| – We’ve scheduled a stream clean-up on April 12, 2025 at our home stream, the Catoctin Creek Park & Nature Center. The clean-up will occur between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Those that are interested can also stay for some fishing after the clean-up. Please sign-up under Outings on our website. – We are working with Stream Link (Stream Link Education) to identify a fall tree maintenance and planting events. Their schedule will be developed soon so stay tuned. – The Trout in Classroom program continues to progress. The students will be releasing the fry they have raised this spring between March and June with many of the schools scheduling a release in May. Many schools plan activities during the release event including educational stations that may include a macroinvertebrate analysis. Please contact me (lcsmoss63@yahoo.com) if you would like to attend one of the release events and help our youth learn more about water quality, trout, and fly fishing. – One of my passions has been river fishing for smallmouth bass both on the fly and with spinning tackle. Like trout, they are amazing fighters and leapers. I have been fortunate enough to fish several local and regional smallmouth rivers including the New, James, Shenandoah and Susquehanna Rivers. After moving here in late 2019, the last two years I have enjoyed learning to fish the Potomac and Monocacy Rivers from a kayak, wading and occasionally with a guide to learn from their years of experience. Many of you are probably aware that previous DNR studies focused on the health of the smallmouth bass fishery in the Upper Potomac River. Year class strength of Potomac River smallmouth bass has been monitored annually by DNR since 1975 using summer seining and electrofishing. These studies showed that after 2007, declines in the proportion of smallmouth bass between 7 and 11 inches were observed in the middle and lower river sections of the Potomac River indicating declining recruitment and lower survival of age 0 and age 1 bass (see the chart above). These trends observed over several consecutive years reduces the adult fish stocks and reduces the number of large bass available for anglers with an overall decline in the angling experience. Some of these observations have been attributed to climate change related trends of higher intensity spring rain events that impact the spawning period. Heavy spring flows scour eggs and recently hatched larvae from nesting areas making their survival odds poor. Virginia DWR cited similar reasons for a decline in the smallmouth bass fishery in the New River. To try and enhance the fishery, DNR embarked on a five-year juvenile smallmouth bass stocking program in 2019 over several segments of the Upper Potomac River. I reached out to Michael Kashiwagi, Freshwater Fisheries Western II Regional Manager at DNR to inquire about the status of the program. Michael indicated the “upper Potomac smallmouth bass population has bounced back from the lower numbers we saw in 2019 and 2020. A combination of successful natural reproduction and stocking helped improve numbers.” The trend plot below illustrates electrofishing catch rates (fish/hour) for smallmouth bass >14 inches from 1990-2024. |
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| All this is great news and with the improvement in adult population numbers the decision was made to stop supplemental juvenile smallmouth bass stocking in 2024. No stocking is planned for 2025. – Writing about fly fishing and Potomac River smallies naturally leads us to think about Frederick’s native son, Bernard “Lefty” Kreh. Everyone is excited about the world premier of the documentary; LEFTY: The Greatest of All Time on March 27th at 7:30 pm at the Weinberg Center. PVFF will be well represented with Lefty’s friends and fellow anglers. While thinking about this topic, I came across and old interview with Lefty by Dave Karczynski in 2017. Enjoy the timeless wisdom and get back on the water as spring is near. – Always feel free to reach out to me (lcsmoss63@yahoo.com) with your thoughts, ideas, and conservation oriented activities you would like us to champion. |
— Pete D’Adamo