North Branch Of Potomac, Garrett Co., Maryland 03/24/2017

3wt7X

Active member
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
704
Time fished: 0900 am- 0630 pm

Weather:
It was raining lightly with mid 30 degree temps in the morning. By 1pm it was mostly sunny and in the lower 60s. The breeze came in brief spurts in the afternoon, but not too bothersome. In all, it was a beautiful day for a long float.

Water Conditions:
It was pushing around 600 cfs in the area we floated, The water was very chalky with only a couple foot of visibility. The area we fished does not have a temp gauge, but I would estimate that it climbed from the low 40s in the morning to the mid to upper forties in the afternoon. It was a neat experience floating that river at those flows. The hole dynamics were completely different in many areas, and it looked unrecognizable to some degree.

Hatches:
Little to nothing in the morning. A very light midge emergence around noon to 3pm. Heavy stoneflies, black (size 18-20) and brown (size 14-16) from about 1pm to 4pm. Many riffles displayed a couple dozen stones flying overtop at one time.

Fishing:
What a great day to break in MKerr's new boat!!! We had steady action all day on nymphs. The stupid pink wacky worm was a strong fly, and I tied a batch of size 14 bead head pheasant tail soft hackles, which produced as stoneflies, fished right off the banks. Some super aggressive takes on the soft hackles. Mike had the big fish hot hand, he landed a beautiful 18 inch wild bow and a pretty 19 inch Brown, which put a nice areal display during the fight, along with another stubby 16 inch wild bow. We only saw a handful of rises all day on a 10 mile float, so we never broke out the dry fly rod. Most fish came on nymph rigs, with a couple on streamers. Unfortunately, we lost an anchor, and we had a six weight get pulled out of the new boat into a tree, which turned into a rescue mission that was successful!!! I guess if you float enough, you are bound to run into some issues, and good laughs and memories.
 

Attachments

  • NB5.jpg
    NB5.jpg
    149 KB · Views: 13
  • NB2.jpg
    NB2.jpg
    66.3 KB · Views: 14
  • NB4.jpg
    NB4.jpg
    70.5 KB · Views: 15
  • NB1.jpg
    NB1.jpg
    72.1 KB · Views: 16
  • NB6.jpg
    NB6.jpg
    52.4 KB · Views: 19
It was a Saturn inflatable raft... Mike can give you a better description, I think it was about 11 foot long, stable, and very manuverable. It is a sweet vessel.
 
I am sure that it was a great water craft. I am planning a canoe trip, for him to join us on the Appomattox River SW of Richmond, VA coming up soon.
 
Back
Top