The Gunpowder River is clear and coming down nicely from 329 CFs on April 29th to a now ideal 103 CFs. Consequently water temps are rising a bit from a chilly 47.3 F and should be closer to the mid 50’s by the end of the weekend. We’re starting to see some clean gravel as the Didymo gets washed through. Swinging wets and nymphing other than drop-shotting is still tough and requires a lot of clearing between drifts and swings. A few Hendricksons and March Browns are still hanging on and have been returning on calmer, less windy days.Small Caddis and tiny Blue Winged Olives are flitting about and Sulphurs are certainly around the corner…

The Gunpowder River is clear, flowing at 97 Cfs and is 48.5 degrees F. While we’ve seen just a few March Browns and Hendricksons by mid-day, windy afternoons have kept them largely off the water until well into the afternoon. That said, BWO’s in the #20-22 range have been peeling off in the mornings with little fanfare. Because the trees are still leafing out, shade is still hard to come by making for tough conditions on bright days so starting early or late is one’s best bet. Didymo has been the real story of late and is still making it difficult to fish the gravel with traditional and euro-nymph rigs. Until the gravel cleans up, skating caddis or swinging wets might be the best approach. In the past week warmer water temps up to 56.5 degrees have been knocking the Feb-March Didymo blooms out but the “rock snot” is still slowly letting go and washing through. With a nice and thoughtful increase in flow from Prettyboy that started yesterday we should start to see a marked improvement in conditions leading into Earth Day Weekend!

This week the Gunpowder River has been clear. It has dropped in flow from 106 Cfs on the 14th to 61.6 Cfs on the 18th.Consequently the River is warming up a bit from 42.44 degrees F on the 14th to 46.5 degrees F on the 18th. Bright and windy days have resulted in tough fishing on the Gunpowder. That said, tiny BWO’s, Little Black and Brown Stoneflies and a March Brown or two have been coming off between gusts. Fishing small, unweighted streamers that can be cast and drifted along the log jams are always a good bet. Nymphing has been challenging as the Didymo algae is still hanging on above Falls Rd. Remember that the Gunpowder River 5-fish-a-day stretch downstream of Corbett Rd.from the Colonial pipeline downstream through Phoenix Rd. is under Closure 1 and will not reopen till March 25.

The Gunpowder River is clearing, dropping from 105 CFS and is 43.5 F. Small streamers and jig nymphs have been working fine. It’s been a bit too windy to fish with small dries. But with water temps on the rise we are certainly getting closer to seeing some Little Black Stoneflies, Black Flies and BWO’s coming off. Midge cluster patters like Griffith’s typically work fine and will keep one from squinting. A peacock elk hair caddis is a great searching pattern especially when using hopper-dropper style with a #18-22 zebra midge trailing the dry.

Please note: The shop will be closed on Saturday the 18th and will reopen on the February the 23rd.