Graves Mountain Trout Fishing

This April, Troop 581 headed back to Graves Mountain Lodge located in Syria, VA for a weekend of trout fishing. Trout fishing at Graves Mountain Lodge is an annual tradition for the troop. It’s so popular that every other year, Troop 581 hosts the Trout-O-Ree welcoming Scouts from the Prince William and surrounding districts. This year, however, it was just a troop event but was still pretty epic. In typical fashion, 36 Scouts and 17 adults mustered on Friday evening and made it to Graves Mountain in time to set up camp and prepare for a full day of fishing. The campsite was set in an open field near the confluence of the Rose and Robinson Rivers, a perfect location for fishing.

The troop set up camp in the open horse field

After a quick breakfast, it was time to fish. Scouts had the option to fish in the river or at the local pond that is stocked with trout. Both provided ample opportunities to land a rainbow trout and dozens of fish were caught. But there was no tossing back fish this weekend. After a quick demonstration, Scouts cleaned and cooked their trout for the evening meal.

For a challenge, Scouts and leaders could try to catch trout from the recently stocked rivers

There was also a stocked pond to try out

By the following week, that fish was “this big”

No tossing back fish here. Scouts learn to clean their trout and prepare for cooking

Cleaning trout is a quickly learned skill

Fillet of trout, breaded and ready for the pan

And to make the trip even more epic, some Scouts and adults had the opportunity to take a break from fishing and go horseback riding on Saturday afternoon. Once equipped with safety equipment and paired with a horse, the group took a guided hour-long ride through the local countryside.