This fishing trip took place on Friday, November 8, 2024. It was just me on this one.
This year I really wanted to sleep in a tent overnight at least once. It could be via car camping or backpacking, I didn’t care. And I wanted to ride my 23 year old bike called The Costco Special at least once. And I wanted to go fishing at least once. With the year almost over I decided that I had to do at least one of these activities. And since the weather has been abnormally warm this week, I decided to go fishing.
So I bought some night crawler worms at the local 7-11 and proceeded to drive to Lake Brittle in Fauquier County, VA for a relaxing morning of fishing. However, I got lost getting to this lake. The area surrounding this lake has exploded with new housing developments. So I ended up driving around the lake and accessing it from US29 in the area called New Baltimore, VA.
A bit of background on this lake. It’s official address is 4354 Lake Brittle Road, Warrenton, VA. According to the:
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources website
Lake Brittle is 77 acres, was constructed in 1953 and is one of the oldest Virginia fishing lakes. It was also one of the first fishing lakes to be built using funds from an excise tax on fishing tackle. I have been visiting Lake Brittle since the early 1990’s. I used to take my kids fishing there. I used to try to go there once a year to fish. I never kept the fish I caught there but always released them.
OK, back to the present. I arrived at the lake around 9:30 AM. There were only about 5 or 6 people there. The weather was in the low 60’s and breezy. I started towards the fishing pier but turned back to get my wind breaker. When I got to the fishing pier I asked one of the fisherman if he was having any luck. He said no, it was very slow.
So I baited my hooks and made a few casts. Then I dropped my line a few times on different sides of the pier. No nibbles, no bites. I did not catch any fish. I wasn’t suprised. Again, according to the VADWR this lake is stocked with Waleye and Channel Catfish annually. And there have been reports of Snakeheads in this lake. However, I have always observed that the fish in this lake are abundant in the spring but are not biting in the fall. Besides the change in temperature, I attribute this to the possibility that the lake is stocked in the springtime, the lake is overfished during the spring and summer and there isn’t much left by fall.
After about 15 minutes I realized that I probably wasn’t going to catch anything. So I cast out one last time, then just sat there and enjoyed the beautiful day for the next 45 minutes, then went home. I gave the remaining worms their freedom when I got home.
In conclusion, I’m not upset that I didn’t catch anything. I was happy just to be out there and observing the beautiful day. And I am making a mental committment for next year to not only hike more but fish, ride my bike, backpack camp and car camp more. Anyone want to join me?
Mike C
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