BACKWATER ANGLER

I witnessed an immature Bald Eagle peering down into one of my favorite pools this morning along the Gunpowder river. Perched on a sturdy Walnut tree amidst a Sycamore grove, she looked intent on fishing and I was envious of her view. Through the dappled light, a raucous crow set upon her and left just as quickly, realizing that she was no hawk. Ferns are starting to make their presence known as their stark green fronds unfold against Fall leaves now going to soil. Further upstream, above the boulder pools Capt. Jeff Lewatowski led two clients this past weekend to trick what he termed, “easily three dozen fish” on tiny dries in the #18-24 range.

This week Guide  Jason du Pont has been steady at the vise with all manner of embroidery thread and wire. Stop in the shop over the weekend and try some of his wares firsthand-they won’t be here long! Low flows mean that the river will be warming quickly. As far as hatches go, warming temps typically point to a, “hell is…about to break loose” scenario. We have some wonderful Snowshoe Hendrickson emergers that you should not be without this time of year. BWO’s at Masemore, and Blue Quills and Quill Gordons spread out lightly downriver, (where the water is warmer) through Big Falls to Corbett, are also likely suspects this time of year. Early Brown Stoneflies still hanging on to continue their cycle, should give you ample opportunity to “skate.” When midging, wise anglers should stay in the shadows and cast long, fine leaders ending in 7x at the tailouts of riffles. Flow is still at a low, gin clear 39CFs, but should be warming by midday into the high 40’s. Opening day antics downriver should not put a damper on fly fishing in the catch and release or two fish a day stretch so try your luck this fine weekend and shake off some of that cabin fever.

Thanks to Scott Tomlin for a stream report that was music to my ears,

Hey Guys,
Thanks Jason for the advice about midges on Sat. I went out after visiting the store and had a great 3 or 4 hours of casting to rising fish. The action was on and off depending on the breeze and the sun. They seemed to stop rising when the sun was bright and picked up when clouds would roll through. Still even when not rising they were definitely hanging just below the surface. I caught them on a variety of different midges. I think I used every small fly I had in my box. A couple other guys fishing near me were also having a good time with rising fish as well. Used a tandem rig with the putty indicator which i had never used before, I love the stuff, thanks again Jason. Just wanted to say I’m sold on Midge fishing. Anyone who doesn’t want to fish these tiny flies is missing out on excellent fishing right now.
Thanks for being the model for what every fly shop should be,
Scott T.