Lancaster Fly Fishing Show

I spent this weekend at the Fly Fishing show in Lancaster, PA. This was the first year the show was held in this location and it seemed a great success. Guides and Outfitters from around the country highlighted their services and fly shops and tackle manufacturers showed off the newest gear. Guest speakers and celebrity fly fisherman kept the crowd well entertained.

I spent the show alongside long time Shimano/ G.loomis representative and avid sportsman Dick Kondak. We were promoting the newest fly rods in the G.Loomis lineup. The NRX series was the star of the show, boasting new nano graphite technology making a lighter, stronger, and more responsive fly rod. The folks who took the time to cast the NRX rods all gave rave reviews.

We also showcased the Pro 4x series of rods, the newest in the G.Loomis lineup. The Pro 4x rods use some of the same nano graphite technology as the NRX with a retail price attractive to both beginner and avid fly anglers alike.

The entire line of G.Loomis Fly rods are available at the Backwater Angler fly shop in Monkton, MD http://www.backwaterangler.com.

Susquehanna River Walleye Fishing

The last few winters I have made an effort to target walleyes fishing the Susquehanna below Conowingo dam. Seems that there have been a greater number of walleye in the river in recent years. They are aggressive feeders and can be caught right through the winter months.

I caught and released this nice fish on a recent trip, fishing from shore below Conowingo. I find the fishing best in periods of moderate water flows. Fish can be caught using a variety of techniques. I have had the best success fishing small jigs slowly. 1/8 an 1/16 ounce heads with grub tails or other soft bodies work well. I have had the best luck on chartreuse. I have heard reports of anglers having success on crankbaits and other hardbaits also.

Winter Fly Fishing Gunpowder River Maryland

We have been blessed with unusually mild temperatures in the central Maryland region this winter. Coupled with higher than average stream flows, conditions on the Upper Gunpowder River have been perfect for winter fly fishing.

Fly fisherman on the upper river above Falls rd. can expect to see a good bit of midge activity, especially on the 50 to 60 degree days like we have had in the last week or so. Black Stoneflies have begun to appear on sunny days throughout the catch and release area of the stream. Both offer anglers a shot at some dry fly fishing through February and March.

Popular patterns are many small, dark midge patterns in sizes 18 -22. Grizzly midges, griffiths gnats, and blackfly imitations will work well. Try substituting your summer trico patterns for blackflies, fish will often be fooled.

Quill winged , hair winged, or zlon winged stonefly patterns will take will take rising fish wherever you can find the bugs hatching. Bodies are dark brown or black. You might have to walk awhile to find some bugs hatching , but should find some risers if yo come across them. you can't miss the size 14 stones as the skate wildly across the water trying to gain flight.

March can also bring good fishing with all types of small nymphs. Many of the fish pictured here were taken fishing small dark nymphs under an indicator. Target areas where riffles fall deep.

Finally a Fishing Update

Forgive my delays on an update. Had to go through process of changing blog servers etc. Also lost last years archived posts but kept some older ones up for you to check out.

As some of you keeping watch may know, this Spring has been a tough go on the Chesapeake. I am usually reporting on our fishing ventures on the Susquehanna Flats this time of year, but this season was a bust. Large amounts of runoff on the river brought extreme river flows, as high as 316,000 cfs, and ruined the season. The water on the flats as of today is still muddy and fishing was just impossible. Thanks to all of you who booked and have been flexible with re-scheduling.

Good news is that the Striper fishing has picked up for us a little further down the bay. We have been leaving from Kent Island and fishing surrounding waters. In the past few days we have been catching lots of schoolie size fish on both flies and lures. Lots of fish in the 18 to 22 inch range and a shot at some larger fish each day. We landed a decent 32 inch fish on a recent trip and had a handful of 24 inchers. The fishing should only continue to improve the next week or so.

December Fly Fishing in Maryland

For those checking in often, sorry that I have not posted updates for the last month.  Even us fishing guides get consumed with life on occasion, and I have been in the process of renovating a 150 year old farm house into my home.  It has consumed nearly all of my free time outside of fishing.  Feel free to shoot mean a call or e-mail anytime you want to talk fishing.

Of course, we have been fishing many trips over the course of the fall on the Chesapeake Bay and Gunpowder River.  I have beeen making efforts all this month to get in some striper fishing in the ocean, hoping for some more of the great success we had last year.  The weather, however has not been helping our cause. I am sitting in Ocean City , MD now in 30 kt winds and torrential rain which is managing to wipe out several more fishing days here on the Maryland coast.

The  rain has been good for the fishing and water flows on the Gunpowder River.  With Prettyboy Reservoir full, we can figure on good constant water flows on the Gunpowder. This always makes for more consistent fishing.  Favorite winter techniques are nymphing with dropper rigs and small nymphs, as well as keeping an eye out for any of our winter hatches.  Midges, blackfies, and winter stoneflies can all be found hatching on the river in the next few months.

Awesome Fly Fishing on the Gunpowder River

We have been graced with good water flows and a full reservoir for the last few months on the Gunpowder. Adding to this we have had the best Trico mayfly hatch the river has ever seen which lasted through August has continued through September. The hatch is present throughout the river and fish can be found rising to the tiny mayflies in the early morning hours nearly every day. The fishing is challenging, but skilled and patient anglers can really catch some fish if they put the time and effort in.

Tricos are small, black or grey bodied mayflies and are easily recognized as they swarm in large bunches above the stream and fly with an erratic motion. The wings look like tiny mirrors on the water surface as flies who have just hatched float downstream struggling to escape into the air. Of course, the trout take full advantage of the easy meal. The tough part is imitating such a small bug and landing a fish on the necessary 7 or 8 x tippets.

Many fish can be fooled on dry flies. I like patterns in size 20 to 22 with black or gray sparsely tied bodies and light grey hackles or cdc for a wing. I do well on a simple reversed hackle pattern with black dubbing and and a light dun hackle. I also like simple cluster patterns like a griffith’s gnat. Midge pupa patterns in black or grey also work well during the hatch if fished under a short indicator.

Remember folks, we’re fishing on the Gunpowder, not every trout is a 18 to 20″ fish. The Gunpowder is unique on the east coast for it’s large numbers of stream-bred brown trout. The average trout you will catch on the stream is 8 to 12″. There are , however, many more 15+ ” trout in the river than most realize. Good anglers learn that catching larger fish comes with altering techniques, being persistent, and targeting big fish lies consistently. I landed a 21″ brown this Spring, my best in a few years, while fishing nothing more than a pair of bead head pheasant tails. We had a fish on one trip this week which would have went 20+, but broke him off. Anyway, don’t be discouraged if you don’t hang a big fish every trip out. We are lucky to have such an exceptional tailwater fishery to fish year round.

The fishing should only get better as fall arrives and the browns take on their brilliant spawning colors. I hope to see you out fishing on the stream soon. Jeff

August 20 Fishing Update, Ocean City Fly Fishing, Gunpowder Trout Fishing

Heres the skinny from the coast. We’ve been fishing our usual haunts in the bays and inshore waters around Ocean City this month. Fishing has been pretty typical of summer fishing in Maryland's coastal waters. Fish species like summer flounder and hardheads are in the bays in good numbers, stripers are a regular catch near the bridges and jetties and in the inlets. Snapper bluefish can be seen chasing bait on strong tides and we’ve even seen a few sea trout in the mix the last few weeks.

Fly fisherman have a good shot at all of these fish species when fishing the coastal bays. Clean water and good tides help your chances of course, and when you pair these with the low light and traffic around dusk and dawn your chances at catching fish are pretty good.

Most of the stripers we have caught in recent weeks have been in the 20 to 26 inch range. We have been fishing our staple deep sinking lines with a variety of flies. We have seen some decent flounder, like the 19 incher below that fell for a clouser minnow fished in 9 feet of water.

We look forward to fall as we start catching some of the stripers migrating south from their summer home on the New England Coast. We had great striper fishing last fall with the best of the fishing being in November and early December.

Gunpowder River Summer Trout Fishing

When not fishing the coastal bays I spend much of my summer guiding trips for trout on the Gunpowder River. The Gunpowder has gotten some great press recently, listed as one of the top tailwater trout streams in the nation in several fly fishing periodicals. Though a little bias, I couldn’t agree more. Very few other streams in the mid-Atlantic area offer the unique fishing for streambred trout that the Gunpowder offers.

Summer on the Gunpowder makes for some great fishing. We have great caddis hatches inthe mornings along many stretches of the stream, and fish are eager to take a well presented dry. This past week on several trips we have landed many good fish on various caddis patterns fished in the riffles. Tiny Trico mayflies have also become a summer staple on the river, and fisherman will often find trout sipping them from the surface in the long glassy glides along the stream.

If you fall short fishing caddis and tricos, give some big buggy terrestrials a try. A foam beetle or hopper fished near the bank is often a sure bet . Don’t be afraid to cast into some of the ”deep rough” as I call it an tuck your fly right up against a fallen tree or logpile. You can bet there is a trout nearby on the Gunpowder.