Spring is coming…Blue Quills, Hendricksons, Blue Winged Olives and Early Brown Stoneflies were coming off through the weekend.
As the rains come in this week we should see less fishing pressure and more fish working. The water temp is 44 F and the stream is nice and clear at around 120 Cfs. Stretches between Falls Rd and York Rd have been producing great hatch activity. CDC Red Quill Biots patterns that imitate the Hendricksons have been very effective.These are flies that one can easily see on the water, (in a #12-16) and will float nice and high with the help of a little dry shake.
Jeff Becker is a Long Island guide that chases, “snarling blobs of Albies” during the Fall. The shop has another week booked with Capt. Jeff this Fall. He’ll be in the shop from 10 till 4 Pm tomorrow tying some pretty epoxy flies for those tough fish. Jeff has recently appeared on a reel guys segment on ESPN2 and has had his flies featured in The Art of Angling Journal and Sal*****er Fly Fishing.
Note: Capt. Jeff Becker is also on the Scott advisory staff and will be talking about gear, the fishery and the swan dive I took off of his stern into Long Island Sound two years ago…the story keeps getting better.
I experienced “crazy dry fly action” in the catch and release section of the Gunpowder yesterday.Renegades, Bwo’s and Stoneflies were working just fine and the fish rose steadily all day until the wind picked up around 4:00 PM.With warmer weather coming find a way to get up to the river and fish. Leaders should be 10 feet long or better ending in 6x. Most of the flies I used yesterday were #14-16-big enough to see and a pleasure to fish.
Note: Try a renegade or griffiths behind a stonefly as a dropper and don’t forget the dry shake.
Believe HON,
Spring is coming. Water temps in the mid-40’s have helped move those stoneflies from nymphs to winged things-Most of the fish have been keying in on Early brown stones in a #14. This week, woolly buggers have been especially productive and have accounted for some larger fish. Falls Rd. down through Bunkerhill are still your best bet for catching them on dries.
With snow out of the forecast for a while, I’d make weekend plans to fish the Gunpowder. Flow is the nicest we’ve seen in a while at ~160 Cfs and the water temp has been climbing into the mid 40’s. Little black and early brown stoneflies have been tricking lots of fish lately between Falls Rd and Bunkerhill Rd. A renegade, big griffith’s gnat or a bivisible are essential early Spring patterns-don’t leave home without them.
The following is a review of the Winston Boron IIX 4 Piece Rod by Michael Maas. Thanks Michael!
I just purchased the Winston Boron IIx so I can only offer my first impressions on the rod. The first thing that I noticed about the Winston Boron IIx was the weight, or rather the lack thereof — the 8 wt weighs less than my trout rods. However, despite being incredibly light, this rod does not sacrifice backbone, being able to handle a tremendous amount of line with very little effort. Even long casts with a heavy bass bug were made with very little difficulty, despite the fact that the bass pond where I first cast the rod had a shoreline overgrown with tall weeds and short bushes necessitating that I cast with the rod shoulder high. Normally with an eight weight I would find this to be a little fatiguing after while, however because of the lightness of the rod and the fact that I just didn’t have to put as much in forecast as I do with other rods, I found that I could make repeated casts without muscle fatiguing. This is a very fast rod, however it doesn’t feel stiff or insensitive when casting. If you’re looking for a new rod the Boron IIx is definitely worth a test cast.
Michael Maas
