Antietam, 05/05/26-05/06/26

Sorry that I have been slow on the reports. I have been leaving the stream and heading straight to FVFD Carnival to help with cooking of the chicken corn soup. I volunteer every year..

Both days the water conditions were the same. The flow is a steady 2.5’ and 57-61 degrees with caddis, midges and cranflies flying around. Not much rising. I had two very gifted fly anglers each day. Each day is was 60’s to start and high 80’s at the end. Only difference was Friday Josh and I had abundant sunshine and Tom and I fished under very overcast skies. I am sure that this is why I had two completely different days on the water.

Friday Josh and I fished from 8AM until 2:30PM. It was a tasking day. We did not give up. We fished with nymphs, but super light takes, so we switched off to streamers. Josh ties this streamer that drives these trout nuts. He had a beast of a brown on, had several short strikes and at the end we netted a heavy 21” rainbow. We had a great time and Josh is looking to come back in October.

Saturday, Tom and I set out with flies he had tied. He had a jig nymph that was so simple to tie and I liked it. Well that darn thing crushed them. We fished from 8AM until noon. It had to be the overcast skies and the front moving in. It was not long into the morning and we had three browns and 2 rainbows in the net. Tom, rolled a huge brown, which looked to be about 22” and an even larger rainbow. We saw both. By the time we ended Tom landed 11 in total including a nice 21” rainbow.

I always love fishing with these guys. We have known each other for so many years. The way the weather is, July is in full swing. I would seriously consider getting on the Antietam Creek with me.