughout one dialog, somebody mentions that Invoice Nye the Science Man doesn’t have a science diploma. “You don’t want a level if you realize your shit,” Archy says. “I don’t have a level in fishing, however I caught the largest fish as we speak.” Nick Kelley
This story initially ran within the Spring 2020 challenge. Learn extra OL+ tales.
