2016 Recap: How did everyone do?

[Charlie Church]

Earlier today I decided to take a look at the 2016 resolutions thread from last year. It made me think it would be cool to see if everyone accomplished their goals. 

As for me, I got one of mine done. I had mentioned I was dying to get a bull drum (even on bait). Parker, Kyle (VB Local) and I had a pretty epic day this fall on them. We ended up with 10 big ones. 

I log all of my trips which makes providing a recap pretty easy. See below:

Winter:

I did not get out a ton this winter since I was in the process of getting ready to move to Virginia Beach in the spring. The times I did get out went well though and resulted in some early season dry fly for brookies. I also was able to get out and float the potomac once and got a decent smallmouth. I will take it in the winter. 

Spring

Before moving to VB, I was able to go on a pretty big 'going away' binge. It included 2 floats up in Western MD, a couple smallie floats, a shad trip, and a few trips to local spring creeks. In one week I was able to get a brown, rainbow, brookie, hickory shad, american shad, striper and smallmouth. I spent a couple days looking for big drum on the eastern shore to no avail. It seemed like every chance I had to get out on the shore was met with wind / dirty water. 

I also spent a ton of time looking for smaller reds, trout and flounder and did quite poorly. The flounder bite for me never materialized all year and the reds/trout took until fall. Looking through my logs, I had 11 trips that resulted in skunks. The dues were paid heavily. 

Summer

I got out a lot this summer. Highlights included 2 offshore trips, a couple cobia trips, a trip up to Alaska to visit one of my best friends who now guides at the lodge I used to work at and overall a ton of exploring. The alaska trip (goodnews river lodge) was ridiculous. My wife and I got all 5 species of salmon, rainbows, dollies, tons of grayling and a lake trout with a good amount coming on mouse patterns. Locally, I struck out on cobes but was able to get a few big trout, consistent stripers under lights, a few alberts offshore, some dolphin and a good amount of smaller reds later in the year.

Fall
Fall was easily the best time for me. Reds and trout showed up in huge numbers which made finding new wading spots a lot easier. I was able to find a few spots that I could hit after work and get into a decent amount of fish. It definitely made me not miss 495. This fall also included that awesome drum trip mentioned above. The trout bite was strong all the way up to December with more than a few memorable trips. 

Some of my favorite photos from the year are attached. Hopefully next includes a lot of time on the water, some exploration and maybe some dues paid along the eastern shore hunting the silver king.

How did everyone else do?

[Terry C]

Nice recap of your rear of fishing. thanks for sharing.

[Yambag Nelson]

I had a pretty good year overall.  My goal for 2016 was to catch a permit on the fly and I was sort of successful in that.  It wasn't a big one but I guess a permit is a permit.  But here is my summary:

Spring:  Started the year off with a trip to the southern Yucatan at Costa de Cocos.  Had an awesome trip with tons of bones, a nice snook, as well as hooking three permit.  Of course the two big ones got away but I did land the one attached. 

Spent the rest of April/early may fishing around fletchers.  Really focused on catching Americans and was pretty successful doing so, although it was at the expense of numbers/hickories.

Summer:  In June I spent 4 days on the Battenkill and caught a lot of fish.  A couple of nice brook trout but way too many stocked browns.  New York State's management of that river is disappointing to say the least.  But it was a nice trip on a great river.

I was in Europe most of July and August was too hot to fish but I did get out for stripers a couple times at dark. 

Fall:  September I went to Hayward Wisconsin to fish for Musky and had a great trip.  In two days I moved 9 musky, hooking four and landing two.  Musky fishing is addictive.  The rest of the fall was spent fishing at night for stripers.   Overall the striper fishing was not great for me this year.  I did catch decent numbers of fish a few times, but did not find anywhere near as many larger fish as last year. 

November I was back in NY steelhead fishing for several days and did not do well.  Water was extremely low and I only hooked a couple of fish.

So far the calendar for 2017 has a trip to the keys in May for tarpon, a trip to Quebec for Atlantic Salmon on the Grand Cascapedia, Washington State in August and that is it.  Goal is to spend more time fishing Virginia, something I have ignored the last couple of years.

[Charlie Church]

A  permit is a permit! Especially one on fly.

Nice work.

[Rob Snowhite]

Still chasing a snakehead on top water. 

Sent from my iPhone

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[Andrew Sarcinello]

I love reading these types of posts. Charlie, you have some absolute monsters from this year, thanks for sharing.

For me, 3 fish stand out from this year, plus a few day trips.

One of my goals (the only one that I specifically remember setting last year) was to break the 24" mark on the fly. I was able to make that happen twice in the span of a week in September. The first fish was an absolute freak - I was fishing a small, mountain brown trout stream that I know holds some big browns, and even though the water was low, it was still cold in mid September. I know that the big browns here have a habit of hiding under big rock ledges and ambushing streamers, but most trips I am lucky if I even move one of these big guys. They sleep a lot. So there I was standing at the tail of one of the deepest spots on the stream at 2:00 p.m on a bright sunny day, fully expecting all of the big fish to be asleep in those conditions, but just trying my usual streamer plunking tactic anyway because you never know. On the second cast, "you never know" happened, I felt a very heavy fish grab the fly. Due to a glare I never saw the fish until I got it close a few minutes later and then my jaw just dropped, it was the biggest brown I've ever seen in person. I was able to land it and grab a few photos and used a 6" pair of pliers as a ruler to estimate it's length at 25". I couldn't believe a wild brown trout was my first 24"+ fish on a fly - I thought it would be a carp or catfish. This was easily my top fish of 2016, and biggest trout ever.

The next weekend, I tried muskie fishing for the first time. I was invited to do a tournament about a month later with some guys who know what they're doing, so we headed up to scout the tournament water (Allegheny River near Warren, PA) ahead of time. I did not encounter any muskies, but I did catch a nice pike in the 25-27" range, which now stands as my biggest fly caught fish. During the actual tournament, we got skunked, but I finally saw my first muskie ever (it was under 24" but viciously attacked a 10" long fly - unfortunately not the part with the hook).

The third fish that really sticks in my memory was a redfish I caught in Florida during a short trip I made there in early March. My friend and I rented kayaks and were fishing a small mangrove-lined tidal creek on a strong incoming tide. I hooked into this redfish, and between trying to control the line and avoid the tree branches with my rod tip, I had no control over the kayak. The tide was pushing me quickly up the creek so my friend had to paddle over, grab the back of my kayak with one hand and a mangrove with the other, and finally I could stay in one place and finish fighting the fish. The whole ordeal probably took about 10 minutes, and the reward was a 20-21" redfish, which isn't huge but turned out to be the biggest fish I caught in Florida.

Overall, it was a down year for trout for me - mostly due to the low summer and fall flows and partially because I moved from Ashburn to Tysons in early June, so I was apartment hunting during most of the prime trout days in May. Catching that one beast brown makes up for that though, and I also added two more MD brown trout streams to my regular "rotation". Flows were low by the time I discovered them so they haven't produced much yet, but both have very solid wild brown trout populations. Hopefully I can crack their codes in 2017. I made some new friends this year via brookie fishing, always a great time!

Had a good time with the shad run as usual. I had difficulty on the days where I went myself, but fortunately on the two occasions where I invited people down we had good fishing. I was able to get a friend and my dad hooked up with their first shad on a fly, both loved the experience. As for stripers, I'll have to wait until 2017 to figure out how the heck to catch one over 12".

[Andy Thomas]

Thanks for the post.  It's cool to look back and remember the ones caught but I seem to remember more the ones I lost!  Although I didn't travel that much or spend as much time on the water as I did in 2015, it was still a pretty good year.  Our first baby, which was born in July, contributed to less time on the water.  Nonetheless, I caught my first 20 inch brown trout and my first musky this year in Virginia.  I also had multiple trips to the Shenandoahs chasing brookies and some beautiful days on the Gunpowder. 

I'm pretty excited about 2017 though.  We are moving to New Orleans so I've got redfish on my mind as well as speckled sea trout.  I'm sure I'll get into plenty of largemouth and bream in City Park and in my home rivers in Mississippi.  I'll also be aiming for my first carp on the fly, which I hope to find in some of the urban canals or waterways in Nola.  I might even get over to the Florida coast to try for a tarpon in early summer.  I'll miss chasing trout on the Savage, NB, Gunpowder, and in the Shenandoahs, but I'm sure I'll find plenty to keep me busy back south.

[HeaveToo]

Wow...I haven't posted in a while.

Basically 2016 sucked.  I didn't fish much.  I had a few skunks, which is really rare.  I did only a few smallmouth trips and they were okay.  I ran into high water on one of them and did some risky wading to no avail.  I will never do that again because it made me quite nervous.

I did a long sailing trip on the Chesapeake Bay.  The trip was well over 200 nautical miles and I went down to Deltaville.  I didn't get much fishing done because I was combating bad weather too.  One day I went around Stingray Point and I hit high winds and waves over 5 feet.  I did a little fly fishing but I got a skunk.

This summer it seemed like any time I had off I ran into rain.  The river was high, muddy, or not good for fishing.  I worked a ton too and got overtime that I really didn't want.

I think my best trip was a shad trip.  I did pretty good and then I ran into an issue on my favorite stretch of water with the Water Authority.  I think that I documented that on here.  Anyway, I think that issue is resolved well and, after speaking with their management, I have a very clear idea on where you can fish on the Occoquan.

This fall was a bust.  I tried the Occoquan a few times for stripers but the water in the river wasn't moving right.  Bad, but I quickly get defeated and frustrated if I get there and there is no movement at the back of the river.  I really should start going and fishing the bridge pilings hard but I have never had much luck there and they get a ton of fishing pressure.

The exciting news is that I am going to pull the trigger in 2017 and buy a new Kayak.  No more fishing from the inflatable!!  I think that I may be getting a Ride Sea Ghost 130.  It seems like a pretty good bang for the buck and it gets good reviews.  It looks like a good fishing platform.

I think that I will make a resolution to do more fishing in 2017.  Between sailing and fishing I need to spend more time doing this.  These are the best stress relievers I have found.

I would like to fish the Shenandoah River, a few trips into the Rappahannock, and of course, my home waters, the Occoquan.  I wouldn't mind doing some exploring at Point Lookout State Park, Rudee Inlet, and Kiptopeake State Park.

I think that I would like to find some people to fish with this year.  It is hard to do this with my crazy schedule since I tend to be off on week days and right now I am working nights, but we shall see.  If anyone else out there with a Yak would be interested in doing some fishing drop me a line!

[Trent Jones]

These posts are great! Keep them coming!

-Trent

On Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at 11:37:40 AM UTC-5, Charlie Church wrote:

[Evan D]

I'll throw my hat in the ring and write a quick summary of my fishing in 2016.

2016 was a busy year for me both with fishing and other life events. I got a new job, asked my girlfriend to marry me (thankfully she said yes), and still was able to get out for probably 60-70 days of fishing mostly on weekends.

On to the fishing: This year was full of a few firsts, but was mostly a year where I expanded my knowledge and experience by putting in the time on the water and also reading a lot and talking with other experienced anglers. TPFR has been a great resource!

I focused a lot on streamer fishing in 2016 and subsequently tangled with a lot of big fish. Unfortunately, I have a lot to learn regarding fighting and landing big fish. My success rate was shockingly low, but I think I landed 4 trout over 20" in 2016. However, on a positive note, I have been hooking more and more fish on streamers and my success at landing fish under 20" is much higher!

I also caught my first saltwater fish on the fly in 2016. A few fluke and several bluefish. I caught plenty of striper on the fly in the Potomac to 14", but none bigger on the fly. I did catch two 30" class stripers in the Potomac on spinning gear! Those were fish to remember! As usual, shad fishing was good - although I got a slow start.

2016 was also the year I launched my Instagram account solely for fly fishing (dcflyfish). It has been a great way to track my year in fishing (I actually looked through it before this post) and I have met a bunch of great people who have messaged me about fly fishing!

In 2017 my goals are: get better at fighting and landing big fish, fly fish saltwater more often, catch a 20" striper on the fly, continue to improve my fishing photography skills, and meet more fellow fly fisherman (at the bar and on the river)!

[Jeffrey Silvan]

This was a relatively slow year for me, "only" doing 3 travel trips, 1 local float, and a small handful of solo trips. 

- I kicked off the year great with an amazing trip to Cuba for the first time fishing tropical flats and put a few new species on my list for fly rod catches (bonefish, barracuda, assorted other "unpopular" flats fish). 

- I only fished the canal maybe 3 times this year, but got some of the biggest carp I've caught yet under the mulberry trees in Georgetown. 

- I took a rather interesting trip to Beaver Island for carp and surprisingly while I got a nice carp to hand, the best part of the trip was pulling in some ridiculous trophy smallmouth and catching my first pike on the fly.

- I did my annual mecca to Louisiana to unfortunately poor weather, but still managed to put a nice redfish in the boat.

Andy - super jealous of your move to New Orleans. My wife is from there and has been pushing me to go back, but we haven't pulled the trigger yet. I'm pretty sure I'd go broke, though, with the amount of fishing I'd end up doing. Some of the guides are starting to get into some pretty cool stuff with mother ship setups giving them amazing access to crazy fishing, so you'll have to check that out.

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[John Smith]

I did more thinking and talking about fly fishing than actual fly fishing in 2016. Since my three boys are not really "fly fish ready" we spent most of the time bait fishing or light tackle trolling for stripers nearby. I did have a few memorable trips.

Shenandoah River - had the best 1 hour of fly fishing without actually catching anything ever on the river while  Musky fishing. Hooked two separate fish a few moments apart and had two other follows all around the noon hour but ended up losing both hookups near the boat. I am guessing the saltwater hookset was just not quite enough. The clear water made the experience even better. No action at all before or after that one hour stretch. Made me a believer in the Moonrise/set theory. Just can't remember which one it was that day.

Keys - spent a couple of weeks on Big Pine Key in August with the family. I took my skiff hoping for some solitary time in the mornings. It was challenging at first running the channels in the dark and dodging the ever present thunderstorms but I did manage to catch some fish (no permit or bones, although i spooked a few). Plenty of action with juvenile barracuda, mangrove snappers, and baby tarpon. Also, the sunrises were just epic. The one picture shows the fading moonlight on the right (Gulf) and the sunrise on the left (Atlantic).

Potomac - I missed out on much of the local saltwater scene this year while saving up vacation time for the keys trip. I finally got out on the Potomac in late October during that hot weather stretch we had and wondered if I could find a red (puppy drum) nearby. I figured with the dry weather that some of them may be quite far upstream by now. So, on Oct 19 i set out from Leesylvania SP in search of a redfish. The day actually turned out to be a great day for schoolie stripers. I ended up with 37 all caught on one actual fly (never changed it)--a high-tied clouser. Towards the end of the day I felt a tug that was different and actually stronger than the stripers. Ended up being a 15-inch red! Never before was I that stoked to catch a juvenile red. Just thought it was cool to leave a freshwater ramp and find a red. I realize that in 2012-13, they made it all the way up to the Woodrow Wilson bridge, but since then they have been largely absent until this past summer when they showed up in pretty good numbers. Now to be honest, i traveled about 24 miles by boat south of Leesylvania for that fish but still well above the 301 bridge. 

Here are a few pics. Hope everyone has a great 2017

[Parker]

2016 was a good fishing year for me! I fished with old friends and new friends, catching many new species as well as the old favorites. 

Winter: 

I focused on hiking first and fishing second to mitigate frustration...and it worked! I hiked beautiful brook trout streams (with a fly rod of course) and found some beautiful trout. 

Spring: 

After a couple days dedicated to the mandatory shad smack down, I shifted my focus to smallmouth and trout. I did a couple float trips in western MD for trout (sadly no big ones) and a few float trips on the Potomac and Shenandoah for smallmouth, catching some nice fish. I also explored some new brookie streams in late spring that I plan to fish again!

Summer:

A non-fishing trip up to CT where I fished (no stripers, but a few menhaden actually ate my fly which was interesting). I did some more brook trout trips and smallmouth trips when flows looked good. In August I caught a nice Savage River brown trout on a hopper, which was awesome and probably my favorite freshwater fish of the year because I worked so hard for it! 

Fall:

Mid September, I made my first ever trip to Alaska (Tsiu River) with some folks I met through TPFR. The coho salmon fishing was ridiculously good, and I still have probably 15lbs of salmon in my freezer! Richard from TPFR brought some gyotaku materials, and helped me make a salmon print...super cool!! In October, I made a few trips down to VA Beach to visit Charlie (who started this thread) and to try and catch my first redfish (which has eluded me for over two years). I caught a puppy drum on bait during my first visit. My second visit produced my most memorable fish of the year, a bull red... and then a few more bull reds! (also caught on bait). 

It was a good year. Game on 2017!

Parker

On Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at 11:37:40 AM UTC-5, Charlie Church wrote:

[TurbineBlade]

2016 was very much "ungood" for us compared to 2015 in terms of overall fishing.  (Recall from 1984 that words like "bad" are not necessary when the word "good" already has an inherent negative "ungood" once you add a prefix.  We are destroying language people, get with it!)

I caught the biggest carp I've ever caught on the fly in the early spring, and we had some pretty phenomenal shad fishing about that same time, but most of the rest was slow.  

We did, however receive the gift of life in October, in the form of a healthy 8+ pound baby boy.  I plan to begin to "phase" in some fishing (the 3 of us, of course) this coming spring, probably in the form of camping trips into SNP.  Until then I'm happy being somewhat domestic ;).  

I haven't tied a fly since September!  

Gene

[GSFeder]

Congratulations, Gene and Beth!  I think we'd all love to see some grip-and-grins with your newborn!  🐠👶🏻🤷🏻‍♂️

Cheers, 

-- Greg

Sent from my iPhone

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[TurbineBlade]

Working on it!  Be sure to check back here in 6 years and you'll see 'em!  ;)

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-rodders+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

[Dalton Terrell]

Cool post!

Like Evan, I got engaged this year but unfortunately didn't match his commitment to fishing and probably only got out 40 days or so this year.

Even so, I got out on some sweet trips and caught some nice fish this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I finished it strong with this bass in farm pond near my parent's house.

[Greggory DiSalvo]

This was a good fishing year.  I had the best catch of my life as I also got engaged....and she kind of puts up with my fishing habit!  This year was a year of continued learning, but by far my most competent year of fly fishing as I was less distracted with form and more focused on the fish.  Don't get me wrong though, as I still probably hooked about as many trees as I did fish... This year was very much a year of exploration as I set a goal to step out of my comfort zone and explore some maps to try new water, especially in Maryland.  I was skunked many a time, but managed some nice hikes in some beautiful places.  

Winter: I was able to make a few weekend trips into the mountains for brookies, but only brought a few fish to hand as the weather didn't always cooperate on weekends.  I also managed a few "sick days" (don't judge) on some warmer winter days where the dry bite was on fire.  Love how brookies don't need a hatch to get going on top!  I filled in the rest of the winter working on casting on the stocked streams locally.  

Spring: I spent much of March, fishing brook trout streams in the Shenandoah with one a long weekend camping trip on Big Run, which was interrupted by smoke from the wildfire nearby.  Sad, but neat hiking out the ridge line and looking down on the fire from the adjacent mountain.  I also spent a long weekend in a cabin on the west slopes which afforded me the opportunity to add to my list of Shenandoah streams with great success.  I spent much of April wearing out my fingers stripping in shad.  I had previously spent time with them on spin gear when in college in Fredericksburg, but I found boat to boat on the Potomac much more enjoyable than shoulder to shoulder wading the Rapp.  My cousin and I had a blast with the shad and I even managed my first Striper on the fly.  I didn't measure, but I would say 20-22" on a 6 weight, and I am now addicted.  Much of late spring was blown out with rain and I had to push smallmouth to summer.

Summer: I floated the James and Rapp. Rivers with my dad with limited success, but loads of fun.  I successfully didn't kill half of my family as I organized a two day float on the Shenandoah.  So many smallmouth, some hogs as well!  I didn't catch any of the hogs, but I like to think I selflessly put my family on them....because I care about them having a good time.  I spent late summer traveling Colorado with my fiance.  She was a champ and agreed to a guided wading trip where she out fished me thoroughly, as well as encouraging me to fish in every town we stopped in.  the highlight of the trip was pulling the fly right out of the mouth of a high alpine greenback cuttie's mouth.  We hiked 10 miles off trail in Indian Peaks to Thunderbolt lake where I threw a hopper and watched a trophy fish rise to sip the fly.....only to get overly excited and set the hook early.  Those fish a gems.  

Fall: I continued exploring the area more, especially the tidal potomac.  I had decent success on striper, but none pushing 20".  I would have liked to do more brookie fishing, but the low water and spawning kept me away.  I took a trip up to Cannadaigua, NY and managed one brown and a couple smaller pickeral.  The hope is to make it back up there this spring to hit the lake run rainbows.  

Fun year, fun thread.  I hope to continue my growth in this sport and continue to make more of an effort to meet others who I can learn from.  This group is such a great resource.  Thanks all and here's to 2017.  

Gregg

On Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at 11:37:40 AM UTC-5, Charlie Church wrote:

[Trent Jones]

Was finally able to sit down, go through pictures, and look at the last years fishing endeavors. I have to say that 2016 had a lot of memorable moments and I did manage to cross off all my resolutions (first time for everything I suppose). As I went through pictures I was reminded of some hysterical moments and some amazing times. The thing that surprised me the most was how much time I spent in the salt and how much new water I fished. A big part of fly fishing for me is the exploration aspect and I certainly did a lot of it in 2016. In addition to getting out with family and friends I also was able to forge some great new friendships while on the water as well.

My plans for 2017 are to do some more Bluewater fishing, to add a couple new salmonids to my species list, and to find a fatty Largemouth Bass.

I had a hard time narrowing down pictures. Here is my favorite fish photo from each month of 2016. The Brown in January was my first fish of the year, and the Musky in December was my last fish of the year.

Hope everyone has a great 2017!!

-Trent "this is a personal record for most photos in a TPFR post" Jones

On Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at 11:37:40 AM UTC-5, Charlie Church wrote:

[Terry C]

Looking back on last year's fishing a few things come to mind. 

The year started off helping Art teach tying and casting classes at the big O, along with the usual shad extravaganza at Fletchers.  I'm an empty nester now and work on an academic calendar so I'm able to plan a summer trip each year.  This past summer it was about Atlantic Salmon. My trip started at the end of June with a ride up RT 81  to Pulaski NY for Spey Nation.  A spey casting event worth going to if you are interested.  I then preceded to Clifton Park NY to spend a few days with my brother. He doesn't fish ( not sure if we have the same parents ) so I went out with my cousin Mike on his boat to the Upper Hudson river for the day looking for bass. We both managed to catch enough to enjoy the day. All went well on the water but ... as we pulled out of the parking lot and took a hard left onto the main road we heard an awful crash and scraping noise. ( note to self "don't forget to hook the transom straps if I own a boat some day" )  Looking in the rear view mirror the boat was on its side in the middle of the road. The sad thing is we weren't drinking so we didn't have an excuse.  Mike recently recovered from a heart attack and I'm 60, there was no way the 2 of us were going to get that boat back up on the trailer. Luckily 2 strong young guys in a pickemup truck stopped and helped us. Now the Atlantic Salmon trip starts,  I took the CAT from Main over to Nova Scotia and drove out to Cape Brenton Island . 3 days of fishing on the Margaree River resulted in 1 solid hook up but didn't bring a salmon to hand. Taking a short rest on one of the river benches at the tail of the junction pool I struck up a conversation with Pere. A Frenchman from Quebec. We exchanged a few flies and email addresses.  Next I headed up to Wilson's sporting camp for 3 more days of Atlantic salmon fishing.  Now on the Miramichi River.  2 more hook ups but still no grip and grin pictures. That trip however, was highlighted by meeting and drinking scotch with Dave Bargeron. Any Blood Sweat and Tears fans out there. He was the trombone player with them for years and the  author of Jazz Flies.  A book of Atlantic Salmon flies that he tied and named after different Jazz musicians that he played with over the years.  Finishing up this long rant, my year was highlighted by the people I fished with and stories I'll have forever, not the usual grip and grins. I have some of those also.  Art, Mike, Pere, the 2 guys that put the boat back on the trailer, and Dave.  As well as all people at Beer Tie during the year.  To me this was a successful year of fishing. 

On Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at 11:37:40 AM UTC-5, Charlie Church wrote:

[arthur...@gmail.com]

Thanks for the recap guys. Both got me excited for 2017!

Art

Sent from my iPhone

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