The Gunpowder is still providing numerous opportunities and surprises for dry fly fishermen, as this photo of a brook trout taken by Neil Stahl illustrates. I was fishing tricos to risers just downstream of him when he caught it, and we found fish looking up in most pools and riffles we fished. Blue Wing Olives and Tricos are still on the water mid morning, although waves of emerging bugs and rising trout are sporadic on colder days. The past two weeks large midges in a size 16 were hatching in big numbers on warm days and bringing trout to the surface. On a guide trip this week, the biggest brown of the day took a nymph, but the majority of fish preferred a dry fly fished blind in the riffles. We hooked slightly less than half of the strikes on the dry, ending the day with seven browns in the net, which isn’t too bad for a first time angler on a windy November day.
The Falls Rd stream gauge is currently at 86 CFs, while the Glencoe gauge is at 195 CFs. The C & R sections are down to great levels for dries, while the lower river is prime for streamer fishing. A number of anglers passing through the shop experienced some great fishing this week and caught some nice trout on homemade streamer patterns. Many tyers are getting innovative using hair, feathers and fur for streamers, but for me the flashier synthetics are proving to be irresistible when the flows increase. The brown trout above fell for a large Psuedo Chub on 3x tippet, as the water dropped below 150 CFs in the C & R section.
Author Archives: Jason du Pont
High Water, Tricos and Streamer Fishing On The Gunpowder
On Wednesday of this week the Gunpowder flow climbed to 400 Cfs, and it was prime time to swing some big streamers. Wading was limited at these flows to a few steps off the bank, as the current was quite swift, but many accesses were fishable from shore. In many cases the trout were pushed against the banks and extremely active on flies at the end of the swing. In a few hours ten fish landed was a small number compared to the number of fish chasing, short striking or the ones that shook the hook. I did land a heavy trout (pic above), just under 15 inches, that fought hard and felt huge in the heavy current. A trico mayfly spinnerfall was ongoing from 11 am to 1 pm, and trout were rising in the soft water along the shore. In addition to spill over increasing water levels, the water temperature increased a few degrees yet the water was still clear. On Thursday I fished at two different accesses, as the river dropped steadily through the day from the mid 300s to the upper 200s. Streamers continued to produce a lot of strikes and chases, but brought fifteen browns between 8-13 inches to the net. The patterns I was using worked on average size browns, but also piqued the interest of trout much, much larger than anglers would expect from the Gunpowder. The cloudy weather brought out BWOs and only seemed to intensify the trico hatch, as I filmed quite a cloud in the middle of a mating dance. While most of the river was still fast and pretty rough in the narrow areas, a number of long flats and backeddies had risers steadily working the surface. On Friday flows dropped down below 200 and while browns were still focused on streamers, a lot more fish were rising to the hatches of small mayflies. Saturday flows dropped to 150 Cfs, although more rain is forecasted so flows may climb again. If flows spike above 200 Cfs on the Gunpowder consider fishing, as the latest video features shots of high flows, clouds of tricos and some hungry wild brown trout.
October 2009 Western Maryland Fly Fishing Report
I arrived on Sunday October 18th in the afternoon at the Savage River after a three hour drive across Maryland through some incredible Fall scenery. The air temps were in the high thirties in the mountains and continued to climb into the fifties each day through the week. I decided to focus on nymphing the deeper runs and chutes found throughout miles of the Savage, as levels were perfect at 100 Cfs with water temps in the high fifties. In a few hours that first afternoon I caught a few ten to twelve inch browns, and cycled through a number of different patterns. On Monday morning I hiked into a favorite stretch and started working a deep, almost bottomless pool. After three drifts, I made a weight adjustment and on the fourth drift the indicator shot under and I set the hook on what initially felt like a rock. The rod doubled over and the fish just bulldogged me to the bottom in a back and forth battle; over and over again. I never got a clear look until I turned the fish at the net, but by the strength of the runs I knew it was a big fish. I measured the brown (pictured below) out at 18 inches, thick bodied and a head as big as my size ten Patagonia River Walker boot. Finally recovered from my injury (foot also pictured below) I felt a bit of redemption landing this particular fish after missing out on a month of guiding/fishing and canceled trips to Colorado and Western Maryland.
Using my Scott S4 10 foot 4 weight I dredged the bottom of the deepest holes with long 12-14 foot leaders, thingamabobber and using a lot of weight to get the flies deep. I fished a number of nymph patterns, and the fish were willing to take a variety of different flies, if the drift was good. Cleaning leaves and algae off the hook were frequent chores, but deep nymphing as usual on the Savage. I covered a lot of water by Monday afternoon and landed over a dozen browns, with the majority over twelve inches. In addition to the brown above, and a number of nine to thirteen inch browns, I measured out one fourteen, one fifteen, one sixteen, and one sixteen and a half inch brown by day’s end. I had three more days of fishing left, and doubted any of the coming days would top this day. On Tuesday I moved a few miles into a different stretch of river with the arrival of warm and sunny weather. The hatches really started mid morning and I saw caddis, midges, and counted four different mayfly species. I saw a few risers at the end of a midday spinnerfall, but stuck with the deep nymphing rig. At the end of the day Tuesday I caught a few seven to ten inch brook trout and ten browns ranging from eight to thirteen inches, with three more browns over fourteen inches. Between the Fall foliage, warm weather and great fishing on miles of water with almost no anglers, it really couldn’t get much better.
On Wednesday the Savage flows increased to 250 Cfs in an attempt to meet elevation goals for draining the reservoir for dam repairs this Winter. It seemed as good a time as any to drive over to the North Branch and wet a line, as the Savage fish adjusted to the rising water. I fished the Barnum access and came across a number of other anglers who relayed decent catches on bead head nymphs, san juan worms, wet flies and egg patterns. I cycled through a number of different patterns but had success on caddis pupas, scud patterns and pink San Juans. The majority of trout landed were rainbows 12-19 inches, and a few smaller browns. After speaking to ten or twelve anglers on the same stretch, few big browns were seen or landed, so I planned to fish the Savage the next day. Thursday was spent finding pools and pocket water where a decent drift in softer water with nymphs was possible with the rougher 250 Cfs flow. I decided in the last hour of daylight to break out my streamer rig, a Sage Z-Axis 10 foot 5 weight paired with a sinking tip line and a five inch articulated streamer on 3x tippet. I had a number of chases and swipes, and only one solid hook up, which pulled free. I ended the day content with eight fish all over ten inches with one heavy fourteen inch brown to show for a lot of rough wading situations, lost flies and lost fish in the higher flows. Friday was spent working in the rain, guiding a client who had never fished the North Branch. We jumped in where we could amongst the crowds above Barnum and fished up to the island, having a good time landing bows from 13-19 inches, and hooking a few other trout that shook the fly. On Saturday I slept in late and headed for home mid morning after a great week of weather, camping and catching some beautifully colored, hard fighting wild browns. The latest video features a quick shot of a BWO, caddis and parallep spinner I saw hatching early in the week on the Savage. It also includes footage of wild browns in a variety of sizes all caught in the Savage River.
Fly Fishing Western Maryland Streams
Backwater Angler Staffer and bamboo rod builder Bill Felter sent in an interesting report from this past weekend in western Maryland-
“My birthday was this past Sunday and my wife and I spent part of the holiday weekend doing some light backcountry camping in western Maryland. We passed up the Savage and its perfect flows and instead headed up to a tributary of Savage River Reservoir, for a little brook trout fishing. That was the plan anyway-to fish for brookies-but 10 minutes after leaving the house a deep sense of dread came over me. Oh, crap! The fly rods! I had forgotten the fly rods. Rather than turn back right then I decided that renting one from Mike Evans at Savage River Outfitters would be just as easy and wouldn’t require any backtracking. So I hoped, for when we stopped by his shop later that afternoon the door was locked. He had stepped away from the shop. Bummed out but not soured, we accepted our karmic fate and headed for our campsite thinking that on this trip we would give the brookies a break and instead enjoy everything else that nature had to offer. That was until the Sunday morning when I spotted a reasonably straight Beech branch while searching the hillside for firewood. “Hmm,” I thought. ” I did remember my reels and flies…and the Leatherman’s nice and sharp…I wonder if there are any safety pins in that first aid kit…maybe some tape, too…”. In less than half-an-hour I had a dandy new 5 ft., one piece, 5 weight with attached fighting butt with a Bill Riley patent reelseat.”
I can’t say it’s my best work but…it worked
October Spillover and Fly Fishing The Gunpowder
The Gunpowder flow is increasing as spillover crests Prettyboy Dam and raises river levels with an additional ten to twenty Cfs. Watch for rainfall to increase flows even more, and allow warmer spillover to jump start hatches by raising water temperatures. The fishing is productive right now using a variety of patterns, and also fishing at different times of day. A number of tricos are still hatching in the mornings, and blue wing olives on cloudy, overcast days. Caddis and midges are hatching in bigger numbers mid to late afternoon, and trout are rising toward dark each day. A small caddis or olive mayfly pattern fished blind in shallow riffles produced six to eight fish for me earlier this week while fishing from shore. A number of fish were rising throughout the afternoon in backeddies and slow pools, but were extremely skittish and taking flies in the 22-26 range. Nymphing WD-40s along with caddis pupa and larva patterns are working well in the deeper riffles. The leaves are starting to turn and some are dropping, especially on windy days. The streamer fishing should be good the next few weeks, before the leaves really start to drop. This morning on my first day back in waders in a month, I fished a three inch long streamer and fooled the nice brown below in a deep riffle.
Wild Brown Trout, Fall and Quiet On The Gunpowder
A change in the seasons is ushering in a shift along the river, as Fall has finally arrived. Both air and water temps have dropped, favoring anglers in waders versus Summer temps drawing tubers, swimmers and boaters to the river. Fishing midweek will offer the most solitude along miles of water with fewer vehicles in the parking lots. Weekends are even quiet at times on the Gunpowder, especially in the afternoons when the football fans have long left for home. After the shop closed on Sunday, I wet a line after a week of “taking it easy” and saw four hikers, but no anglers. The lack of pressure would explain why three drifts later a colorful, hard fighting brown nailed a caddis pupa paired with a pink San Juan under an indicator. I snapped a quick pic above which about sums up my current situation, and left for home while I was ahead.
The heron pictured above was doing well with a slow stalk, and a quick stab in the shallow riffles. Anglers may find similar success with small nymphs, caddis pupas and attractor nymphs on the Gunpowder. The weekend release has leveled out at 117 Cfs and will remain constant until early Monday morning. San Juan worms, Green weenies, Ice Dub larvae and all variety of patterns with flash and flair catch fish in the higher flows. Large Copper Johns, Princes, or Pheasant Tails paired with smaller nymphs will reach fish without the need for split shot in shallow riffles. Now that boat traffic is light consider accessing areas South of Blue Mount or Monkton for deeper pools and riffles. Many of the patterns producing in the catch and release water will work farther down river, just add more weight and slide the indicator farther up the leader.
Cooler Temps and Good Trout Fishing On The Gunpowder
It is starting to feel like Fall in Northern Baltimore County. Crisp air temps in the mornings and evenings combined with ice cold water temps feel like October came early this year on the Gunpowder. A few trees have even begun to turn and drop a few of their leaves. The change in temps and seasons always gets the wild browns feeding, and in recent weeks some quality wild trout were caught in the Baltimore area. Small streams in Maryland can even produce some quality fish, like the fish pictured below which fell for an olive bugger stripped across a submerged log.
Blue wing olives in the morning and caddis hatching midday are providing anglers with rising trout opportunities during 32 Cfs flows midweek. Fishing unweighted nymphs under an indicator in shallow riffles is also producing for anglers matching these emerging mayflies and caddis. The occasional afternoon or weekend release provides a large volume of water for anglers looking to fish streamers or nymphs. The latest video post includes some nice browns caught during lower flows, and the pic below is of thirteen inch plus brown caught by John G on my last guide trip. I should say my last trip for a few weeks anyway, as a recent misstep has sidelined me (to fishing from shore only) with a walking boot and a fractured bone in my foot. If you need a reason to go fishing, consider two perfectly good legs reason enough.
Fly Fishing in Western Maryland
Western Maryland has some great fly fishing opportunities in remote areas and for gorgeous wild trout. We answer many emails and phone calls inquiring about the fishing in this region. The latest follow up report came from Nick S. who just returned from his first trip out to WMD.
Jason,
Thanks for the info and pointing me in the right directions.
As for the fishing, it was fun and humbling. I did not get as much quality time on the water as I was hoping, but was impressed by both the Savage and NB in terms of beautiful settings, variety of fishing situations, and quality of fish. I felt like I never cracked the code, so to speak, at either river. They both seem very technical each in their own way, and I look forward to understanding them better on return trips. At any rate, attached are a couple of fish from the NB, both caught on BH Prince near the first parking lot in the Barnum area. We also had some luck w/ Griffith’s Gnats to risers and the occasional smack on Parachute Adams near shorelines/rocks.
Thanks again for the help, and I hope to see you and Theaux up at the shop soon.
Take care,Nick
Clean Gravel and Healthy Wild Browns On the Gunpowder
After the recent high water event over the past weekend, I fished and walked the Gunpowder, many miles down river from Prettyboy Reservoir. It was immediately clear the large volume of water had scouring effects on the bottom, and sent much of the silt deposited in recent years down river. In March 2007 the Gunpowder spilled over after 5 inches of heavy rain in the Hereford area, and the Falls Rd gauge hit 1,600 Cfs. The high water event in 2007 also led to the dam on Bush Cabin Run bursting, and many other tributaries of the Gunpowder blowing out and dropping silt into the river. The most recent high water event on August 28th, 2009 resulted from heavy storms dropping nearly six inches of rain close to the Pennsylvania border Friday night. Prettyboy Reservoir was already at full capacity so the Gunpowder remained clear in the upper river, despite such high levels and it’s tributaries (excepting Little Falls) were not flooded like in 2007.
The water level has since dropped back down to the mid 30 Cfs range and may fluctuate in the evenings with releases from Prettyboy through this week. The drop in flow has revealed some very clean rocks in the riffles and runs through miles of river. Many logjams have been relocated, and numerous riffles rearranged on familiar stretches of the Gunpowder. I spent most of Monday exploring these new areas and fishing was excellent. A lot of wild browns were visible in the lower flows, holding in the shallow riffles and nymphing caught a lot of these fish. The size of trout caught ranged from Young of Year browns (2 – 2 1/2 inches) to browns pushing 13 inches. The majority of browns were 10-11 inches, and a number of the trout had distended stomachs, possibly from gorging themselves during the recent high water buffet. I hooked a few larger browns in the 14-17 inch range, and spotted quite a few larger trout as well. A number of reports of larger browns caught or spotted by customers have been passed on with increased frequency in the shop this year, including this most recent one from Gary C. It seems many of those 8-10 inch trout from previous years finally grew up!
Hey Jason,
After you left Masemore Saturday night I fished the feeder stream at the end of the park and the soft water around the semi-submerged log. I sighted a huge brown who was right by the log and he (it was a male, he cleared the water several times and the cone shaped head was easy to see) made 4 appearances and the guy who joined me later was there to see it once. How big? I got two out of water viewings and then one where it chased an emerger to the surface. It’s head appeared to be around 3-3.5 inches wide and it had spots nearing dime size. Clearly this fish was north of 20 inches. I was hoping you would show back up to take a couple of shots at him…we couldn’t get him to notice anything.
Gary
Gunpowder River Flow Climbs to 1700 Cfs
The Gunpowder River flow peaked late Friday night at 1,700 cubic feet per second at the Falls Road gauge and at over 2,600 cubic feet per second at the Glencoe Rd gauge. Recent heavy rainfall and a full reservoir resulted in spillover despite a release made by Baltimore City Friday afternoon. Flows are slowing dropping, and currently at 1,610 cubic feet per second at the latest 6:00 am gauge reading at Falls Rd. Generally flows on the Gunpowder are wadeable, but very challenging at or just over 300 Cfs, but higher flows present a real danger above that level. Anglers may not have opportunities to fish through this weekend, but can monitor flows to follow the status of the Gunpowder.
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