Hot Summer Fly Fishing on Maryland Tailwaters

Maryland’s tailwater fisheries such as the Gunpowder, Savage, and North Branch of the Potomac are all at great flows with water temps in the mid 50’s. Summer hatches of tricos, caddis, bwos, stoneflies and midges are hatching on these rivers through mid to late Summer. The hatches can often be overlooked, in favor of fishing terrestrials, which is some of the most fun and productive fishing. Japanese beetles, crickets, moths, ants and grass hoppers are already crawling on the foliage on the river banks. Guiding and fishing on the Gunpowder the past month has been fun as the trout are really looking up now, and …

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Hoppers, Caddis and Frisky Trout…

The Gunpowder is flowing at 75 CFS, is clear and 54 F. Fly fishing in the Catch and Release section has been very productive. The fish are frisky and are looking up. Great reports of Caddis in the morning in the #18-20 range above Falls Rd. have been working fine. Terrestrials in the afternoon have been easy enough to imitate with Grand Hoppers and Japanese beetles. These patterns are creating quite a stir in the foam lines along the banks. Bi-Visibles in the #14-16 range have also been working in the fast riffles and a few Olives have been reported each afternoon as the clouds …

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Savage River Fly Fishing Report

Last week I spent three days fishing the Savage River with my friends, Robby and Bryan Lepczyk. Bugs were abundant in pocket water stretches and in riffles. On any given night, I saw numerous species of Mayflies and Stoneflies. Lime and Yellow Sallies in size #14 combined with hatches of Caddis, Sulphurs, and Light Cahills in size #16 made for some exciting fishing. Midges and BWO’s were hatching in the middle hours of the day. However, in the evening, lots of midges swarmed in clumps above the river. Throughout the mornings and afternoons, Robby, Bryan, and I had success fishing attractor dries. We often skated …

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Big Rainbow Trout And Miles Of Cold Water On The Gunpowder River

When other streams in the region become too warm, the Gunpowder’s cold flows, at 56 F during the first week of July, offer great trout fishing. During hot summer months some of the most exciting dry fly fishing on the Gunpowder River begins. Beetles, hoppers, caddis, tricos, blue wing olives, and ants are just a few of the dries that produce trout throughout ALL seventeen miles of river the next months. Consider twitching a large #8-12 Elk Hair Caddis through riffles to imitate all the moths that are flying around along the river. Spend time prospecting the banks, edges, under trees and around rocks with …

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We’re open on July 4th from 10-4…Enter the Wood Elf…

The Gunpowder River is clear, flowing at 75 Cfs, and is 56 F. Caddis and Sulphurs in the #18-20 range have been accounting for a number of fish in the evenings. I spent Monday evening with a friend just in, and a little jet lagged, from West London who, at approximately 2:00 AM British Summer Time managed a 13″ rainbow on a #20 Unusual and 7x tippet. For those interested in larger Rainbows the Lower River still has a few gigantic rainbows from the Freshwater Institute. They’ve proven to be hard to get but if you’d rather chuck streamers, they might provide some light entertainment-be …

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Reservoir Fly Fishing in Maryland

Throughout the spring and summer many trout anglers travel to fly fish the Gunpowder. Few take advantage of the reservoirs, above and below the river, which provide great warmwater fishing with a flyrod. Both large and smallmouth bass, other panfish, pickerel, and carp can all be caught on the fly. Many bluegills are in the shallows to spawn and large bass and pickerel are cruising shorelines in search of food. Big bass on streamers and palm-size bluegills on poppers is a great way to spend a few hours before an afternoon of trout fishing. Large carp pushing ten pounds swim in pods in shallows where …

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