It’s Stonefly Time on the Gunpowder Falls and many other rivers in our region. On warm days, anglers will find these little aquatic insects flying – poorly – around the stream. They flutter across the water’s surface dropping eggs as they go. As the water warms in the spring, trout feel the urge to feed and become willing to chance an attack on these insects as they crate a disturbance on the surface.
Before they are flying “adult” insects, they are subsurface nymphs and delicious to a trout. They are not good swimmers and, once adrift in the current, drift downstream until they can latch onto something.
I’ve made a quick video showing how I tie an easy and fast stonefly imitation that works well when drifted below an indicator. I like to fish it on 6x fluorocarbon tippet with a #6 shot about 8” above. Give it a try and send me a note if it works – I love to hear fish stories!
gunpowderfalls
What’s new for 2023
With Spring right around the corner I’m excited to be kicking off another year of guiding. Did you know we’ve been at it since 2009? A lot has changed since the start of Knee Deep (kids, a return to day job life) but sharing a day on the water with our clients is still a dream come true.
I’m looking forward to running some short summer evening floats on the Potomac for smallmouths this year for solo anglers – we’ll work on building a bigger boat this summer. As always, the trout of the Gunpowder Falls are a must and provide a much needed escape from the nearby city life that keeps me coming back after 25 years of angling there. Plan to stay late in May and June to catch the evening spinner fall. I’ll send you have with coffee for the drive.
I’ll post upcoming available dates soon.
Keep in touch and keep your tip on the water!