You heard it here first folks… Tuesday DNR stocked the section between Falls Rd. and Prettyboy Dam with Rainbows.
The river is in great shape and Jeff Lewatowski, just back from a guide trip this morning, reported some 12″ -16″ Browns taking Cicadas. It’s certainly hot enough for consistent Spinner Falls the next few evenings-get out and fish, and stay tuned for more info.
These fishing reports were to good to keep to myself…Thanks to Russ and Greg for submitting them for all to enjoy.
Theaux,
Hit the GP at Monkton Rd. on Saturday night. The night started out with a few fish taken in the tailouts with a partridge and green off a size 16 brown caddis. At about 7:00 pm, the supher (duns) really started to become active. I brought a few more to net on a # parachute sulpher pattern. At 9:00 I landed my last fish. I was standing underneath a big open pool and had spotted a few fish sipping spinners. I put on a #16 rusty spinner on a 6X tippet. First cast, my fly gets sucked down. When I set the hook, I could immediately tell the fish had shoulders. By the time I brought it to net, I could see that is was a 17 inch brown. Beautiful fish, even though it was pretty dark at that point, with a nice full belly.
Russ Weber
Theaux, here’s my report!
Sunday evening I hit the Gunpowder at north Bunker Hill from 5:00 pm until 6:30 pm. There were a few scattered clouds, no wind, air temp in town around 87 degrees and humid but on the river, 79 degrees. The water temp was in the high 50’s. Only saw an occasional rise but there was a nice sulphur hatch coming off and there seemed to be a fish in front of or behind every spot they should have been. I managed to hook and land 10 nice browns. Eight were caught on a size 18 trailing CDC emerger. One was caught on a size 16 elk hair caddis and the other one was on a size 14-parachute sulphur. I missed a number of other strikes. Most of the fish were in the 6” to 10” range but one was a nice 13 – 14”. Best short day of fishing on the Gunpowder for me in the 11 months I been in the Baltimore area. Almost reminded me of fishing the Yakima. Used my Sage center axis 2-weight rod, 12-foot 7X leader.
Greg Moore
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What a beautiful noise… just think about how much weight those Browns will put on in the next few weeks. Water temp is 59 F and the river is nice and clear and at a great level for wading. Our Cicada patterns have been working great. Let me tell you about the Sulphurs.
Sulphurs and Caddis #14-16 have been coming off sporadically throughout the day with the greatest activity from 3 PM on. If you’re thinking about leaving early from work you are not alone. We’ve found alot of fish this week in skinny riffles with soft hackles and emergers from mid-morning till afternoon . Want to fish easy? Tie on a #14 pheasant tail behind a Cicada pattern for a 17 year Dropper Rig.
Caddis and Sulphurs are making for some great fishing out there.Water is in great shape and the temp is 56 F. We escaped most of the rain that muddied up other streams in the area last night. I’ve had more people in the shop reporting catches of 10-16 inch fish than at any other time I can remember. Most of the fish are taking Sulphurs sized #14-16. Emergers have been very important and we have some great wets flies in the shop that work great in the riffles between hatches.
You heard it here first folks, we’re seeing a few Sulphurs now and Cicadas have been spotted in Stevensonville.
Be sure to pick up some of Mike Bachosky’s Sulphur patterns-his Unusual is a great pattern and should not be ignored. Water level is suberb and conditions are super. Get out of the yard and go fishing this weekend. Best, Theaux
Enough about baseball… If you really want to blow a few hours outside go fishing this weekend. The river is at 167 CFs, 56 F and is clear.Following are several recent reports from anglers who were kind enough to share their views on the river.
“Dear Backwater Angler, Just wanted to drop you guys a line of thanks for all your help and advice last Friday. Even though I only got to fish for about three hours during (arguably) the toughest part of the day, I still managed to land a few wild browns and thoroughly enjoy myself on the Gunpowder. I can’t emphasize how lucky you guys are to have a stretch of water of that caliber only steps from your shop. Trust me, all I have is the L.A. River and the only thing I can consistently catch out of there are what I call “silvers”, but the rest of the world calls “abandoned shopping carts”. Thanks again for all the help, it was great to shoot the breeze and get some local knowledge. See you guys in July (hopefully), and good luck with the cicadas next week”. James Young
Message: Friday, 5:00 to 7:00 pm, about 300 feet below Bunkerhill – standing in the middle of the stream, casting to rising trout EVERYWHERE around me – some within 3 feet. Browns coming completely out of the water, slashing something I couldn’t see and definitely couldn’t match.I used a 12 ft leader, then a 15 ft leader – 5x, then 6x. I offered drys, wets, nymphs in three or four different types of bugs, large, small and smaller. I got exactly two fierce slashing takes and one rod bending yank – but never had a fish on that I could actually see. > > It was a great afternoon fishing in perfect weather. Driving out, I stopped at Masemore and saw the same action – a little slower but the browns were still coming completely out of the water. What a day! Hal MetCalf
Dear Hal, Thanks for the report.The fishing has been tough lately and small soft hackles have been putting quite a few smiles on anglers’ faces. Best, Theaux
The river is falling from 180Cfs, is 56 F and slightly off-color below Bluemount, clearing upstream towards Masemore and Falls. Lots of 10″ to 16″ fish have been reported this week. The river level should drop through the next few days and should provide excellent fishing.Most of the larger fish have been caught on Olive or Black streamers sized #6-10. If you’d like to try a few terrestrials on warmer days, seek out shaded banks with undercuts from Masemore through York Rd. A Griffith’s Gnat or ICSI midge in a #20-22 is still hard to beat in the quiet pools and backeddies.