Our hats are off to Rajeff Sports for this fine video from the excellent ECHO line titled Fly Shop Strong. We are very pleased that the connection between small fly shops and the waters they serve is recognized herein.#flyshopstrong We’ve greatly enjoyed and benefitted from the support this company has provided to our small fly shop over the years including the following in-stock current product offerings: Airflo poly leaders, Super-Dri fly line, Exceed fly lines and specialty fly lines like the Chard’s Tropical Punch, Galloup’s Nymph Taper fly lines, Cold saltwater Intermediates and the industry leading Ridge Clear Tropical Clear Tip. Stop in when you have time and cast the ECHO GLASS series of 3 piece fiberglass fly rods in 6’9″ 3 weight; 7’4″ 4 weight and 7′ 10″ weight priced at $199.95. We also have the 11′ 7 weight 4 piece spey at $279.95 and the mighty 13′ 8 weight spey rods at $299.95. We also carry the Echo Solo fly lines at $29.95, the Echo Base reels at $34.95 and the Echo Ion reels at $79.95!
Category Archives: video
Scott Fly Rods in Maryland
Stop by the shop to test out some of the fine rods handmade in Montrose, Colorado by Scott. We have a selection including the G2, F2, Radian, Flex, Meridian and Tidal. What makes Scott rods compellingly different? For starters take a look at this short film!
Scott | behind the scenes from Scott Fly Rods on Vimeo.
Winston Air in-stock at Backwater Angler
We just received a Winston Air 9ft 5 weight 4pc fly rod at Backwater Angler, which begs the question; Why does one need another five weight? Enjoy the answer from our friend Annette McClean and stop up and cast it before it is gone!
Heat Wave Fly Fishing On The Gunpowder
The heat this week is approaching triple digits, but the Gunpowder River is still well below the threshold where trout become stressed by warm water. The upper reaches are still below 50 degrees in the morning, and may climb into the sixties in the mid to lower accesses of the catch and release sections. Areas below Bluemount Rd are likely to be too warm for fishing, so consider taking a water temp before fishing. Generally the trout become less active once the water gets into the 68-70 degree range, so fishing farther up river will be far more productive, and less stressful on the trout. The cooler water temps along the Gunpowder really drop the ambient air temps, and the rolling fog and a slight breeze act as air conditioning. In weather like this when yard work is a miserable chore, fishing can still be a way to cool off, and get out of the house.
I fished quite often over the past weeks in fluctuating flows, before taking a non fishing hiatus to the beach. I returned to low water, and decided to dust off a smaller 7 foot 3 weight fiber glass rod. I knew of a few good riffles holding lots of trout, and fished a small caddis dry on a long leader. Fish were taking caddis sporadically, but would hammer the fly on the first drift. In one run I rose ten fish without moving a step, landing five browns. The 8-11 inch fish really put a bend in the fiberglass rod. The most productive areas were the faster runs and riffles where the trout wouldn’t spook as easily. In the flatter, shallow sections I watched as trout spooked from as far as sixty feet away. In some cases I watched fish dart for cover before my boots got wet. Avoiding these areas and focusing on the deeper areas will result in better fishing. In the lower flows it can be feast or famine in terms of catching trout, but in some areas it can be quite productive. On a different day I spent an hour fishing where a lot of smaller trout hold, armed my six foot one weight Scott Fiber Touch rod. The rod and smooth drag on the reel was a blast on the 6-10 inch trout. I only saw one other angler between the two days on the water. Despite the low flows and excessive heat, the river is fishing well. The latest video post features some wild browns I caught on fiberglass rods.
Cold Water Release On The Gunpowder
The Gunpowder River flow climbed into the 600 CFs range over the weekend. A release was made to stop the hot spillover, which began after a thunder storm produced heavy rains. The water temp rose into the low seventies, but quickly dropped when the valve was opened. Flows are now back to a normal 103 CFs, and a chilly 50 degrees. Sulphurs and caddis are still bringing fish to the surface, and small nymphs will work when the hatch slows. A black Zonker worked well for me on the Gunpowder, as the flow dropped yesterday evening. A few days ago I decided to try my luck on a small stream, and happened onto some decent sized brook trout. Hiking a few miles away it switched over to primarily smallmouth and largemouth bass. The fish were smaller in this stream, but still eager to hit a good sized streamer. I covered a lot of ground and the water was surprisingly cold despite hundred degree days earlier in the week. The bass were fun for a while, but I relocated to still water with a lot of carp, which were quite a challenge. In the clear water the fish were ultra selective about taking my nymph, but I finally connected with a small one. The Scott G2 four weight got quite a bend in it, as this fish refused to budge. Numerous carp pushing ten pounds had me rethinking my plans, since a three pounder was tough to turn on such a light rod.
Warm Water Fly Fishing In Maryland
There are many warm water fishing options in Central Maryland during the Summer months. Anglers can fish large reservoirs, ponds, rivers and even small streams across the state. Once June arrives I start to spend a day or two a week exploring numerous warm water hotspots. I went over to Loch Raven Reservoir last week armed with my 1 weight Scott fiber glass rod. I quickly located a fallen tree swarming with crappies. My camera was dead, so it was just an hour of catching and releasing a few dozen “paper mouths.” A few days later I returned to the area to find the fish were either pulled out, or they moved into deeper water. A long hike into a remote area lead to a fallen tree loaded with good sized blue gills. The small rod got quite a workout, and the fish were taking damsel fly nymphs. The casts were short, but stripping the fly amongst the submerged branches was the hard part. There was a few large mouth between 2-4 pounds cruising the shallows, but I never bothered to cast to them with such a small rod. The next day I targeted carp in a wide river, where the big fish cruise the shallows. The water was very stained after recent rains, so it was really tough to get the carp to notice the fly. I hooked six fish, broke one off, landed two and lost the others on the take. The Summer ahead should provide many good days chasing these often wary, but big fish.
A few days ago I decided to try an interesting small stream I never fished. I marked this stream on my car’s GPS last year while running errands. I hoped to find wild browns in the small creek. I walked down to the first pool and rigged up a small bugger on the one weight. The water was clear and dark shapes holding on the bottom moved slightly. I made a cast and immediately coaxed a fish to rise off the bottom. The fish slammed the fly. I was surprised by the fight, and also to reel in a chunky eleven inch smallmouth. I moved to higher ground to get a better view of the pool. A dozen smallmouth, between ten and seventeen inches, shared the deep pool with sunfish and suckers. A quick switch to my Scott G2 9 foot 4 weight, and I returned to the pool better prepared. I hooked the two biggest bass in the pool, but only landed a few ten to twelve inch bass. The rest of the day was spent stalking the shallow pools, spotting fish and exploring new water. I even filmed while fishing, and managed to get a few aggressive takes on camera. A large white Zonker on 4X was the only fly I fished the whole day. The section held a lot of bass and my tally neared twenty bass landed, and many others spooked or missed. I landed a few 14-15 inch bass, and only a couple under ten inches. A few larger small mouth bass pushing three to four pounds are sure to require a return trip. The latest video post features a mash up of three different warm water outings.
Late May Fly Fishing On The Savage River
I’ve watched the USGS gauge fluctuate on the Savage River all Spring, and finally found a window to go fishing. I was on the water at noon on Tuesday, as the Savage dropped from the 250 CFs range. The higher water makes for some great fishing, especially throwing dries in the pockets. I arrived, rigged up a sixteen foot 5X leader, and tied on a size 12 snow shoe march brown. I started in a rough water area, fishing the small pockets behind boulders, and where the soft seams meet the fast water. The trout were looking up, and I rose quite a few, but landed 6 fish by dinnertime. I took a quick break, and rigged a streamer on another rod. Two deep pools looked like good places for big fish, so I worked them thoroughly with a sink tip. The first pool didn’t give up a strike, but the second pool left me walking away defeated. Twenty minutes without a strike caused my attention to wane, until something pulled the line from my hand between strips and started taking line off the reel. I didn’t feel a strike, just instant fish running drag. The chase was on as the rod bucked violently. I adjusted the drag, kept pressure on the fish and much head shaking ensued. The strength, weight and bend in my rod made me realize this was likely the biggest trout I’ve ever hooked in the Savage. I felt the trout dive to the bottom, and one more head shake was one too many. The only thing worse than losing a big trout is not even getting a glimpse. I went back to fishing dries, and ended the day with 9 fish in the net. March browns, caddis and a few sulphurs hatched in small numbers, but I never saw any rises until dark.
Wednesday I took two rods down to a middle section of river that gives up some nice fish. I went through with dries, and than with nymphs, but only picked off two decent browns. I moved back up to the upper sections, and fished the same dry fly all day. I covered a lot of ground, and caught the triple combo; brookie, brown and rainbow trout. I had two 15 inch browns all the way to the net, and just popped them off. I moved down to a flat before dark, and had an encounter with the smallest fawn I have ever seen. It made a run toward the river, and I set my rod down to take a picture. I moved down river, and the deer doubled back. It ran clumsily right at my rod, but stopped a foot short of trampling it. I snapped a pic of this tiny deer, which was only as tall as the first stripping guide. I didn’t see any risers in the flat, and moved into choppy water. Before it got totally dark a few hendricksons, march browns and sulphurs hovered over the river. I left the water with 9 fish landed, quite a few misses and break-offs. On Thursday I hiked up through one of the lowest sections of river. I wanted to nymph, and quickly caught a half dozen bows on a size 14 pheasant tail. I picked up a couple of nice browns and brookies on a larger rubber legged nymph. In the afternoon I went back to dries, but since the levels had dropped 100 CFs, the fish were not nearly as aggressive. The fishing was still very good, and my total landed hit 14 fish. Plans to wait out the last evening for a spinnerfall were abandoned after thunderstorms chased me off the water. I slept in late and hit the road on Friday. The latest video post features some river shots, insects and some trout I caught on the Savage.
Clouds Of Spinners On The Gunpowder River
Clouds of mayflies weren’t the only clouds hovering over the river this week. Heavy rain the past few days caused the Gunpowder to hit nearly 600 CFs, and steadily rising as a light rain falls in Monkton today. Current USGS reading at Falls Road today is 596 CFs, and climbing straight up. A good possibility of thunderstorms later today and tomorrow means anglers should check the gauge before the weekend. 100-300 CFs is wadeable, although anglers should be cautious on the higher end of that range. 300-400+ CFs has limited wading options, but fishing is still possible from the banks or shallows of wide flats. Flows over 500+CFs can be very difficult to fish, although a few sections still allow fishing streamers from the bank. Before all this rain the Gunpowder had dropped down to just over 100 CFs, and water temps in the low sixties. The fishing really turned on these past few weeks. The sulphur hatch is three weeks in and going strong. We ran many guided trips the past two weeks, and hit some great hatches in the evenings. The sulphurs start hatching in the morning and again between 3-6 pm. Swinging nymphs or fishing an indicator rig will catch fish through the middle of the day.
May Fly Fishing On The Gunpowder River
The Gunpowder has dropped from late April high flows and leveled out from 600 CFs down to 140 CFs. Flow from Prettyboy Dam is still a combination of spillover and bottom release, so water temps are fluctuating from the high fifties to low sixties. The warmer water has spurred on hatches of numerous mayflies and caddis. The caddis hatch is best in the morning to midday, and again just before dark. The trout will take dries, but swinging or nymphing pupa patterns has been extremely effective. Sulphurs are now hatching steady each afternoon and I hit three spinnerfalls this week. The emergence of the size 14 duns in the afternoon brings splashy rises, so anglers can find trout feeding on top. The most effective way to catch fish is to swing nymph tandem rigs through the riffles. A number of first time anglers on four hour guide trips landed between six to ten trout, which was usually a third or quarter of the total number of strikes/hook ups. Slowly lifting the rod at the end of the swing will produce strikes, so leaving the flies hang for a few seconds is a good idea. Nymphing is also a sure way to catch fish during the sulphur emergence, and will likely lead to fish slightly larger than those taking dries.
Late April Fly Fishing On The Gunpowder
Heavy rain the past few weeks has kept the Gunpowder at higher flows, but fishable compared to other rivers in the Mid Atlantic. Last week anglers from Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, and New Jersey journeyed to the Gunpowder, since many rivers in those states were blown out. In a “spillover Spring” the frequent rain storms will raise flows on the Gunpowder, but the river remains clear. The higher water last week was producing results for anglers using big streamers, but I could only get chases from a few bruisers I’ve been targeting. This week flows leveled out at 137 CFs, and water temps have risen to 60 degrees. The hot air temperatures and warm spillover have certainly raised water temps, and jumpstarted numerous hatches. A variety of mayflies can be seen hatching on the river during the day, and returning to the water at dusk. Hendricksons, quill gordons, march browns, and the occasional sulphur can be seen through late afternoon. The numbers may vary from a few bugs to a few dozen over a couple of hours. Many anglers reported that the trout were taking dries readily, even though there were only a few dozen bugs hatching. The afternoon emergence is prime time to search with dries, but for steady risers the action is at dusk. Stay late to catch the mayflies returning to the water, which may not happen until after 7:15 pm. The window may be brief, but the fish are often very aggressive. I fished the river yesterday, and spotted a half dozen sulphur duns fly off the water at 5 pm. The majority of mayflies I saw were hendricksons, and I caught ten in my hat, which was about a quarter of the duns I saw fly by me. When the duns flitted on the water too long before take off, the trout were hitting them. Nymphing or swinging wets is still a very effective way to catch fish. I spent some time turning over rocks, and found a lot of smaller mayfly nymphs in a size 16-20. The body color on these nymphs ranges from light tan to black. I also found larger size 14-16 nymphs, in addition to lots of caddis worms. The caddis worms ranged in color from a cream color to a chartreuse green. The trout were really hammering the caddis worm pattern I was using despite all the mayfly nymphs on the rocks. A few caddis were hatching alongside small craneflies and midges. Now that there are numerous insects hatching, the trout may be keying into certain insects at different times of the day. In this video post I turn over some rocks, film some mayflies, and release some feisty Gunpowder browns.