Author, sportsman, photographer, and conservationist Bruce Ingram will share his deep knowledge about fishing for smallmouth bass at the PRSC meeting on July 27. You can usually count on Bruce to sprinkle in lots of interesting, and sometimes controversial viewpoints, on fishing, so even if you’ve read his books and heard him speak in the past, Bruce always makes it an interesting evening.

• Where: McLean Community Center – Stedman Room, 1234 Ingleside Ave, McLean, VA 22101
• When: July 27, 2016 at 7:30 pm (doors open at 7:00 for socializing)

Bruce Ingram

About Bruce Ingram

When not teaching English in the Botetourt County, Virginia, school system, Bruce spends much of his time fishing, hunting, birding, and enjoying the great outdoors. He has been an outdoor writer/photographer since 1983. His extensive knowledge is reflected in the many books he has published, including the James River Guide, New River Guide, and The Shenandoah and Rappahannock Rivers Guide. One of Bruce’s recent books, Fly and Spin Fishing for River Smallmouths, covers how to catch smallmouth on fly and spinning rods throughout the year, plus such topics as conservation easements, riparian zone creation/protection, taking kids fishing, canoe camping, birding by canoe, and much more.

Bruce’s books on the James, New, Potomac, Shenandoah and Rappahannock Rivers cover a wide range of float trips available on these rivers, plus information on access points, rapids, fishing hot spots, and trip planning. Basically, paragraph by paragraph, mile by mile, Bruce takes you on a trip down these rivers, so that when you go on your own trips, you will have a safe, productive fishing experience. You’ll have the opportunity to purchase signed copies of Bruce’s books. As an added incentive to buy a book or two, Bruce will be giving away soft or hard plastic lures with each purchase. The only catch to this offer is if the particular lure works, Bruce would like members to send me an e-mail; if the lure is a dud, no need to send one.

In addition to his books, Bruce has also placed some 2,100 articles in magazines and some 2,400 photos. He regularly writes for such magazines as Virginia Wildlife, Wildlife in North Carolina, Whitetail Times, Turkey Country, Turkey & Turkey Hunting, Game and Fish Publications, and many others. Bruce and his wife, Elaine, recently co-wrote a book titled Living the Locavore Lifestyle, about ways to live a sustainable lifestyle by hunting and fishing for food, gathering wild fruits and nuts, and raising a garden, chickens, and fruit trees. It also contains a number of essays on the joys of hunting and fishing.

You can learn more about Bruce Ingram, as well as purchase his books, by visiting hist website, Bruce Ingram Outdoors. For those of you able to attend the July meeting, this should be a very interesting and informative evening. Bruce plans to speak on fishing parts of the Upper Potomac River that not many of us get to. These include Paw Paw to Bonds Landing (13.5 miles) and Bonds Landing to Little Orleans (8.5 miles). Bruce says “the first float is the most beautiful on the Main Stem;” it is isolated and lightly fished. The second float is very good, too. Class I rapids are the max on the entire junket. Bruce says: “This is a true bucket list float.”

Bruce will also discuss other floats, including Taylors Landing to Snyders Landing (4.5 miles), Snyders Landing to Shepherdstown (4 miles), and Shepherdstown to Dargan Bend (8 miles). You won’t want to miss Bruce’s talk on these little-known floats.

Our June meeting will have two speakers Steve Kimm, who has been the Club President since 2014, and Herschel Finch, another long-time PRSC fisherman.

• Where: McLean Community Center – Stedman Room, 1234 Ingleside Ave, McLean, VA 22101
• When: June 29, 2016 at 7:30 pm (doors open at 7:00 for socializing)

Steve Kimm

Herschel Finch

About Steve

Steve became a PRSC member in 2002 and has also served as Trip Coordinator. He was born and raised in Northern Virginia. He graduated from Langley High School and then East Carolina University. He has also lived in North Carolina and Colorado.

Like many of us, Steve joined PRSC to learn more about catching fish and, specifically, to learn about floats on the many great rivers in our region. He says, “I have had the pleasure to fish the Potomac, the Rappahannock, the three stems of the Shenandoah, the James, and the New Rivers.”

In June, Steve plans to give an interactive talk during which he will be asking many questions of members (warning: sit in the back). Some of the topics he will speak about are fishing with confidence, what to do when they are not biting, and appropriate equipment to catch smallmouth bass. Judging by the gear that can be seen on Steve’s 2-person Cataraft, which he has owned since 2003, it appears he knows what he’ll be talking about.

About Herschel

Herschel Finch has been a club member since 2003. He has been fishing the Shenandoah River since 1977, when he moved to the Valley after leaving the Navy. In those almost 40 years, Herschel has fished nearly the entire length of both forks and the main stem.

He’s gone thru all stages of fishing, from wading with live bait he caught himself, to Rooster Tail spinners, Rebel broken-backs, then plastics, jerk baits, spinners, fishing for muskie, and now… working on his fly-rod technique.

He built his own Pirogh once (a type of flat-bottomed swamp canoe) and destroyed it in 3 years on the rocky ledges we all love on the ‘Doah.

These days Herschel’s favorite baits vary as often as the season, temperature, water levels, and weather changes. He serves as the PRSC Conservation Chairman and is Pro Staff for Jackson Kayak, Bending Branches Paddles, and YakAttack Kayak Accessories. Come on out and pick his brain for fishing secrets.

Dave Hu, who serves as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) National Fisheries Biologist, will discuss “modernizing government fisheries programs; services provided; funding challenges; social perceptions; and maintaining local community relevance.” Dave is also a big supporter of the Fisheries for Veterans Project, which is an innovative service relationship using public lands fishing as a tool to encourage social, mentoring, and networking that emphasizes health and life cycle management and serves as a unique community driver connecting veterans and their families, local communities, government programs, and non-profit organizations.

• Where: McLean Community Center – Stedman Room, 1234 Ingleside Ave, McLean, VA 22101
• When: May 25, 2016 at 7:30 pm (doors open at 7:00 for socializing)

About David Hu

Dave Hu, who serves as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) National Fisheries Biologist, will speak to the PRSC meeting on May 25. Dave is responsible for BLM-wide fisheries program administration and staff support. He previously worked for the US Forest Service as a Fisheries Program Manager on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Vancouver, WA. Prior to that, Dave worked as a Habitat Restoration Coordinator for the USFWS Anadromous Fish Restoration Program up and down California’s Central Valley and previously in his home state with New Mexico Game and Fish working on cutthroat, native fish inventories, and fish museum collections.

Dave grew up in southern New Mexico fishing for catfish in the Rio Grande (when still flowing) and agricultural diversion ditches for carp and sunfish. Discovering the bait collecting power of a kitchen strainer taped onto the end of a broom handle, and that catfish can swim in a bathtub with a young boy sitting in it, just shows how tolerant Dave’s mom was of his young interest in fish and fishing.

Dave describes himself as a “spincast guy.” He uses flies, but hates fly rods. He prefers rubber jigs, spinners, and spoons. Dave loves to fish the shad run at Fletcher’s Boathouse. He does most of his fishing out of a kayak, mostly hitting the Triadelphia Reservoir in Maryland, which is near his home. He also spends quite a bit of time kayak fishing the Shenandoah near Front Royal, “and every state when I get out there on business.”

Asked to describe the state of fishing across the country, Dave responded: “Hmmn … wearing a national hat … the general state of sport fishing popularity continues to decline. Not a lot of recruitment of new generations fishing, a large reduction in retention, and fewer and fewer people are renewing licenses. However, a rising national trend right now is kayak fishing. General aquatic habitat and water quality continue to decline. Warm water/cool water fishing appears to be doing OK to good, and I expect will continue to expand and do better provided water quality is maintained. Very cold water fish are getting squeezed pretty good and are expected to crash and burn.”

Dave’s topic of choice will be to discuss “modernizing government fisheries programs; services provided; funding challenges; social perceptions; and maintaining local community relevance.” Dave is also a big supporter of the Fisheries for Veterans Project, which is an innovative service relationship using public lands fishing as a tool to encourage social, mentoring, and networking that emphasizes health and life cycle management and serves as a unique community driver connecting veterans and their families, local communities, government programs, and non-profit organizations.

The Fisheries for Veterans Project works to demonstrate that America’s public land resources provide: 1) recreational and social opportunities to fish; 2) educational and on the ground job training opportunities in public land resource management; and 3) rejuvenation, rehabilitation, and healing capacities for people, families, and communities. All Fisheries for Veterans Project activities are free of charge and open to all veterans, all veteran family members, of any disability, of any service campaign. We invite participation by any agency or anyone who wants to contribute to help make a difference.