Cole is an avid long-rodder and maintains that effective spring patterns include size 8 to 10 Clouser minnows and Woolly Buggers, along with size 4 to 6 streamers. Cole prefers to concentrate on deeper pools, rocky banks and mid-river dropoffs. Later in the season, as the water temperature rises to the upper 60s, he will employ various kinds of size 4 poppers and toss them to heavily shaded banks, current breaks and slick water above and below rapids.

On our five-mile trip from the Greenbrier River Campground to Alderson, Cole and Hipps took full advantage of the surface bite. Both individuals caught large numbers of smallmouths on poppers. Hudson and I decided to go deep and worked soft- plastic baits and jig-and-pigs along the substrate. We caught far fewer smallies, but Dan did land the best size fish of the day, although none of them approached 2 pounds. The biggest problem we all had was spooking the fish in the Greenbrier's legendarily clear water. Cole said the extreme upper river from Denmar to Renick is very underrated as a spring fishery and this stretch receives very little fishing pressure. The Greenbrier River Campground junket is a good example of a float that is best taken when the water temperature has warmed. One of the most intense rapids on the entire river is one that features what Dan Hudson calls "Telly's Dome," for the huge boulder looks somewhat like the noggin of the late Telly Savalas. A Class II to III rapid forms in this area and can make for a hazardous passage when the water is high in the spring. On our trip, though, this rapid was a very doable Class II, and we easily avoided it.

The Greenbrier River is one of West Virginia's premier winter, spring and early summer stream smallmouth fisheries. The stream is well worth your time this year.

IF YOU GO
Fishing the Greenbrier Valley: An Angler's Guide, by Mike Smith, online at www.upress.virginia.edu or www.greasycreekoutfitters.com

For guided trips and canoe rentals: Greenbrier River Campground, visit online at www.greenbrierriver.com, or call (800) 775-2203.

For detailed maps, consider the New River Atlas, which contains numerous maps of the Greenbrier River: Virginia Canal & Navigation Society, www.vacanals.org.

Bruce Ingram is the author of the following books (cost in parentheses): The James River Guide ($17.25); The New River Guide ($18.25); Shenandoah/Rappahannock Rivers Guide ($18.25); and his latest book, Fly and Spin Fishing for River Smallmouths ($19.25). To purchase one, contact Ingram at P.O. Box 429, Fincastle, VA 24090.