Fly Fishing Big Gunpowder Falls River Includes a Big Gunpowder fishing report
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Tailwater
Species
Brown Trout (wild)
Rainbow Trout (stocked)
Brook Trout (stocked)
Size
Medium
Location
Northern Maryland
Nearest Towns
Monkton
Baltimore
Season
Year-round
Access:
Good
Non-Resident License
State of Maryland
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 & 12 ft., 5 or 6X, Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Superb Five or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Big Gunpowder Falls River – Fishing Report – April 12, 2024
The stream level is still above a normal level and the water is stained Good Light Green and red, or Blood midge hatches, are taking place. Little Brown stoneflies, Little Black Caddis and Blue-winged olives are also hatching.
Stream Conditions:
Rate: 206 cfs
Level: 2.36 ft
Clarity: clear
USGS Real-Time Stream Flow Data Near Parktown MD
7 Day Weather Forecast: (click the box below to see more detailed weather)
Recommended Trout Flies:
Brown Sculpin and White Belly Sculpin and Articulated streamers, size 6/4
Black Matuka and Olive Matuka Sculpin, size 4/6
Blue-winged Olives: size 16, 18 nymph, emergers, duns and spinners
Aquatic Worms, size 12, pink, red, and others
Midges: Light Green and Red (Blood) midges sizes 20/22, larva, pupa and adult. Our larva and pupa midge flies, pre-rigged in tandem, are very popular here. You can fish them under a strike indicator keeping the larva fly near the bottom. https://perfectflystore.com/product/pre-rigged-tandem-midge-larva-pupa-tippet
Little Brown Stoneflies: 12, nymphs and adults
Little Black Caddis, size 18, pupa and adults
Fly Fishing Big Gunpowder Falls River, Maryland: The Big Gunpowder River starts in Pennsylvania and flows through Maryland into Cheaspeake Bay. The Prettyboy Reservoir Dam releases 55 degree water year-round, making it one of the better tailwaters in the East. The river runs through the beautiful Gunpowder Falls State Park. A self-sustaining brown trout fishery exist in the seven mile long tailwater section of Gunpowder Falls River below Prettyboy Reservoir. This section is not stocked. There are catch and release regulations for the upper seven miles of the river, or from the dam to Blue Mount Road.Brown trout make up almost all of the population of trout but there are a few rainbow and brook trout. Trout are stocked below the catch and release section of the river.Most of the stream consists of long pools with short section of riffles joining them. There is one section of rapids below Route One called the “Pot Rocks” because of the deep holes in the stream.Little Falls River is one of the larger tributaries of the main Gunpowder River. There are several other tributary streams. Put and take trout fishing is available on the Lower Big Gunpowder Falls River.Fly Fishing Guide to the Big Gunpowder Falls River. The best method to use to consistently catch the brown trout in Big Gunpowder Falls River is nymph fishing. he best fishing is in the catch and release section or the first seven miles below the dam. The area below the seven mile catch and release section, is managed as a “trophy trout” section. Only two trout over 16 inches can be taken. It also provides very good fishing. There are several designated trails that access the river. Low discharges from Prettyboy Reservoir can sometimes make fishing tough sometimes in the Catch and Release Section but the fishing is generally good year-round. The stream can become crowded at times during the spring season, but it is usually the weekends that sees the most anglers.As mentioned in the introduction, most of the trout are brown trout. Large brown trout rarely hit a dry fly. There are rare occasions it does happen but your odds are far better fishing a wet fly or nymph. The bottom is fairly level in most sections and strike indicators work okay most of the time. Double or tandem fly rigs also seem to work well on the Big Gunpowder Falls River.It is far better to use an imitation of an aquatic insect that is near its time to hatch than generic nymphs. Specific imitations of the mayfly nymphs that are most available for the trout to eat are far more productive than the generic flies. The wild brown trout are usually very selective. Streamers and wet flies also work great for the larger brown trout at certain times. The river has plenty of minnow, baitfish and sculpin and imitations of them are productive early and late in the day, or during heavy cloud cover. They can also be effective when the water has some color or tint to it. The brown trout spawn during the fall. The spawning activity causes them to loose a lot of their normal caution. They are out and about moving around rather than hidden up under a rock or undercut bank. You can often spot them moving upstream during the pre-spawn period. Large nymphs and streamer work great at this time. We don’t recommend fishing for them on their redds. You should always obtain the current stream flow data prior to fishing the Big Gunpowder Falls River. You should also exercise caution when fishing the tailwater. It is subject to suddenly rise. The stream levels affect the fishing greatly. You cannot wade if there is too much water being released. During periods of low flows, the trout can become easy to spook, making fishing much tougher. It does provide more opportunity to sight fish but all in all, low water levels are difficult to fish.
Big Gunpowder Falls River Hatches: Our information on aquatic insects is based on our stream samples of larvae and nymphs, not guess work. We base fly suggestions on imitating the most plentiful and most available insects and other foods at the particular time you are fishing. Unlike the generic fly shop trout flies, we have specific imitations of all the insects in the Big Gunpowder River and in all stages of life that are applicable to fishing. If you want to fish better, more realistic trout flies, have a much higher degree of success, give us a call. We not only will help you with selections, you will learn why, after trying Perfect Flies, 92% of the thousands of our customers will use nothing else.1-800-594-4726 The Big Gunpowder Falls River flows through a lot of limestone rock creating a good pH level. This means there are a lot of aquatic insects available for the trout to eat. Little Winter Stoneflies are the first insects to hatch. Midges hatch throughout the year and provide the best opportunity to catch trout during the winter.From about the middle of March through the month of May, Blue-winged Olives are the main aquatic insect that hatch. These are mostly baetis species. They hatch again starting about the first of August and lasting until near October. Some of these are small BWOs and little BWOs. They will vary from hook sizes 16 down to a size 24.Around the middle of March Little Black Caddisflies, or Grannom Caddis, start hatching along with some Blue Quill mayflies. The caddis hatch last just over a month. The Blue Quills can last almost two months. Little Brown Stoneflies will start hatching about the middle of March and last over a month. The first of May will also start the first Green Sedge hatch and the Short-horned Sedge hatch. Both hatches last about a month. Most of the caddisflies will be Cinnamon and Spotted Sedges. They hatch from mid-May until the end of August and provide some of the best opportunities to catch trout on the dry fly. Sulphurs start the middle of May and can last for a month and a half. This is one of the Big Gunpowder Falls River’s best and most consistent hatches. By the middle of June, terrestrial insects can become important. Ants, beetles and grass hoppers imitations will catch trout. Don’t forget the streamer flies. They can produce anytime of the year, especially early and late in the day or when the water is stained from heavy rains.It is far better to select the flies you need with you from the hatch chart than to use generic or attractor flies. We have the World’s best trout flies that will match the hatch any day of the year on the Big Gunpowder Falls tailwater. If you haven’t tried them already, we encourage you to do so. The Hendrickson hatch starts about the middle of April. The hatch will last about a month.By the first of May, you may find some large Eastern Green Drakes and even a few Brown Drakes. They hatch for about three weeks. There are a few Eastern Pale Evening Duns that start near the end of April. The American March Browns and the Light Cahills both start hatching around the middle of May. Both of these will hatch for almost two months.
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