I found a clear little stream that runs under a quiet Maryland road about a half hour north of Washington. The odd part of this story is that I found it when I decided to quit fishing for the day and head home.
I'd spent the better part of a ripe spring day exploring the Seneca lake area. Great Seneca Creek is what the Maryland DNR calls a "put-and-take" trout area, which means the state puts the trout in, and the fishing public takes them right back out. There are no special regulations at the put-and-take designated rivers and lakes, so anglers can find themselves accompanied stream-side by other anglers employing some rather uncouth tactics. Large spinning rods, white plastic buckets, lawn chairs, and giant aluminum nets would be examples of the gear I've seen these folks use. Plunkers of worms.
I'm a fly-fisher, so naturally, also a snob of the highest degree. I spent about an hour on Great Seneca Creek and got back in my car, blaming my lack of hook-ups on the water being slightly off color. I'd hate to think I just spent an hour fishing a stream that was emptied by someone toting a bucket.
I drove up to the lake that feeds the Seneca, naturally called Great Seneca Lake. This is a splendid body of water, sprawling and wide open. Ideal for long casts from shore. I met a guy who was sitting in his car in the pull-off reserved for boaters, taking photos with a giant lens on his camera, like the ones you see on the sidelines of NFL games. He said it was a bald eagle. I saw nothing.
I tried my luck for another hour, then got back in my car. I blamed my lack of success on the wind. It was gusting. I must have taken a wrong turn because after about ten minutes nothing looked familiar, but I had the familiar feeling that I was lost. I zigzagged the hilly countryside looking for a sign or a landmark, and when I finally decided on what seemed like the right "direction," I crossed over this ideal looking trout stream. I found out later that it was Little Seneca Creek, also designated "put-and-take" by the state of Maryland, but smaller and more inviting than many other public fishing locations. I didn't see anyone with a bucket or lawn chair, in fact I didn't see anyone at all. I also landed my first and only fish of the day, a 9" rainbow that had evidence of bait fishing in the form of a worm hook leader protruding from its mouth. The fish had swallowed the hook (which they tend to do with live bait, which proves that fishing for trout with worms is a harmful tactic, and that I am not necessarily 100% snob). I did my best to relieve the fish of its ailment, but figuring I'd do more harm than good I let her go to fend for herself. I'll be back to the Little Seneca some day, perhaps when it warms up a bit and/or stops raining, in search of any other trout that have survived "put-and-take."
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