New in town

[smith.b...@gmail.com]

Hey All,

Just wanted to introduce myself and apologize in advance for any dumb questions I ask regarding fishing in the area. I just moved from Alaska and am certainly missing the ability to fish on my lunch break through the summer. I have been reading about the stripers and shad, two species I have never fished for, so feel like I definitely have a lot to learn. Would love any tips about what flies to use, and which methods work best. I have a 2, 5 and 8-wt rod, as well as lots of flies typical for trout, dollies, and grayling, but nothing specifically for stripers.

I have been walking the dogs at Rock Creek, but haven't seen anything moving in the water there. Any good tips for a newbie to the area? Any gotchas I should know before getting a line wet?

Thanks and tight lines!

[chad tokowicz]

Welcome to the area Brian. I moved down here in may after living in upstate new york and having the ability to slay steelhead and browns from december through may.. .. not to mention the salmon run. As you mentioned it will be a switch for sure but there are plenty of fishing opportunities around. Not sure about rock creek park but probably blue gill.

The 8wt will be perfect for the shad and stripers. Five will be good for the trout (obviously) around here. However, as you get more and more into fishing these creeks/ rivers you will see why it is commonplace to use lighter/shorter rods as some of the water is tight and fish on the smaller side, but still feisty.

Before I go into shad and stripers there are a few excellent resources you can use to learn more about the fishing in the area;

1) https://www.tu.org/blog-posts/voices-from-the-river-tu-internship-fuels-public-lands-appreciation - blog I wrote while interning at TU about local opportunities.

2) http://theminnowbucket.net/fishing-maps/

3) This Forum - a lot of threads have been started by guys like us to which a bunch of guys have subsequently responded. Combing through these posts/ previous topics is an easy way to learn a lot.

4) go to local fly shops and talk to the guys .. District angling and orvis are both in Arlington area. 

Some quick spots and species off the top of my head would be

- C&O Canal - Carp (what I target), bluegill, and bass. Probably snakehead too but I am not sure?

-Tidal Basin - Bass, Snakehead, Occasional Striper - mixed bag area - never fished it but many do

- Gravelly point - stripers can be caught on the right tides

- 4 mile run - bass, small stripers, - discharge

- various trout streams, in VA/MD (accontink (close) or gunpowder (know it well) ) 

- Burke Lake - bass, bluegill, Musky, ect. - can rent boats there - this weekend is last weekend until spring.

- turkey run - carp, probably bass.

Never caught shad or stripers in the Potomac, but alot of experience with stripers as I ripped them on Cape Cod for years and subsequently encountered the odd herring here and there. BUT - this is a quick intro to what I have picked up. 

Shad run in the springtime and that is the only time they are caught, by my knowledge, in the Potomac. Fishing from fletchers is very popular and row boats can be rented. Many use a sinking line (full or intermediate) and flies called Shad Darts and other similar patterns. I have also caught them on Clousers and smaller baitfish patterns.

Stripers are a similar situation and do run in the spring, although a population does hold year round, they are smaller than the migratory fish. 

thats all i got right now.

Tight Lines !

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[robert mills]

Hi Brian, 

I work out of Anchorage and Kenai a fair bit in the summer so I can definitely relate, a day hike up to rabbit lake or fishing the mouth of the kenai was always an option that I don't have here. A big trout here is a snack for a lot of the trout up in AK

I'm currently down in southern VA fishing for stripers off my wife's dock, I've caught a few fish in the low-mid 20s, but mostly sub 20in fish, I've also caught some speckled trout and bluefish, and foul hooked a shad on my spinning rod (use that to see if anything is around). I haven't had much luck fishing for stripers from shore up north with a fly rod, but from a boat I've had great luck. If you are new to stripers I'd suggest booking yourself a one day charter with a guide and asking lots of questions. Jeff Lewatowski (http://www.fishlews.com/) is who I've gone out with and its always been fun, he also guides trout fishing on the various streams in MD. I suggest Jeff as he is one of the few guides who is a fly fisherman, not just someone who will allow you to fly fish off their charter boat, and he'll supply rods and flies. 

as for gear to get I'd suggest investing in a sinking line or tip for your 8wt, some of the spots I've been told to fish for stripers like kent island narrows is deep and has strong currents, it'll also come in handy for shad. I've also found that chartruese and white deceivers and clousers work the best for stripers, and the bigger and fuller the body the better they take. I tied up a big ugly 5in C&W deceiver with UV2 super hair on a 3/0 hook and had it smashed constantly until I lost it to a decent sized bluefish at the dock.

As for shad I've fished for them right in georgetown at fletcher's cove, you will definitely need heavy shad darts and a sinking tip for those when they are running, I know a lot of people go down there to spey fish as well. Shad can be quite fun but aren't particularly acrobatic, imagine them as kinda like greyling in terms of fight. You'll also need a DC licence to fish fletcher's but its $16 annual and can be purchased online.

I've been fishing a few rivers in PA (spruce, spring, penns) and the Gunpowder just north of baltimore. The gunpowder is a great relaxing river, fish aren't large but are fun on lighter tackle. These guys may call me crazy but I've been scandi fishing caddis and streamers on my 3wt trout spey ( equal to ~5wt singlehand) the last few times I've been out there and have been doing well and covering a lot of water with little backcast. When the water was up real high I was hucking a 10ft t8 sink tip on a light skagit line and really getting a streamer down and that seemed to be the ticket when everyone else was having no luck on nymphs.

You also mentioned Rock Creek, it is actually illegal to fish rock creek except at lake needwood, at least that was what I was told by an officer one day while I was out microfishing off one of the bridges. However the outlet at needwood to the creek is open for fishing and is super productive for various species.

Another note I've heard some people fish the tidal basin, it'd be worth it just to go down and get a photo of a catch with the monuments in the background, don't know of the legality of it, perhaps someone here can chime in.

Rob

[smith.b...@gmail.com]

Thanks for the info, Rob! Rabbit lake was one of my favorite spots for the trifecta of a beautiful hike, good fishing, and berry picking on the way out! I also grew to tolerate combat fishing ship creek on my lunch break during the king and silver runs.

It sounds like Jeff would be a great place to start. I've never fished a sinking line before so a guide that will both help get me situated with a few local spots as well as help get me started with a new fishing method would be great. 

It seems like with PA, VA, MD, etc., there are a lot of good streams so that is definitely promising. 

[smith.b...@gmail.com]

Chad,

thanks for the great resources. I will definitely check them out. 

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[Brian Cohen]

Hi Brian - Rob's email has tons of great info, but just wanted to clarify about Rock Creek.   In DC, you can fish all of Rock Creek from Porter Street down to the where it meets the Potomac.   There are some surprisingly decent spots in both the upper and lower stretch.   I've caught bass, catfish, stripers, creek chub, and tons of bluegill in the upper stretches, and in the lower stretches anything in the Potomac is likely to come into the Creek.  

I am not a particularly experienced or accomplished fly fisherman, but I really enjoy fishing Rock Creek - something about catching a nice fish on a surprisingly attractive  stretch of stream smack dab in the middle of the city makes it really special - and I'd be happy to go out with you sometime.  Just send me an email when spring rolls around.

You'll need a DC license, and - given CSOs - you should avoid fishing it within 48-72 hours of a heavy rain.  A four- or five-weight with a floating line works fine for Rock Creek.

BC

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[robert mills]

sorry I only fished rock creek in the MD, didn't know DC would have different regs, makes sense though as it transitions to a national park in DC, right?


If you are willing to go up into PA or NY you can get salmon runs that come out of the lakes, but from what I've been told the salmon fishing is combat fishing. They also have a fish they call a steelhead, and technically it is a steelhead, but the fight isn't anywhere near the same as the fish on the west coast, but they do get quite large.   

I fished ships creek once and never went again, I really liked symphony lake and crescent lake down near Moose Pass as well. So many great options. I alsways forget about the berries, I remember hiking skyline traverse one time when I brought my wife up, we packed in water and snacks and ended up just stuffing our faces with all the berries. That was my first experience with watermelon berries.                 

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[chad tokowicz]

Let me know if you want more info on the salmon and steelhead fishing. Have already made two trips up and going for my third in two weeks with another planned in December.....

I love the lake runs :)

Sent from my iPhone

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[robert mills]

I wouldn't mind knowing some more, its a lot easier to run up to PA on a long weekend than it is to go out to the olympic peninsula. The last steelies I got out of the lakes were kinda dud fish, its as if they knew they were hooked and just sat on the end of my line like limp noodles while I reeled them in, but that was up in Ontario a long time ago.

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[vladimir polivanov]

Brain, 

           Two things 

1st. In my opinion Rob understated  Salmon & Steelhead  runs on the Great Lakes. It's Not all combat fishing when comes to the Salmon. It can get crowded but if you willing to hike out a way from the access points the crowds will thin out bit and/or go during the week instead of weekend. 

        The Steelhead runs don't get as crowded as Salmon runs.

And these fish are Steelhead directly descended of West Coast fish. The state of Pennsylvania still obtains steelhead eggs from hatcheries in Washington State for their stocking program. Fresh run steelhead put up awesome fights when hooked , in the tributary of the Great Lakes

   Also there are Lake Run Brown Trout. And native  Atlantic Salmon are making a slow but steady come back in some tributaries of the Great Lakes . Including the Salmon River in New York which was named for its runs of Atlantic Salmon . Atlantic Salmon weighting up to 20 lbs have been caught in the Salmon River in the past several years. I've attached  pic, from  several ago.

It was the first week in November. 

2nd. A great way too get know some people in TPFR and learn about local waters. Is to attend a Beertie.This is a once-a-month event fly tying and social event held at Whitlow's on Wilson in Clarendon Virginia.

Even if you don't tye, just show up grab a beer and a burger and start chatting with people. Beerties held  the 2nd Monday.

The next one is Monday November 12th Veterans Day

Vladimir ( Vo ) 

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[robert mills]

Vladimir, those browns are amazing!

I have only ever talked to people about salmon fishing in PA, I definitely like to know more, like where to go that isn't crowded. As for steelhead I fished in ontario, those could be very different fish, but outside of size they were pretty dud fish.

Maybe we should create a topic on salmon/brown/steelhead in PA. I'd certainly make the trip to have a go at those browns.

On Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 6:45:01 PM UTC-4, smith.b...@gmail.com wrote:

[Yambag Nelson]

Those pa creeks are a joke. If you are used to fishing the op you will be very dissapointed. Pa stocks a ridiculous number of fish and they can really stack up so you can rack up some serious numbers. Most guys are chucking and ducking.

Ny has some better options for sure but the wild winter fish on the op are special.

[namfos]

Righteous fish porn, Vo.

On Tuesday, October 30, 2018 at 12:37:51 PM UTC-4, Vo wrote:

[vladimir polivanov]

Rob,

          All those fish were caught in the Salmon River New York. In upper fly fishing only section 

The first week in November several years ago. Dead drifting

egg patterns with a float indicater.

As for your dud steelhead, without any additional information. My best guess would be one of two things.

1st.  That these were spawned out steelhead. Which were absolutely spent. 

2nd. You caught these fish in very cold conditions. I've caught plenty of steelhead on spinning gear in the Niagara River. In early March ( water  & air temperature are both cold ).

Which were very lathorgic .

Vo

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