Well Dan, Fred and I float the Doah Saturday July 10.  The day started out wet, but it was a good and needed rain.  The rain had stopped just before 8:00am after relaying the cars.  The main stem has been discolored for what seems over a month now and I wonder if the resent rain contributed to the olive green color of the water.  There was maybe 8 or 10 inches of visibility in the water.  It was over cast till about noon or so and the sun came out.  The temps were very pleasant all day longer.  On the down side the fishing was SLOOOOOOW all day long and Dan broke his rod.  I think a total between all 3 of us about a dozen bass and one catfish were caught.  On the up side one of those bass was the biggest Smallies I have landed in a long time coming in at a whopping 20.5 inches long.  It was the first fish of the day for me.  After landing it I motored up to see Fred hoping he had a camera because I left mine at home.  Fred didn’t have one so I released it and as I was holding it from the mouth in the water waiting for it swim free it bit my thumb and ripped my knuckle up.  Then I felt bad because I realized I had phone and could have taken a picture.  So all I have is a my shredded knuckle to remember that fish with.  Boo Hoo!!! 
Charlie

I floated the South Fork around Alma with Jim last Wednesday.  Could not have asked for a better day.  The humidity had broken and was very nice.  The temps were still in the 80's.  The bass fishing was not so hot. We only caught maybe 10 or 12 bass each. 

The best part was about 1 mile into our float there was a rapid with a deep channel in it.  Jim stopped to fish it and hooked up on what we both thought was a carp.  So I being a carp loving fishing that I am joined him and we were into these fish for the next 3 1/2 hours.  We only stopped so we could eat lunch.  These fish were all from about 17 inches to 24 inches long.  They looked just like carp and played like carp.  We were never into our backing but they made a few nice runs up and down river.  After catching a few we started to dout that they were carp because they didn't have as big of sholders and sucker like mouths.  We both caught about 5 or 6 fish each and lost another 5 or 6.  After getting home and doing some research we found that they were either White Suckers or Shorthead Redhorse suckers. 

Either way they were fun and loved to take the fly.  We fished for these guys with small 8 and 10 wooly buggers, rigged up just like you would for Steelhead.  I had a strick indictor on along with 6 canon ball splitshots, because the water was maybe 7 or 8 foot deep and fast.

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I had the day off and fished Friday on the doah.  It was hot but the humidity was low so it was very tolerable.   I was in my canoe and fishing along that day so I had used my trolling motor to motor up stream about a mile and floated back down anchoring off in a few places to fish an area harder.  I had found an area there some carp were making muds, but didn’t connect with then.  The water was cloudy with about 2 ½ to 3 foot visibility, and still cloudy.  So it was hard to see the fish and know exactly where to position the fly.  I ended up catching a few 9 or 10 inch smallies on those cast instead.  I then floated down some more and started to pick up a lot more smallies, but nothing over 10 inches and one catfish.  I saw a nice shaded bank with a sunken tree and on the down river side I could see a few carp in there when they turned sideways and flashed gold.  I made a  cast and hooked up with one.  I play him for a few mins as he dragged me up and down the river in my canoe.  When I got him to the boat I noticed it was not your average carp.  It was a Mirror Carp and a very rear catch, this was a first for me.  A Mirror Carp has very large scales and they are scattered sporadically along the body with leathery skin filling in between the spots without scales.  By far one ugly fish that was 25 inches long and round like a soccer ball.  This fish made a common carp look like as pretty as a brook trout.   

Check out the picture here.

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Friends,

We'll be meeting in the Gander Mountain Lodge at 1800 hours (6:00 pm) on Thursday the 8th of July. Note the change in meeting date for both this tying session and our regular T.U. meeting.
 
Those of you who attended our Red Bud Run Benthic Macro-Invertebrate sampling session on the 16th of June now know the importance of having a good scud/sow bug imitator in your fly boxes when fishing spring creeks. So this month we will be tying a scud pattern.
 
We'll be meeting in the Gander Mountain Lodge at 1800 hours (6:00 pm) on Thursday the 8th of July. Note the change in meeting date for both this tying session and our regular T.U. meeting. Bring your tying equipment and tie along, or just come and watch if you want to see if you'd be interested in tying. We have some extra vices that I obtained from L.L. Bean way back when I was Chapter President so if you're interested I'll ask Mark to bring them to the next meeting.
 
Here's what you'll need to tie a scud:

Hook: TMC 2457 sizes 10 to 20 (FC Item TA214)
Thread: Gray or olive 6/0 (FC Item TH002)
Tail: Hungarian partridge body feathers (FC Item TP028 or TP026)
Antennae: Hungarian partridge body feathers (FC Item TP028 or TP026)
Back: 1/8” Scud-Back (FC Item TJ011)
Rib: Clear 4 lb. monofilament
Abdomen: Gray scud dubbing (FC Item TH009)

Tom,  so sorry about your elbow.  That is a real sad ending to a good day fishing if you can't lift a Beer can.  There is a Doctor that invented a special hat that guys with your condition.  The hat can hold two beers, one on each side and has strews that come down the side so you can drink them both at the same time.  We should pull are money together and get you one.

I fished for bass Saturday for the first time since I broke my leg.  I wanted to go to the Cacapon with the other guys but I wasn’t sure how I’d hold up.  I got up fairly early and went to Ellerby’s landing.  The water was murky and pretty high.  There’s a lot of big water there and I thought for once in my life I’d use a little discretion.  I then drove to a place on Goose Creek that I’ve fished for five or six years.  The water there was a little high but clear and looked good.  All stretches of water change some each year with floods, storms, etc. and so does the fishing.  This place had changed a lot, however, and for the better.  There were a lot of fallen trees and wood debris in places that had been bare before.  I entered the creek and as is often my practice I waded about a quarter mile upstream fishing the whole time with poppers.  I used a blue Shenandoah popper about a third of the way and had very little luck, catching only a couple of sunfisn.  I switched to a green frog popper with yellow and black feathers and continued on.  I immediately started picking up sunfish.  Most were nice sized and feisty and then I drifted the popper along a deeper channel partially filled with a large tree.  There was an explosion and after a few minutes I had a 11 ½ or 12 inch smallie that put up a fight belying his size. 

A group of six canoes filled with inexperienced canoers began lumbering over me about that time banging the boats with their paddles. Laughing, darting into the banks and otherwise disrupting things.  They didn’t even say sorry.  Thankfully they took out about 75 yards downstream.  I turned downstream and started fishing below their takeout.  I continued downstream for over about ½ mile.  I was picking up sunfish big and small all along the way.  Before quitting I must have caught 25+ sunfish, a fall fish, and two more smallies, 7 and 10 inches.  That was the best I’ve ever done there.  Last year I caught a very large smallie but I don’t think I caught but one more all year and he was small

I don’t know whether the new structure did it or there are just more smallies.  One of the most promising aspects is that I caught smallies from at least three different classes.  Also, the sunfish were generally larger even though I caught my share of dinks.

I fished for four hours and found my strength and endurance wanting.  I was completely washed out even though the fishing was relatively easy.  My legs just haven’t regained their strength.  I also have developed something that feels like a torn rotator cuff though it is on the inside of my elbow where the tendon from the lower arm meets the lower biceps.  My arm was so sore I couldn’t even lift a beer can last night.  I may have to switch to left handed casting.  My right handed casting is so bad, however, that it can’t get much worse.  The soreness doesn’t bother me but the inability to lift a beer can is totally unacceptable.  I’ll have to do something about that.

We will our monthly chapter meeting in the lodge at Gander Mtn. Store in Winchester.  The meeting starts at 7:00pm and there will be a Fly Tying Lesson by Carl Rettenberger before the meeting starting at 6:00pm.

Fly Tying Lesson:

Friends,
 
I plan on continuing our fly tying lessons at our May T.U. meeting. The subject this month will be a Bead Head Pheasant Tail Nymph. Bring you vice and other stuff and tie along with me. I'll tie the first one and then I will be more then happy to help you tie yours. We'll be meeting at the Gander Mountain lodge at 6:00 pm (1800 hrs.), so join us if you can. Here's the material that you will need:
 
Bead Head Pheasant Tail:

Hook: TMC 3761 sizes 12 to 18
Bead:  Bright gold plated brass
Thread: Brown, 8/0 or 6/0
Tail: Dyed brown pheasant tail fibers
Rib: Fine gold wire
Abdomen: Same as tail
Thorax: Peacock herl
Beard: Hungarian partridge body feathers

I had fished on Wednesday with Jim and Gregg out of Breezy Point MD.  We trolled from 7am to 1pm and caught nothing  .   Then we ran to the power plant and fished for the remainder of the day with spinning rods.  I wish I had my 9wt with me because that water would have been perfect to fish with a 350 or 400 grain shooting head.  I managed to catch one fish on a spinning rod.  It was a whopping 40 inch female.  Believe it or not that was the only fish put in the boat that day.  It was ruff fishing but still a good day on the water if you don't mind a little cold wind, temps in the 40's and rain.   

We will have our first TIC Trout Release on Saturday, May 8th, 10 AM for Admiral Byrd and Frederick County MS, Millbrook and James Wood HS.  There will be more details to come.  Please stay tuned to this forum and the Chapter Newsletter for details.

We will have our first TIC Trout Release on Saturday, May 8th, 10 AM for Admiral Byrd and Frederick County MS, Millbrook and James Wood HS.  There will be more details to come.  Please stay tuned to this forum and the Chapter Newsletter for details.