Gunpowder River, Baltimore County, MD 8/22/10

[BelAirSteve]

Since the Gunpowder is no secret, I figured I wouldn't ruffle any feathers by posting a report ;-)

If you read my post in the fly tying forum, you'll see why this report is so important for lots of reasons. For the first time in about 2 months, I finally had a chance to chase some wild browns on the Gunpowder. My buddy and I had planned to hit the Codorus to avoid the tubers and kayakers, but when it was raining at 7:00 Sunday morning, we headed to our home waters. The plan was to dredge up some browns with what had been working for him lately...small pheasant tails and brassies.

Made the first cast probably around 8:30 and rain came and went, heavy at times, but it was mostly just overcast most of the morning. They have been releasing from the low gate at the dam, so the water has been cold all summer, around 50. Flows are down a bit, but the fish are not terribly stressed due to the cool temps.

Got into some fish right away, with my first fish to hand within the first 20 minutes. Due to the weather, we didn't run into too many other guys out there, so we pretty much had our pick of where we wanted to fish. The nice thing about the Gunpowder is that the fish are USUALLY where they are SUPPOSED to be, or where you THINK they are. It was cool..at one point we were both working a riffle about 2 feet deep and between the two of us, we caught 4 fish in about 20 minutes. We were no more than 20 yards apart.

For those of you that have fished the Gunpowder, you know that the fish don't get very big. I have been fishing it for 2 years, and the average size fish I normally take is about 8 inches. Yesterday, the average was more like 10 inches. Not sure if I am better fishing the spots where larger fish hold, or if I am getting better and getting the nymphs down deeper. Either way, it was noticable.

I also had a first for me on the Gunpowder...a wild Rainbow. After losing 3 nymph rigs in about a half hour, I got frustrated and decided to tie on a soft hackle. There were some funky currents in the area I was fishing, and since I couldn't control the drift of the nymphs very well, I figured I could cast the soft hackly, then let it swing in those currents. Sure enough...on the third case, I landed a nice 10 inch wild rainbow.

We saw some BWOs early, and a smattering of other mayflies, including a heavy trico hatch that lasted about 45 minutes. The fish were rising to something, and although I didn't switch to dries any any point, my buddy did take a couple fish on caddis. Funny how that works right? I saw ONLY mayflies, and not a single caddis, yet that's what they liked. Go figure! Thanks for reading my post.

Steve

 

[midgeman]

Great post Steve! What stretch were you guys fishing?

 

[jpavoncello]

great report. I haven't fished the GP for a couple years now, gotta get back down there.
On a side note, I was at the Codorus Saturday evening and had to deal with a kayaker there, first time I've ever seen a kayak on the Trophy Trout section.

 

[3wt7X]

Steve,
Great report...it sounds like you had a productive day on the Gunpowder. I hope the fish size is turning around in that stream, as I've experienced nothing but the smaller 8-10 fish in there, but there are certainly plenty of them. Some of the guys that I've talked to that have been fishing the Gunpowder for years say that it used to hold some really nice fish. I am sure that it still holds nice fish, but they are tough to find. Good Job on the wild rainbow!!!

 

[pool_spooker]

Thanks for the report. Nice.
I fish the Gun a lot and have been for many years. There are some exceptionally large trout in those waters, right under your feet. The problem is they have a phd. My last time out I landed 1 larger brown and a 14+ inch rainbow. True, lots of small fish, but the larger quality fish are there, in numbers. I've rolled over many and long distance released many and landed few. THing is, the larger fish are not where you would think they are. I've seen very large fish go after the 7 inch brown I was realing in, often.
Most of the larger fish I have caught have been tricked with streamers. Thin long streamers like the gray ghost believe it or not. Buggers not so much. Try the lower sections below york road. They are there. Sitting there watching you.
Almost all of the larger fish I have landed there I have caught by fishing a pool away. Sounds crazy, but it works. I dont even get in the water if I can help it and cast two pools down. Just works.