As just about everyone in the Baltimore area has seen (and heard) the cicadas are out in full force. Water levels on the gunpowder this week are just over 80cfs at falls rd. Now is a great time to get out and splash down your favorite cicada pattern in hopes of finding an opportunistic trout, especially on hot and sunny days when the cicadas are most active. The BWA staff have spotted a few trout eating cicadas and caught a number of them on cicada patterns, but it’s important to remember that the gunpowder trout don’t remember 17 years ago. So it may take a little longer for the fish to recognize what a delicious and protein filled meal a cicada is. If you don’t feel like tying your own, we have a number of different cicada patterns in the shop that are proving to be very effective. Although cicadas have our full attention, we can’t forget about the other bugs on the Gunpowder. We’ve been seeing healthy hatches of sulphurs in the river, especially at the access points up-river from York rd. When fishing during a sulphur hatch I recommend having a few different patterns in hand including a high floating pattern and a low floating pattern. Gunpowder fish are fast learners so switching back and forth between a comparadun style sulphur and a more traditional “Catskill” style sulphur is a great way to keep the fish on their toes and catch a few extra.