Fall is comming! Get some summer while you still can!

It's all fishing lately as Summer starts to wind down and the days get shorter. In the last few weeks I've been busy quitting my day-job to search for something more satisfying and spent the remaining days at my gig in agony simply dreaming of chasing whats left of summer's hatches and taking a break for a bit. I made a run to The Big Gunpowder Falls in Hereford last Thursday and had a ball. I swung by Backwater Angler in town and picked up the last of their orange snowshoe rabbit's feet and hit the water after shooting the breeze for a while. (also I'd had a LOT of coffee and was happy they had a bathroom!)

Once on the river I could see Summer's colors were starting to change.


I was walking the banks late in the afternoon and came upon this BIG critter sitting on some rocks. He must have fallen from a tree or been dropped by a bird.There was no reason for him to be sitting on a rocky shoal in the river. I found a Gatorade bottle laying in the bushes and scooped him up for later.(shame I didn't have a baitholder and a pool full of bass!)


We're very lucky here in the Baltimore/DC/Del. region to have the state park. It's quite a large greenbelt and, though it's well loved and gets pretty beat up and littered with beer cans and trash from it's users, still maintains a good diversity of wildlife unaffected by urban sprawl and necessary agricultural pursuits
I spent the day chatting with really great fellow anglers and while carrying this new-to-me-creature, I had an angler tell me it was a "Horned Tomato Worm" which he described as being able to devour and entire tomato plant.I found this shocking as some of my tomato plants are 7 feet tall already this season (and, in spite of the aphids and spot, are producing nicely). Here's a shot of him next to the grip of my 5wt. He's BIG!!!!

I know some of you are not into putting bugs in your vest and walking around the woods and have scrolled down here to get past the funky part of this post.

Here's more on the fishing:

I fished upriver from Falls Road and didn't see a soul. I started right at the bridge...where people have cut MORE branches. Jerks...

I fished #16 Elk Hair caddis with caddis emerger and pupae for droppers. I probably had 100 hits on the dry and 30 or 40 on the dropper; I only landed a dozen fish. I focused on fast water and smaller chutes and runs where most anglers would walk by on their way to the slower prettier water.

Later in the day I made my way to the Bunker hill road area and fished well upstream of the other anglers I saw. (downriver looked like it had been fished hard...lots of footprints on the bank) The parking lot at Masemore was JAMMED as usual and there were 4 anglers in sight of the bridge at 3:30 or so- the morning is the way to go.

The days winds took a break and a nice fog settled on the 48-54 degree water. It was great fishing. I really sloshed my way upstream looking for overhanging bushes and chutes.

I'll admit I think this little guy was a victim of my dropper as a result of slashing at my dry- I stung him on the hook set, as I did with a handful of others.

I'd say that with as many caddis were hatching (there was s steady rise all day to them!) I hooked about 10% of the takes. The fish were crashing my fly making me wonder if they were just doing it for the fun of taking down an fluttering caddis.

The nice dark, possibly older brown, was taken right at Falls Road. There's great fish right at the bridge if you are quiet and slow enough. That shallow pool is stacked with fish....it's just a shame that people keep cutting back the cover.

I thought this was a failed shot but I think I may tweak it more and have it printed out. It's just kind of cool:

Here's a little caddis for you. I had some light issues and couldn't get a good depth of field. Anyhow, you can get a good look at the color. A Goddard Caddis or and Elk Hair Caddis in a natural dark color will do it.

I'm going to get busy this week tweaking my patterns to have less hackle and more wing. This little guy's body is well hidden under the wing and I think that says something about the patterns we all fish.

Hey, keep your stick on the water and get ready for the splashy take. Fall is here and it's Caddis Time! (even out on the west side of the country apparently as seen here)

-Micah