Close by trout trip

Quick Trout trip close to home

May 16 ,2015

 

A friend was in town visiting one of his many brothers over the weekend.  He hit me up with a few questions about what and where to go fishing.  I said Chain Bridge schoolie stripers, top water, jigs, crank baits, maybe fly rod…. He wanted trout.  He was thinking of heading to western MD to the Casselmen where 100 fish days are a possibility this time of year but I said I didn’t have that kind of time.  I had a soccer game at 1030 for my son and then a football practice followed by a game where Ryan’s the QB.  So a typical busy Saturday.  We settled on the Patuxent River special regulation area, lures and flies only, year round catch and release. This area was stocked back in early April with 2500 brown trout that were well spread out via float stocking.  I looked back at one email from the Potomac Patuxent Chapter of Trout unlimited and picked the most remote area that got the most trout, downstream from Hipsley Mill Road.  I picked the most remote mostly because now we are well into the season.  Poachers and law abiding fishermen have been out hard for a month or two and the trout will be well educated.  The trick is to find fish that have not been fished over too much or not all caught.  Not just by fishermen either, there are some river otters around these parts too and they will clean out a stream in short order.  Great Blue Herons take a toll as well.  So does natural causes, temperature starts to play a huge roll this time of year too.  Heck even other trout, like that two foot long swimming log of a trout that as held over a year or two might eat a few fresh stockers.  I’ve seen a whole family of river otters once on Morgan Run before, another good peadmont year round catch and release trout water.  Thought about going there but didn’t. 

 

SO we set out on a tributary nearby that connects with the Patuxent close to a mile from the road.  This tributary is also stocked and is about half the size.  Walking the trails this time of year is difficult to say the least, the best way is to go straight down the middle of the stream hitting the pools on the way down.  This one trib scores excellent on the habitat scale with numerous pools to riffle ratio. But when walking downstream you disturb the water.   So I like to fish fast and as soon as my mud line catches up to me, I just keep on trucking downstream.  Caleb met me with his brother whose birthday was recently.  Caleb was visiting from NC and wanted to take his brother fishing.  Caleb is a well-seasoned fly fisherman, every year he does a do it your self trip to Alaska where they go as far as to put an add on Craigslist to rent a car.  No, going to a rental company is just too easy.  These guys literally rent some families SUV and put about 1000 miles on it in a week, cross rivers and streams with it and camp creek side on some secluded trout honey holes.  They know what they are doing and are about as fit and keen as a fishermen can get.  Caleb is in his mid 30’s like me but his brother just turned 50.  And guess what, has never cast a fly rod before?!  Okay, this might take some doing but I’m up for the challenge.  Caleb wanted another rod so I brought a couple, a 9’ 5wt and a 7’ 3wt that Fred used.  It didn’t take long to find the trophy fallfish.  They were as aggressive as freshly stocked trout and about the same size too.  We finally stumbled upon a good pool that was just loaded with fish.  But much of the rest of the stream was void of fish.  I guess that’s how it goes.   Caleb hooked a few trout and let his brother real them in and it wasn’t long before Fred stayed out of the trees and banked a couple also.  These browns were looking up too and often hitting the surface.  Wooly buggers, nymphs and san juan worms all had action.  I even got a few fish myself.  Good times.  It’s not every day that you turn 50 and do something for the first time.  Fred even held on to my rod.  I’m not so sure he wants to give it back.  So, there’s plenty of fish if you are willing to put in the effort.  At 10am I had to hightail it out of there and bush wacked my way to the car in record time.  My legs were cut to pieces from thorns and grass as I was only wearing shorts but I made it to Rockville for my son’s soccer game by only ten minutes late.  Not bad for a short morning trip close to home. 

 

A couple of Depps, a fly rod and a trout.

Trophy Fall Fish

 

Here's Fred and I as I try to show him how to flick a bugger into a likely looking honey hole. Not the easiest place in the world to learn to fly fish but is probably the kind of place where most people started.  Tight quarters, lure eating trees all around but a few fish to make it worth while.

 

Carnage Riverside.  This is what is left over from a Great Blue Heron.  The carcass was up on the bank.  Not sure what killed it but I'm not too upset about it either.  I'm sure he's eaten a few trout in his day.