Fished the section of Broad Run that borders Bles Park located in Ashburn, VA. I was there this past Monday and hiked south towards Rte. 7 to reach what looked like some good spots. The trail was rough and overgrown. My judgement of distance was off and instead of being a 3 mile round trip, it ended up being close to 7. There were also ticks everywhere. I brought some home unknowingly and found out just how untrue that Brad Paisley song is.
I caught one fish, which was what I intended to do at minimum. Caught a little smallmouth on a drop shot with a BioSpawn VileCraw. I’m lucky I caught it with the recent rains mucking up the river.
Mistakes made:
Thinking the trail was straight, smooth and landscaped.
Thinking the recent rains had no effect on the fish.
Multiple casting errors.
Underestimating the tick population.
Lessons learned:
The drop shot is awesome.
How to read a map better.
Ticks are a very real threat.
Wear sensible hiking shoes.
Being fat is not conducive to hiking.
These lists are open for more additions.
All in all, fishing is fun, even if you go through extremes to do it.