Andrew, I have no problem being corrected when needed! I was basing the ID on a Fish of Fairfax County poster I stumbled upon, it just seemed a closer fit: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicworks/sites/publicworks/files/assets/documents/pdf/fishes-of-fairfax.pdf
I keep hearing anecdotes of warmouth but can't say for sure I've ever seen one. I grew up in southern PG and caught some amazing and unique sunfish out of Henson Creek in the vicinity of Tucker Road Pond; they had striking color bands and were thicker in the body than any other local known variety. A classmate of mine who now guides on the Potomac said he stocked warmouth in the creek that he'd collected down south. So who knows? Hybrids?
Some years ago I found fish survey results for sections of Difficult Run, that would provide a baseline of known species and prevalence. I could not find it Sunday after an hour of searching. I was happy with 5 species in 20 minutes of casting last Sunday, ready to do more.
Odd you mention brook trout - I live on a small way upper tributary and ran into an older couple hiking in two weeks back, and the guy mentioned the rumored existence of brook trout there. I'd previously never heard this said of Difficult Run. I have seined a number of times and never saw one. I did discover a wonderful population of rosyside dace, a rare (in this area) brightly colored minnow, along with the very common blacknose dace, tessellated darter, and small creek chubs. The upper stretches are fairly degraded from erosion, not sure they hold water cool enough in the summer for brookies. I wish we had sustaining beaver populations as I think the streams would run fuller year round as beaver ponds replenish ground water.
Here's a pic of the unidentified shiner. 
On Tue, Apr 17, 2018 at 1:57 PM, Andrew Sarcinello <andysarce@gmail.com> wrote:
I'll be "that guy" and say the fish pictured is a creek chub, not river chub, but interesting post regardless. I haven't fished the area you are thinking about trying, but a lot of the streams around there - especially Colvin Run below the lake - are absolutely loaded with sunnies. Actually caught a warmouth there once, which was a species I'd never caught before - these little creeks can be a lot of fun. I tried the part of Difficult Run once where it goes down the gorge to the river. Didn't fish too much of that section but I didn't find many fish of any kind, so it's good to hear that fish are doing well upstream.--Interesting side note: I recently read somewhere that one of the headwater branches of Difficult Run was the last place in Fairfax County to hold a self-sustaining population of brook trout. I think they disappeared permanently sometime in the 1970's or 80s.
On Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at 11:22:34 AM UTC-4, Tom Moran wrote:Is a thread last posted in 6 years too long ago to be worth resurrecting?Last Sunday I just had to get out so I grabbed my ultralight spinning rod and drove to where Vale Road crosses Difficult Run (5 minutes from home), and hiked downstream. I probably fished for a total of 20 minutes (but walked over an hour round trip) but caught 11 fish in all. 7 redbreast sunnies, 1 green sunny, 1 largemouth bass, 1 river chub and a very courageous shiner of specific species unknown. There were some fish in most pools though population for a stream of that size is fair at best. The redbreast and bass were all around 5-6". I had one bass about 12" chase the Panther Martin spinner and bump it but wasn't hooked.Next weekend I'm going to try to get out either Friday afternoon or Saturday morning with my 3 wt 6.5' flyrod and explore the Tamarack Park area, which is between the W&OD trail and the Dulles Toll Road. It's a beefy park with a lot of public land and I'm looking forward to floating dries over the many roots and stick piles in most bends. I also keep native fish in aquaria and the 5 species were fun to catch and see. The river chub was really pretty. I may throw a really small bead head fly to see if I can find more shiner species. Satinfins exist in the stream and are gorgeous when in spawning tumescence (is that the right word?)Has anyone tried that section before?
On Friday, January 15, 2010 at 2:10:34 PM UTC-5, AChew wrote:Hey Guys,I went hiking last week around Difficult Run and Great Falls. Does
anyone know if there are fish in the stream during warmer weather? I
parked in the Difficult Run parking lot off of Georgetown Pike less
than a mile SE of Old Dominion Drive. I hiked upstream a bit and it
looked like it could be promising once the water warms up.Thanks,
Allen
http://www.tpfr.org
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