fishing report

The river is flowing at 138cfs and the temperature is 45 degrees, both dropping quickly with the cold front hitting today. The Gunpowder has been fishing best with streamers and small nymphs. With the cold streamer fishing could slow down, but with the water being higher fish may still be active enough to chase a bigger fly. Some patterns that have been effective have been the slump buster, grey ghost, and wooly  buggers. Nymphing should be the go-to tactic if you want to maximize the amount of fish caught in the winter months. The most effective patterns have been those imitating midges: Zebra midges, WD-40s, …

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The Gunpowder is flowing at 58.2 cfs and 44.2F. With warmer temperatures in the next few days, fishing should be exceptional until we get a cold snap. You can find fish sipping midges in the slower pools. Fishing Griffiths Gnats and small parachutes in sizes 16-22 will be the most productive. Often the smaller sizes work better this time of year. Although nymphing has been effective on the river, the blooms of didymo can make nymphing tedious. One of the best ways to combat this is fishing a dry-dropper. The most effective nymphs this time of year are going to be midge imitations. Putting these …

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The Gunpowder River is clear, 47.5 degrees F and flowing at 43.7 CFS. Fish are still midging in the flat water until the sun breaks through the clouds. Approaching wild fish this time of year requires limited wading and long, light leaders. Midge and midge emerges patterns in the #18-22 range will be most productive. Larger streamers will certainly move bigger fish but sometimes they just won’t commit to the fly. Sparse, traditional streamers twitched along the deadfalls, logjams, and bend pools may be more effective and are certainly easier to cast. Bald Eagles, as in the picture above, are frequently seen gliding among the …

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We’re very thankful to have the support of our new and long-standing customers in our 20th year (32 in town if one goes back to Wally Vait’s On The Fly). On the way to the River today I saw leaves imitating snowflakes, three bald eagles dispatching an unlucky deer mired in corn stubble and a red fox pouncing through new cover crops trying to scare up a vole for breakfast. One does not need to look at wind advisories if the old metal roof hits a certain pitch, but it’s likely that kite shops will be busier today. As for the River, it is now …

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Cooler temperatures are right around the corner. This means cooler water and happy fish. The river is flowing at 140 CFS and has been holding there consistently. The water temperature has ranged from 58 down to 54 degrees throughout the day. with the rain last night the river is up but it will go back down soon. Streamer fishing has been very productive as well as euro nymphing and the occasional caddis emerger. Flies such as a classic prince nymph and copper johns are working exceptionally well right now as well as most euro nymphing style flies.One can’t go wrong with a classic wooly bugger, …

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