The river is flowing at 72 Cfs, is clear, and is 58F. Tricos are still present in the flats from Falls Rd through Bunkerhill most mornings. Caddis in the #16 range have been peeling off by afternoon and are a sure bet in the riffles. Small streamers along undercut banks will produce fish. Be on the lookout for Wild Turkeys and Blue Winged Olives in the upper catch and release section of the Gunpowder River on cloudy, warm days. If you need a few we have some dynamite Hi-Vi Biot-Bodied, BWO Para-Spinners tied in Calicoon, NY by Mike Bachkosky that are worth a look–especially if you’re headed out West this time of year.You won’t find a beauty like this at Ocean City this weekend, so try your luck on the Gunpowder River…

Labor Day weekend hours:
Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 AM till 4:00 PM.
The shop will be open Labor Day from 10AM till 4PM

After some passing afternoon thundershowers this week, the Gunpowder river is low at 75 CFs, gin clear and 56 F. Walking across Bush Cabin run and down the trail littered with rain soaked ferns, I witnessed fresh raccoon prints in evidence and a lone box turtle shell that no longer held it’s owner. Along the riverbank, Monarch Butterflies gingerly jockeyed for posistion on tufts of Joe-Pye Weed, while bees dove into the pink masses of pollen. Songbirds were also doing their part, nervously flitting from treetop to treetop snapping at Tricos. The trout would have to wait a bit longer to breakfast. The river IS quiet this time of year, I saw more Gunpowder Guides on the river this morning than Herons and Kingfishers combined. I’m happy to report that they were all smiling.

As Summer wanes, I hope that you’ll find some time to make your way down to the river and do a little early morning Trico fishing. We’re now open at 8:00 AM on Saturdays and Sundays through August and have some beautiful reverse hackled and Trico spinner patterns in the muffin tins on the front counter. We’ll also have piping hot coffee and pastries from the Filling Station so stop on in if you get a chance. We have select discontinued Scott and St. Croix fly rods on sale and many used fly rods and reels from a local estate including rods from Sage, Thomas and Thomas, Scott and Orvis.

Related Video Post:
Tricos and a Great Blue Heron along the Gunpowder River

Thanks to Terry Newendorp for sharing this wonderful picture and stream report from the upper Colorado river. I’ve never seen a Rocky Mountain Brook trout quite like this…and it must hold true that new rods are lucky rods…

I was fishing with my nephew at ElkTrout Lodge, near Kremmeling, CO.
Lots of private water on the upper Colorado River and several
tributaries. One day we fished a ranch pond that they had occasional
access to. There were some big, beautiful rainbows in there and a few
nice, medium-size cutties. I was using my brand new 5wt Sage ZXL,
(from Backwater Angler) and sight-casting to these big, cruising fish in
absolutely crystal clear still water. Perfect fly placement was
required, or fish would spook and go hide in weeds. I saw the large
trout, couldn’t tell what kind, and cast a size 18 caddis about 18″ in
front of its nose, and it took it and then ran off into the weeds,
taking all 90′ of flyline with him. It was tricky as heck fighting the
fish and the weeds and hanging on to it on 6X tippet and size 18
barbless hook, but after about 15 minutes, there it was in my net, and
lo and behold, a fantastic 20-21″ brook trout!
Terry