District Angling
When asked how Richard Farino, owner of District Angling, got into fly fishing, he answers, “a local tackle shop” in his native Bronx. What started as fishing in Central Park morphed into studying marine biology and the interest in fly-fishing stuck. Fast forward to December 2017, and Richard opened his own shop out of necessity — not his, but for the area. Farino recognized there were very few fly fishing shops in the area and with his 15+ years of experience in the field, he knew enough about the business to bring a presence back to Arlington.
Situated in quaint Cherrydale along Langston Boulevard (formerly Lee Highway), District Angling feels like it has always been there with its industrial black ceiling, faux brick wall and wide-plank floor. The store sells rods, reels, handmade flies and clothing. All the flies are hand-tied with many natural products as well as synthetic ones. Tip: check out their fly-tying seminars starting in September.
Richard says all walks of life come through the door such as “… lawyers, doctors, painters and mechanics. But in my shop, everyone is equal and on a level playing field.” It’s not your conventional tackle fly shop. Customers are loyal and will stick around to talk about fishing over coffee. As Richard puts it, “loitering is encouraged here.” With staff members that are all fishing junkies, they’re eager to talk about products, methods and other fishing topics. During the summer, they host Beer Fridays (beer donated from local breweries) and Richard grills half smokes from Ben’s Chili Bowl. In December, he’s planning a group trip to New Orleans.
When asked about favorite fishing spots, Farino was tight-lipped except for offering up a spot called ”No Tellum Creek.” Surprisingly there are several great spots in Arlington such as Pentagon Lagoon, Gravelly Point, Roaches Run and Four Mile Run near the Wastewater Treatment Plant — even a small pond along the Custis Trail very close to the store. A pleasant surprise is his older client base is getting to these destinations car free by cycling. They’re finding it easier to access their fishing spots on foot or bike than by vehicle.
Learn how to get car free to District Angling
District Angling
2105 N. Pollard St.
Arlington, VA 22207
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Arlington’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Counters
Bikes counted
View Counter Data- 110 Trail
- 444
- 14th Street Bridge
- 1270
- Arlington Mill Trail
- 226
- Ballston Connector
- 0
- Bluemont Connector
- 228
- CC Connector
- 386
- Clarendon EB bike lane
- 229
- Custis Bon Air Park
- 593
- Custis Rosslyn
- 901
- Eads NB
- 85
- Eads SB
- 113
- Fairfax EB bike lane
- 110
- Fairfax WB
- 123
- Joyce St NB
- 54
- Joyce St SB
- 0
- Key Bridge East
- 928
- Key Bridge West
- 690
- Military NB bike lane
- 26
- Military SB bike lane
- 36
- MVT Airport South
- 1098
- Quincy NB bike lane
- 95
- Quincy SB bike lane
- 117
- Roosevelt Bridge
- 351
- Rosslyn Bikeometer
- 826
- TR Island Bridge
- 638
- WOD Bon Air Park
- 0
- WOD Bon Air West
- 878
- WOD Columbia Pike
- 542
- Wilson WB bike lane
- 171
Peds counted
View Counter Data- 110 Trail
- 156
- 14th Street Bridge
- 191
- Arlington Mill Trail
- 664
- Ballston Connector
- 891
- Bluemont Connector
- 851
- CC Connector
- 370
- Custis Bon Air Park
- 491
- Custis Rosslyn
- 518
- Eads NB
- 0
- Eads SB
- 0
- Fairfax WB
- 0
- Joyce St NB
- 37
- Joyce St SB
- 0
- Key Bridge East
- 1954
- Key Bridge West
- 609
- MVT Airport South
- 259
- Roosevelt Bridge
- 173
- TR Island Bridge
- 768
- WOD Bon Air Park
- 0
- WOD Bon Air West
- 646
- WOD Columbia Pike
- 436
All counters, YTD
View Counter Data- Year to Date
- 6219419