First trout of 2011

P

psummrnl

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Feb 14, 2011
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My first trip out this year. After making the conversion last June from spin fisherman to fly fisherman, I only got out a hand full of times. I'm still a beginner level novice! I've been reading all winter and brushing up on my fly fishing accumen and I am happy to report I caught two fish Saturday morning and landed one. I fished the Gunpowder in northern Baltimore County. The fish I landed was small but it was a beautiful native brown. I primarily used a beadheaded pheasant tail and nymphed, trying to get that down first and foremost. I wasn't real sure on the strike indicator placement so I decided to fish without one. After figuring out the appropriate weight, I think I had the hang of it pretty well. The water was tough; low and clear and the sun wasn't out so neither were any hatches. I did try a small wooly bugger for a while, both dead drifting it and stripping for a bit but no luck. I'm officially hooked though!
 
low and clear conditions, good choice w. no indicator. congrats on your first fish.

also, the only native fish to pa is the brook trout, and I would guestimate that a mere 10 percent of "native" brook trout are actually native, with the other 90 being deemed "wild".

browns, brooks, and bows are mostly wild these days, meaning they are self-reproducing, but done so through efforts of man (introducing wild strains from other waterways to take hold) and nature (birds, migration).
 
Wild meaning not stocked in my reference.
 
lol I know, but you referred to the brown as being "native"... browns are only native to eurupe.

there are wild bows, browns, brooks, and native brooks in the state... all i was getting at. the chances of you catching an actual native brook trout are very slim... thousands of wilds.

wild brown:
100_2720.jpg


wild or native brook:
4718190948_c12ba2068f.jpg


wild bow:
bow1fisherie.jpg


only reason I stress the wild/native debate is because I see a lot of uninformed people calling wild browns native, and it's just not something you wanna do around here without getting burned.. dudes can be harsh at times.

there is a stream, class c, local to me that now holds wild brook trout. they improved the ph through lijmestone dosing, and introduced a strain of wild brook trout from another county.
 
psummrnl,

Congrats on the first fish of 2011. Your are progressing well as a fly fisher if you can catch wild browns from the Gunpowder in clear conditions.

I once won a bet with a guy who claimed there were native rainbows in a water supply reservoir. Wild and native are not synonyms.
 
Congrats, I have gone fishing twice this year and yet to catch a trout! Although I did manage a chub today. I envy you right now!
 
i had to look up accumen..........welcome to PAFF.....KEEP FISHING!!!
 
my roommate still calls the trout in valley natives. he gets very impressed with himself when a "native" snags itself on his hook
 
Congrats on your first fish on a fly rod and in the new year. I was lucky enough for my first trout to be a hefty size stocked brown which made my life! Took forever it seemed after missing trout for a couple days. Keep Fishing and GOOD LUCK !!!
 
Nice job on landing a wild brown on the Gun, especially in those conditions. I got skunk the same weekend you fished. That is my home water. Shoot me a pm if you ever want some company. You should try to get back there soon...the flow is up and the fish are moving around. If you are an experienced spin fisherman, you already know where the fish should be, and that's half the battle. When the flow is above 130 on the Gunpowder you can have a great day. I landed 13 fish in the fall in about 3 1/2 hours, and probably a third of that time was walking in and moving around. Good luck and stick with it.
 
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