fishing report

for river related condition reports

Big Brown Trout, Great Flows and Sulphurs On The Gunpowder River

In this video short, Jason du Pont shows some aggressively “rising” trout, evening duns on the water, fishing to evening risers, and last but not least, he shares some footage of a big brown that Gunpowder regular, Matt Devlin, recently released. The month of May offered great flows and the exciting start of our annual Sulphur hatch. In June, with water levels at an optimal level, the sulphurs are hatching in good numbers, and fish are still keying on these bright yellow to pale cream bodied bugs. Anglers focusing on specific parts of the hatch are enjoying more success than anglers intent on only fishing …

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Memorial Day Sulphurs on the Gunpowder River are Hatching–better Tivo the Indy 500!

Unless you have a Fly-O, and are content casting indoors in front of the tube on such a glorious day, Tivo the Indy 500 and check out the Gunpowder. Flyfishing near DC has never been easier. Just point the car a bit North, drive about an hour and step in carefully among the 5, 030 fish wild fish per mile that inhabit the upper reaches of the Big Gunpowder Falls river and enjoy. The river is flowing at 110 Cfs, is gin clear, and water temps are 62-64 F throughout the catch and release section. Warmer water temps, created by spillover are making the insects …

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PrettyBoy Spillover in time for the Sulphur Hatch

The latest video post from Jason du Pont shows water building behind the dam this past week. Spillover points to excellent dry fly fishing. The river has moved up slightly from 41 Cfs to 50 Cfs. A recent gate change from 55ft to 15ft has warmed up the water a bit, coupled with spillover today, stream temps have moved up from the mid 50’s to closer to 60 throughout the catch and release section and fish are snapping at Caddis and Sulphurs. Now would be a great time to call the kid down the block and have him cut the grass…

Preakness Dry Fly Fishing

Now that folks can’t bring alcohol into the Grandstand during Preakness, consider heading for the infield of Pimilico for a cold one. If you’ve already placed your bet, (FYI: the park is also alcohol free) or try your luck on Gunpowder this weekend. You won’t find many horses in Gunpowder State Park or 90,000 people for that matter, but you will find Caddis, Sulphurs and lots of wild fish. Even with rain in the forecast, conditions will improve through the weekend as PrettyBoy Reservoir nears spillover. Water temps have been in the low to mid 50’s this week.The river is clear and flowing at 41 …

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Didymo in the Gunpowder River

Didymo, an invasive algae, has been confirmed in the Gunpowder river. This video short describes distribution of Didymo, a description of the algae, and some gear treatment and containment methods for anglers. The increased time fishing and guiding on the Gunpowder River the past month only solidified my suspicions that something wasn’t right. Nymphing and swinging streamers still produced fish, but the increased frequency of cleaning “slime” off the hook was not normal. Many anglers and guides noted similar masses of slime on the hook and also the river bottom, throughout much of the catch and release areas. Fearing the worst I contacted MD Fisheries …

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Sulphurs, Hendricksons and Rainbows

After a good soaking throughout the area, the Gunpowder river is flowing at 41Cfs, water temps are in the mid 50’s and the river is clear. Early reports this week pointed to Sulphurs starting in the late afternoon followed by a Hendrickon spinner fall. have been encouraging anglers to get out and try their luck. The water is still quite low, even by Gunpowder standards so be sure to bring along some long leaders in the 12 ft range ending in 6 to 7x.If you’d like to start early, try small Elk Hair caddis with a partridge and yellow or green soft hackle dropper. Backwater …

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