By Larry Forte
I am not sure how long ago it was. It could have been 5 years ago. It could have been 6 years ago, but I do remember the meeting and it was at one of our monthly PVFF Board meetings. Jon Thames suggested that we adopt Catoctin Creek, by the Park & Nature Center, as our “Home Waters”. Honestly, I didn’t know exactly what that meant at first, but as he explained it and we talked about, it sounded like a great idea. The idea was that we as a Club would take ownership of the stream; we would promote it as a great place to fish to our Club members and help to keep the stream and the surrounding area clean and pristine.
Fast forward, 5 or 6 years, and wow… what a great idea that was to adopt Catoctin Creek as our “Home Waters”. We have in our backyard an amazing fishery. From October until early June, it’s loaded with beautiful trout, many of which are ones from our Trout pen. During the heat of the Summer, the stream is loaded with plenty of Sunnies and Bass that are fun to catch. Plus, it’s a beautiful environment and a great escape.
For those of you that were at our May meeting, Mike Barancewicz talked about his recent trip to Poland. His final closing statement was that we are very fortunate to live in this area because of the great fishing we have nearby – specifically Catoctin Creek. I could not agree more! I have enjoyed fishing it over the past 5-6 years even when I don’t catch anything, which was the case this past Sunday (I blame it on the muddy water!). Had Jon not had a great idea, I am not sure I would have discovered and enjoyed this stream as much as I have. Next time you see Jon, you may want to thank him for his idea!
Trout from Town Creek in Allegany County, Maryland.
Final thought: Take someone fishing. Help that person catch their first fish on a fly rod. It is a lot of fun and it is exciting to be part of that process. Over the past month, I got to experience that thrill several times. First with some of our PHWFF folks at their first outing to the USGS Leetown Science Center Ponds. To see their reaction to catching their first fish, after months of planning for it, was priceless. A couple of weeks ago I went fishing with an old friend. His first fish with a fly rod was a beautiful 16” rainbow trout. Just a few days ago I had the pleasure of fishing with a couple of new Club members. For one of the members, it was her first time fly-fishing. By the end of the day, she caught several beautiful 10” – 12” trout.
It will put a big smile on their face…. and a big smile on your face! Go fishing!
Larry Forte
Club President
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