Accotink Trout in April

Accotink Creek at Lake Accotink, near Springfield, VA is another place to fish for winter trout. The Fairfax County program differs from the state urban trout programs. Here you have to have a state fishing license and a one-day pass from the lake marina and it costs $10, $9 for kids over 10. For that money, you would expect to have some very dependable fishing. All reports indicate it's not especially dependable fishing. It's nice to visit, but the best fishing is the day the fish are put in the creek and, especially at the dam, the day after, when many fish have adjusted to the new waters and are ready to strike. The stockings are every two weeks on Fridays. The next is set April 4, 2008, and it's possible this will be the season finale. This is a 20-year tradition here, and there's a crowd waiting every time, and they actually help with a bucket brigade, releasing the buckets of trout. Unlike other urban fishing lakes, here the fish seem to be mostly caught within three days of stocking, although you do have a chance of catching a trout on any day. One possibility you rarely find anywhere: fishing with corn, you could catch either trout or carp.
The lake itself has the standard species (no trout), but has silted so much since the dam was built in 1943, it appears most of it is about two feet deep or less. A three year dredging program is in its final year with a goal of removing 161,000 cubic yards of silt, but much of the lake still looks very shallow. It's still a good lake for small bluegills and sunfish, with occasional bass and catfish, and plentiful carp.