Chain Bridge Today With Montana Beer Tie Guest

[Rob Snowhite]

I fished with John McKinnie today (some of you may remember him from Beer Tie last night. After a bit of a delay from getting rear ended in Ballston, we hit the water around 10am. 

The water is still stained and the beaches around Pimmet Run have changed a lot since the recent flood. New trees have washed in too making walking a bit of a challenge. John hooked into white perch from the start. He then got a 2' long needlefish which thankfully threw the hook so we didn't have to touch it.

A snakehead snagger next to us snagged a big specimen at the mouth of Pimmet Run in the clear water. The fish nearly pulled him in. As he was pulling it in it was swimming away and his shoes had no grip on the rocks and he was sliding toward the water.

I moved over to the mouth area after spotting several snakeheads in the shallows. I tied on a Clouser from last night and let it sink down and started to lightly twitch the rod. I felt a tug and set the hook. The fight was on and I was not sure my 6wt could handle the fish. Luckily John has some quality net skills and landed the fish. I was beyond disappointed to find out the fish was foul hooked on the side of its head/chin. It went home with the snaggers.

We then got into schoolies, more perch, and I landed two hickories. No Americans. Needlefish continued to chase our flies. Several baby snakes were riding the eddy back upstream at our feet. We also saw a huge bait ball surface out of nowhere and presumed something was down in the depths chasing them. 

All fish were caught on flies tied at last night's Beer Tie.

 

Rob Snowhite

[HeaveToo]

I spend three hours at the back of the Occoquan.  Snakehead are everywhere back there.  I have tried for two trips to get one to bite a clowser and they don't want it.  It is very frustrating.  I saw one caught with a spinnerbait but other than that people aren't hooking them.

Last year when I hooked my snakehead this time of the year I had basically hit him in the head as it came up and it bit in a reactionary strike. 

I am wondering if there is something else I can try to catch another snakehead.

The good news is that there is still shad and herring in the back of the Occoquan.  To top it off I caught a small striper.  The shad seem smaller than what I was catching in the Rappahannock. 

All in all today wasn't a bad day.  I still want to hook another snakehead!


P.S.  Sorry about he car crash.  Those are a pain!

[Ryan D]

Hey guys. I'm new to the group and fly fishing in general. Could use some help finding fishing spots. How do you get down to where Chain Bridge crosses the river? Or Pimmit Run? Do you park at Ft Marcy and hike down?

[Scott Stankus]

Here's a pretty handy map of fishing spots around Fletcher's and Chain Bridge:

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215985205281593198240.0004b9b1bc00cfd986f02&msa=0&dg=feature

As for getting down to Chain Bridge, there are 2 parking small lots on the VA side of the bridge. I think the one closer to the bridge (dirt lot, maybe) is not legal (I may be wrong), but people seem to park there anyway. The second one is paved and legal for certain periods of time. I'm unsure of the restrictions, but if I recall, the signage is pretty clear. From the dirt lot, there's a trail (Potomac Heritage Trail) that goes under Chain Bridge road. Walk across the big concrete dam that crosses Pimmet Run and make your way down to the River. 

Parking at Ft. Marcy isn't out of the question, but would make for a much longer hike to Chain Bridge. It would probably a little more than a half a mile to your hike. 

I hope that helps!

--Scott

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[Ryan D]

Scott - Thanks for the help. I can see the gravel lot on Google maps but I'm not sure if I'm seeing the paved one. Is it just around the corner and seems to go uphill into the woods?

On Wednesday, May 14, 2014 9:07:38 AM UTC-4, Scott S wrote:

Here's a pretty handy map of fishing spots around Fletcher's and Chain Bridge:

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215985205281593198240.0004b9b1bc00cfd986f02&msa=0&dg=feature

As for getting down to Chain Bridge, there are 2 parking small lots on the VA side of the bridge. I think the one closer to the bridge (dirt lot, maybe) is not legal (I may be wrong), but people seem to park there anyway. The second one is paved and legal for certain periods of time. I'm unsure of the restrictions, but if I recall, the signage is pretty clear. From the dirt lot, there's a trail (Potomac Heritage Trail) that goes under Chain Bridge road. Walk across the big concrete dam that crosses Pimmet Run and make your way down to the River. 

Parking at Ft. Marcy isn't out of the question, but would make for a much longer hike to Chain Bridge. It would probably a little more than a half a mile to your hike. 

I hope that helps!

--Scott

On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 8:27 AM, Ryan D <ryan.d...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey guys. I'm new to the group and fly fishing in general. Could use some help finding fishing spots. How do you get down to where Chain Bridge crosses the river? Or Pimmit Run? Do you park at Ft Marcy and hike down?

On Tuesday, May 13, 2014 5:37:05 PM UTC-4, Rob Snowhite wrote:

I fished with John McKinnie today (some of you may remember him from Beer Tie last night. After a bit of a delay from getting rear ended in Ballston, we hit the water around 10am. 

The water is still stained and the beaches around Pimmet Run have changed a lot since the recent flood. New trees have washed in too making walking a bit of a challenge. John hooked into white perch from the start. He then got a 2' long needlefish which thankfully threw the hook so we didn't have to touch it.

A snakehead snagger next to us snagged a big specimen at the mouth of Pimmet Run in the clear water. The fish nearly pulled him in. As he was pulling it in it was swimming away and his shoes had no grip on the rocks and he was sliding toward the water.

I moved over to the mouth area after spotting several snakeheads in the shallows. I tied on a Clouser from last night and let it sink down and started to lightly twitch the rod. I felt a tug and set the hook. The fight was on and I was not sure my 6wt could handle the fish. Luckily John has some quality net skills and landed the fish. I was beyond disappointed to find out the fish was foul hooked on the side of its head/chin. It went home with the snaggers.

We then got into schoolies, more perch, and I landed two hickories. No Americans. Needlefish continued to chase our flies. Several baby snakes were riding the eddy back upstream at our feet. We also saw a huge bait ball surface out of nowhere and presumed something was down in the depths chasing them. 

All fish were caught on flies tied at last night's Beer Tie.

 

Rob Snowhite

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[Rob Snowhite]

41st st x Glebe road. If spots are full do not park along 41st. 

Sent from my iPhone

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[Ryan D]

ah I see it! Thanks Rob!

On Tuesday, May 13, 2014 5:37:05 PM UTC-4, Rob Snowhite wrote: