Thanks to Chris and Scott for the following reports:

Dear Backwater,
Just a quick report on the Shad Run—we have been fishing near the pumping station at Susquehanna State park each evening this week to enjoy the incredible shad run that is at its peak. Each of us caught at least two dozen fish last night using small weighted streamer patterns in chartreuse and yellow. Fish were often caught on the swing through deep pools.
Enjoy it while it lasts
Chris Karwacki

Hi Jason and Theaux,
Thanks for the shad flies! They did the trick yesterday up on the Gunpowder above Rte 40. The fish seemed to like the red/pink ones and also some yellow flies I had in my box. There were still plenty of fish heading up the river to spawn. I hope it lasts a little longer so that I can get out again.
Great job on the Hendrickson video. I learned a lot from it
Take care,
Scott

Afte two to four inches of rain locally the Gunpowder River is dropping from a high of 641 CFs on Friday, the 27th, to a much more manageable 356 Cfs today. By mid-afternoon the river will be dropping just below 300 CFS, and by Sunday the river should be in the low 200’s-as long as we don’t get any more rain this evening. When the river is falling, large wild brown trout start eating their bretheren, so try small, sparsely dressed streamers along log jams and cut banks. The river is clear above Masemore Rd., so soft hackles in the #10-12 range and large bead head nymphs should work fine in riffles. Hendricksons have been present in the evening, followed by concentrated spinner falls towards dark.

During the spinner fall, dun and spinner imitations that are tied with egg sacks will be more effective than standard patterns. Remember that Caddis are just around the corner, so try a few small elk hair or traditional soft hackles this week between hatches.

The river is falling from 152 Cfs and will be in excellent shape for the weekend, water temps are still cool at 51 F. No word on Caddis yet but they’re close to popping, so we might not need to wait till mothers day as long as things continue to warm up a bit.This afternoon a young man stopped in the shop to report that there were, “lots of rising fish at Masemore”. It’s very likely that he was seeing fish taking spinners this afternoon, (picture by Jason du Pont below)

Riffles can be very productive during this hatch. We also had a number of anglers in today that thought Blue Quills might be the ticket. Soft hackles and loop winged emergers are a safe bet in the morning and by mid-day consider switching to a Hendrickson in a #14-16. If you see a few larger mayflies in the #10-12 range out there, try a Quill Gordon or March Brown for the heck of it. Historically we have not had as varied a mayfly population on the Gunpowder as compared to streams in South Central Pennsylvania, but we have seen a slight increase in OTF, (Other than Sulphur) patterns on the river since the Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources and the City of Baltimore have been able to manage water temperature and flow to a higher degree in the past few years. –Plus it’s fun to fish classic mayfly patterns, and it’s about time we all cast to some rising fish. This weekend, the yard will have to wait-go flyfishing on the Gunpowder!