The Gunpowder river is flowing at 668 CFs and is dropping. A full reservoir, coupled with 19″ of snow from the last storm, and a warm and rainy Christmas weekend in the Hereford Zone, pushed the river up to 1, 070 CFs last night. An angler who stopped in the shop yesterday at 8 AM tried his luck at Masemore until a tree floated past him. Typically, flows below 275 Cfs are more reasonable for fly fishing the Gunpowder but even at those levels one should limit wading and use the excellent trail network to get around the river. If pitching streamers from the bank is your idea of fun, (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it) wait until midweek and cast but don’t wade among the logs from Masemore through Bunkerhill with Smallmouth sized streamers-think Clousers and Lite-Bright Zonkers under a large strike indicator. With plenty of Winter fishing ahead, stop in and pick up some Chota ThinSkin neoprene gloves and a Filson wool stocking cap while the water receedes. More snow is in the forecast for New Years. If you have a youngster at home next weekend, after they shovel the walk, have ’em try a snow experiment before they pull the sled out of the garage.

The Gunpowder River flow increased to over 600 CFs midweek at the Falls Road gauge, when warm air and rainfall melted the snow that fell the previous week. Once the river flows dropped below 400 CFs, I spent some time nymphing and swinging streamers Thursday. A combination of cold night air and spillover dropped river temps into the 40s, but browns were still eating a variety of patterns. The increase in flow and colder water required deep, slow drifts for nymphing. The takes were really subtle, so using a Thingamabobber, and extra weight on the line helped detect these strikes. The trout preferred big or small flies, either a size 22 or a size 8 nymph pattern fooled a few fish. Streamers were still getting chases and swipes, but the fish were a bit more sluggish and preferred a less erratic, slower swing. A larger streamer required a bit more determination and patience than nymphing to get results, but produced one nice brown trout.

The flows at the Falls Road gauge leveled out at 173 CFs this morning, but higher flows from today’s heavy rains should be expected. A variety of patterns in the muffin tins on the counter produced for anglers sending in recent fishing reports from the previous days of higher flows. Reports from anglers nymph fishing ranged from just a few fish, to over ten fish in a few hours, and not many skunkings. Dry fly enthusiasts reported feast or famine, as far as locating and timing a hatch to the warmer hours of the day. The fluctuating flows, and effects from night and day time air temperatures can certainly make the fish sluggish, but it can also get them feeding. The best way to truly determine how active the fish will be is to suit up for a few hours, versus dissecting the forecast. On Monday of last week, I was surprised by a hook up on my biggest brown in years, on a cold day when I expected just to get outside for a few hours. The huge brown threw the hook after it provided fifteen seconds worth of excitement for me and a shop regular who watched the scene play out from the bank. One brown trout that size on the line and mid thirty degree air temps, high flows and rain suddenly have less bearing on whether to fish or stay at home tying flies. I know where I’ll be this coming week.

The first snow storm of the year dropped three to four inches in the Hereford/Monkton area yesterday morning through late last night. Anglers braved the snow storm yesterday, and a number of reports included rising trout and empty parking lots at river accesses. Today the bright sun is melting the snow on the roads and trees, so river flows may increase over the next few days. A number of cars were parked along the Masemore stretch this morning, yet no anglers in sight at the bridge above. This week a good olive hatch had trout feeding on the surface on the tiny mayflies, and many anglers reported extremely active, but selective fish. On Friday while guiding during a short olive hatch we picked off rising trout, moving less than a hundred feet in two hours before the hatch ended. One of the trout caught later in the day was a small brook trout, the second one I’ve seen this week. I caught the brookie below on Thursday while nymphing a BWO emerger I tied. A variety of nymph, emerger and olive dun patterns in the shop have proven effective for anglers this week. The dry fly activity can be short or sporadic, but only a few bugs on the water will bring the trout to the surface. Winter weather has arrived, but the fishing opportunities will continue through the season.

The Gunpowder River is flowing at 96 Cfs is clear and 50 F. Fish are still taking dries from Bunkerhill Rd. through Falls Rd. access points. Blue Winged Olive mayflies and small grey midges sized #18-22 have also been tricking a few rainbows. Be sure to bring along some gloves if you’re planning on doing some early morning nymphing. Alex and Max were both fishing the Gunpowder over the holiday break and reported good fishing with dries and streamers and relatively few anglers along most stretches of the river. Large stoneflies, like the one pictured above, can be imitated by using large Copper Johns rigged with plenty of shot and a large indicator. This setup allows one to cover the slots and runs and to fish deep through the boulder pools in search of Moby trout.