Average size brown caught on a size 12 irresistible
Flies and Conditions
The Gunpowder River is flowing at 31 CFS and is 53.3F. Expect to see exposed gravel bars throughout the catch and release area. That said the water is cold. Consider spending less time wading and more time walking the trails to find deeper water along bend pools and drops. We have a neat foam pattern in the muffin tins that easily passes for an ant or beetle that has been working just fine on the end of a short section of 7x. When fishing dries a clean presentation is almost more important than the fly itself as fish are spooking easier in the low flows, a good drift will be key to finding rising fish and convincing the picky eaters.
As far as the summertime classic, hopper dropper rig, a high floating dry has been more effective, try fishing something like a foam hopper or a muddler as your dry with a low drag dropper such as a zebra midge or unweighted pheasant tail with a foot of space between. this ensures proper depth on that dropper while also reducing the weight on the dry to ensure a high resting place on the water’s surface.
If dries and terrestrials aren’t quite your speed, nymphing deeper pocket water has proven especially effective with the low flows, additionally don’t be afraid to toss some larger patterns. A bead chain Clouser minnow has proven to be enticing for even the smaller sized fish but big enough to serve as an appropriate fly to headhunt for some bigger bites. Nonetheless, more classic nymphs have performed as well, patterns like a beaded pheasant tail or hare’s ear have fished well in a euro nymph setup along the Fall’s road plunge pools.
My current gunpowder setup, The Echo TroutX and Ion 4/5 with an Airflo 4wt Power taper