This past weekend I took another trip to the Gunpowder with my wife.  Given all the surface activity I saw last time, I thought it’d be a great opportunity for both of us to fish dry flies.   When we arrived, the fish were rising steadily.  It’s rare that I see the fish rising to the extent that they were this past Saturday before the rain came down.

We fished a Sulphur comparadun fly in size 18 all afternoon.  I normally use a dry/dropper set up when fishing dries, because it allows me to see what nymphs and emergers the trout might be feeding on.  I didn’t even bother with a dropper fly on Saturday because the trout were so willing to take the dry.

The great thing about the comparadun is that it floats like a boat with the dubbing and deer hair.  In my experience, these flies are sturdy enough to withstand the onslaught of trout and the inevitable bush snag on the backcast.  There have been a handful of days where I’ve had comically bad luck with backcasts. It’s part of the hobby to deal with an occasional tangle or losing a fly to a tree. My second favorite aspect of this fly is that it’s very easy to tie.

I also met a nice fellow angler named Shawn and we talked about flies that were working and our experiences on the Gunpowder.  I always like sharing info with other anglers and Shawn also highly recommended the Savage River in Maryland, which I really need to go visit.  Hopefully in the next couple weeks I’ll have some time.