Trout rising to insects is a common sight on the Gunpowder this time of year. Midge, caddis and mayfly hatches during the course of the day keep the trout looking to the surface for a meal. The sulphur hatch is one that tends to send the trout airborne after emerging duns, and seeing trout flying out of the water isn’t unusual. Many reports from anglers this week mentioned fish rising and leaping out of the water along the Gunpowder. I’ve seen this occurring in just about every stretch of river in the afternoon when the sulphurs start hatching. Throw in a midge hatch and intermittent egg-laying caddis toward dark, and the fishing gets interesting. A few anglers relayed that despite the aggressively feeding trout, they found it challenging to get the fish to notice their fly, amongst the naturals. I witnessed a unique sight, where a dozen trout took to the air repeatedly. The fish were consistently leaping two and three at a time for twenty to thirty minutes. The fish were so keyed in on a specific stage of a hatching insect, that it was a better situation to film than to fish. In the latest video post I filmed a dozen three to ten inch browns flying a foot or more out of the water. The brown below took a streamer, so a bigger fly is a good way to get the trout’s attention amidst the hatching insects.
