Four Mile Run

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Bruce Mathews

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Dec 11, 2019, 5:27:47 PM12/11/19
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In case you hadn't been to the warm water outflow lately, the attached picture shows the rather dramatic change in the creek structure from summer high water events.  In the picture the left hand side is upstream from opposite the outflow and the right side is looking downstream.   The moon said I should have been catching fish around noon today but only saw some bait fish. The area just down from the outflow is quite shallow now. The deep hole that used to be at the outflow is gone and maybe 40% of the flow moves towards the Alexandria side.  As usual the tidal drop in the creek there is about 2 hours ahead of the river. I'm thinking about going back about noon tomorrow with the intent of exploring a little further downstream. Looks like what used to be a quick trip to the outflow to catch a few bluegills might be a thing of the past. 


Bruce Mathews
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20191211_124215.jpg

Jamie Carracher

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Dec 12, 2019, 9:23:31 PM12/12/19
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That’s interesting because wouldn’t the deluge of rain in 2018 be more of an issue than this summer where we had that drought? I was down there a month ago or so and didn’t have any luck but I also timed it poorly and there was barely any water. I have seen on Instagram people catching decent fish there still, mostly spin anglers. I don’t go there as much but I used to have more success in numbers before they ripped out all the bushes on the Arlington side in front of the water plant. In terms of super local water, Rock Creek has been most productive for me of late.




Bruce Mathews

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Dec 14, 2019, 10:28:52 AM12/14/19
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I think this was the event that caused the rearrangement of the creek bottom. 
My sister- in- law lives in Arlington and had a major basement flood from this event . That's why I remember it. 

Bruce Mathews
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On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 9:30 PM, Jamie Carracher
That’s interesting because wouldn’t the deluge of rain in 2018 be more of an issue than this summer where we had that drought? I was down there a month ago or so and didn’t have any luck but I also timed it poorly and there was barely any water. I have seen on Instagram people catching decent fish there still, mostly spin anglers. I don’t go there as much but I used to have more success in numbers before they ripped out all the bushes on the Arlington side in front of the water plant. In terms of super local water, Rock Creek has been most productive for me of late.




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Bruce Mathews

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Dec 14, 2019, 10:32:23 AM12/14/19
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Jamie, 
I am down in the Mount Vernon area so Rock Creek is not really convenient to me. I used to work at 25th & K and I should have explored it more then.  I may have to try Holmes Run but I am sure the water is cold now. 

Bruce Mathews
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On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 9:30 PM, Jamie Carracher
That’s interesting because wouldn’t the deluge of rain in 2018 be more of an issue than this summer where we had that drought? I was down there a month ago or so and didn’t have any luck but I also timed it poorly and there was barely any water. I have seen on Instagram people catching decent fish there still, mostly spin anglers. I don’t go there as much but I used to have more success in numbers before they ripped out all the bushes on the Arlington side in front of the water plant. In terms of super local water, Rock Creek has been most productive for me of late.




Sam Zimmerman

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Dec 14, 2019, 4:58:52 PM12/14/19
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You should have seen Four Mile Run in June, 1972 during Hurricane Agnes ---  complete with floating Chevy's from the Rosenthal Chevrolet storage lot  in Sihrlington.  Looked like SPring on the Colorado!!  

Rob Snowhite

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Dec 15, 2019, 8:09:01 PM12/15/19
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Four Mile took a major beating during that August deluge. This was the worst storm damage to the tidal section I have seen in the decade since I've been fishing there. 

The banks below the Mt. Vernon Bridge were eroded several feet back and about two feet of vertical spaces was removed. 

The bottom was scoured clean for a few weeks before algae could re grow on the rocks and sand. It was rather nice to fish on a pool bottom white stream for a few weeks. 

Several holes were filled in with new sediment, mostly around the northern (Arlington) shoreline which includes the outflow with filled in with about four feet of gravel. At low tide through the end of summer was mostly shin deep. The flow has carved out a bit of a depression but not much. 

Other spots were completely scoured out. Where there was flats (why carp don't frequent those flats for clams is a question I've been pondering for years). There are now holes that are several feet deep at low tide. I've told clients to follow my exact foot steps to turn around and find they walked a step to the right and have filled their waders. I would not recommend you wade through there unless you've been out several times at dead low tide. I watched two anglers today walking around and one fell into one of these new holes. If it was colder it would have been a problem. I went out or an hour or so today and only saw a few largess and one sunfish. I walked the entire loop from Mt. Vernon to Rte 1 and back with not even a nibble. 

Most of these spots don't hold fish at any tide. and have filled in with garbage. 

The area around the fallen tree was filled in while being carved out in other spots. Fish will old at the tree at low tide, we sight cast to a pair of catfish there for several weeks with no luck. 

The end of summer drought also prevented water from coming downstream. The top section from the bridge to the power line was mostly brown and stagnant all summer. No yellow perch or stripers which is normal. 

Any plant life that attempted to grow was wiped out. There hasn't been any plantlike along the fallen tree section in three years across from the outflow. Three years ago you could find several juvenile largemouth in the plants that would strike a fly drifted along the edge. 

The shorelines still remain covered in garbage. The Four Mile Run Conservancy does several stream clean ups but seems to neglect shore. If anyone wants to walk the shore an pick some up one day let me know. Wish we had a plastic deposit here. 

Additionally, the hole on the Alexandria side where the short canal is located was also filled in. There remains a deep scour part right in front of the metal gates but that's about it. 

One of the things I find so charming about 4MR is that it is always changing and you never know what may swim up there or what you may see. One of the cooler things Ive seen in years was this northern brown water snake (Where is Turbine Blade when I mention snakes) taking an American eel out of the water. The eel held on as long as it could and eventually lost its battle. 

Bruce, I hope this helps you in your next outing out there. 






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Andrew Sarcinello

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Dec 16, 2019, 11:25:03 AM12/16/19
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At work, I've studied a few recent flash flooding events in 4MR watershed that occurred in past two years and the rainfall in all cases was just insanely intense. One had over 2" in 20 minutes. Another had 5-6" in an hour. TBD if this is a trend that is here to stay but it does seem that super intense rainfall is more frequent now. 

The watershed has been fully developed for decades now and the storm drainage systems were adequate then, but they didn't anticipate 50 years ago how the rainfall patterns would change. Without a massive infrastructure overhaul, expect more of the same (blowout floods and shifting channels), unless the weather settles back down in coming years (which is certainly possible, but not likely based on recent events).
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Gregg Rockett

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Dec 16, 2019, 6:59:08 PM12/16/19
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On Thursday, December 12, 2019 at 9:23:31 PM UTC-5, Jamie Carracher wrote:
That’s interesting because wouldn’t the deluge of rain in 2018 be more of an issue than this summer where we had that drought? I was down there a month ago or so and didn’t have any luck but I also timed it poorly and there was barely any water. I have seen on Instagram people catching decent fish there still, mostly spin anglers. I don’t go there as much but I used to have more success in numbers before they ripped out all the bushes on the Arlington side in front of the water plant. In terms of super local water, Rock Creek has been most productive for me of late.

Gang - volunteer opportunity for 4 mile run clean up shown in link below.  Hope to see you there!



Jamie Carracher

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Dec 16, 2019, 9:38:01 PM12/16/19
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I flooded my waders at 4MR early this year by falling into a hidden hole. The emotional swing from freaked out to grossed out to pissed off were a valuable lesson. I’ll bring a wading staff next time just to make sure I don’t walk into that again. Not fun.

Rob Snowhite

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Dec 17, 2019, 11:03:03 AM12/17/19
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The August storm of this year locally dropped up to 6" of rain within an hour. The only 2018 storms that would have had similar effects 4MR with that much flow would have been the second Saturday in July with over 4" locally (the water nearly took out the historic Occoquan foot bridge) and the micro burst that flooded Alexandria a week before https://dcist.com/story/19/07/08/todays-rainfall-broke-a-148-year-record/

I do miss the deep holes on the Arlington shore that were filled in after the shoreline was cleared of trees.

On Thursday, December 12, 2019 at 9:23:31 PM UTC-5, Jamie Carracher wrote:

Daniel Lazenby

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Dec 17, 2019, 11:38:11 AM12/17/19
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Rob,
Why can't that on the bank trash pickup be promoted and done as a TPFR activity? 

Daniel


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Rob Snowhite

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Dec 17, 2019, 11:43:24 AM12/17/19
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Daniel,

We have discussed river cleanups in the past as a club but nothing has been organized. A decade ago you would see Arlington jail folk out there in orange jumpsuits picking up litter.

Daniel Lazenby

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Dec 17, 2019, 11:46:43 AM12/17/19
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I don't think I'd advocate orange jumpsuits. :)

Daniel


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Rob Snowhite

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Jan 31, 2020, 4:10:56 PM1/31/20
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Stopped by 4MR today on the incoming tide. Wanted to see what damage if any was caused by last week's flood. Water was extremely clear from Mt. Vernon down toward Eads st. Maybe saw a dozen bass and redbreast sunfish. I lost one very large largie at the outflow. Thought the subtle tug was just the force of the water in the outflow. The fish never showed itself again.  

I walked around to fish the other side by the soccer field by the short canal. There were only two fish along the grates. Another very large bass showed up but showed no interest in either flies I was using. 

Looks like some of the sand moved out of the outflow last weekend. Shoreline plants were all broken and facing downstream. Not a lot of litter on shore or in water. 

I stopped off at Holmes Run to collect some invertebrates for my aquarium. No sign of fish. Water was half a foot higher than two weeks ago. Some sort of heavy machinery was brought in to clear the first crossing from debris from last week's flood. I passed one spin angler that had no luck. I managed to collect a few water pennies, scuds, cress bugs, aquatic worms, and two damsel nymphs. 





On Wednesday, December 11, 2019 at 5:27:47 PM UTC-5, Bruce wrote:
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