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Jason du Pont

Sulphurs and Sallies On The Gunpowder River

The Sulphur Mayfly hatch is providing excellent dry fly fishing on the Gunpowder during the early afternoon through nightfall. The water temps are fluctuating between 60-66 from Falls Rd to Glencoe Rd, but are steadily dropping as spillover slows. Sulphurs are coming off consistently in many areas through mid to late afternoon. The shop’s wide variety of Sulphur dry fly patterns have proven effective for numerous customers who connected with the Gunpowder’s wild browns over the past three weeks. Sulphur dries fished through riffles are working during the midday, but skating or twitching them is the key.  Small Caddis dries fished blind will get strikes in …

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Sage Z-Axis, Rio Streamer Tip and Great Flows on the Gunpowder

The Gunpowder has remained fishable the past weeks despite levels reaching the mid 200 Cfs range. Fishing streamers and nymphs was very effective in the higher flows, and dry fly action was good in the wider slower moving areas of the river. Flows have leveled out around 100 Cfs, with temps fluctuating from 60-64 depending on air temps and surface water temps on Prettyboy Reservoir.  MD Fisheries and Baltimore City are working together to increase insect hatches by allowing the spillover/releases to warm up the river in a way that is closer to typical freestones in the region. The result being that Sulphurs are out …

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Dry Fly Fishing On The Gunpowder River

The last two weeks of April brought warmer water temps and good hatches of Hendricksons, Blue Wing Olives and Midges. Lately my 9 foot 4 weight Scott G2 has been getting a lot more use than my ten foot Scott “nymphing” rod. The soft action of the whole G2 rod series excels at short casts, turning over long leaders and protecting light tippets. The brown trout may not be rising, (if you hit a good hatch they will), but putting a fly through the good lies produces strikes with regularity. The most successful technique for me has been fishing shallow riffles/rough pockets using light Hendricksons …

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Mayflies, Rain and Good Water Levels On The Gunpowder

I spent every day the last week and a half on the Gunpowder River, guiding and fishing different stretches at different times of the day. Midges and blackflies are hatching in good numbers and the blackflies can be seen “skimming” along the surface. They look like a miniscule housefly with a short, thick body versus the long, thin bodies on midges. Trout sipping in the flat water areas are usually eating these bugs and flies in the 20-24 range will work. Hendricksons are starting to emerge late in the morning through 2-3 pm, and many are a tannish-olive, although they darken up to a deep …

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Guided Fly Fishing Trips In Western Maryland

Western Maryland offers fly fishermen a chance at everything from large trout in big rivers to native Brook trout in tiny mountain streams. The region is rugged, wild and fishing pressure can be light, but challenging. Backwater Angler guides have offered trips on the Savage River, North Branch of the Potomac River and small mountain streams for years. In the past we offered overnight packages including lodging, meals and a full day guided fishing, but will now offer only six or four hour guided wade trips based on the overwhelming amount of requests from anglers.   The North Branch of the Potomac is known as Maryland’s …

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Hatching Bugs and Spillover on the Gunpowder

The Gunpowder River has risen with recent rains, and is dropping, but more rain is forecast before the weekend. The added spillover and warm air temps have improved the fishing and jump started the hatches. This nice brown pictured above was caught on a size 24 blackfly dry, as many fish keyed into the tiny bugs. Stoneflies, midges and blackflies hatching in good numbers had the fish sipping small flies throughout miles of river on Monday. The dry fly action can be sporadic, or fish feeding intensely for brief periods of time in the middle of the day. Expect to fish over selectively midging trout …

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