Theaux Le Gardeur

Winchester Creek Outfitters Closing

Adam F. was just in this Monday checking out the Gunpowder and stopped by the shop to tell me that he landed a nice 14″ brown above Falls Rd. Before giving me an update on a great Summer of guiding in Alaska, he related that Winchester Creek Outfitter’s in Grasonville, Maryland was closing it’s doors. Talk on the South East Fly Fishing Forum was also full of banter about another local shop “lost”. I gave the shop a call the same afternoon and spoke to Dr. Ron Franks for a while about his heartfelt decision to close the shop. Ron indicated that the shop will …

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Gunpowder River Spillover Continues

After recent rains, the Gunpowder river has been up all week and has dropping from 128CFs Monday to 68 CFs range today. The river is clear and a little on the green side owing to turnover in the reservoir-thanks Dave! The water temp is 48 F. Fish are taking small steamers, caddis larvae and small pheasant tails in the #18-22 range. Bwo’s, (most in the #20 range) have been coming off above Masemore through Falls Rd on warmer days. Most are in the #20 range. With more flow, the pools look inviting, but most of the action has been in the shallow, fast moving water. …

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Thanksgiving Fly Fishing on the Gunpowder

Thanks to Stu for the following picture and report from last week: Hey Theaux, great seeing you last Saturday. Shop looks fantastic. I wanted to share a photo of the Brownie I caught that same day. It was cold and it was slow over by the Bluemont area. Lots of short strikes, but I did manage to fool one pretty decent Brown trout. I found a nice calm, relatively deep pool, and through a tungsten pheasant tail in there. At first, I thought I was hung up – because of the weight of the bead-head – but once the snag started to pull drag I …

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Sweetgrass Rods at Backwater Angler

I just spoke to Dave at Sweetgrass Rods in Twin Bridges, MT and he said that we, in the East, have much to be thankful for…at the time were talking about the Blue Point Oysters that Gunpowder Guide Bill Wolf dropped off before the thanksgiving holiday, (thanks Bill) and Dave mentioned that I was lucky to live so close to the ocean. I immediately started thinking about all of the wonderous trout water he was so lucky to live next to; the Beaverhead, the Bighole the Ruby, the Jefferson, well, you get the idea. This is a photo Dave sent along during our ramblings of …

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Happy Thanksgiving Gunpowder Regulars!

The shop will be closed on Thursday, November 27, 2008 in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. However, the shop will be open from 10 till 6 PM on Friday and from 8 AM till 4 PM on Saturday and Sunday. Have a safe holiday and with any luck we’ll see you on the stream!

BWO’s along the Gunpowder River during Spillover

The Gunpowder river is flowing at 55 Cfs, is 52 F and is clear. To say that the fishing has improved markedly since we’ve had spillover is an understatement. BWO’s have been having a hard time getting off the water, (read cripples and emergers) during the cold, windy afternoons and the fish don’t mind at all as the following stream report attests.Thanks to Backwater Angler Guide Dave Smith for the following report from Thurs Nov 20 and Fri Nov 21. On Thurs. fishing (and catching) was as good as during the peak of the sulfur hatch! Started fishing the riffles at the base of the …

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