Fall Fishing on the Gunpowder River, Maryland

Half In release
The trees are turning various shades of oranges, yellows and golds along the river. Many leaves have already dropped, so the leaf-hook up ratio isn’t too bad. The water is low, clear and in the fifty degree range, fluctuating from cold nights and warmer day time temps. Aside from leaves crunching underfoot, the Gunpowder State Park is quiet and a perfect place to wet a line in solitude along seventeen miles of trout water. Fishing the river at these low levels has been productive for anglers using stealth, long thin leaders and small dry flies. Move slowly, wear drab colors, and use polarized glasses to spot and cast to fish in the shallows.  Avoid wading too deep or down river to improve your chances of not spooking the wild browns. Tricos are beginning to be outnumbered by Olives in the mornings, and afternoons on cloudy, rainy days. Reports from customers and guides confirm that the Olives extend through the C & R area, and I have seen the clouds myself at York, Bunkerhill, Masemore and Falls Rd.  This hatch is frequently overlooked or mistaken for a midge hatch, as many of these mayflies range in size from 22-26, although the fish have been eating larger patterns.  The browns are sporadically rising to the olives early in the flat water, and are quite selective, so consider small caddis patterns or olives around riffles and pocketwater. Midges, caddis and brown stoneflies are also hatching in small numbers, in isolated pockets along the river.