Staying warm on the river is essential to enjoying time on the water during this time of year. The cold has kept few people off the water, as store traffic and the parking lots have shown the past few weeks. It’s nice to see so many people fishing on bitter cold days, and also to see people spreading out along seventeen miles of trout water. The first extremity to feel the chill are fingers, which can make knot tying tough. For anglers used to changing flies frequently, and want dexterity in a fingertip-less glove, the Chota Windproof Stow-A-Way Flip Mitt is perfect. A full coverage …

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Adam F. was just in this Monday checking out the Gunpowder and stopped by the shop to tell me that he landed a nice 14″ brown above Falls Rd. Before giving me an update on a great Summer of guiding in Alaska, he related that Winchester Creek Outfitter’s in Grasonville, Maryland was closing it’s doors. Talk on the South East Fly Fishing Forum was also full of banter about another local shop “lost”. I gave the shop a call the same afternoon and spoke to Dr. Ron Franks for a while about his heartfelt decision to close the shop. Ron indicated that the shop will …

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After recent rains, the Gunpowder river has been up all week and has dropping from 128CFs Monday to 68 CFs range today. The river is clear and a little on the green side owing to turnover in the reservoir-thanks Dave! The water temp is 48 F. Fish are taking small steamers, caddis larvae and small pheasant tails in the #18-22 range. Bwo’s, (most in the #20 range) have been coming off above Masemore through Falls Rd on warmer days. Most are in the #20 range. With more flow, the pools look inviting, but most of the action has been in the shallow, fast moving water. …

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Thanks to Stu for the following picture and report from last week: Hey Theaux, great seeing you last Saturday. Shop looks fantastic. I wanted to share a photo of the Brownie I caught that same day. It was cold and it was slow over by the Bluemont area. Lots of short strikes, but I did manage to fool one pretty decent Brown trout. I found a nice calm, relatively deep pool, and through a tungsten pheasant tail in there. At first, I thought I was hung up – because of the weight of the bead-head – but once the snag started to pull drag I …

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The shop will be closed on Thursday, November 27, 2008 in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. However, the shop will be open from 10 till 6 PM on Friday and from 8 AM till 4 PM on Saturday and Sunday. Have a safe holiday and with any luck we’ll see you on the stream!