Gunpowder River, Baltimore County MD, 11/27/2016

[SeaSickSailor]

Water temp 53 with good flow (90-93 CFS I believe) and mostly clear. Mostly sunny, light winds, with temps in the upper 40s (felt much colder in the shade). Saw midges and some BWOs mid afternoon.

Fished 2 different sections. I should preface all of my reports that I am a poor to novice fly angler at best (only 8 months now) but have been fishing frequently since I was 6.

Between the bridges yielded 2 Browns. First one was small (6-7") on a Caddis dry on a tip from a fella that just caught a 15" Brown on one. No love for it after that or other dries/dropper w/midges. Decided to go full retard and chuck larger white and crystal streamers just to see if I could move some fish. Scored a 11" Brown on the swing and strip game with many smaller fish not finding the hook. Randomly I caught a 6-7" Black Crappie probing the rock ledges on the bank which was odd. Has anyone else encountered one there or something else goofy from Prettyboy???

South of the second bridge that has the Lefty Kreh Trail plaque I stuck with big streamer tactics and scored another Brown in the 11-12" range and missed a few more. It seemed that everyone else was having a rough time as well with reports of only 1-2 fish from about the 9 other anglers I spoke to. Saw one guy at dusk score a small Brown on a BWO.

I know guys that have the Gunny dialed are huge nymph cats to which I am not. That river is the sole reason that I even started fly fishing and has been such a humbling instructor for me. Hope everyone had a solid holiday weekend!

Cheers,
Cliff

 

[redietz]

SeaSickSailor wrote:
I know guys that have the Gunny dialed are huge nymph cats to which I am not. That river is the sole reason that I even started fly fishing and has been such a humbling instructor for me. Hope everyone had a solid holiday weekend!

Once you figure it out, you'll find the river is actually pretty easy to fish. It took me thee or four years before I started catching more than a few fish a trip. It's mostly a question of learning which sections fish best at which flows, temps and time of year. You did OK for this time of year.

FWIW, I never fish nymphs in GP, and average about 300 fish per year out of it.

 

[ryansheehan]

Cliff,
A 12 inch brown on the gun is a real good fish. I spend most of my time nymphing but definitely love the dry dropper and streamer fishing as well. As Red said there's lots of ways to catch fish there it just takes time. Its definitely one of those rivers where ten percent of the fisherman catch ninety percent of the fish. I have seen and or caught bass, catfish, rockbass and sunnies in the area you fished, its not uncommon.

 

[Shaner]

I need to pick up a md lic and start exploring there.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Shaner,

I have considered this many times. My determination was I could be on water just as good or better in about the same amount of time so I never bothered.

You may certainly live closer though. Here in Lancaster, by the time I get to the 83/30 interchange I could be on a creek with a chance to catch multiple trout in the 20" class. Not trying to discourage you. I hear the GP is awesome. Just a thought.

 

[SeaSickSailor]

Gents,

Thank you all for the inspiration (HAHAHAHA). Seriously that gives me hope. I caught the sulfur hatch there for one day this year for an hour and a half (had to go back to work) and caught 9 in one hole. I love that river and it's stunning on the eyes as well. I also enjoy the fact that most of the time my cell phone does not work there. The best waters seem to all have that in common!

 

[Shaner]

Should take me 40-45ish I think. I always think of the same thing with plenty of amazing water above the state line.

I'll be out in York county this weekend Seasick if you want to get together and catch some local wilds? The water should be much better then its been. Still going to be below average for this time of year but should fish well.

 

[dryflyklesse]

Shaner you never want to get your md license with me im going to hit it a lot more next year