First Catch of the Year

Type: Nontidal
Region: Central
Location: Upper Gunpowder River

When I saw that DNR was stocking the Upper Gunpowder last fall, I plied those waters for several days in October 2021 with absolutely zero success. But, when we had some warmer days this week I thought I'd give it a try again for any holdovers from the winter. Yesterday afternoon, February 10th, I was the only angler in sight, so unlike last fall I had a chance to work the entire shoreline until I finally got my first hit (and a miss) in a certain deeper part of the current around sunset. A few casts later it was already too dark to see my line, but I tried the famous "one last cast" and was rewarded for my diligence with this beautiful 12 inch brown trout - my first catch of 2022. Ironically, I had no idea until today that DNR had just stocked the Lower Gunpowder!