Mild March weather is ideal for dry fly fishing on the Gunpowder. The warm temps hatch clouds of midges and send dark brown stoneflies skittering across the water’s surface. Trout are sipping the midges in the slower pools and whacking larger stoneflies used as searching patterns. Nymphing is still productive, but the surface action has really picked up for anglers willing to tie on some 7X-8X and cast tiny flies to sipping fish.

The rising trout tend to go into sporadic feeding cycles, and many fish can be seen hanging inches under the surface. Patience and hatch matching skills will be put to the test in these lower flows, but the fish are feeding on top! I rose over twenty fish on my most recent outing using a variety of small dries and stoneflies. I also filmed crawling stoneflies, hatching midges and egg laying midges, which returned to the water toward evening.