Ah, some warm weather and no rain to cause flood conditions. This describes the perfect spring fishing weather for me. Not that I fish as much as I’d like (especially on the weekend), but when I do it’s great. Of course, then the wind picks up and my fly goes everywhere!
In between lawn mowing, which seems like every other day, I’ve been able to enjoy spring fishing. At my home waters, I have actually caught a couple of the goldens. As you expert fishers know, the golden trout are much tougher than rainbows to catch, for whatever reason. I like having the goldens there, as a target, knowing that for every one I see, there is usually a rainbow which will actually go for the fly I cast.
Last weekend, I went on the PVFF Outing to Smith Creek, in Virginia, a little north of Harrisonburg, with club member Mike Holland. I caught a big rainbow, almost 20 inches, which was exciting. More fun was catching a small sunfish and, while pulling it in, a monstrous brown trout was following it in. Eventually the sunfish got off thanks to the barbless hook, but I immediately tied on a Kreelex Fly (see June Advanced Fly Tying), although it didn’t achieve the same results. As the day progressed, the weather warmed up, and we were able to take a layer or two off and bask and fish in the nice day. Great outing. It’s a very peaceful location Aside from the fishing, the only excitement around is the neighbors, who live on the other side of the creek, who have to drive through the water to get to their farm.
In April, I went with Dan Neuland down to the Potomac fishing for shad. We met in Urbana around 4:45 a.m. to miss the one-way lanes on the Clara Barton. For extremely detailed driving, parking, and fishing advice, Dan’s presentation is posted on our website. We had a lot of fun and in the time that I was not untangling my line or getting the watercraft back upstream, I actually caught a bunch of fish. They put up a nice fight. Follow Dan’s instructions to the letter and you can’t go wrong, he has shad fishing down! Also, I found out that Orvis has a decent warranty on their rods.
For now, in between the lawn and fishing, the club has some upcoming events I’m looking forward to. Next Tuesday, May 4, Rick Loose is leading a special fly-tying session on the Clouser Deep Minnow. Send me an email (andymekelburg@outlook.com) if you want to participate. Following that is our general meeting, at which Bob Clouser will appear. Looking forward to hearing from a legend.
Lastly, I’m looking to enlist volunteers in helping us move the Lefty Kreh recognition site (I don’t know what else to call it yet) to actualization. We have received a vigorous head nod and help from Frederick county staff in placing something in public recognizing Lefty. We just need to decide what we want, how we’re going to pay for it, and where it should be located. We need your help in formulating, then implementing, what we feel is appropriate. Please let me know if you want to join in this effort.
Enjoy the spring fishing, I look forward to hearing everyone’s stories. Let us know if you have any ideas for an outing.
By Andy Meckleberg
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