[VFB] Gunpowder report

[John Roth]

Since I know there are a few guys on the list who fish the Gunpowder in Maryland, an update for today seemed appropriate.   I was out on the water from about 630am til about 8am (unfortunate scheduling of a dental appointment at 830 cut the fishing short).  During the time I was out there, nothing was biting subsurface on any of the usual patterns.  I had a few strikes on the dries, but they were few and far between.  The later it got, the better the dry fly action was becoming, so late morning might be the best time to get out.  The weather was cold and rainy and it has been for weeks so the sun warming the water is probably having an absolutely minimal effect.  I did see small BWOs and a few sulphurs coming off here and there, but the fish weren't taking any of the imitations I offered them.  The sulphurs appeared to be about #18 with bold bright yellow bodies.  None of this washed out stuff that happens later in the season!   I stopped and saw Mike at Great Feathers the other day and he mentioned that recently he fished little falls from the NCR trail crossing back down to the massive pool where little falls attaches to the gunpowder.  Things have been really bizarre with the hatches this season so far, but this is the weirdest of it all.  He said on the same day, he saw hendricksons, march browns, sulphurs, stoneflies and caddis coming off.  This should never happen really, but with the way the weather has been, god only knows which hatch to try matching.    For what its worth, #14 and #16 rope dubbed adams seemed to be the flies that worked best this morning.   Also, I've heard of at least two different people pulling up a 14" RAINBOW at Masemore Road.  The current is fast and the water is high and clear, so I guess they're just getting swept down from the dam little by little.  The browns in the same section weren't much to see, but there is action there.   I'll let you guys know when something starts to happen that might be predictable enough to justify a drive for some good fishing, but it might be worth heading up there anyway just for the weirdness of what's happening.   John