Gunpowder River, MD 10/5/06

[zdank]

Visited the Gunpowder for the first time in a few weeks for about an hour of half of fishing on Thursday. Fished a couple hundred yards down from the dam. Didn't catch anything... hell I didn't see anything until it was getting dark and I had to leave.

A couple of guys said they had a ton of luck through the afternoon using an ausable wulff and caddis but that the fishing completely shut off at 4. When I left at 6:30 the fish went into a frenzy. Next time I am bringing a flashlight! It appeared there was a hatch of a really small light colored fly? Im no expert in this regard.

Anyone else been up there lately?

[MrFishingToughGuy]

Had great fishing up there Saturday. No one else was even up there hiking (above falls rd)! Managed a number of browns from 8-16" swinging streamers. Some of those fish are really getting colored up. One 13" fish already had a pretty mean-looking kype.

I wish I'd had some time to tie some bigger patterns, like sculpins or zonkers. I hooked and lost two very large fish farther downstream on the only zonker I had in the box, and the 2nd fish probably still has it in his/her mouth.

One thing I love about swinging streamers in these conditions (well, Saturday's conditions - cool, high water, overcast) is that the fish very rarely miss the hook.

I *think* I saw an osprey up there for the very first time! And the leaves...wow.

Marty

[zdank]

You are right about the scenery, it is great to just be up there right now! I have never fished streamers on Gunpowder and wouldn't really be sure what to use. The only streamers I have are a couple of wooly buggers.

Not sure what your plans are this weekend, but there is a good chance I will go up there on Saturday.... maybe Thursday as well. Drop me a pm if you might be down there any of those days. Glad to see you are catching some quality fish!

[zdank]

Going to do some fishing on the Gunpowder this week... I'm off of work on Thurs, Fri, and Sat. Anyone been up there lately? Know what's working or where the fish are?

The weather is supposed to be great on Thurs and Fri. Hopefully the fish will cooperate.

Also, anyone ever fish Morgan Run, Western Run, or Bee Tree Run? Looking for a few places to scout out this winter before I go hot and heavy in the spring. I just got a new 3 wt setup and it is amazing! My casting and presentation is finally good enough to consistently get into fish!

-Zach

[MrFishingToughGuy]

Zach,

I fished there for about an hour on Saturday and managed a pair of 11-inchers, not bad all things considered. With the low flows, I'd try anywhere below York Rd - there are some good pools in that stretch.

Olive beadhead caddis pupa/larva, copper johns, brassies, buggers, and at this point small egg flies like glo-bugs will all yield fish. Fish them under an indicator, unless you are swinging small unweighted streamers, in which case the strikes will be very noticeable and the fish will essentially hook themselves.

Morgan fishes OK this time of year as long as the water isn't too low. I like it anywhere from Jim Bowers road all the way down to Klees Mill rd. Buggers and nymphs of all kinds will take fish.

Western run is almost entirely private property, so unless you know a lawyer, you'd do well to stay away from there! Seriously, it's almost impossible to get on that stream without trespassing.

Beetree is OK, but it can be tough to fish at this point, though there are fish in there. Low flows make it a bear to find fishy holes.

Little Falls is OK, but beware the copperheads.

I'll be around NEXT weekend if you have some time, and we can fish a few of my favorite spots and even try to catch some brookies!!!

Marty

[MikeL]

Hey hey,

The brookies and browns in the small streams spawn earlier than in the Gun.

As for Western Run, you can always try door knocking.

[MikeL]

They arent spawning yet in the smaller streams. Kinda weird but with crazy weather I guess its expected. I was actually catching fish on hoppers on Saturday in many of the little streams in the area.

Sunday the Gun fished well stripping streamers hard all day. This is my first time up there in a feew months and I was surprised at how low it was. Id have been better off fishing lower on the river instead of above falls. The fishing was good as usal though.

Howd yall do?

[MrFishingToughGuy]

Hammered big steelies and a couple big browns on Friday and Saturday on an Erie trib. I'll be ready for the Gunpowder come Saturday, though!

Wonder what this recent weather will do...maybe we'll get more discharge from Prettyboy.

Marty

[zdank]

Well I managed to beat the rush and get to up around the dam this morning. Got into a couple fish including a really good sized rainbow. A small parachute adams was most effective. There were alot of rises on the water and the weather was fantastic. Also alot of fishermen, but most started at the lower lot so I beat the rush by taking the highlands trail.

Still using mostly dries but I think I'm going to try nymphs more next time. Still having trouble keeping my dropper rigs from tangling and havent really figured out the strike indicator thing.

Overall the fishing was very good. There was one hole just loaded with a big group of decent browns all stacked up but very finicky. I'm happy though... caught my biggest trout of the year!

[MikeL]

They spawning yet?