snowslider

Darn, if I didn't have a meeting tomorrow morning, I'd be all over this offer. I've been meaning to hit Fountainhead up all season.

I fished there once. I caught a huge black fish. I'm not sure what kind it was, but it was well over 150 pounds, had a rubbery skin, and was wearing a mask and flippers. Put up a heck of a fight....

Keep me in the loop on this one. I live in Herndon too and would love to find some nearby ponds.

The road by the water treatment plant is closed to traffic other than plant employees. I just drove by there last week and tried.

That would work for fishing the dam water proper, but I was hoping to find access to the creek both above the dam and a ways below the dam.

I keep meaning to hit Goose Creek, but it's tough to find a place to park. I checked out the area around Sycolin road, but everything is posted/no tresspassing. Same goes for access from Belmont Ridge Road. I might rack my mountain bike and drive to the pulloff off of Belmont Ridge Road and ride the WO&D to that little trail just after you cross Goos Creek. Hide my bike in the woods and walk the bank/wade from there. Anyone done this?

Carp sure can be a challenge to land. I hooked this one on light tackle at my parents' 17 acre lake north of Fredericksburg: It put up a heck of a fight.

It was in a private lake just north of Fredericksburg. I wouldn't get in the water there either now-a-days (although I did all the time as a kid). Not because of the carp, but because the snapping turtle population has grown considerably.

Nice! Where do you guys park when you hit Huntsman? On the Dorothy Lane cul-de-sac or on the side of Golden Ball Tavern Court? Those two places seem closest to the dam side.

Got it! It's hard to judge the size of this beast by the pic, but look at the 1/4 ounce spinner in it's mouth.

I should have the photo soon.

Hey Kevin, Care to give out the location of this pond? heh heh....

Where is Hunting Run Lake located? I can't find it. I'm originally from the F'burg area, but live in Herndon now. My folks still live down there and they have a kick *** lake behind their house. Only one other guy fishes it!

I headed down to my parents' lake on Sunday with a buddy. We caught about 25 fish in total - mostly bluegill and crappie (one of which was probably close to citation size), but the big excitement of the day was the carp I hooked. We were fishing from a small pedalboat, and I tossed a small Blue Fox inline spinnerbait out only to see it begin a long slow pull to the right. I knew it wasn't a bass because the strike was too light. In fact, I didn't really feel a strike at all, the line just started moving off to the right. At first I figured I hooked into a big catfish, but then the fish came close enough to the surface that I could see the big scales on it's side and I knew it was one of the giant carp in the lake. I was really surprised because I've never known these carp to go for lures. I've accidentally hooked into one before a couple years ago, but I was fishing an ultralight spinning setup with 4 pound test and it quickly snapped my line. This time I had a 6 1/2 foot light rod with braided line on it, so I knew I could hang in there for the duration. The fish actually pulled out small boat around and it took me over 10 minutes to tire him out enough that I could get him close to the boat. I finally managed to grab him, but my fingers slipped, the hooks on the inline spinner bent straight, and I watched my fish disappear into the murky water. Definitely the biggest fish I've ever caught in that lake. I estimate him to be over 3.5 feet long and around 35-40 pounds. My buddy got a shot of him in the water with his cell phone, so hopefully he'll send it to me and I can post the proof of my fish story. The other amazing thing about the day was how quickly the bite turned on when it began to rain. We had three squalls blow through while we were out and with each one, it was like a lightswitch turned on and we both started getting fish on almost every cast. In between the rain squalls, we got very little action.

I've fished both lakes and never come away with anything big. I was never hassled by the property owners though.

I wish I could join you guys, but I'm heading down to OBX for some striper fishing, and oh yeah to attend my sister's wedding.

Excellent! Thanks for the info.

So where is the best place to park when bank fishing Mercer? I looked on findlakes, but didn't see a good parking spot. I see Lake Mercer Park listed just off of Bressingham Drive, but there doesn't look to be any parking there, just private houses. I'd be coming down 7100 to Hooes Rd. (I think). Is there anywhere to park off of Jeffry Farm Rd.?

Sweet cat. I've always heard that there are some huge cats in the Potomac. I've never hooked into anything larger than ~15 pounds though.

Hi everyone, I thought I'd chime in here as well. New to the board, but I've been bass fishing for as long as I can remember. My grandpa taught me when I was only a few years old. Now it's my turn to teach my daughters. My oldest is about to turn 4 and we've been practicing her casting in the back yard - she calls it catching "yard fish". She's getting pretty good (for a youngster), and she can't wait for me to take her fishing again. I live up in Herndon, but I have folks in Fredericksburg who live on a private lake. There's only one other guy who fishes that lake, so it really is more like catching than fishing there. With three daughters under the age of 4, I don't get out as often as I'd like, but I'm always looking for a fishing partner. I'd be happy to show someone the hot spots on my folks' lake when we make it down to Fredericksburg.