fishing report

Thanks to Chic for the steelhead report from Erie, PA. Backwater Angler and Gunpowder regulars Chic and Kay Dambach drove 7 hours northwest to Erie, PA in late March to play with some beautiful and enormous steelhead. The weather was cold and snowing, but guide Mark DeCarlo helped find the fish and he picked the right flies – small pale egg patterns and white wooly buggers. Chic and Kay did the rest. Chic has done it many times, but this was a first for Kay. She hates the cold, but she’ll be back for more regardless of the weather.

The Gunpowder River is a green, flowing at 152 Cfs and is 41 degrees. Fly fishing this weekend should prove to be a little more comfortable (warmer and less windy) than during the past week. Wednesdays anticipated snowstorm resulted in more blackbirds falling out of the sky than snowflakes. While most of the white stuff left us by Thursday morning, the trails are still plenty wet and a little greasy. If you have a pair of studs in your shoes use them. If you need a pair, stop in and we’ll make sure that you pick out the right kind for your Simms, patagonia or …

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I found myself lucky to be visiting my family and friends down south. Lance, who has a nice big camp in the marsh had an opening and I jumped at the chance to pay him a visit. A front pushed through that evening as Maggie worked up some red beans and rice. By dawn, fog framed a pair of Roseate Spoonbills perched in an old live oak snag overlooking the canal. When the motor kicked, they took flight and lead us out into the bayou.

Fly fishing is a sport that constantly surprises me. One can have a memorable day by catching more fish then usual, catching a big fish, or just having seen an amazing hatch.This past Monday was one of those days for me. I hooked close to 10 fish and landed 3. One of the fish I didn’t land was a big brown pushing 18-20 inches. These are the kinds of days that keep us all coming back to fish again, and with the cold weather finally nearing its end everyone should be itching to get out and wet a line on their favorite stretch of the …

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The Gunpowder River is wonderfully green, flowing at 147 Cfs and is swinging from 39 to 41 degrees F. Trails are wet. Now is the time to consider putting in spikes in rubber soled wading shoes and/or bringing along a wading staff. The clean gravel is full of BWO’s nymphs. Small pheasant tails in the #20 range with plenty of shot will produce in the pocketwater. Stoneflies will start moving towards woody debris as the water temp warms up bit in the shallows. Mike Bachkosky’s red butt soft hackles in sizes #16 and 14 are best fished in the morning hours. If you get a …

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The Gunpowder River is flowing at 100 Cfs, is 43.5 degrees F and is clear. Fly fishing with blue winged olives inthe #18-20 range, cream midges a little smaller than a #22, little black flies and zebra midges and early winter stonefiles sized #16-18 are always a good bet. With the forecast calling for air temps in the mid 50’s to 60 degrees this weekend, River flow up from spillover and water temps moving up, reasons for not getting in some pregame fly fishing are slight.