Apologies for the threadomancy, but I wanted to respond to OP on access CF Phelps WMA. You are correct the "main" area of the WMA you went to is useless for wading; I tried it 25 years ago.
A better spot than Kelly's Ford is the Hogue Tract of the WMA. It's on the East bank of the river, upstream a bit from Kelly's. Remembering which trailhead efficiently gets you down to the river is a struggle for me, but I've gone down there with friends and caught smallmouth and redbreast sunfish. It used to be very productive for creek chubs in the spring.
HELPFULLY, the local Northern Virginia TU chapter is running a smallmouth wade down there this weekend. I won't be able to join, but Owen and Brook who frequent this board will be leading and can help with details.
On Monday, June 17, 2024 at 9:56:46 PM UTC-4 Andrew D wrote:
Ah fair enough, sorry! Was totally intended to be a dig at Fairfax county for bleeding the populace dry with exorbitant rental rates rather than a dig at a perfectly capable kayak. Considering I don't have a boat of any sort, they're all yachts to me!
On C.F. Phelps - I just found it kind of frustrating - it's on literally miles of public water, but there is no access to it except two spots: 1) up at the Kelly's Ford boat ramp, and 2) down at the furthest downstream tip of the WMA where there's another boat ramp. Even that furthest south boat ramp, they close the gate to the road that accesses it, so it's a 1.5 mile walk one way just to get to the river (couldn't imagine doing that with a kayak of any sort). I walked for miles around the upstream part (near the barn) trying to find anything that could access the river, was bushwhacking through small game trails that became a wilderness of thorns and thickets, and was still a fair clip away from the actual water. I really did try to get down there. Who knows, maybe was completely in the wrong place.
To me it's just a completely missed opportunity. The CF Phelps WMA is totally viable for multiple types of outdoor recreation, but it really only caters to hunters and it shows. Wish it was possible or legal (is it?) to blaze a trail meant specifically for anglers down there, giving more opportunities closer in to the larger population areas. It'd still be a pretty decent walk, so it'd deter a lot of the people just looking to poach.
Anywho, that's me off my soapbox. Hope y'all have better luck than I did this weekend :)
On Monday, June 17, 2024 at 8:06:09 PM UTC-4 Trent Jones wrote:
Andrew,
Can you provide some clarity on "poor access" at C.F. Phelps WMA? You say it looked like the trail dipped down to the river. Was there an impediment to you accessing the water like a fence? What made the access to the water poor? Was the wooded area to dense to reach the Rapp?
Also, can we watch the language on the forum please? One persons shhhhhh canoe is another persons yatch.
-Trent
On Saturday, June 15, 2024 at 4:24:15 PM UTC-4 Andrew D wrote:
Starting to get annoyed with this state (VA) and the poor access we have to what should be public water. I spent like 3 hours walking around the C.F. Phelps WMA this morning/afternoon looking for any point of access to the Rappahannock River only to find that despite the trail map looking like it dipped down to the river, it does not.
For anything walk/wade, I pretty much always have to drive out to Shenandoah NP for brookies or the Shenandoah NF/SF for smallmouth. Closer in, it's really tough and almost not worth it for a wading angler with the limited public access. I don't have room to store/transport a kayak, so I'm pretty well locked into walk/wade.
I've gone to a ton of places, esp for smallmouth. Anything closer in to NOVA than a 1.5h drive is either zero public access or environmentally dead. Am I just missing something? Or should I just be ok with driving 3-4h round trip just to get my weekly fix?
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