The only good thing about working in Gaithersburg once a week is that I get to go fishing on the way home while I wait for traffic to die down. This week, I set my sights on Virginia and Turkey Run Park.  There is not much information available on Turkey Run on the Internet -- or least not much that I could find. There was enough there to confirm that the water here was fishable but no other guidance that made this anything but a longshot when I pulled into the upper parking lot. I wandered over to the bulletin board and was encouraged to read pamphlets that talked about the fishing regulations in the area. Beyond the bulletin board, I could see the trail leading down the steep hill to the river. With that, I grabbed my rod and started to walk down. It's not a long walk but it's enough of a walk to filter some of the pressure away from this spot. The side of the hill here is very steep and it's about a quarter of a mile to get to the river.  Once the trail bottoms out next to the river bed, it splits to the left and to the right with the right hand trail leading to the river. There's a sign cautioning the hiker against wading.  I looked out at the river and was surprised that the Park would post a sign with this restriction. Granted, when the water is high you would be crazy to go out into this river. But here, at the end of summer, the water was low and reasonable. Not knowing what type of horrible fine I would face if I was caught wading, I resolved to dance my way across the many rocks that stretched in front of me and stay out of the water. But, there's plenty of fishable water right next to the bank. As I walked north along the bank, I began to fish a small size 4 popper in the fast current that paralleled the shore. In short order, I picked up two 12 inch smallies lurking in the shallow water. Maybe wading would not be such an issue after all! After getting a little upstream from the entry point, I began what must've looked like a drunken walk across the rocks; fishing the current breaks between them as I went. On the day I was here, the water was exceptionally low and allowed easy movement.  I was able to move in fish in this manner until I got to the main current of the river where there is a 30 to 40 yard gap between the rocks on the Virginia side and corresponding structure over in Maryland. This is country for a wading staff! There is no sand on the bottom of the river here, it's all rocks -- rocks that are full of a summer's growth of algae and muck. The good news is that you don't really need to move very much. Once you get on a perch, you can fan cast all around and enjoy an extended period of time catching bluegills and smallies. In the two hours I was here, I caught a decent number of smallies -- nothing huge -- but enough to keep me interested.  The bottom line is that any smallie in any amount of current knows how to leverage that current to its advantage. Every one of them provided and adrenaline hit! I used the standard mix of my smallie kit. I picked them up on hoppers, poppers, and the small plastic grubs that I've become fond of using one of these big rivers. I must admit that my pursuit of smallies this summer has absolutely destroyed my trout related fly fishing skills. It seems that the smallies do not care much about whether your drift is perfect, especially when you must give the fly a small twitch every now and then to reveal its potential as a living creature and entice a strike. I know I'll have to hit the streams quite a bit in October to transition back into the more sensitive fishing for trout. But that was all far from my mind on this day as I gleefully cast big poppers to hit with a thud to the joy of the waiting fish. Bottom line: I liked Turkey Run. In addition to the access point that I used, there appears to be another at one of the lower parking lots that does not require a hike down the steep hill. I did not see much evidence of other fishermen along the river -- no discarded bait containers in any significant quantity. On the afternoon I was here, there were plenty of hikers strolling along the river and using the trails but no other fishermen. It's amazing that such a scenic spot can exist inside the Beltway. Occasionally, I would look up at the American Legion Bridge on 495 and feel sorry for all the poor souls sitting in traffic waiting to get home. I couldn't imagine a better way to wait out the traffic than hunting for aggressive smallies in this good spot.	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. Getting There: I hate to do this, but I support the site by selling books.  My book on the Upper Potomac - "Wade and Shoreline Fishing the Potomac River for Smallmouth Bass" is available in both ebook format (instant download) or traditional print. This bookwalks the 57.3 miles upstream from the Chain Bridge in DC to Harpers Ferry, WV using words, annotated maps and over 200 pictures to provide you exact references while removing any doubt about what to expect in each section of the river.  The 230+pages include detailed directions, 42 maps, 45 tables and 208 GPS coordinates - more detail than you will see in any other fishing guidebook. You canpurchase the eBook version for $9.95 by clicking on the buttons below:        To purchase the traditional print version: Secrets Revealed?  No, the park documentation discusses fishing in this area.
Upstream from the entry point - plenty of rocks to avoid wading	Downstream from the entry point
That's 495 in the distance.	Good stretch of water over to the Maryland side