wgmiller
Well-known member
I noticed that July 4th was a “Fish for free” day in Maryland, so I reached out to Fishidiot for some intell on Maryland streams that would be worth fishing. All the stars aligned (work, kids, etc.) in my world to fish for the day, so I figured I’d take advantage of a trip south of the Mason-Dixon to chase salmonids. The intell came back that from my location in Hanover, a trip to Big Hunting Creek would be worthwhile. I got the lowdown on what areas to fish, bugs, etc., etc. I contacted Tim Robinson and as luck would have it, he was free to fish on the 4th as well, so we met up south of Gettysburg and made the short trip to Thurmont. We both did quite a bit of recon on the stream prior to the trip and were excited to wet a line. Tim has a Maryland license, so for him it wasn’t as big of a deal as it was for me, who only possesses a PA license.
We were met with steady showers on the way in and parked at the largest parking area along 77. This was after an “almost” where I made a last minute attempt at turning onto Catoctin Hollow Road and Tim’s Jeep didn’t like the wet roadway. Thank god for rear view mirrors and an accelerator, right Tim? :-o We rigged up in the parking lot around 08:30 and there was one other angler already rigged and heading to the stream. Tim and I could only surmise that the weather and holiday weekend was keeping other anglers away. We were surprised to see only one other angler upon our arrival. For all intents and purposes, we had the stream to ourselves for the entire day. No complaints there!
From here we made our way to the stream via the trails and worked our way downstream. I was impressed with the beauty and “feel” of the stream. It was really hard to believe that it was right next to a major roadway as it had a “remote” feeling to it with high gradient, a lush tree canopy and high canyon walls.
Working downstream, I rigged up initially with a hopper/dropper setup, but quickly abandoned it as it wasn’t producing. I went to my old “fallback” and rigged up a bugger. Personally speaking, I find streamer fishing the most engaging and enjoyable technique of fly fishing. While it may not be the most productive, it seems to work on many different types of water. Speaking of types of water, BHC presented plenty of that. From pocket water to slow pools and everything in between, it was there. This made finding a rig to cover all the water types a real challenge. We both skated topwater stimulator patterns, but found the amount of water we could cover with them limited. Tim did have some success using the stimmies he purchased for the trip. I was able to hook up with several fish using a white crystal bugger. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to bring them to hand as they all threw the hook. The takes weren’t solid like a brookie strike, that’s for sure. Nymphing was a challenge as the sharp, squared off rocks seemed to snag every nymph rig I tried.
We fished downstream a good ways and dodged several downpours as we did so. The overcast skies and rain definitely worked in our favor as we both commented how challenging the stream would be if the sun was out. It’s hard to quantify the flow, but based on research I did and other info, I’d have to say that for early July, the flow was quite good. I temped the water and it was 66 degrees, which led us both to believe that BHC most likely has a “danger zone” with regards to temps that is right around the corner.
Got gradient?
We wrapped up our fishing of the lower stretch around noon and headed to upper BHC (above the lake) after lunch. Here were found skinny water that was running a nice, cool 62 degrees. We hooked up with several wild brookies in this stretch and worked a plunge pool probably longer than we should have. I picked up two nice brookies out of this pool that absolutely destroyed a #6 olive bugger. Tim and I have never met a culvert plunge pool we didn’t like, even though he doesn’t like walking through the tunnels! :-D
Culvert plunge pool fishing...how it's done!
Upper BHC
We didn’t give the upper stretch of water a lot of fishing time as we opted to relocate back to the lower stretch to finish off the day. The upper stretch is nice and there are plenty of willing brookies, although the water is definitely tighter.
There is plenty to write about our trip to BHC, but that’s the nuts and bolts of it. It’s a shame this stream is a didymo stream and I hope it doesn’t impair it too badly. I have to do a thorough cleaning of my boots and waders, consistent with not wanting to transmit it to other streams. One thing that takes away from the beauty of this stream is the road running right next to it. The road noise certainly reminds you that you’re not on a remote, mountain stream. But the fishing is engaging enough to keep those thoughts at bay.
On a side note, after chasing esox for the past several months with a 10wt rod and big, bushy flies, it sure was a nice change of pace to get back to my roots!
Stream fished: upper and lower Big Hunting Creek
Temps: lower: 66F, upper: 62F
Flow: seemed good for July
Insect activity: light BWO and midge activity after the rain showers stopped
Clarity: good
We were met with steady showers on the way in and parked at the largest parking area along 77. This was after an “almost” where I made a last minute attempt at turning onto Catoctin Hollow Road and Tim’s Jeep didn’t like the wet roadway. Thank god for rear view mirrors and an accelerator, right Tim? :-o We rigged up in the parking lot around 08:30 and there was one other angler already rigged and heading to the stream. Tim and I could only surmise that the weather and holiday weekend was keeping other anglers away. We were surprised to see only one other angler upon our arrival. For all intents and purposes, we had the stream to ourselves for the entire day. No complaints there!
From here we made our way to the stream via the trails and worked our way downstream. I was impressed with the beauty and “feel” of the stream. It was really hard to believe that it was right next to a major roadway as it had a “remote” feeling to it with high gradient, a lush tree canopy and high canyon walls.
Working downstream, I rigged up initially with a hopper/dropper setup, but quickly abandoned it as it wasn’t producing. I went to my old “fallback” and rigged up a bugger. Personally speaking, I find streamer fishing the most engaging and enjoyable technique of fly fishing. While it may not be the most productive, it seems to work on many different types of water. Speaking of types of water, BHC presented plenty of that. From pocket water to slow pools and everything in between, it was there. This made finding a rig to cover all the water types a real challenge. We both skated topwater stimulator patterns, but found the amount of water we could cover with them limited. Tim did have some success using the stimmies he purchased for the trip. I was able to hook up with several fish using a white crystal bugger. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to bring them to hand as they all threw the hook. The takes weren’t solid like a brookie strike, that’s for sure. Nymphing was a challenge as the sharp, squared off rocks seemed to snag every nymph rig I tried.
We fished downstream a good ways and dodged several downpours as we did so. The overcast skies and rain definitely worked in our favor as we both commented how challenging the stream would be if the sun was out. It’s hard to quantify the flow, but based on research I did and other info, I’d have to say that for early July, the flow was quite good. I temped the water and it was 66 degrees, which led us both to believe that BHC most likely has a “danger zone” with regards to temps that is right around the corner.
Got gradient?
We wrapped up our fishing of the lower stretch around noon and headed to upper BHC (above the lake) after lunch. Here were found skinny water that was running a nice, cool 62 degrees. We hooked up with several wild brookies in this stretch and worked a plunge pool probably longer than we should have. I picked up two nice brookies out of this pool that absolutely destroyed a #6 olive bugger. Tim and I have never met a culvert plunge pool we didn’t like, even though he doesn’t like walking through the tunnels! :-D
Culvert plunge pool fishing...how it's done!
Upper BHC
We didn’t give the upper stretch of water a lot of fishing time as we opted to relocate back to the lower stretch to finish off the day. The upper stretch is nice and there are plenty of willing brookies, although the water is definitely tighter.
There is plenty to write about our trip to BHC, but that’s the nuts and bolts of it. It’s a shame this stream is a didymo stream and I hope it doesn’t impair it too badly. I have to do a thorough cleaning of my boots and waders, consistent with not wanting to transmit it to other streams. One thing that takes away from the beauty of this stream is the road running right next to it. The road noise certainly reminds you that you’re not on a remote, mountain stream. But the fishing is engaging enough to keep those thoughts at bay.
On a side note, after chasing esox for the past several months with a 10wt rod and big, bushy flies, it sure was a nice change of pace to get back to my roots!
Stream fished: upper and lower Big Hunting Creek
Temps: lower: 66F, upper: 62F
Flow: seemed good for July
Insect activity: light BWO and midge activity after the rain showers stopped
Clarity: good
