Catchup from This Past Week

So as I said yesterday I'm going to catch everyone up since Blogger has been down.

Trip #6 Hidden Bass Pond in Edgewater, MD

The pond I was talking about last week was slightly a bust. It is said there are up to 9 lb Largemouth Bass in this pond but I had only enough karma to land a 1 lber. The pond is full of enormous snapping turtles, painted turtles and Panfish such as Crappie and Bluegill. I saw a few fisherman over the course of my two trips to this pond, only one of which had ever caught anything of note out of it. He claimed to resident Osprey had taken some of the good sized fish out but I find it hard to believe it had taken a 9 lb Bass based on its size. Although the monster Bass which we will call Bubba had eluded me, I did manage to land a lot of Panfish, saved a baby turtle from a crow and lost a few lures to snapping turtles. Check out the pics below of the turtles from the trips and our newest pets Kona and Squirt (both Eastern Painted Turtles about the size of quarters):

Trip #7 Gunpowder Falls with Zach M.

I was able to fish the Gunpowder River on Saturday all day with my buddy Zach, an extremely knowledgeable fisherman with a true love for the sport. We started the planning of our trip last week by planning out spots to fish through Google Maps, heres a snapshot of the stretch we fished, basically from Monkton Rd down to the Glencoe stretch:

View Larger Map

 We also went onto Orvis.com and found the local fishing report for the Gunpowder River. We also checked out a Google search on some local blogs and such and had our research. We printed out our maps, highlighted our areas, did a thorough weather check on the forecast of the area (can't stress enough how important this is), and figured out what flies we needed so I could tie them up. I got the addresses to the two major fly shops up there, Great Feathers and Backwater Angler just so we could stop in and get a more thorough reports from the guys who know this river like the back of their hands. I tied up some flies on Friday after picking up a few materials from Bass Pro and a new pair of waders/wading boots. I got some Simms Blackfoot boots with the rubber soles and the new Dogwood Canyon chest waders. Both worked amazingly on the river, best waders I've ever had. Zach got a new pair of waders/boots as well and his MD state fishing license. Since he had only fly fished once before, I showed him a few patterns and he grabbed a few things for his spinning outfit since we decided we'd bring both. We got up bright and early Saturday morning, grabbed some coffee and made the 45 minute drive up to the river. We got our boots wet for the first time that day at 8am right where I-83 goes over the Gunpowder. This is what we saw...beautiful:

 

Zach started off the day with his spinning outfit and a Panther Martin lure. I used my Orvis/G. Loomis combo the entire day. As we walked up stream a bit to a nice hole, I noticed some small Sulphurs, about size 16 maybe some 18, a lot of damsel flies, a few brown caddis flies around size 14, and this bad boy (about size 10):

Zach headed further upstream and I tied on a size 18 Sulphur and drifted it into a few eddies and runs with no luck. So I decided to throw on a black size 12 Bead-Headed Wooly Bugger. I had one hit after a few drifts but no fish by the time Zach made it downstream to where I was (where York Rd crosses over the river). We met at the bridge and Zach had already caught a nice little wild brown of which he had released. He then threw a cast into the big hole in front of the bridge and pulled in another little 5-6 in wild brown. We threw a few more casts downstream and decided to move on. We headed down York Rd. to a spot located right off of Blue Mount Rd. Notorious for some large browns, and with beautiful holes in sight, we anxiously jumped in. As we headed down stream, I continued to throw my Bugger until I hooked up on a fish and she broke me off. I threw on the same pattern but orange since it was very shaded and therefore low light. We headed downstream more and found a beautiful little hole where a smaller spring run ran into the larger river. I caught a nice little 7 in Pumpkinseed panfish and had Zach come over to check out the spot. I had him sighting for me on the far bank just as I was doing a balancing at on a downed tree attempting to cast at a run on the far side. As we were just about to give up on the spot, I drifted my Bugger across the run one more time and both Zach and I literally yelled "holy shit!" as we watched an enormous shadow creep after my fly and BOOM, hooked up, I went to lift my rod/set the hook and lifted it right into a branch, one shake of the head and it was gone... Both of us looked at each other with huge smiles, mine more to hide my anger, because we knew we were onto some big fish. Zach threw a few casts and decided to head downstream as I proceeded to walk up the little spring run. I got into a few Fallfish and Trout, all wild browns and then decided to call Zach back up to where I was. Zach caught a nice 8 in Fallfish (check it out below) and we then headed to the car after fishing that spot for a good hour or more.

We grabbed a quick lunch, stopped at Backwater Angler and got the report. I picked up some more Buggers and a few beautifully tied Zonkers while Zach got a zinger with nippers. We enjoyed our lunch as we planned our next move to where the guys at Backwater suggested, an area down Corbett Rd. where you can park your car, walk upstream via a nice bike trail and jump in near a gas line clearing. We got there in just a few minutes and Zach made the decision to switch over to the dark side and fly fish this go around. It was our final stop and after a good 20 minute walk up the trail, we got our feet wet again. Most beautiful part of the river, absolutely amazing and a trout fisherman's dream with clear water, great holes, great casting area, and runs/eddies like no other. Zach got himself acclimated with his fly rod again and the casting technique as I headed lightly upstream a few hundred yards where I got into a nice 8 in wild brown on a brown Wooly Bugger. Here's some photos of the initial jump in/fish:

Along the long trek downstream/back to the car, we got into a few fish. Zach hooked up a nice brown on a Bugger as well and due to my poor ability to net, didn't get it in his hand but we counted it since he could have brought it in himself. I hooked a few more small browns and Zach two more Fallfish. When we were about halfway back to the car, Zach pointed to an eddy and said "that's too perfect not to hold a great fish." My first cast and swing through it brought out a huge silver flash and hook up. I yelled out of excitement and asked Zach to net it for me. A beautiful 14 in 'bow on my brown size 10 Bead-Headed Wooly Bugger, amazing:

We released the best fish of the day and proceeded downstream. Before we hopped out I got one more wild brown in the net. We got dumped on by a quick rain shower and headed home, it was around 4pm. What an awesome day:

Sorry for the book but had to catch everyone up without putting up a million posts...

Tight Lines...Morgan