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It was the last long trip of 2007. As I get older, these 0500 link up times seem to get tougher and tougher to achieve! Regardless, Dick and I are both time compulsives and we piled into Dick's Suburban in the parking lot at Dick's Sporting Goods in Manassas and blazed our way to Barnum. Dick had never been there before and I wanted to show him this section of the river.
We decided to fish two sections. We parked at a pulloff in the Put and Take section and, later in the day, went to the northern lot to check out the C&R section.
Even though the put and take section parallels the road - classic "road fishing", there are a limited number of pulloffs and fewer places where you can scramble down to the river. This may serve to limit the pressure, but I doubt it. Given the intense stocking activity by both MD and WV on this section of water, I believe that it is probably wall to wall with fishermen when the stocking is in high season. In early November, we did not have that problem. We did see plenty of other folks, but they were clustered in the C&R stretch.
The Put and Take section is probably one of the more scenic sections of an exceptionally scenic river. The river narrows up in most of the section; piling huge amounts of water into a very small space. This makes wading, particularity crossing the river, a sporty undertaking! I carefully found a spot and hobbled across the river to get into better casting position.
If you fish from the road side, the bank is very steep with limited backcast room. While this would not present any difficulty to a pro, it was daunting to a new fly guy. Given that's my status, I found a way to get to the other bank. As it turns out, most of the deep water we encountered here ran next to the steep bank. The eastern bank had a more gentle slope in many areas, making it pretty easy to wade, stand and cast.
We got right to work. I used nymphs and terrestrials, floating these around the many rocks, ledges and the few trees I saw hanging into the river. The current was blazing fast and this presented a huge challenge to me. By the time I would recover from my cast, the nymph or terrestrial would already be downstream of my position. You had to be a line stripping machine to keep up! Good practice but that was about it.
We worked the put and take section for a few hours and, at lunch decided to visit the C&R section. After grabbing a quick bite and choking down some hot coffee to dispel the November chill, I led Dick down to the cemetery. We cut around it and split at the river with me working the huge set of riffles that spill into a large lake-like area at the northeastern tip of the cemetery. Dick worked upstream.
No fish. The big error? I did not fish deep enough. I should have used more split shot to pull the nymphs down to bump the bottom. This lake is DEEP. In fact, this would have been the perfect place to deploy a sinking line - the same one that was sitting in the back of the truck about a mile away. I'll be better prepared next time.
As I worked down the lake, a few other guys showed up and started fishing the rapids I had just left. I glanced downstream and saw two more guys working up to me. This is a heavily fished river, but even I was surprised to see so much activity in November. Shouldn't all these guys be out hunting something
Once I finished my section, I hopped out of the river and walked back to the cemetery, stopping to chat with the upstream guys. They had had no luck either and were using the same stuff as I was. Either I had picked the right thing or we were all wrong. I did notice that they had ridden bikes to the cemetery! The Barnum section is perfect for that. The road leading down is an old coal road that is about 5 feet wide and smooth - perfect for a mountain bike. I was instantly jealous - these guys could move from spot to spot rapidly - a perfect way to work the C&R section. After all, most of us just put up with bad luck or a bad spot because after you walk a mile to get there, you are not anxious to move on. The optimist in all of us urges us to bear with it.
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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.
When I linked back up with Dick, he reported that he saw plenty of big browns hugging the eastern bank but had not been able to bring any to hand.
Bottom Line: Barnum is clearly a prime fishing spot. There are plenty of fish here and plenty of people after them. Given my experience on the upper river, I would rather go there until the water warms up. The clear advantage of Barnum is that this is a year round trout destination with HUGE fish for those who are good enough to catch them.
Getting there:
For detailed directions, please purchase either the North Branch Map Book for $4.95 or the full 190 page Fishing guide to the North Branch for $9.95. After checkout, you can download the books instantly.
The fishing guide is also available in hardcopy - click here
Both books include detailed directions overlaid on topo maps with pictures for the confusing places to get you to the river. The key difference is that the full book walks you up the river from Westernport to Wilson using over 140 pictures with a detailed discussion of what to expect beyond the parking lot.
Sorry to have to do this, but selling these eBooks is how I support the cost of maintaining this site. Please support the site.
Secrets Revealed? No. This is a very public location that is documented in the following places:
Maryland DNR
Guide to Maryland Trout Fishing
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