A week of unusually hot weather has changed water temps dramatically along the Gunpowder River. The air temps hovered in the 80s in Nothern Baltimore county all week, and the river is much warmer than two weeks ago. The cold spillover that slowed the fish’s metabolism all winter, is now warmer than the bottom release, which may jumpstart our hatches early. The past two weeks kept us busy guiding on the river, which allowed us to fish a variety of access points. On a number of trips we encountered brief periods of rising trout, and the clients enjoyed a break from the nymphing and streamer fishing. The streamers continue to be a sure bet, and one client this week landed a fifteen inch brown that had the brown pictured above beat by a solid three inches. The dry fly enthusiasts should get excited with the photo below, as this was the water temperature at 2 p.m. on Wednesday of this week.

The river flow leveled out today in the mid 130 CFs range and is crystal clear. The Didymo is still worse the closer you fish to the dam, although it can be seen floating down river at many access points. If the past two years are any indication of what to expect, we should see a “breaking up” phase where the algae dislodges from the bottom over the next weeks. In the next few weeks we should also see an increase in the number of mayflies already hatching sporadically along the river. Midge hatches are good now, and I filmed a foam line in a back eddy where the river had collected a number of small midges. I also noticed a small fish moving about and after a bit of watching, I confirmed it was a freshly hatched quarter-half inch brown trout fry. I began to look for more and found them in good numbers along the slow side of the river. I also turned over some rocks and included a nice brown in the latest video while “creekin” with my Scott Fibertouch Fly Rod.