Fly Fishing DC

Basics:

Where: Balls Bluff Regional Park on the Potomac River near Leesburg Virginia

When: April 25, 2009 (Saturday) late morning to early afternoon

Water Temperature:   56°F

Permits: Virginia state permit

Catch: Two largemouth bass, maybe 1.5 pounds each

Access: Good parking and access to the water, bad/muddy wading

Map:

Ratings:

Trip Report:

I tried a little fishing at Balls Bluff Regional park on a nice sunny Saturday, partly to get outside, partly to avoid shopping at the nearby Leesburg outlets.  This is definitely the first time I had to walk through a civil war battle to get to the river.  There was a reenactment going on this morning, and I made my way along the path to the river under heavy cannon fire, which was sort of interesting!

There was a nice parking lot, followed by a well marked path down to the water.  Watch out for snakes, as I saw several 3-4′ black snakes sunning themselves along the trail.  When I got down to the river, there were a few bait fishermen set up at the first couple of obvious spots, so I moved north along the trail.  A few hundred feet up the trail I found what is probably the best spot for fly casting near a downed tree, with plenty of room between me and the treeline.  Unfortunately the banks of the river drop off very steeply (and muddily), so even with my hip waders on I could only get out a couple feet from the shore.  This was before the recent two weeks of rain, so it is probably running even higher now.

One of the better fly casting spots that I found

Despite the somewhat difficult wading conditions I did manage to land a couple largemouth bass.  There was a family bait fishing next to me that also reeled in a good-sized carp.

The two bass I caught were about 8-10"

Bottom Line:

Although the fishing and the access here are not nearly as good as at Pennyfield Locks, it was a very pleasant alternative to shopping at the Leesburg Outlets, which are only a mile away from Balls Bluff Regional Park.  The trails were scenic and would be a nice place to walk your dog…just watch out for all the snakes!

Typical trail at Balls Bluff Regional Park

Other Sites:

The Balls Bluff Regional Park website