Gunpowder: how low is too low?

[ALarge]

Haven't really ever spent any time on the Gunpowder and I was thinking of going in a few minutes. I was looking at usgs flow data and its reading ~30 cfs right now, which seems like a trickle to me. is the river a creek at this discharge level?

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?01581920

[ALarge]

More importantly, is it fishable?

[Marek Rich]

Before I fish the Gunpowder, I always reach out to the guys at Backwater Angler for fishing reports, suggestions etc. They're a wealth of knowledge.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Aug 11, 2016, at 10:26 AM, ALarge <ala...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> More importantly, is it fishable?
>
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[Ashley Frohwein]

30 cfs is too low; hit a spring creek instead

[Alex Large]

It was super skinny water, but definitely fishable. Pulled several little browns on turds and buggers.

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[phillip bailey]

Green angler here and new to the group. Needed to get away from the in-laws this weekend and decided to check out Gunpowder between Masemore and Falls road. A number of other anglers were working up from Masemore to Pretty Boy Reservoir and were having luck. After studying there nymphing rigs and technique I realized I was a bit out of my depth and headed to Backwater Angler. The guys were extremely helpful and remained patient fielding a number of my fly fishing 101 questions.$80 later i headed to Bunker Hill Rd but the combination of heat, sun, 30 cfs, and pressure from tubers left me skunked. It was a great learning experience and I plan to go back under better conditions. 

On Thursday, August 11, 2016 at 10:25:38 AM UTC-4, ALarge wrote:

[Marek Rich]

Don’t get discouraged. It’s a difficult river, especially with the heat, low flows and river traffic. Mornings and evenings are best…

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[Dave Marcus]

Fish those riffles also, it's definitely a tricky river and I got skunked the first few times out there.

David

On Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 1:03:51 PM UTC-4, Marek wrote:

Don’t get discouraged. It’s a difficult river, especially with the heat, low flows and river traffic. Mornings and evenings are best…

 

From: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com [mailto:tidal-potomac-fly-rod...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of phillip bailey
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2016 11:09 AM
To: Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders <tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Gunpowder: how low is too low?

 

Green angler here and new to the group. Needed to get away from the in-laws this weekend and decided to check out Gunpowder between Masemore and Falls road. A number of other anglers were working up from Masemore to Pretty Boy Reservoir and were having luck. After studying there nymphing rigs and technique I realized I was a bit out of my depth and headed to Backwater Angler. The guys were extremely helpful and remained patient fielding a number of my fly fishing 101 questions.$80 later i headed to Bunker Hill Rd but the combination of heat, sun, 30 cfs, and pressure from tubers left me skunked. It was a great learning experience and I plan to go back under better conditions. 

On Thursday, August 11, 2016 at 10:25:38 AM UTC-4, ALarge wrote:

Haven't really ever spent any time on the Gunpowder and I was thinking of going in a few minutes. I was looking at usgs flow data and its reading ~30 cfs right now, which seems like a trickle to me. is the river a creek at this discharge level?

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?01581920

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[JT]

The river is definitely fishable at those low flows.  With the low water and heat of summer, the fish will move to the deeper pools.

I am somewhat ashamed to say that I was one of those pesky tubers on Saturday.  And you know what I saw while tubing?  A dead brown trout at the bottom of the river that I would guess went 21".  I have seen pictures of some of the big boys that come out of the Gunpowder on occasion, but the biggest fish I've ever seen in that river with my own eyes was probably 15".  They're in there.  They're just smart.

[Brad]

There are a couple big fish in there. Here is one. Caught swinging meat on a higher flow day on the day I left that godforsaken river behind forever.

[Gary Fleeger]

Got skunked today for my first trip out to the Gunpowder. My son caught a 10 inch bass right next to Prettyboy. I saw the fish but I think I need to work on my stealth mode...I saw them as the made a run for it! I was using a small black wooly bugger. Another guy was using an Adams fly on a tenkara and said he pick up 7 small trout from falls to Prettyboy.

Any suggestions for a rookie?

[Evan D]

Gunpowder can be tough, that's for sure. In low, clear water I would ditch the streamers and bugger. The fish aren't going to be as willing to chase them very often in the water conditions we are seeing these days.

If you go back, I would try a dry/dropper rig. Pick something that floats really well and hang a small nymph off of it. For me, the smaller the nymph the better. Size 16-20.

Obviously, this is all personal preference - a double nymph rig could work just as well. Nonetheless, my general rule of thumb is to skip the streamers on low, clear, hot, and sunny days.

Hope this helps!
Evan

[Gary Fleeger]

Thanks Evan, that makes sense. I hit YouTube last night and several people seemed to share your thoughts. Any recommended length to hang that nymph?  I'm assuming fairly short with there water levels, but that's a guess. 

It was still an amazing time working the river. I'll be back!  

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[Evan D]

Length of the dropper all depends on conditions. Try 18" below the dry fly. You could also try a little longer at first (maybe 24"). Always easier to take away some line than add it!

[Matt Brennan]

Despite the low water warnings, I headed to Gunpowder yesterday and after dropping by backwater anglers managed to catch my first two trout!

Caught a little 3" brown on one of backwater's beetles, and caught the guy above on a cheap fly from amazon, casting blind just behind some small rapids, just South of York Rd. Tried to set up a dropper rig and learned I only had dry flies so...whoops. Saw lots of small browns hanging out on the bottom but mostly couldn't convince them that my jumble of leader looked appetizing. Looking forward to heading back there with some wet flies and maybe a bit more water running!

[Andrew Sarcinello]

Congrats, Matt! Nice job. Any trout this time of year is a good trout.