Anyone fishing Fletchers tonight? (April12)

[Brandon]

Sitting here in the office at 23 and M, have rods in the trunk. Thinking about hitting it from shore tonight. Anyone else thinking of going or know if its worth it?

Brandon

[Keith83]

Oh yeah its worth it! I was a little up stream from the chain bridge yesterday evening and it was awsome!

[old Yeller]

Brandon, it was smoking this morning too. See my report. You'll need to try and catch the low tide if you want decent bank fishing downstream from Fletcher's.

BTW: I'm close to you, my office is at 31st & the C&O Canal

[Brandon]

Thx guys. I am going to give it a try. I have actaully never fished from Fletches area, always have fished from a friends house on the VA side right below the waterfall, I think its called the Water house or something.

Anyway, is there good parking at Fletchers or am I crazy for even asking?

B

[kwk]

You can park at Fletchers, but just don't plan on leaving until after rush hour is over. Getting back onto Canal Road ain't easy when it's one way outbound. And don't forget to be in the left lane heading out toward Fletchers so you can pull into the access road.

[Tissy Furnes]

I think you'll find decent fishing. The heart of the run is still to come.

[Brandon]

I missed the freaking exit tonight and since Canal ro is one way as kwk said I could not turn around. That turn comes out of no where and looks like there is only room for one car to go down that hill. Was I seeing the right place, my GPS said it was, but there was a car coming out and there did not look like there was room for me to go down that hill.

Thx

Brandon

[Keith83]

Yeah that was the right place. If you miss the exit your best bet I think would be to continue down and cross the chain bridge, turn around and go back, youl have to make a left where the road turns into a one way(i think only during rush hour or something), that will put you up on Macarthur and hang a right, go down a few blocks and hang another right(dont know the road name) that will take you back down to Clara barton pkwy where you will cross it and directly go down the driveway where you saw the car...go strait down and follow the road left and go into a tunnel under the canal and your there. Your just doing a big circle. But cars go in and out of that narrow driveway. Its always a little tricky.

[HJS]

Ah yes... the infamous Fletcher hairpin turn... or at least its a hairpin coming from the Beltway. Yep, thats the place. So, you could have continued on and parked in the lot just past Chain Bridge. Good fishing in the CB area.

[Keith83]

oh yeah...you could of parked at the chain bridge and fished...DUH!!!!![smile]

[Brandon]

Thx guys. Always fished from the other side so I was clueless. Going to give it a go tomorrow. Made a few casts outback tonight in the lake/pond I live on and had a few crappie to at least feel a tight line [smile]

Thx, maybe see some of you tomorrow.

Brandon

[kwk]

B, if you can't make the turn into Fletchers, keep going, get into the right lane and then turn right at Arizona Ave. Go up Arizona to MacArthur, turn right, stay on MacArthur until you go past the Exxon station, make a hard right and take the road back down to Canal Rd directly opposite Fletchers access road. Getting across Canal can be a real pain, but there usually are breaks in the traffic.

[Brandon]

thx! This DC traffic is really thowing a loop in my fishing, I am too used to the Eastern Shore [smile][wink]

[HJS]

Brandon - Being a country boy, I avoid being in a car anywhere in DC during both morning & afternoon rushhours. During rushhours I avoid the Fletchers turn like the plague. Its gotta be one of the worst hair-brain, hairpin turns I've ever attempted.

That small road that comes downs the hillside to Canal Road at the Fletchers entrance is Reservoir Road. Anyone know if Reservoir Road is ALSO one-way during both rushhours??? (morning - uphill, afternoon - downhill???)

[Tissy Furnes]

HJS,

I know you are not supposed to go up that road during rush hour. I think it is the morning rush hour but I'm not totally sure. I don't think it is because it becomes one way, but perhaps has to do with the DOT not wanting residents of that neighborhood making a 270 degree turn with all that oncoming traffic. I have driven up there during the morning rush done the Uee (which are also not supposed to do and driven straight across into Fletchers. A safer option than trying to make that turn or back down Fletchers road.

Brandon,

When you come down Fletchers road stay to the right and go under the tunnel and you'll come out at the boathouse on the other side. If you decide to rent a boat (recommended though not required) concentrate on the seam of slower moving water at the edge of the main current on the Fletchers side. They will rent boats up until 4:30 on the weekdays.

[Double Haul]

Sounds like fishing from Fletchers is tough both coming and going with traffic and such.
Is it possible to fish from the VA side at Chain Bridge?
Are there other sites on the VA side where you can chase shad?

[Flying Fish]

You can go down the road--it's called Canal Road, and it's right past (west of) the Reservoir on Reservoir Road/MacArthur Boulevard--after 10 am, when the traffic is 2-way or even when it becomes one way westbound at about 2.15 pm. It is illegal and dangerous to go down there between 6 am and 10 am when the traffic is eastbound on Canal Road, because cars come roaring up that road and if you're there, you'll be in the way and they won't be expecting you to be there. But you can pull over to the right going east on Canal Road and back down the few dozens of yeards to the upper parking lot at Fletcher's, then turn around and drive down through the tunnel. In my experience, you can leave Fletcher's safely after about 6.45 pm and go across Canal Road up the extension that goes to MacArthur Boulevard. That might be illegal too, but it's not dangerous because you can see everything and time your dash across Canal Road.

Remember, you never are allowed to make a left turn onto Canal Road off Chain Bridge.

I don't know about fishing from the VA side but I don't think the access is convenient.

FF

[Double Haul]

Appreciate the reply

It doesn't sound like the access from the DC side is easy either.

[HJS]

The tactic I've been using the past 2 years to enter Fletchers when traveling east bound on Canal Road from the Beltway (downstream) is to pull off at the head of the Fletcher's entrance, then back down to the first parking lot. This only works well early in the day went most of the Fletchers traffic is going into Fletchers. If there are a lot of people leaving Fletchers, like in the afternoon, then this techniques goes to h*ll in a handbasket real quick. Its probably illegal but as far as I'm concerned this technique is far safer than trying to negotiate the hairpin turn by swinging wide. I use both blinker and exaggerated hand signals when turning... I also throw in some white-knuckled, bug-eyed screaming for good measure. So far so good. Gawd I hate that turn... and I do it all for shad.

[Tissy Furnes]

FF,

I was talking about the road across from Fletchers. Good points about Canal Rd though and the no left off of Chain Bridge.

HJS,

I'd rather break the rules and shoot up that crossroad and do the Uee than do the back up thing. You can get away with if it's real early but if there is good traffic flow you really risk getting plowed.