BACKWATER ANGLER

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 degree range throughout most sections of the river.

Midges, blackflies and olives on cloudy days are bringing fish to the surface, but the window of opportunity is often small. On a really warm afternoon last week I witnessed stoneflies dropping out of the trees and flying down onto the water’s surface. The bugs continued to fall onto the water in waves, but only a few browns hit the bugs on the surface. I heard a report from an angler fishing a section of river where he saw a good Quill Gordon hatch, and fish taking them. One of our guides even saw a lonely Hendrickson, hatching a few weeks early. Multiple reports from customers mention trout caught on the surface this week, so dries are now an option on warmer days. The river is slowly waking up and we are on the verge of some good fishing in the coming weeks, as the water temp continues to climb.

This video post features some midge fishing footage, a grand slam I got in four casts, and up close footage of some interesting insects found while seining the river bottom.

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 in decent numbers, but no risers. Stoneflies were hatching after the ideal extended warm weather we experienced early in the week. I watched over a dozen fluttering adults float downriver before a good sized trout decided to rise up and inhale one off the surface. I walked the river for a few hours nymphing the better runs and keeping an eye out for more risers in the flats. Even with a brief flurry of activity from the insects, the majority of trout weren’t active enough to take the bugs off the surface. In the coming weeks the increasingly warmer weather will get these bugs hatching and the trout feeding on dries. I used the down time on the river to test out a new purchase I made recently. The new array of video cameras on the market is staggering, and with all the new features and smaller sizes, I decided to upgrade. My latest purchase shoots in full 1080 full HD quality, features a 25 power zoom lens and can hold 16 GB of footage, yet is smaller than a 12 oz can of soda. In the latest video I seined up some insects, tested out the macro lens and filmed some stonefly adults, and two nice browns.