June Fly Fishing On The Gunpowder River

Riffles and Fog
Summer hasn’t officially arrived in Baltimore County, but we got a taste of the heat this past week. Fortunately the recent gate changes and increased flows from Prettyboy Dam have dropped water temperatures 8-10 degrees. In the upper miles the water temperature is a chilly 52 degrees, although a few miles downriver may see temps reach 55 degrees. Yesterday the water was well below 60 degrees at Montkon, and was only 62 degrees as far down as Glencoe Rd. The Gunpowder has miles of fishable water, flows in the 82 CFs range and sections offering a variety of water holding wild trout. Recent trips and days fishing in the upper sections yielded trout on caddis and BWOs, while nymphing is always a great trout catching technique. Terrestrials are starting to get the attention of trout along the shoreline. Earlier this week I noticed a lot of brown trout were holding just off the banks, inches under the surface. These browns are looking for a meal to fall off nearby branches, and can be fooled with an ant, flying ant or beetle pattern. In the latest video post I shot some footage of a typical brown caught on a caddis, and one brown I filmed hovering under the surface. The rest of the video includes some footage Max and I shot yesterday while floating the Gunpowder. We nymphed some deep riffles, but mainly threw streamers and caught wild browns and holdover rainbows. We didn’t land any large trout, but the action was great early in the day. We had cool air coming off the river, nice weather and the added bonus of never seeing another angler, boater or tuber all day.