Gunpowder River Fly Fishing Report, Spring mayfly hatches under way

Fishing on the Gunpowder has been interesting all Spring.  The weather has put a damper on things several times this Spring as heavy rains have pushed stream flows to extremely high levels. Average stream flows are typically 70 to 90 cfs throughout the year,  yet recent weeks have seen flows jump to as high as 1700cfs.  Luckily flows have receded in the last week and we are now fishing about 200 cfs.  This flow is still high but very fishable.

This week brought the first of a good sulfur Mayfly hatch, maybe a week or so ahead of usual. The hatch was limited to different areas of the river, the riffle water fishing best with swung wet flies and well fished dries.  Partridge and orange wets in size 16 were a sure bet fished as a dropper pair with light weight.  CDC duns with lightly dubbed or quill bodies in size 14 or 16 took fish on top.  The bugs start hatching around 2:30, action last through the evening though the spinner falls have been after dark.  Keep you posted. Jeff

Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, Susqehanna Flats

Well, as many of you know this Spring's catch and release season on the Susquehanna Flats never developed into much.  The conditions were poor most of April due to high turbid water flows and relentless wind.  This did not allow for fishing much of the month.

There were a few highlights from the month as we had a gap of about 5 days or so when we had some clean water and could get some fishing in.  We did land some nice fish to just shy of 40" while casting mostly light spinning tackle.  The fish we landed took a variety of lures form jigs to jerkbaits and a few on spoons.  The action was short lived as heavy rains washed out the upper bay and local stream early this week.  And that was pretty much that.

There may be a chance at some fishing on the flats after the May 16 opener for catch and keep fishing. Water temps are still much lower than an average Spring, and there may be some decent fish that stick around.

I am going to keep the boat in the Havre de Grace area through mid-May to see how the fishing progresses.  I will then begin my annual trip south on the Bay and on to the Maryland coast.  We will be fishing for stripers ot of Kent Island, Speckled trout and Redfish out of Crisfield, MD and will fish most of the summer form Ocean City, MD.

New Year, New Gear, Ready for Spring!

Winter is for real this year!  I can honestly say that I did not fish much through the winter this year.  I took on several projects outside of fishing for the winter months, and they have taken up most all of my time.  The cold weather we have dealt with this year is unlike any winter weather I can remember.  Water temps on the Gunpowder River were 36 degrees the last I checked, making the trout fishing extremely difficult.  Hoping an end to the cold is in sight, I have been busy readying gear for the Spring and looking forward to fishing.

Got some new shirts and hats to sport on the water in 2014. I hope to fish many of the same areas of the Chesapeake and Maryland's coastal waters as usual, and look to chase down good fishing this year wherever it turns up.  I will begin Spring fishing on the Susquehanna Flats in late March as I do every year, and the boat will be there through May 3.  I will start fishing on the Gunpowder as soon as we get some kind of break in this weather and the fish become a bit more active.

Been spending my evenings tying flies to get boxes stocked.  Some of the first flies we will see for the season will be our winter stoneflies.  Hopefully we get some good sunny days with temps in the 50s to get them going.  April days and early dark mayflies like quill gordons and hendricksons  are just around the corner.  Prettyboy Reservoir is at capacity, so we should see good stream flows through Spring if the city and state fisheries can get on the same page with flow management.

I will keep you posted as we get fishing. If you want to get a date for a trip on the book just give me a call.  Jeff

Gunpowder Fall Fishing, 50 Best Tailwaters book

Sorry to slack on the fishing update.    The boat was down for to weeks last month due to a busted gearcase, but I have been back in action for a few weeks now on both the Chesapeake bay and on  the Gunpowder.

We have had good success on several recent trips to the Gunpowder.  We are seeing the last of the years tricos hatching in mornings on certain stretches of stream, and still have some scattered caddis and blue winged olives.    Stream flows have been good, around 100 cfs and fish are biting.   Fall colors make the river a great place to spend the day.  Mike Colegrove, from Backwater Angler helped me out on a trip last week, we fished upstream of Bunker Hill road to fish rising for olive bodied caddisflies.   We took several fish on a size 16  x caddis in the riffles.

 

Fishing should continue to be good through the fall.  Nymphing always seems to take some good fish as  browns take on their spawning colors and prep for the late fall spawn.  Small pheasant tails and midge pupae are a good bets fished in pocket water stretches of the stream.

I recently contributed a chapter on the Gunpowder to a book titled " 50 Best Tailwaters to Fly Fish."  The book was complied by Terry and Wendy Gunn who guide out of Lee's Ferry Lodge in Colorado.  It offers great information, hatch charts, photos and more on some of the best trout streams in the country.  The book is due for release later this month.  Check it out on facebook at "50 best tailwaters."

Ocean City Maryland Summer Fishing Update

We have been fishing steady out of Ocean City  the last week or so.  Weather has been strange, we had strong southerly winds for over a week keeping the bay waters a little bit off.  The best fishing has , as usual, been on periods of clean water.  Ocean water temps are still well below 70 on average, not typical for July.

We have still been catching  good numbers of  stripers early in the morning and in the evenings fishing jigs and lures. We have also been regularly catching some nice puppy drum up to about 23".

 

Flounder fishing in the back bays has picked up too.  We have had good catches of flounder just about anytime clean water and moderate tides coincide.  Our best lure for the flounder continue to be jigs tipped with Berkley Gulp. 

 



We mixed it up a bit and did some Tautog fishing this week too.   Caught some really nice fish on green crab baits.

Ocean City Inshore Fishing Update

Summer is in full swing on the coast, and fishing has remained good out of Ocean City.  In the last week we have had good catches of  Rockfish early and late in the day.  We have been casting lures and flies to the Jetties and Bridges.  Water temps continue to warm up , but we still have some decent fish around.  We had a 36" fish on a jig and lots in the 25 to 27" range.

  Fishing has been best on periods of tide change as usual, and we have had some big tides this week with the full moon. 

Flounder fishing has been decent during periods of clean water on the incoming tide and has also begun to get rolling in the ocean.  Caught some nice ones on a near shore wreck this past week.

Still making some trips over to Tangier Sound and we have caught  some nice speckled trout there in past trips and some puppy drum and rockfish.

June Fishing Update, Chesapeake Bay, Ocean City

I have been spending the last couple weeks fishing trips on the Maryland coast and on the Chesapeake Bay.  Fishing has been great, although I cannot say the same about the weather.  We have continued to struggle with unsettled weather patterns and wind, often making conditions tough or keeping us off the water altogether. Luckily we have managed some great trips on the in between the last week or so.

Fishing in Ocean City has been good for Rockfish.  We have been catching fish on jigs, flies and topwater lures.  Early mornings and late evenings have been best.  The inlet and jetties have held the best fish, some to over 40 " taken on live baits.  Mack Long caught the striper pictured below on a popper on an early morning bite this week.

Flounder fishing in Ocean city has also been good and we have caught some nice fish in the back bays on jigs and Berkley Gulp.  We have been catching good numbers of keeper fish on each trip.  Pink has been a good lure and fly color for us this year. The flounder have been eating the pink jigs better than any other color.

When not fishing Ocean City I have been trailering down to Crisfield , MD and fishing the waters of Tangier Sound.  We have been taking advantage of the good speckled trout fishing in the area the last few seasons.  We have caught some nice speckled trout the last few trips, highlighted by the beautiful fish pictured below caught by Scott Burns.



 

The trout have been taking flies and paddle tail jigs in the shallows. We have also been catching decent numbers of puppy drum.  Most of the fish have been 17 to 20" and also seem to have a taste for pink colored jigs. 

 

 

We will be fishing the lower bay and coast all Summer if you are up  for some fishing.