The Gunpowder River flow climbed into the 600 CFs range over the weekend. A release was made to stop the hot spillover, which began after a thunder storm produced heavy rains. The water temp rose into the low seventies, but quickly dropped when the valve was opened. Flows are now back to a normal 103 CFs, and a chilly 50 degrees. Sulphurs and caddis are still bringing fish to the surface, and small nymphs will work when the hatch slows. A black Zonker worked well for me on the Gunpowder, as the flow dropped yesterday evening. A few days ago I decided to try my luck on a small stream, and happened onto some decent sized brook trout. Hiking a few miles away it switched over to primarily smallmouth and largemouth bass. The fish were smaller in this stream, but still eager to hit a good sized streamer. I covered a lot of ground and the water was surprisingly cold despite hundred degree days earlier in the week. The bass were fun for a while, but I relocated to still water with a lot of carp, which were quite a challenge. In the clear water the fish were ultra selective about taking my nymph, but I finally connected with a small one. The Scott G2 four weight got quite a bend in it, as this fish refused to budge. Numerous carp pushing ten pounds had me rethinking my plans, since a three pounder was tough to turn on such a light rod.
The day took an interesting turn when I was leaving for home. I bushwhacked through some brush toward the gurgle of falling water. A small water fall made by this tiny stream was the only give away it existed, since the flowing stream emptied into swampy marsh. I walked up a few hundred feet, and after feeling the cool breeze coming off the water, took a water temp in the high fifties. The stream shielded from the heat by the canopy of the trees, and obviously fed by cold water, looked perfect for brook trout. I dapped the streamer in a bathtub size pool. A few small shapes darted out from under the rock for the big fly. A switch to a small pheasant tail quickly produced a brook trout. I didn’t have my small stream rod, but the 9 foot rod allowed me to hang back, and dap nymphs in each sink to bathtub sized pool. Twenty five minutes later and my total landed was 9 small brook trout. These native trout had vivid markings, and the unbridled aggression of trout living in such small waters. The thick ferns, heavy shade and damp environment created a micro climate that dropped the air temp a few degrees. Each bend in the stream lured me to explore farther and farther up this creek. Once the water shrank and divided, I knew it was time to turn around. The latest video post features an interesting day, which started and ended with native brook trout, and a mix of bass, browns and carp.

There are many warm water fishing options in Central Maryland during the Summer months. Anglers can fish large reservoirs, ponds, rivers and even small streams across the state. Once June arrives I start to spend a day or two a week exploring numerous warm water hotspots. I went over to Loch Raven Reservoir last week armed with my 1 weight Scott fiber glass rod. I quickly located a fallen tree swarming with crappies. My camera was dead, so it was just an hour of catching and releasing a few dozen “paper mouths.” A few days later I returned to the area to find the fish were either pulled out, or they moved into deeper water. A long hike into a remote area lead to a fallen tree loaded with good sized blue gills. The small rod got quite a workout, and the fish were taking damsel fly nymphs. The casts were short, but stripping the fly amongst the submerged branches was the hard part. There was a few large mouth between 2-4 pounds cruising the shallows, but I never bothered to cast to them with such a small rod. The next day I targeted carp in a wide river, where the big fish cruise the shallows. The water was very stained after recent rains, so it was really tough to get the carp to notice the fly. I hooked six fish, broke one off, landed two and lost the others on the take. The Summer ahead should provide many good days chasing these often wary, but big fish.

A few days ago I decided to try an interesting small stream I never fished. I marked this stream on my car’s GPS last year while running errands. I hoped to find wild browns in the small creek. I walked down to the first pool and rigged up a small bugger on the one weight. The water was clear and dark shapes holding on the bottom moved slightly. I made a cast and immediately coaxed a fish to rise off the bottom. The fish slammed the fly. I was surprised by the fight, and also to reel in a chunky eleven inch smallmouth. I moved to higher ground to get a better view of the pool. A dozen smallmouth, between ten and seventeen inches, shared the deep pool with sunfish and suckers. A quick switch to my Scott G2 9 foot 4 weight, and I returned to the pool better prepared. I hooked the two biggest bass in the pool, but only landed a few ten to twelve inch bass. The rest of the day was spent stalking the shallow pools, spotting fish and exploring new water. I even filmed while fishing, and managed to get a few aggressive takes on camera. A large white Zonker on 4X was the only fly I fished the whole day. The section held a lot of bass and my tally neared twenty bass landed, and many others spooked or missed. I landed a few 14-15 inch bass, and only a couple under ten inches. A few larger small mouth bass pushing three to four pounds are sure to require a return trip. The latest video post features a mash up of three different warm water outings.