{Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: New in town

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. 

On Friday, October 26, 2018 at 8:44:21 AM UTC-4, robert mills wrote:

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

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

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!

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