For the first time in years NPS did not drain the C&O Canal between Georgetown and Lock 5 over the winter. As expected this has given the resident fish population the the canal to chance to settle in, grow and multiply. The result has been one of the most productive summers of canal fishing in recent memory. For the last month the largemouth bite has been so good in the evening that it has kept me from chasing smallmouth in the river. Still not as many big fish as I would like but the numbers have been up. However, just as you start to think nothing exceeds the 1lb mark you get surprised by the occasional 4lb largemouth. Over the last couple weeks the carp have, for whatever reason, become extremely active feeding along the shoreline. One can target these fish with a variety of flies as long as it is presented well. Although a mulberries stopped dropping weeks ago I was able to get a mulberry fly in the feeding zone of the carp pictured, resulting in my biggest of the year.
August 20, 2015
