Finn’s Golden Retriever
Gelso’s Little Black Stonefly
Murray’s Mr. Rapidan
Steeves’ Attract Ant
Steeves’ Bark Beetle
Steeves’ Crystal Butt Hopper
Steeves’ Disc O’ Beetle
Steeves’ UFO
Chocklett’s Disc Slider
Claw-Dad
Cramer’s Jail Bait Minnow
Hickey’s Condor (Orange)
Kreelex
Murray’s Lead Eye Hellgrammite
Murray’s Marauder
Patuxent Special
Super Patuxent Special
Trow’s Minnow
Walt’s Popper
Walt’s Slider
Chocklett’s Gummy Minnow
CK Baitfish
DuBiel’s Finesse Fly
DuBiel’s Lil’hadden
DuBiel’s Red-Ducer
Russell’s Mussel
Tommy’s Crease Fly
Tommy’s Eel Fly
Tommy’s Torpedo (Chartreuse)
Tommy’s Flash Torpedo (Orange)
Walt’s Saltwater Popper
Shawn Hamilton of Eastern Fly Fishing magazine with a nice New River smallie. Photo by Beau Beasley.
Top Virginia Fly Fishing Waters
Accotink Creek
If you listen carefully you can probably hear the traffic of Northern Virginia whizzing by you as you stand fishing in Accotink Creek. But why listen? Yes, you can actually see Accotink Creek when exiting onto Little River Turnpike from the Capital Beltway. Yes, each day tens of thousands of people slog their way to and from work mere paces from an urban trout stream and they don’t even realize it. But here’s the thing: if you’re fishing in Accotink Creek, then you are not, at least for the day, one of those poor sods. Enjoy it. Don’t listen for the traffic.
While no one will argue that this is trout fishing at its best, Accotink Creek has been a godsend for a lot of folks who just needed to get away for a few hours and feel the tug of a trout. It’s stocked by the game department a few times each year with the help of the Northern Virginia Chapter of Trout Unlimited. I have also been there to help and have watched as the stocking truck doled out happy rainbows in the 12-inch range. TU volunteers then scurried over embankments and soft sand to deposit their treasures in the waiting waters. In the winter, TU members have had to break the ice with shovels in some places of the creek to make a comfortable place to deposit the fish.
Accotink Creek is a classic example of doing the best you can with what you have. Although it’s certainly light years from fishing in the Shenandoah National Park or a great trout water like the Jackson River, it beats not fishing at all. Accotink Creek has easy access from both Little River Turnpike and Braddock Road