Stopped up there for a few hours this afternoon. Nothing! No fish rising… tried some streamers but that didn’t work either. Saw a decent amount of fishing holding on the west side of Big Falls Rd bridge. All just sitting low and real spooky.
Outta curiosity… there’s a No Tresspassing sign about 100 yards down from Big Falls Rd. Is there a way around this? Can I still wade down?
Anyone else been out there recently? Did you guys go on the 1st of January?
Zach
Trespassing usually holds for the LAND only. Waterways are open to everyone. If you can wade thru you are not trespassing(I am doing a lot of assuming here)
Did you try midges? Usually when fish are just holding they will still(have to) eat. Midges are taken all the time by trout…ALL THE TIME.
Z-
Hey man, I have been down there, but never very far down. You’re probably OK in the water, but I’d ask the dudes at Backwater Angler. That MIGHT be property of BlueMount quarry. There is some serious frog water at the beginning of that stretch anyway.
Fishing UP from Big Falls Rd is actually pretty good, try the pool just below the confluence with Panther Branch.
Good luck, and thanks for the report. The fishing has pretty much sucked for me there, too, just a few little guys that I’ve had to work hard for…only one big fish in the last several outings.
Marty
The fish are stacked up in what pools remain. i havent been there is a week but the skinny water has only small (last years yoy) fish in it. When you come up on a pool you can usually pull one out then the rest of the pool gets extremely skittish. Its rough.
They will not be letting any additional water out anytime soon. Pray for spillover. Basically, since Loch Raven is at full capacity they would be wasting water if they were to let more out of the Prettyboy Dam since that would mean more would need to be let out of Loch Raven.
The reservoirs have been fishing well though.
This is probably going to make the 3rd winter in a row they dont freeze. But its ok, global warming isnt real. 
Thanks for the input guys…
Mike… awesome fish. Maybe I’ll forego trout for a lil bit and go back to my holes on Loch Raven.
Marty… what do you mean by frog water? I scoped out that pool below panther branch as well as a few of the log jams before I left last week. Definately some fish in there… as I could see their shadows scurry away as I walked on the trail!
HYopefully I’ll get a day or two out this week, I will tell you guys how it goes if I do…
Z
Very nice…
You using bait or artificials?
I usually fish up by Merriman’s, never caught anything but bass up there though.
Figures I get off on Wed and Thurs and a cold front moves in 
A little of both. 
since i’ll be in area im planning on hitting the gunpowder sat morning, after a stop to the local shop of course.
care to meet up? I’m disenchanted with the Gunpowder right now - too little water, tons of people (I know MikeL’s gonna say “Told you so!”).
Marty
sent ya a pm
Told ya so! 
Nah, it is a nice stream but it just gets pounded.
Went up to fish gunpowder today. The rumors are true… water is deathly low but very cold. I wet waded and it was way too chilly for that. Didn’t do very well… had a few lookers but nothing else. Used a little cricket or a stimulator, sometimes with an ant behind it. Didn’t see much activity from the fish or insects but it was a beautiful day and got about 20ft away from a huge heron.
On a brighter fishing note I have been fairing well at Loch Raven with the bass the past few weeks. Doesn’t seem like this summer is hitting the reservoir as bad as in years past. I’ve also rented a boat everytime and that helps emmensely. Of course this is with conventional tackle. I love the new chatterbaits but so do the pickerel!
I was up last night from around 6:30 to 8:30. VERY few rises. Also not many bugs - mostly olives. Got a few fish on an olive emerger fished in the film, otherwise had to drop a caddis pupa or PT nymph off of a stim to catch fish. They are stacked up in backeddies and pools - and have been fished over hard in these spots.
There was the very slightest trickle of spillover last night, but not enough to make any impact on water level. I am pretty sure the DNR has a flow increase in the works anyway.
The only reason I went up last night at all was because I expected BWOs to be around and they were. Luckily. Lately I’ve been working downstream from Masemore but last night I was way up above Falls. The tributary flows really help out as you get farther down river (but water temps are probably too high in the heat of the day below, say, Little Falls confluence).
Thanks for the report!
Marty
I must be getting a little bit at reading the stream because the only thing i saw was olives and a small amount of mixed insects (Thanks for the affirmation!). Could that have been due to the cloudiness and threat of rain in midafternoon?
The guys at backwater said the water is way warm south of little falls. If the flows improve that will change. To me it seemed like the water around Masemore was really skinny too. Does that improve further south?
Still learning alot about this stream and flyfishing in general. At least these low summer flows have given me more knowledge. It just seems that with so little water I would see more fish. Where did they all go? On a brighter note, I didn’t kill any either!
Have any of you guys been to Beaver Creek? Read somewhere that it is not as badly affected by low summer flows.
Z-
Sent you a PM in response to yours. Let’s get together and check it out.
The river really isn’t affected much by the weather per se. The City of Baltimore generally tries to maintain Loch Raven at nearly full capacity without spilling over (during hot, precipitation-lacking summers like this) to reduce the possibility of “wasting” drinking water supply. Prettyboy is full also. Essentially with the Gunpowder at 35-40 cfs, Little Falls and Western Run (the two major tribs to the tailwater) can run off from rainstorms and not push Loch Raven water over the Loch Raven dam, thus effectively conserving water. Remember, the tailwater trout fishery is simply a BYPRODUCT of water management practices. We are fortunate to have it, but municipal drinking water supply is paramount to the fishery (which is slightly skewed as only the City of Bal’mer benefits from the water policy, but countless residents of other counties and nearby states benefit from the fishery).
Water’s up though for the time being!!!
Marty
Anyone been out lately? Haven’t been there in a while and was probably going to head up next week…
Also, going camping at Cunningham Falls from October 3-7. Fishing Hunting Creek and Owens… hopefully the flows are back up. If anyone wants to meet up send me a pm. You’re welcome to camp and or eat, theres a small group of us going up, and most of them do not fish. I’ve also had pretty good success on the lake up there for our warmwater friends. (And I gotta canoe for the week!)
Zach
Z,
Just read some positive postings on the PPCTU listserver regarding the Gunpowder. I don’t remember the dates, but I know they (DNR) will be doing some electroshocking up that way in the not too distant future. Some decent reported fish down around the Bunker Hill area if I remember correctly.
Might want to check if you haven’t already, if your time over at BHC would coincide with ColorFest in Thurmont. It’s a mad house over there and certainly all up and down the road to the parks up that way. You won’t even think about a camping space - they are booked a year in advance.
Just some thots - hope they help.
Mike K.
I cant help much either. I have been fishing the lakes lately. I have heard there are caddis in the mornings. The flows are very good though so you should find working fish all day. Good luck.