After the disaster going upstream, I almost decided to head back to the truck.  But, I had the afternoon ahead of me and the other gang had headed downstream.  While it took a couple of hours to walk upstream a mile and then back, I could still see a few of them fishing between the entrance and the corner where the river took a downstream turn to the left.  Since the river here was very wide and they had a two hour lead, I decided to just walk past them and cut in a few 100 yards downstream of where they were.  At the pace they were fishing, there would be plenty of time for the water to calm down. As I moved through them, I confirmed it was ok to do the jump and eventually started fishing again at the turn in the river.  At this point, there is a very deep, unwadeable section over on the west side of the river.  I could see some submarine shapes scooting as I moved through… a good sign. I loaded up a popper and started to make long casts to the shore.  Nothing interested in that.  I was about to switch to my bass rig when one of the other guys fished his way into sight upstream from me.  I decided to give them some more space and consigned this spot to them as I moved farther downstream. I started fishing again where the river straighted out after the curve.  The middle was a deadzone.  It was shallow, sandy and uninteresting.  Likewise the west bank.  After a few probing casts to the west, I turned my attention to the east where there was more tree cover and brush.  While it was not real deep over there, it was deep enough and had enough structure to hold fish!  There were downed trees and a few logs to target that were sheltered by some over hanging trees offering nice shade as the sun climbed higher in the afternoon sky. Bang!  The smallies were here.  They started to hit my popper and, when action on that calmed down, I switched to my bass rig to deal with the underwater vegetation that clustered near the shore.  I continued downstream picking up decent numbers of bluegills, fallfish and smallies; nothing huge, but enough action to make the day pleasant.  At the end of the straight stretch, there is a tight spot in the river where it compresses to make a run around an island to bunch up river right.  Leading up to that spot, there is a broad flat that is full of vegetation and small, algae-covered rocks.  I fished that area hard and it produced. I switched to working the run where the water boiled around the island.  Here, it spills into a deep cut that follows the current.  Bang, bang.  Fish here as well!  This part of the river borders private property on river left where the landowner created a small dock and put up some picnic tables.  What a nice spot!  Wish I could afford something like that.  Once I finished investigating the fast water, I switched attention the bank downstream of the landowner’s built up area.  Nice!  There were deep spots sheltered by tall grassy vegetation that held a bunch of fish.  I’m glad I had the bass rig that allowed me to fish these areas without having to worry about weeds getting caught in the hook of a standard streamer. Looking at my watch, I decided that I should head back to the truck and began to walk  back upstream.  I found the crew in the same place I had left them and shared my results.  Turns out that I had done pretty good in terms of volume but was totally beaten in terms of size.  One of the teenagers, pulled up his stringer and there was a nice 18 inch smallie hanging from it.  So, the big guys did roam here.  I gave them some of the green grubs I was using as their salamanders were pretty destroyed, wished them continued luck and moved upstream to a fallen tree they recommended to me. Now I understood why it took these guys hours to fish this small section.  The big boys were here!  At river left, the water was deep and dark with submerged logs providing all sorts of protection and habitat.  You could (and should) spend hours fishing the 150 yards down from the entry point.  I started to catch and release some bigger and bigger fish as I slowly worked my way back up to the entry point.  When I got just downstream of the entry, I was ready to call it a day but decided to fish the complex batch of fallen trees that rested against the north bank.  I flipped out a size 4, big, nasty looking green popper and the water exploded!  Minutes later, I brought the beast shown below to hand.  With new energy, I fished this spot for another hour and caught and released some more nice fish using both the bass rig and a variety of poppers.  This was the best spot on the river! Bottom Line: I’m back here.  The one mile hike protects this spot from all but the hardy few. Date Fished: 08/16/2008	Pressure Trout Size N/A Physical Fitness Bass Size Access Regulations Hard to Find Stocking Scenery Overall Remember to refer to my rating explanations - these are based on what I look for - so RED for Physical Fitness translates to easy physically - you do not need to be in shape to fish this section.  I prefer terrain that is tough to get into and out of. Purchase Switchfisher's books using the links to Amazon below for: Wade Fishing the Rappahannock River of Virginia (more info) Wade Fishing the Rapidan River of Virginia (more info) Wade and Shoreline Fishing the Potomac River for Smallmouth Bass (more info) Trout and Smallmouth Fishing on the North Branch of the Potomac (more info) Getting There: From US 29 heading towards Culpeper, turn onto Freeman's Ford Road/West Main Street heading south at Remington.  Turn right on Sumerduck Road and follow it for 9 miles.  At 9 miles or so, you will see a turnoff on your right (Rogers Ford Road).  Park there and follow the road down to the river being aware of the detailed directions discussed in the Upstream Post that explains how to find the path. Google Local Coordinates:  38.425521,-77.740116 Secrets Revealed?  No.  This is a very public location that is documented in the following places: Virginia VDGIF Flyfisher's Guide to Virginia
The sign at the clearing that marks the start of the final path to the river	The path is behind the sign
View downstream from the entry point	Midway to the turn
Shallow area next to the landowner picnic area - good spots downstream on river left	Downstream from my turnaround point
Caught and released this guy next to the entry point	The tangle that holds the fish