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The hatches on the Gunpowder River over the past month provided many of us with great fishing. Hendricksons, caddis, march browns and sulphurs are all hatching through the afternoon, and many evenings the spinnerfalls bring the fish to the surface. Anglers are catching trout on dries during the day using all variety of patterns, but a great technique is swinging nymphs or pupa patterns. Many brand new anglers on guided trips are learning this simple technique of imitating emerging insects. The number of strikes is often two to three times higher than the number of fish brought to the net, so landing one to two …

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Matt and I did a second float this month on the Gunpowder. It was his last day on the river for quite a while, since he moves to Montana next month. The weather was ideal, and the water temps in the fifty-nine to sixty degree range. Craneflies and caddis hatched steady all day, in addition to midges and the occasional sulphur. Over the course of the day we spotted trout rising in the riffles and flats, but never tried a dry fly. We crossed paths with another angler who was catching fish on dries, but we were having consistent success with streamers and nymphs. The …

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The unique conditions with high volumes of spillover on the Gunpowder means we are seeing many insects very early compared to previous years. Water temperatures are in the high fifties to low sixties, and held steady for the past three weeks with many mayflies hatching weeks ahead of schedule. The hendricksons are very early, showing up three weeks ago. The spinnerfall action after 7 pm means waiting out the bugs until dark. The quill gordons and march browns are still hatching, but their numbers are sparse compared to the hendricksons. On a few evenings this past week I fished until dark each night, and was …

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The mayfly nymphs living under the rocks in the Gunpowder river are beginning to hatch in good numbers. Many anglers are experiencing good dry fly fishing during the hendrickson emergence and spinnerfall. The trout are really eating nymph patterns under the surface, especially at the end of the swing. The real mayflies are drifting down river to hatch in mass it seems, as the fish can be seen flashing and chasing bugs up to the surface. Just turn over a few rocks in a swift riffle area and you will quickly see the river is full of life. While fishing in the evening I spotted …

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The month of April is prime time for dry fly anglers since the fish begin to respond to hatching mayflies and larger fly patterns. The midge fishing on the Gunpowder has been good early and late in the day, but reports of trout caught on hendrickson patterns increased this weekend. Some anglers witnessed emerging hendricksons midday and fish taking naturals and dries, while other anglers fished the dries blind in riffles. Swinging wets and soft hackles has been really effective any time of day, but especially in the evenings. When I got a call from my buddy Matt that he would be in town, we …

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