Solid Couple of Days...(Gunpowder and Seneca Creek)

[Jason Hanerfeld]

I had a few days off of work this week so I decided to head up to the Gunpowder River to give it a go.  I parked at masemore road and fished my way up almost to the prettyboy dam.  Landed a couple of decent browns, all of which were on nymphs, and had one that was about 13-14 inches.  Spent some time fishing with caddis and terrestrials but couldn't get any action on dries.  Around the bridge at falls road I saw tons of decent sized fish, and a few large ones, that were laying on the bottom.  I threw nymphs and streamers at them but couldn't get them to move.  Are these carp?  Does anybody know?  

Today I decided to head out to seneca creek, right below river road, to see if I could find any fish there.  In only about 2 hours I caught a smallie, a few largemouth, a rockbass(which was my first),  countless bluegill, and what I think was a red breasted sunfish.  All bass were on a chartreuse clouser size 4, and many of the bluegill were on poppers and terrestrials.  Was a great time and will hopefully be back out there soon.

Also, I'm looking for a place somewhere in Virginia, West Virginia, or Pennsylvania, within a 3 hour drive or so of DC to do some backpacking, camping, and of course a lot of fishing, preferably for trout.  Does anybody know of any good trails/trout rivers where camping is permitted within 3 hours or so of DC??

Thanks,

Jason  

[Jason Hanerfeld]

[Greg Feder]

Nice fish! 

--
http://www.tpfr.org/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/378c8d26-a839-4fdd-b690-18392dfa0cca%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Jeff Ford]

Jason - try fishing the north branch of potomac near Barnum wv western port md. Really good trout fishing and if you want to hike down an old road a couple miles you will find less pressured fish. Camp at Jennings Randolph lake campground. Should be 3 hours from dc without traffic. Have fun.

[Danny Barrett]

There is more water then you can handle down near Covington.  I spent about a week down that way with my dad last spring.  We did 3 days on the Jackson, 1 day on Back Creek, a day on Bull Pasture.  We could have easily spent 3 days on each river.  We bounced around from different hotels. So not sure what camping options are available, but it was an awesome trip with seeing only a handful of anglers. 

Thanks,

Danny

dannyt...@gmail.com

(540)-222-8064

--
http://www.tpfr.org

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/c9a62905-74e5-4b95-8a99-c65935bb0676%40googlegroups.com.

[John Bilotta]

Jason,

I would put western MD on your list and fish the Savage, Lost Lands and the Yough. 

You can camp next to the Savage. 

John

--
http://www.tpfr.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/378c8d26-a839-4fdd-b690-18392dfa0cca%40googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

<2014-07-20 14.10.23.jpg>

[Andy Thomas]

I second the western Maryland recommendation.  The North Branch below Jennings Randolph and Savage are very close (the Savage actually empties into the NB).  There is camping at Barnum, WV (right along the NB) and in the Savage River State Forrest.  The Savage River State Forrest also has numerous mountain streams that are great for brookies.  I was out there this past weekend and caught 12 on Sunday afternoon on the Savage.  Water is a bit low but still good fishing.

 

Its 3 hrs on the nose to drive out there but it can be a little longer come back into DC given traffic circumstances.

 

http://www.mineralcountywv.com/parksandrecreation/camping.asp

 

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/western/savageriverforest.asp

 

 

 

On Sunday, July 20, 2014 6:38:43 PM UTC-4, Jason Hanerfeld wrote:

[Cody Williams]

I'm late on this one, but within the 3ish hour range you have a ton of stuff you can see. I've been trying to explore more in this range this summer. I'm targeting spots that you have to at least walk in to fish, and preferably hike to get there. That way if I get skunked, at least I got a good walk in. 

With this range, you can get to all the of the Shenandoah streams near the Swift Run Gap entrance. I'm not sure if they've got much rain the past couple weeks, but I think they are still pretty low at this time. I did Big Run, camping overnight, about a month ago. The Shenandoahs are open for backcountry camping, but I'd check the regs before heading to any particular spot. I can't remember how restrictive they are. Once you get away from the north end of the park, it gets much less congested. If you're accessing these streams from the park, it'll be a hike down and a hike back up to get out. You'll see some reviews of the Big Fork that talk about how terrible the hike is, but I didn't find it any harder than any other ridge climb that I've done in the Shenandoahs. Yes, it sucks, but it is only around 2K elevation gained.

Two weekends ago I did a trip to Laurel Fork/Upper Jackson River/ St. Mary's River. The Laurel and St. Mary's were unfishably low. The Jackson was fine, and I camped at the campground, which was $5 for America the Beautiful pass holders, and $10 without. You can't camp by the Jackson outside of the campground as far as I could tell. For the Laurel Fork, i'd plan on camping at the parking area at Locust Point area and hiking in and out. About 6 miles round trip, but not terribly challenging hiking. Well, I'd bet it would be a better hike if you weren't carrying everything for an overnight :/

Hope this helps. I know I'm always interested in hearing more options in this range. I'll likely do another over Labor Day weekend, but I'm not sure where.

On Sunday, July 20, 2014 6:38:43 PM UTC-4, Jason Hanerfeld wrote: