Gunpowder Falls fishin'

[MrFishingToughGuy]

Gee, my first post on FAOL...

Wow! A super weekend above Falls Rd (the ~1.5 miles from the bridge all the way to the dam). This was the first time I've ever made it up to the dam, and boy was it worth it. River flow @ approx 150 cfs, they're releasing water from the 55ft gates which puts the water temp around 55 deg F. Fished a big yellow EH caddis (#10 or #12) in the riffles, and just after dawn caught a 14" brown. A couple smaller guys downstream from there, again on caddis in the riffles. Not much else...then went back up to the dam later on. My buddy caught a small brown on some spinning gear (small black rooster-tail spinner), so I tried my luck with a black bead-head woolly bugger...and caught a 15" and an 18" brown on consecutive casts! A fish that felt even bigger busted off a freshly-tied bugger on 3X tippet....there are some big fish waiting up in the eddy at the base of the dam.

Heard reports of some real bruiser rainbows in the upper stretches, anywhere from 10 to 16" fish, mostly on san juan worms and pink scuds. A 26" rainbow was taken on a caddis on the 4th of July in that stretch, as well.

tight lines...
Marty

[MrFishingToughGuy]

J-

Awesome site, and thanks. We were just out your way - got me back into the "swing" of fly-fishing. Got blanked on the Stilly, but it was mid-late June and the water was really low. So we rewarded ourselves with a trip to Crater Lake and several large rainbows and a few kokanee!!! Then paid homage to the high desert gods and hit the Deschutes in and around Bend, OR and got a few more rainbows.

TL---

Marty

[flyguy415]

Thanks for the post, Marty.
Sounds like I need to get back up above Falls Rd. I've been exploring the stretch near Masemore recently, and fished yesterday below York Rd. If you put up with the occasional kayak and canoe passing by, that's a good stretch that isn't too heavily fished. They were hammering a size 14 tan EH caddis with a smallish (20-22) beetle tied off the back. Didn't bring any to hand - one of those days - but the fish are there.
Agreed, though, that the Gunpowder trout love those caddis in the 10-16 range.

Tight lines,
Dave

[MrFishingToughGuy]

Dave,

please send me an email at mromeo@jhsph.nospam.edu, remove the nospam. maybe we can compare notes sometime!

I'll be heading up there early tomorrow morning before I head out to FL for the weekend - will update as necessary

Also, Theaux @ backwater angler has been fishing the masemore-york stretch a lot (I guess on guide trips) and has mentioned that the ants and beetles were cooking 'em. I had a few looks below York maybe 2 weeks ago on a #14 caddis, but eventually switched to a SJ worm after some rains came through and it did the trick. Apparently that's the best stretch for the bigger browns.

Tight lines, and if you see a darnk blue MINI Cooper S near Falls, that's me.

Marty