FAYETTEVILLE ,W.Va. – Although Hurricane Helene put a two week damper on the New River’s fall fishing, it didn’t take long for the old girl to begin yielding her bounty again to West Virginia anglers.
At the height of Helene’s impact, Bluestone Lake was only inches away from a record high and the output downstream, although controlled, was roaring.
“Prior to Helene coming through, water was running approximately 2,000 to 3000 CFS, shortly thereafter at Galax, Va. Which is the uppermost gage on the New River, it crested at 200,000 CFS,” explained Larry Nibert, owner and fishing guide with the West Virginia Experience.
The intense rainfall came downstream into West Virginia and collected both organic and manmade debris along the way. Dozens of fishing camps and mobile homes were carried off along the river through Virginia and washed into Bluestone Lake. However, the Corps of Engineers installation did what it was designed to do. Even with ongoing construction and reduced capacity to regulate flow, the dam held the flood waters and has slowly released the waters downstream. Corps officials anticipated it would take three to four weeks to return to normal flow, but within two weeks, the river was back to a fishable level…