The fishing on the Gunpowder has been productive in the past week. Anglers fishing in the mornings can expect to see fish sipping tricos in the flats and tailouts of riffles. With the weekday flows at 30cfs, the fishing has been technical. A stealthy approach is necessary in order to catch these finicky fish-12 foot 7x leaders are an absolute must for fishing these tiny flies. The water temperature is still in the mid 50s. With hot humid days in the upper 90s, alot of fisherman have been wet wading. When fishing the trico hatch, its important to correctly match the hatch. The fish generally start sipping emergers and duns in the beginning of the hatch. Towards the end of the hatch, the fish are almost entirely feeding on spinners. The hatch has been fairly prolific from the middle to upper sections of the catch and release water. Depending on the day, the hatch can start as early as 8 AM and end as late as 1 PM. I like to get to the river early and nymph for an hour or so before the hatch gets going. A size # 16 bead head hares ear nymph with a size # 20 or 22 pheasant tail dropper has picked up lots of fish. You’ll find most of the browns will fall for the smaller pheasant tail dropper which imitates a trico nymph. Small black zebra midges and WD 40s in size 22 have also been producing. During the hatch, black RS2’s and Mike Bachkosky’s trico dun patterns are my go to flies.

Later in the day, it’s best to fish terrestrials such as ants and beetles through riffles and tight to the banks. Hoppers have been moving lots of fish for me lately. In the deeper pools I like to really splat the water in order to gain the fish’s attention. Greenie weenies and san juan worms are also effective flies this time of the year. Stay patient on the water and be ready for picky fish. A lot of the fish I have caught lately have refused the first three patterns I’ve tried. It takes skill to fool these fish and a lot of times all they need to see is something a little different.