fishing report - BACKWATER ANGLER

Morning Mist On The Gunpowder River

July 27, 2010

The air temps cooled down to more comfortable levels along the Gunpowder river this week. I fished yesterday in the upper Falls Road section where the water was a frigid 48 degrees. The flows from Prettyboy Dam are at 75 CFs, a normal level for the river. The air temp hit the mid eighties, but after standing in the water for a while in waders I was comfortable, if not cold at times. The shaded river valley and ice cold water creates a much cooler environment than the expected daily high air temperature. I saw good number of Tricos dancing around, but far less than …

Low Summer Flows On The North Branch Of The Potomac

July 24, 2010

I recently returned from a few days of fishing in Western Maryland. The 125 Cfs flows on the North Branch of The Potomac tempted me to spend some days fishing on the WV/MD border. In these lower flows the wading is much easier, and the fish tend to congregate in the deeper areas. I fished around the Barnum access, and also hiked in many miles down river. On Monday I met up with Nate, a Backwater Angler regular, and we fished nymphs in the deeper slots. My Thingamabobber shot under in a deeper chute, and I was tight to a big rainbow. The trout looked …

Fly Fishing Winston Fly Rods in Montana

July 22, 2010July 17, 2010

Thanks to Fred for the stream report from Montana! Theaux, Matt and I had a great week of fishing in the Missoula, MT area last week. We fished the Blackfoot, Rock Creek and the West Fork of the Bitterroot. All dry-flies, catching the tail end of the Salmon fly hatch, stone flies and some green Drakes. Lots of Rainbows, Browns and Cutthroats, mostly 12″ to 15″. Matt caught a 19′ Brown. -90% of the fishing was from float boats. The water, for this time of year, was high, fast and a bit muddy, not conducive to wading, but we had very good results from the …

Tricos, Higher Flows and Sight Fishing On The Gunpowder River

July 15, 2010

The Gunpowder River spiked at the Falls Road Bridge to 40 CFs after the heavy rains caused some spillover at the dam. The increase is also due to blow outs in the smaller tributaries above the Falls Road bridge. Aside from the initial rise in levels after the storms, the upper miles of the Gunpowder remained clear. The tributaries that blow out farther downriver are still dropping, so anglers can find slightly higher flows in the sections below major tributaries. The shop was notified that there will be an increase in flow from Prettyboy Dam in time for the weekend. The volume will increase from …

Holiday Fishing Reports

July 22, 2010July 15, 2010

Thanks to Bill for the stream report. Hi Theaux, nice to chat with you Wednesday. I had a good couple hours on the river after I left the shop. I went to the upper Fall Road lot and walked down to the bend before the canyon section. After working my way across the river with a series of casts I picked up a Rainbow on one of the snowshoe cream midge patterns dropped from one of Jason’s beetles. This is the first Rainbow I’ve caught on the riverin a long time. In the right light he had really noticable parr markings and the stripe along …

Trico Mayflies On The Gunpowder River

July 10, 2010July 10, 2010

Rain brought some relief today from the heat wave that we experienced this past week. The river is still low and clear at 35 CFs at the Falls Road Bridge. The water temperature on the Gunpowder is a frigid 50 degrees, and despite the hot weather most anglers are still wearing waders. The fishing on the Gunpowder during mornings is good for the Trico hatch, which has finally started to get the trout’s attention. Tricos in small numbers over the past few weeks have grown into the typical morning event we experienced in previous years. I noticed small numbers of Tricos in the Monkton stretch …