Monthly Archives: March 2004

Can you here the peepers?

Spring is coming…Blue Quills, Hendricksons, Blue Winged Olives and Early Brown Stoneflies were coming off through the weekend.

As the rains come in this week we should see less fishing pressure and more fish working. The water temp is 44 F and the stream is nice and clear at around 120 Cfs. Stretches between Falls Rd and York Rd have been producing great hatch activity. CDC Red Quill Biots patterns that imitate the Hendricksons have been very effective.These are flies that one can easily see on the water, (in a #12-16) and will float nice and high with the help of a little dry shake.

Capt. Jeff Becker in the shop this Saturday

Jeff Becker is a Long Island guide that chases, “snarling blobs of Albies” during the Fall. The shop has another week booked with Capt. Jeff this Fall. He’ll be in the shop from 10 till 4 Pm tomorrow tying some pretty epoxy flies for those tough fish. Jeff has recently appeared on a reel guys segment on ESPN2 and has had his flies featured in The Art of Angling Journal and Sal*****er Fly Fishing.

Note: Capt. Jeff Becker is also on the Scott advisory staff and will be talking about gear, the fishery and the swan dive I took off of his stern into Long Island Sound two years ago…the story keeps getting better.

Crazy Dry Fly Action…

I experienced “crazy dry fly action” in the catch and release section of the Gunpowder yesterday.Renegades, Bwo’s and Stoneflies were working just fine and the fish rose steadily all day until the wind picked up around 4:00 PM.With warmer weather coming find a way to get up to the river and fish. Leaders should be 10 feet long or better ending in 6x. Most of the flies I used yesterday were #14-16-big enough to see and a pleasure to fish.

Note: Try a renegade or griffiths behind a stonefly as a dropper and don’t forget the dry shake.

The calendar says Spring is coming…

Believe HON,

Spring is coming. Water temps in the mid-40’s have helped move those stoneflies from nymphs to winged things-Most of the fish have been keying in on Early brown stones in a #14. This week, woolly buggers have been especially productive and have accounted for some larger fish. Falls Rd. down through Bunkerhill are still your best bet for catching them on dries.

Weekend Plans…

With snow out of the forecast for a while, I’d make weekend plans to fish the Gunpowder. Flow is the nicest we’ve seen in a while at ~160 Cfs and the water temp has been climbing into the mid 40’s. Little black and early brown stoneflies have been tricking lots of fish lately between Falls Rd and Bunkerhill Rd. A renegade, big griffith’s gnat or a bivisible are essential early Spring patterns-don’t leave home without them.

Winston Boron IIX 4 Piece Rods Review

The following is a review of the Winston Boron IIX 4 Piece Rod by Michael Maas. Thanks Michael!

I just purchased the Winston Boron IIx so I can only offer my first impressions on the rod. The first thing that I noticed about the Winston Boron IIx was the weight, or rather the lack thereof — the 8 wt weighs less than my trout rods. However, despite being incredibly light, this rod does not sacrifice backbone, being able to handle a tremendous amount of line with very little effort. Even long casts with a heavy bass bug were made with very little difficulty, despite the fact that the bass pond where I first cast the rod had a shoreline overgrown with tall weeds and short bushes necessitating that I cast with the rod shoulder high. Normally with an eight weight I would find this to be a little fatiguing after while, however because of the lightness of the rod and the fact that I just didn’t have to put as much in forecast as I do with other rods, I found that I could make repeated casts without muscle fatiguing. This is a very fast rod, however it doesn’t feel stiff or insensitive when casting. If you’re looking for a new rod the Boron IIx is definitely worth a test cast.

Michael Maas

Stoneflies a buzzin…

The water is in great shape and the warm weather has really turned things around.Following are a few tales from anglers fishing the catch and release section for your enjoyment.

From Bill,

“There were quite a few large brown stoneflies on the water, but the fish were being real selective.I managed to land six fish skating a #14 versionof the pattern I gave you,including a nice 13 incher…

From Scott,

Hi guys. Fished today with a quill winged stonefly (dark wing, brown hackle) and knocked ’em dead. Stoneflies were coming off in large numbers from 12 until 2. Dry fly fishing as good as the sulphur hatch – but in early March…

From Doug,

I stopped at Masemore around 11:00 am and the midges were on the rise and the trout were everywhere.I had an 11:30 lunch appointment in Hunt Valley (Don’t leave Rising Trout). I went back at 1:30 pm and most of the fish were down, though they did rise to the occasional stone fly…

With reports like this coming in, shame on you if you’ve been watching TV.

Note: We just had two more guys come in the shop that caught’em on dries.

Stoneflies anyone?

Where are they?
Was the most asked question in the shop this weekend. Water temps were still on the low side of 40 F and Falls Rd. through Masemore was very busy by mid-morning and some early birds were off the water by 10:30 or so. Fish are still midging and a cream cdc midge emerger in a #20 or #22 behind a #14 stonefly is still my pick. If the water warms up through the week, try those stones again in the riffles and sunny flats. In the morning, start out with a #16 bead head prince or zug bug before switching to a dry. With rain on the way, a wooly bugger or san juan dead-drifted along the deadfalls and logjams is a sure bet.

Note: When fishing two flies in tandem pinch the barbs down on both or bad things will happen…