Rising Water Temps On The Gunpowder River

The fishing this week on the Gunpowder has remained challenging, but some anglers are finding rising trout taking midges and blackflies. Jon managed his first trout on a guide trip, nymphing amidst a pod of risers and it was a nice brown as shown in the photo above. In the background Jeff’s client was working over another group of risers until the action waned in the afternoon. We had numerous guided trips this week and while the fishing has been slow at times, most anglers caught a few trout using nymphs and streamers. The water temps are climbing and should soon be in the fifty …

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March Rains, Higher Flows and Hatching Insects On The Gunpowder

Flows on the Gunpowder have climbed with melt off from the snow and steady rains, so it’s no surprise levels rose over 300 CFs today. Once flows hit 400 CFs the wading and fishing opportunities begin to dwindle, but the upper sections usually remain clear enough to cast streamers from the bank. The past week conditions improved on the Gunpowder as warmer weather increased water temps and more insects began hatching along the river. Water temperatures in the upper miles of river are now over 40 degrees, and sections farther downstream are closer to 45 degrees. I fished on Wednesday seeing midges and blackflies hatching …

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Mid-January Gunpowder Fishing Report

This week the brutal cold spell finally lifted in Northern Baltimore County, and air temps hit the mid 40s toward the end of the week through the weekend. The water temps are still really cold, (37-39 degrees) with the majority of air temp influenced flow spilling over Prettyboy dam. We have been fielding a lot of calls and questions in the shop about where the water is warmest, and here is what I found. At Noon on Friday water temps on the Gunpowder at Falls Road measured 37.8 degrees, 38.3 degrees at Bluemount Road, and Little Falls was 38.1 degrees. On Saturday, on a guide …

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High Water, Tricos and Streamer Fishing On The Gunpowder

On Wednesday of this week the Gunpowder flow climbed to 400 Cfs, and it was prime time to swing some big streamers. Wading was limited at these flows to a few steps off the bank, as the current was quite swift, but many accesses were fishable from shore. In many cases the trout were pushed against the banks and extremely active on flies at the end of the swing. In a few hours ten fish landed was a small number compared to the number of fish chasing, short striking or the ones that shook the hook. I did land a heavy trout (pic above), just …

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October 2009 Western Maryland Fly Fishing Report

I arrived on Sunday October 18th in the afternoon at the Savage River after a three hour drive across Maryland through some incredible Fall scenery. The air temps were in the high thirties in the mountains and continued to climb into the fifties each day through the week. I decided to focus on nymphing the deeper runs and chutes found throughout miles of the Savage, as levels were perfect at 100 Cfs with water temps in the high fifties. In a few hours that first afternoon I caught a few ten to twelve inch browns, and cycled through a number of different patterns. On Monday …

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Gunpowder River Flow Climbs to 1700 Cfs

The Gunpowder River flow peaked late Friday night at 1,700 cubic feet per second at the Falls Road gauge and at over 2,600 cubic feet per second at the Glencoe Rd gauge. Recent heavy rainfall and a full reservoir resulted in spillover despite a release made by Baltimore City Friday afternoon. Flows are slowing dropping, and currently at 1,610 cubic feet per second at the latest 6:00 am gauge reading at Falls Rd. Generally flows on the Gunpowder are wadeable, but very challenging at or just over 300 Cfs, but higher flows present a real danger above that level.  Anglers may not have opportunities to …

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