VB.NET Checking if a File is Open before proceeding with a Read/Write?

Is there a method to verify that a file is open? The only thing I can think of is the Try/Catch to see if i can catch the file-open exception but I figured that a method be available to return true/false if file is open.

Currently using System.IO and the following code under class named Wallet.

    Private holdPath As String = "defaultLog.txt"
    Private _file As New FileStream(holdPath, FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.ReadWrite)
    Private file As New StreamWriter(_file)

    Public Function Check(ByVal CheckNumber As Integer, ByVal CheckAmount As Decimal) As Decimal
        Try
            file.WriteLine("testing")
            file.Close()
        Catch e As IOException
          'Note sure if this is the proper way.
        End Try

        Return 0D
    End Function

Any pointers will be appreciated! Thank you!!