Hello, TU members,
THERE ARE NO FISH IN BOWMANS CREEK!! Keep spreading the rumor, and we'll have Bowmans all to ourselves. It's amazing how these rumors get started. One bad outing by some big mouth, and everyone believes it. I was assisting with the in-season stocking of the Catch and Release Area recently, and spoke with a fisherman who insisted there were NO FISH in Bowmans. I asked,"Didn't you just see them put 7 buckets in this area?" His answer, "Oh sure, but they all will be in the Chesapeake Bay in a week."
Three of us, all fellow TU members, fished Bowmans on Sunday, May 25th. We were commited to dry flies and nymphs with sporatic success. Along came another fisherman fishing with a brown streamer and landed three trout in one-half hour. He certainly believed there were trout in the stream and knew how to catch them.
Finally, I found a pod of several fish that were feeding opportunistically on the surface, i.e., with no regular pattern. It didn't help that they were located in an area that was very difficult to reach let alone present a good drift. Undeterred, I had a plan of action and implemented it. I locked in on one fish that I suspected was crusin' and successfully put a tan caddis over him. With a big splash, he took it, and I was in for a 20 minute battle while he visited the entire pool. At one point, he came from the end of the pool to directly across stream from me. Apparently he didn't like what he saw, because he immediately turned and revisited the far end of the pool. I called upstream to bring my fishing buddies down, and one arrived just as I removed the 20+ inch Brown from the net for pictures. Yes, this time I had my camera and a witness.
I requested that if anyone asked, His reply would be "THERE ARE NO FISH IN BOWMANS!".