Shenandoah River Fishing (err herp) report
 

Brendan (my son) and I took off on a road trip on Tuesday. We wound up in Harrisburg, PA the first night and spent lots of time at nearby hershey Park. Then it was off to Virginia. We spent some time in the Washington National Forest fishing with no luck. Then the next day we went canoeing on the Shenandoah River out of Bentonville. We caught a few small mouth bass and a few rock bass (all released).

The best catch of the day was the baby snake my son spotted swimming in mid river. This guy got saved from turning into likely fish food. He scooped it up with a net. At first I figured it was a baby water snake, but on a closer look and I figured it was a baby Black Racer. Still have to check the field guide on this one.
We also saw about 10 turtles, some as big as a dinner plate (even a bit bigger). We saw at least 3 painted turtles, ?1 map turtle?, and the others I have not identified yet - but they were the big ones. They looked like sliders or cooters of some sort. No matter what we did, we were just too noisy and woke em all before we could get within a few feet.

Brendan also saw a large dark snake on one bank, most likely a water snake of some sort. It made for a brush pile and disappeared before I even got a chance to see it. ;)

Brendan liked it a lot. I think the next trip will be closer to home, but not too close - maybe the NJ pine barrens by canoe. Anybody have a suggestion for a good canoe outfitter in a good area of the pine barrens?

Best regards,
Glenn B;)