April 2, 2022 Hendrickson Hatch on the Gunpowder
When : April 2, 2022, Saturday,
Where : Gunpowder River, Maryland (Falls Rd).
Participants : Ken Bowyer, Ron Kerrick, Jim Irons, Ron Briggs, Craig Vanderkolk , Joe Taylor, Lou Reichel
Weather : Great. Not too hot, not too cold. Partly clouded with intermittent blue skies.
Stream condition : Perfect. Water cold. CFS at 120. Height was good. Water was clearish. As you can tell I have no thermometer. Ron reports temp 46 deg.
We mainly fished at lower Falls Rd parking lot down to the bridge. Walking down the trail I slipped on the muddy trail and rolled down to the stream. I decided to start fishing there. During the morning it was slow. Joe reported catching two and had many misses on a variety of soft hackles. There was still some didymo slime, not terrible, and had to regularly clean any nymphs. So, I manly fished with soft hackles or dry flies. I did get one brown, 6-8 inches, on dark Hendrickson soft hackle, #16. There were some insects flying that looked like midges and something larger like maybe BWO. We all stopped for lunch and headed to the cars.
After lunch, returning to the water, at 1:09 pm I saw my first Hendrickson fly by and then skidded on the water surface. It floated downstream with no fish touching it. Started to see more hendricksons. At 2:19 pm I witnessed the first take of a floating Hendrickson. A nice sized brown trout, 10-12 inches, breeched the water, showing its arching back and side, and splashing back into the water. Of course I shouted wildly and Joe and Jim came to where I was. Both went to using dry flies. Joe was using a parachute Adams and I gave Jim a female dry Hendrickson that I tied. Started to see rises. Both were getting hits, but unable to hook one. Finally Jim gets a nice brown on the dry Hendrickson. Most of the rises were in flat, calm water right after some rocks. By 3:30 pm it was over. The flies were sporadic, at least total 25-30 flies on the water or flying. Few were taken by fish. It was a light hatch.
By 4:00 pm I headed back to cars and started to remove waders. Joe stayed on the river. Jim came to cars dripping wet after falling in. He verified the water was cold. I let him keep my dry Hendrickson fly. Ron K was a little more upstream from us and did not report any hendricksons. Craig and Ron left earlier. Not sure if they fished downstream to Masemore. Craig reported catching a trout on a beadhead nymph. Ken fished close to the Falls Rd bridge and reported no activity.
So that’s it. I hope everyone will try the Hendrickson hatch. Maybe next weekend will have a larger Hendrickson hatch.
Next outing will be at the Casselman, April 30-May 1, for the Mother’s Day Caddish hatch. It may be a little late for the hatch. Plan on staying overnight and dinner at the Casselman Inn in Grantsville, Md.
Thanks.
Lou Reichel
Outings Coordinator
