Fletcher's Cove (earlier and still colloquially, Fletcher's Boathouse) is a park and recreation area owned and managed by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

in The Palisades neighborhood of

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Located at 4940 Canal Road between the

Chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

and Key Bridges, it is part of

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park is located in the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland. The park was established in 1961 as a National Monument by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to preserve the neglected remains o ...

. Fishing enthusiasts visit Fletcher's Cove for the spring run of

shad The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family (biology), family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species. The shads are Pelagic fish, pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadr ...

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

, and

rockfish Rockfish is a common term for several species of fish, referring to their tendency to hide among rocks. The name rockfish is used for many kinds of fish used for food. This common name belongs to several groups that are not closely related, and ca ...

. Others come to boat on the Potomac River and bike, hike, and run the

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the Grand Old Ditch, operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C., and Cumberland, Maryland. It replaced the Patowmack Canal ...

and other trails along the river. Fletcher's rents rowboats, canoes, kayaks, bikes, and paddle boards.

History

Sometime before or after the American Civil War, the Fletcher family established a fishing and boat rental shop on a cove of the Potomac River upstream from the then-city limits of Washington, D.C., between the river and the

.Fletcher Family's Potomac Journey Nears an End; Brothers Retiring From Boat House That's Anchored Tradition for a Century: INAL EditionPhillips, Angus. ''The Washington Post''; 5 Nov 2004: A.01Fletcher's Cove Boathouse
"Potomac River Fishing Reports."
/ref> The nearby Abner Cloud House, built in 1802, is the oldest building on the canal. The family ran the Fletcher's Boathouse for four generations. Proprietors included Julius Fletcher (1950-1978) and his Fletcher's sons, Ray and Joe (1979-2004). Ray and Joe operated the business under contract as a

concessionaire before retiring in 2004. "Those spring runs are the heart of Fletcher's trade. Fishing starts in mid- to late-March, when hordes of white perch move upriver from deep holes downstream where they wintered. The perch, loaded with roe, seek fast, fresh water at the top of the tidal reach where their eggs hatch best. Next come shad and herring, bright from the sea and heavy with roe. Generations of Marylanders and Virginians have converged on the Potomac around Fletcher's each spring to dip-net herring and shad, extract the roe and salt-cure the flesh, though the practice has declined in the last 25 years. Finally, the river in late April and into May teems with spawning striped bass, locally known as rockfish, which attract another wave of anglers keen to catch a trophy up to 50 pounds", said Joe Fletcher in 2004. Guest Services Incorporated took over the operations, which included the rental of boats and bicycles and the sale of bait and other fishing items. The area surrounding the boathouse was officially named Fletcher's Cove.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Fletcher's Cove Boathouse - official site

Fletcher's Cove parkrun
Parks in Washington, D.C. The Palisades (Washington, D.C.) Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park