| NCC-TU Presents The 2020 Shad Report No. 4 Finding Purpose April 10 , 2020 Vehicle access to Fletcher’s Cove is closed and will remain so until at least the end of April. It had to be done. The scene there on the last weekend of March was disheartening, even shocking. Far too many people showed up, social distancing guidelines were ignored and few visitors understood that the restrooms were closed, prompting some to search for relief behind park buildings. The Park Service’s decision has apparently angered some park users. I found the “Road Closed” sign and barricade tossed over the Canal Road wall on Wednesday afternoon. There were twenty-seven cars in the upper lot and one pickup truck in the lower. The Park Police restored the barricade overnight and on Thursday morning drivers encountered a meaner setup complete with cones and police tape. To be clear, this is a vehicle restriction. According to the NPS website for the C&O Canal NHP , pedestrian access to the area is not closed. The shoreline remains accessible for fishing, but the loss of easy kayak access to the shad run will devastate the area’s growing contingent of paddling anglers. All local jurisdictions have issued orders to discourage nonessential travel around the region for the next several weeks, but only Maryland has specifically closed recreational fishing. Dalton Terrell has provided a good summary of the impact on local angling for followers of the TPFR forum . Upon careful review, fishing in the District is a permitted recreational activity under Mayor Bowser’s Stay at Home Order . The final Q&A item at the bottom of the Order states it clearly: “Yes, you can go fishing as a recreational activity. However, you should only be fishing by yourself or with other individuals in your household. Remember that while engaging in recreational activity, you should be practicing social distancing.” It should be noted that the Mayor’s order is directed at DC residents. Also, parking near Fletcher’s and walking in to the park is not practical for more than two hours due to neighborhood parking restrictions. During the pandemic, NCC-TU is not encouraging people to go fishing as we normally do, and we have advised anglers to follow all safety guidelines if they must seek some peace on the water. Trout Unlimited recently posted a piece from Kirk Deeter on fishing during the outbreak , and many anglers will find his insight helpful. The Shad Report will muddle through this altered universe, following the run as best we can without the usual access and sources of information. As always, it’s not only about the fishing. On Wednesday evening, it happened that four of our regular readers were lined up, with plenty of space between, along the Gordon’s Rock shoreline when I walked down to keep up with the shad run. Lois Boland was just leaving to get through the woods before dark but spoke of good hickory shad catches there and down at Walker’s Point earlier in the day when the tide was receding. Jeff Kovar urged me to get the next report out as he reeled in another hickory shad. Chris Schaupp, a member of the Potomac River Smallmouth Club , and his daughter stopped (at safe distance) to say hello on their way out. Meanwhile, John Stewart was a bundle of energy the whole time, chatting about how he is a klutz with spinning gear, almost always fly fishes, and was running dangerously low on shad darts, what with the Boathouse being closed. Repeatedly wading out to free his darts when they hung on the bottom served him well, because one of those precious jigs soon produced the pretty American shad pictured above. The others said that they have also caught Americans from shore this week. So did Dan Ward, my shad fishing buddy from fifty years ago. Ward has taken some teasing over the years for not fishing like he did way back in the early 1970’s, when we were a dynamic duo, the teenage shad nerds of the Potomac. In subsequent years he was also obsessed with big white perch and hard-hitting rockfish down at Ward’s Gutter. After college, he opted to chase wine and woman (wife Laurie) rather than fish. Then there were three children to raise. Still, his job serving the multitudes of avid fishing and boating customers at Fletcher’s Boathouse during a lifetime career has kept Ward plenty close to the rhythms of the Potomac. His fishing reports from Fletcher’s were must-reads for many years and are still a delight to explore online. (Select FISHING REPORTS tab.) Saddened by losing touch with appreciative anglers this spring and missing a sense of purpose, Ward set out from his house in Arlington on Tuesday, rod in hand, to try his luck once again for shad. The outing would surely do him some good. He walked the familiar route across Chain Bridge to the canal towpath--his normal commute back when his family only had one car. After exploring the shoreline and losing the first two shad, he set up at Gordon’s Rock when it became free, casting his heirloom chartreuse shad dart on a tandem rig tied to the end of fifteen-year-old monofilament. The first two fish escaped the hook, and Ward downplays the American shad he landed (above) as a “lightening strike.” I’d say he found what he was looking for. If you also live close by but don’t feel up to fishing, consider some bird watching along the river early in the day when few people are around. The ravenous cormorants are more plentiful than ever and flocks of Bonaparte’s gulls fascinate with their precise acrobatics. The best show is provided by the many ospreys patrolling the surface, looking for a telltale flash from herring and shad. Their dive bombing never gets old and the sound of impact is jolting absent the normal jet traffic down the river. Our Chapter Secretary Lynn Sholtz lives near Chain Bridge in Palisades and recently observed an osprey behind her house munching on a gizzard shad (above). A resident bald eagle is frequently seen harassing ospreys over the river, apparently driving the skilled hunters to consume their meals, like most of us these days, in the quiet of the neighborhood. Nature never disappoints but we can also count on misguided humans to keep things interesting at Fletcher’s Cove. I looked out my window on Tuesday evening and saw billowing smoke coming from the river bottom near the Boathouse. As I rushed down the old streetcar right-of-way to get a better look it became clear that this was a brush fire near the dock and the fire department had already arrived. I had to get down there. But for the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, it would have been time for me to close up the shop for the day, assuming I wasn't too busy chatting with anglers coming off the water. Unlocking the chain to the dock and setting up a rowboat at the request of firefighters made me feel useful again. The driftwood pile fire, set by someone for reasons unknown, was easily controlled. A favorable high tide made it possible for the responding fireboat crew to pump plenty of water and reach the blaze with hoses. The shore based team wasn’t needed and packed up to leave after thanking me for my help. I locked everything up by 7:25, about the same time I always walk up the hill in April. Mark Binsted VP, NCC-TU Join Us! Visit our website |
Vehicle access to Fletcher’s Cove is closed and will remain so until at least the end of April. It had to be done. The scene there on the last weekend of March was disheartening, even shocking. Far too many people showed up, social distancing guidelines were ignored and few visitors understood that the restrooms were closed, prompting some to search for relief behind park buildings. The Park Service’s decision has apparently angered some park users. I found the “Road Closed” sign and barricade tossed over the Canal Road wall on Wednesday afternoon. There were twenty-seven cars in the upper lot and one pickup truck in the lower. The Park Police restored the barricade overnight and on Thursday morning drivers encountered a meaner setup complete with cones and police tape. | |
To be clear, this is a vehicle restriction. According to the NPS website for the C&O Canal NHP, pedestrian access to the area is not closed. The shoreline remains accessible for fishing, but the loss of easy kayak access to the shad run will devastate the area’s growing contingent of paddling anglers. | |
All local jurisdictions have issued orders to discourage nonessential travel around the region for the next several weeks, but only Maryland has specifically closed recreational fishing. Dalton Terrell has provided a good summary of the impact on local angling for followers of the TPFR forum. Upon careful review, fishing in the District is a permitted recreational activity under Mayor Bowser’s Stay at Home Order. The final Q&A item at the bottom of the Order states it clearly: “Yes, you can go fishing as a recreational activity. However, you should only be fishing by yourself or with other individuals in your household. Remember that while engaging in recreational activity, you should be practicing social distancing.” It should be noted that the Mayor’s order is directed at DC residents. Also, parking near Fletcher’s and walking in to the park is not practical for more than two hours due to neighborhood parking restrictions. | |
During the pandemic, NCC-TU is not encouraging people to go fishing as we normally do, and we have advised anglers to follow all safety guidelines if they must seek some peace on the water. Trout Unlimited recently posted a piece from Kirk Deeter on fishing during the outbreak, and many anglers will find his insight helpful. The Shad Report will muddle through this altered universe, following the run as best we can without the usual access and sources of information. As always, it’s not only about the fishing. | |
On Wednesday evening, it happened that four of our regular readers were lined up, with plenty of space between, along the Gordon’s Rock shoreline when I walked down to keep up with the shad run. Lois Boland was just leaving to get through the woods before dark but spoke of good hickory shad catches there and down at Walker’s Point earlier in the day when the tide was receding. Jeff Kovar urged me to get the next report out as he reeled in another hickory shad. Chris Schaupp, a member of the Potomac River Smallmouth Club, and his daughter stopped (at safe distance) to say hello on their way out. Meanwhile, John Stewart was a bundle of energy the whole time, chatting about how he is a klutz with spinning gear, almost always fly fishes, and was running dangerously low on shad darts, what with the Boathouse being closed. Repeatedly wading out to free his darts when they hung on the bottom served him well, because one of those precious jigs soon produced the pretty American shad pictured above. The others said that they have also caught Americans from shore this week. | |
So did Dan Ward, my shad fishing buddy from fifty years ago. Ward has taken some teasing over the years for not fishing like he did way back in the early 1970’s, when we were a dynamic duo, the teenage shad nerds of the Potomac. In subsequent years he was also obsessed with big white perch and hard-hitting rockfish down at Ward’s Gutter. After college, he opted to chase wine and woman (wife Laurie) rather than fish. Then there were three children to raise. Still, his job serving the multitudes of avid fishing and boating customers at Fletcher’s Boathouse during a lifetime career has kept Ward plenty close to the rhythms of the Potomac. His fishing reports from Fletcher’s were must-reads for many years and are still a delight to explore online. (Select FISHING REPORTS tab.) | |
Saddened by losing touch with appreciative anglers this spring and missing a sense of purpose, Ward set out from his house in Arlington on Tuesday, rod in hand, to try his luck once again for shad. The outing would surely do him some good. He walked the familiar route across Chain Bridge to the canal towpath--his normal commute back when his family only had one car. After exploring the shoreline and losing the first two shad, he set up at Gordon’s Rock when it became free, casting his heirloom chartreuse shad dart on a tandem rig tied to the end of fifteen-year-old monofilament. The first two fish escaped the hook, and Ward downplays the American shad he landed (above) as a “lightening strike.” I’d say he found what he was looking for. | |
If you also live close by but don’t feel up to fishing, consider some bird watching along the river early in the day when few people are around. The ravenous cormorants are more plentiful than ever and flocks of Bonaparte’s gulls fascinate with their precise acrobatics. The best show is provided by the many ospreys patrolling the surface, looking for a telltale flash from herring and shad. Their dive bombing never gets old and the sound of impact is jolting absent the normal jet traffic down the river. Our Chapter Secretary Lynn Sholtz lives near Chain Bridge in Palisades and recently observed an osprey behind her house munching on a gizzard shad (above). A resident bald eagle is frequently seen harassing ospreys over the river, apparently driving the skilled hunters to consume their meals, like most of us these days, in the quiet of the neighborhood. | |
Nature never disappoints but we can also count on misguided humans to keep things interesting at Fletcher’s Cove. I looked out my window on Tuesday evening and saw billowing smoke coming from the river bottom near the Boathouse. As I rushed down the old streetcar right-of-way to get a better look it became clear that this was a brush fire near the dock and the fire department had already arrived. I had to get down there. But for the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, it would have been time for me to close up the shop for the day, assuming I wasn't too busy chatting with anglers coming off the water. Unlocking the chain to the dock and setting up a rowboat at the request of firefighters made me feel useful again. The driftwood pile fire, set by someone for reasons unknown, was easily controlled. A favorable high tide made it possible for the responding fireboat crew to pump plenty of water and reach the blaze with hoses. The shore based team wasn’t needed and packed up to leave after thanking me for my help. I locked everything up by 7:25, about the same time I always walk up the hill in April. | |
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