Jason du Pont

Insect hatches and flows on the Gunpowder River remained consistent over the past week. Water levels dropped from just over 100 Cfs down to 82 cfs, and water temps are changing as less spillover from Prettyboy Dam enters the river. Due to the warm spillover, and the cooler tributaries entering the Gunpowder, the river is actually cooler farther down river. A quick dip of the thermometer reveals the water temperature in the Falls Rd area at between 65-67. The water temperature starts to drop with the addition of flow from numerous tributaries and in the Big Falls stretch the water is a few degrees cooler. …

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The hatches on the Gunpowder River over the past month provided many of us with great fishing. Hendricksons, caddis, march browns and sulphurs are all hatching through the afternoon, and many evenings the spinnerfalls bring the fish to the surface. Anglers are catching trout on dries during the day using all variety of patterns, but a great technique is swinging nymphs or pupa patterns. Many brand new anglers on guided trips are learning this simple technique of imitating emerging insects. The number of strikes is often two to three times higher than the number of fish brought to the net, so landing one to two …

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Matt and I did a second float this month on the Gunpowder. It was his last day on the river for quite a while, since he moves to Montana next month. The weather was ideal, and the water temps in the fifty-nine to sixty degree range. Craneflies and caddis hatched steady all day, in addition to midges and the occasional sulphur. Over the course of the day we spotted trout rising in the riffles and flats, but never tried a dry fly. We crossed paths with another angler who was catching fish on dries, but we were having consistent success with streamers and nymphs. The …

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The unique conditions with high volumes of spillover on the Gunpowder means we are seeing many insects very early compared to previous years. Water temperatures are in the high fifties to low sixties, and held steady for the past three weeks with many mayflies hatching weeks ahead of schedule. The hendricksons are very early, showing up three weeks ago. The spinnerfall action after 7 pm means waiting out the bugs until dark. The quill gordons and march browns are still hatching, but their numbers are sparse compared to the hendricksons. On a few evenings this past week I fished until dark each night, and was …

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