The Gunpowder River is clear, flowing at 89 CFs and is 52 F. Caddis have been coming off this week in the #14-16 range. Hendricksons have been starting closer to 2:00 PM. High winds in the afternoon and the cooler temperatures that follow have delayed any concentrated spinner falls. You’ll find plenty of mayfly nymphs on the beaver chews upstream of Falls Rd. Bwo’s and grey midges are present but the didymo above Falls Rd had made the nymph fishing challenging. We’ve had good reports from streamer fisherman throughout the catch and release section and down into the two fish a day stretch. There are plenty of easy rainbows left from the second stocking at Glencoe and Sparks in the five fish a day section. Keep in mind that the stocked fish will eat and indicator quicker than the fly under it.
Thanks to Frank for his stream report from May 1:
Hello Theaux,
I fished the Gunpowder today at the Massamore Road section. I was about 100 yards downstream from the parking area. I only fished for about an hour, but caught three browns.One was about six inches and the other two were about 10 to 12 inch range. I fished a size 16 red quill Gordon dry. The little one I caught stripping the fly back to me and the other two were caught on top. The fish are indeed looking up. I also made a couple casts in the pool at the parking lot and had a nice fish hit the fly as I was retrieving it. The red quill was the ticket.
Take care,
Frank
The Gunpowder river is flowing at 266 CFs and is 56 F. Try Falls Rd through Bunkerhill this weekend as the water drops. Until then, don’t feel compelled to wade deeper than shin or knee deep and consider bringing along a wading staff. Josh just called in from Falls Rd this morning to report Hendricksons on the water and in the air. My guess is that if he was not going to prom this evening he would probably still be fly fishing the Gunpowder! With the water up, try Mike’s Unusuals and Phunny Emergers sized #14. Light bright Zonkers in olive and black will also do the trick especially around undercuts and woody debris. Stop in for a 5ft or 10 ft sinking leaders to fish the streamers effectively. These leaders will also be perfect additions to your kit for the Shad run. The Dogwoods are blooming! It will take a few days for Deer Creek to settle down but don’t miss fly fishing for Shad this Spring as water temps are on the move up. The Susquehanna flats have been slow this week with water temperatures just approaching 60 degrees F. Eric Snyder just dropped off some chartreuse and white, pink and white and red and yellow shad flies with coneheads that are sure to produce.
Please note: Little Falls and the Gunpowder River downstream of the gas line including Upper and Lower Glencoe, Sparks Rd through Phoenix Rd will be receiving another stocking of rainbows next week and will be closed to fishing till April 27.
Thanks to Gary and Seth for the Stream Reports!
Hey Theaux
Short note to let you know I was able to take off Monday, 4/8, and got out on the river from 11-4. I fished the upper section and the fishing was unbelievable. Aside from losing count on the the number of fish caught, I was fortunate enough to fight six fish in the 14-16 inch range all fat and feisty….only landed four and I ended the day with a line break from one of the larger fish I’ve fought on the gunpowder over the twenty two years I’ve been fishing this river. It was a big male and he jumped multiple times,I had him close enough to make a few scoop attempts but he was not having any of it. I noticed some stone flies, a few cadis but did not see anything else coming off the river and the fish were eating emergers and the occasional stone and caddis. I caught nearly all the fish on a caddis emerger and was fishing it both wet and dry…what a kick! I really don’t remember a time when so many large fish were actively feeding…simply incredible.
Gary
T,
-Headed out yesterday for a short afternoon jaunt. Still seeing stoneflies and small cream midges. Landed this nice brown on a dry pretty quickly into it. Beautiful day, and with the warmer weather this week, I’m hoping we’ll see some hatches soon! Thanks again for the advice and support.
- Seth Hodes
The Gunpowder River is flowing at 92 CFs, is clear and 46 degrees F. The last of the stoneflies are fading. Hendricksons have been on the move since last Saturday. Cooler, not colder nights have kept me from kicking the water trough first thing in the morning to break up the last of the winter ice. Banks are still soft and quite a few are undercut so mind your step as you’re getting back to the river. Stop in and pick up some of Mike Bachkosky’s beautiful Catskill style Light Hendricksons in a #14-16 and purposefully built snowshoe rabbit emergers and unusuals. Blue Winged Olives are present in the upper river but small pheasant tails sized #16-18 and zebra midges in the #20 range are accounting for more fish than the dries. I was lucky enough to join Mike Colegrove and Josh Reider on the stream after work last weekend. Mike found a bright, stocked rainbow that had moved all the way up into the catch and release section and Josh tricked a small brown that gave his Abel reel a run for first prize in the beauty pageant. While I’m used to getting great feedback from customers about how well these guys handle duties at Backwater Angler, I was amazed at how equally skillful these guys are on the other side of the counter and look forward to fishing with them again soon.
Thanks to Gary for the Fishing report and gear review!
Hey Theaux,
Well as you know it took me about 4 months to get over leaving my beautiful 3/4 wt Scott in the Masemore parking lot and I still miss it very much! So if anyone reading this found the rod…please deliver it the Backwater Shop. But….life goes on and the new Loomis NRX 883-4 3wt accompanied by the Bauer CFX1 reel you sold me this past weekend kept me in the river for nearly 5 hours!. What a beautiful looking and high performing set up! It shoots the line through effortlessly and with hardly a sound and is both powerful for long casts and subtle for fishing the nearby seams. I was lucky enough to catch 7 nice browns all round the 8-9 inch range and lost as many. I suspect one was large as it stopped the emerger in mid swing and snapped my tippet below the knot to the leader. Fighting fish on the new rod was a treat and I am really glad I bought the appropriate reel because it created a perfectly balanced mechanism. It makes me want to start playing ‘hooky’ again.
See you soon,
Gary
P.S. Sunday I took it outside and set it up just to look at it!
The Gunpowder River is flowing at 110 Cfs, is gin clear and 46 F. Just a few cream midges, tiny olives, stoneflies and Hendricksons were lifting off today. Not many fish were rising freely but they are starting to look up. It’s still tough to move fish with dries first thing in the morning but one will find more active fish as the day progresses. Streamer fishing with zonkers across runs and deadfalls continues to be a sure bet.
Please Note: The shop will be closed Easter Sunday and will reopen on Monday, April 1 at 10 AM.
Thanks to Chic for the steelhead report from Erie, PA.
Backwater Angler and Gunpowder regulars Chic and Kay Dambach drove 7 hours northwest to Erie, PA in late March to play with some beautiful and enormous steelhead. The weather was cold and snowing, but guide Mark DeCarlo helped find the fish and he picked the right flies - small pale egg patterns and white wooly buggers. Chic and Kay did the rest. Chic has done it many times, but this was a first for Kay. She hates the cold, but she’ll be back for more regardless of the weather.
The Gunpowder River is a green, flowing at 152 Cfs and is 41 degrees. Fly fishing this weekend should prove to be a little more comfortable (warmer and less windy) than during the past week. Wednesdays anticipated snowstorm resulted in more blackbirds falling out of the sky than snowflakes. While most of the white stuff left us by Thursday morning, the trails are still plenty wet and a little greasy. If you have a pair of studs in your shoes use them. If you need a pair, stop in and we’ll make sure that you pick out the right kind for your Simms, patagonia or Chota boot before you head out. If you were planning on taking dramatic shots of snow covered boulders along the Gunpowder this March, photoshop may be your only hope now. Stoneflies and Olives are a good bet as the water drops and the air temps rise through the weekend. Try #14-16 red butt soft hackles in the gravel during the morning hours and bring along some snowshoe rabbit BWO’s in the flats and pools and a few Troth style Deer hair winged black stones to fish the riffles mid-afternoon. Leaders in the 9 to 12 ft length ending in 6 and 7x will do the trick. –Always remember that one has a much better of catching fish if, and when, one actually goes fishing.
I found myself lucky to be visiting my family and friends down south. Lance, who has a nice big camp in the marsh had an opening and I jumped at the chance to pay him a visit. A front pushed through that evening as Maggie worked up some red beans and rice. By dawn, fog framed a pair of Roseate Spoonbills perched in an old live oak snag overlooking the canal. When the motor kicked, they took flight and lead us out into the bayou.
Fly fishing is a sport that constantly surprises me. One can have a memorable day by catching more fish then usual, catching a big fish, or just having seen an amazing hatch.This past Monday was one of those days for me. I hooked close to 10 fish and landed 3. One of the fish I didn’t land was a big brown pushing 18-20 inches. These are the kinds of days that keep us all coming back to fish again, and with the cold weather finally nearing its end everyone should be itching to get out and wet a line on their favorite stretch of the Gunpowder. Catching the fish on Monday was definitely tough but I was able to move fish on a streamer pattern. Fishing around structure like log jams, big boulders, or bushes at the rivers edge proved to be the most successful way to approach the fish. Within the next two weeks we should start to see heavier stone fly hatches. Moving from spot-to-spot and covering water may help you catch more fish or at least experience more action.
