The Quantico trout stream was stocked on May 3, so I decided to head down and pick up a few trout for the skillet. The water in the creek warms up to the point of trout mortality by mid-June, so anything swimming now will be dead later.
Additionally, the gate that allows access to the stream will close for the season on May 19. Be sure you get there before that. There are still plenty of trout finning in the calm water right now.
After driving to the end of the road, I hopped on my fishing bike and pedaled the additional distance to the dam. The two ponds up there always seem heavily stocked – I’ve never been skunked in that spot. Be sure to fish the bottom of the dam’s spillway as well. Even though it is small, the stocking people throw fish in there to reward those energetic enough to go the distance to the dam.
As a result of the rain last night, the water was running cloudy. I did a dual attack today – both spin and fly. I used for spin gear in the deep water near the lake since it was all about catching something. Once I moved down into the narrow stream, I switched to my Tenkara rod to see if it would be effective. I caught plenty of sunfish, but the stocked trout were not interested in anything floating on the surface. Given that the Tenkara is not a good technique for streamers, I switched back to some Panther Martins in the deeper water.
At the end of the day, I had hooked six nice trout and got four to the shore and into the bag. They were the perfect size to plop on a cedar plank on the barbecue grill! I chatted with another angler who indicated that he fished Quantico regularly and was surprised by the presence of fish this late in the season. He surmised that the stream had been stocked heavily for some wounded warrior events and we were enjoying the residual benefit of that effort. So, even though it’s mid-May, if you have a Quantico license, you should head down to the creek before the gate slams shut.
Getting There: Take exit 148 from I95. Turn west at the end of the ramp. There is a small dirt road to the right of the bridge you encounter about 100 yards west of I95. Turn down that road and, if the gate is open, follow the road to the small lake. Fish up the stream from there. It is stocked at each stream crossing point.
Google Local Coordinates: 38.523014,-77.373179
Secrets Revealed? No. This is a very public location that is documented on the Virginia VDGIF website.
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Date Fished: 5/10/2012
Unless stated otherwise, this article was authored by Steve Moore