Western MD report

[Jeffrey Rasband]

Headed to the N. Branch and Savage last weekend with my buddy. The N. Branch was fishing slow relative to last month but we still managed to catch a few fish; nothing big though. Insect activity on the N. Branch around Barnum was minimal, but the fish were looking up at terrestrials as one would expect this time of year.

On the other hand the savage was fishing very well. The flows were perfect for wading and we managed to do quite well on a hopper/dropper rig. I caught the most vivid and robust brookie of my life (13 inches and FAT) but it flopped out of my hands before the shutter opened Anyway, we worked the pocket water in the middle stretch of the tailwater and I was able to hook two respectable browns. One was 16 inches (I'm still waiting for the pick Keith!!) and the other about the same. They were both in tiny but deep pockets right under boulders the size of volksvagens. Each one hit right were one would expect to get snagged so it pays to put the fly off the beaten path so to speak.

Also, we decided to try some of the brookie tribs on the way out but not surprisingly they were all too low for good fishing. However, we were able to find a huge pool on the upper savage which held tons of very nice brookies that were eager to explode on hopper imitations.


North Branch lunker hole right below the hatchery. There were hundreds of fingerling browns here so im thinking the hatchery yielded some escapees.



North branch rainbow that wacked a hopper.




Caught this chunk on a beadhead sanjuan worm dropper, one of the most deadly flies ive ever fished!




Savage river in July, green, green, green, every shade you can imagine. Gorgeous.



Brookie hole way above the reservoir. We caught tons of brookies in this hole and saw some that were scary big (although they may have been stocked rainbows, who knows).



Saw no bears but at least we came across this little gem.




Sunset overlooking the savage drainage on the way out to frostburg. This pic does not do it justice, it was as if the sky was on fire!


- Jeff

p.s. I'll post some brookie and brown pics if I ever get them from my friend (Keith I know your reading this ).

[Salmo trutta]

How could I not respond, awesome post and pictures.

That is one heck of a deep pool for the upper savage this time of year. I know of one like that but it's way too easy to get to so I hardly ever fish it.

The N branch looks dead low. I'm supposed to take a guided float trip down there this summer but I doubt the guide would run the Barnum stretch with that low of water. I'm torn between there and the stretch below Luke. The Luke stretch also has a great trout, smallmouth and MUSKIE fishery from what I hear. But it's easy to float in any water craft so therefore there is the pressure. The Barnum stretch is only floated by the most experienced guides so I have myself a dilemma.

As for all the fingerlings; interesting. I would bet that's what all those bigguns eat but I could never forgive myself if I had to cut one open to find out for sure. I'm sure those fat slob browns that sometimes come up after a hopper fly are loaded with fingerling trout. There's not much else to eat in that river besides trout, trout and more trout. (and the occasional hopper )

[Jeffrey Rasband]

Yeah the barnum stretch would be a nightmare to float right now. The water is just too low for that. I would definitely head below the savage confluence for a float. Also, if your in the vicinity be sure to fish the savage tailwater. Fishing the pocket water with a hopper is a blast. That brookie hole is definetely off the beaten path. Im pretty sure it was on private property but it was not posted

[Salmo trutta]

The other float I'm talking about is below the paper mill, far below the confluence with the Savage. Although, that short stretch at the confluence looks so sweet. I've fished it a few times and did quite well too. I almost always have to stop there to stretch my legs and look off the bridge (s). The abandoned bridge is a little sketchy but I've seen some really nice trout while sneaking a look over it. But when I finally tear my waders to shreds while climbing down to that pool I end up spooking that one beautiful trout that I spent forever marveling at.

[spilunkr]

Jeff,

Always nice to see pix of western MD. On a few occasions at this time of the year I would drive down to the parking area at the Blue Hole, then ride my mountain bike down the old railroad grade a couple miles to fish. There is some really nice water down there that does not see a whole lot of fishing pressure.

I'm also pretty sure that the N. Branch floats start at the Blue Hole and take out at the junction with the Savage; which is about 7 miles as I recall. That first mile from Barnum down to the Blue Hole is put and take and by mid-summer is hardly worth fishing. C & R picks up again below Blue Hole.

Guy

[Salmo trutta]

Westernport area is the other float. MD DNR has been stocking fingerlings for years and they are surviving very well.

As for the put and take, it's stocked all summer long, every two weeks. Actually, according to this weeks DNR report it got some "large" rainbows. They didn't specify where but that's about the only place worth stocking fish this time of year and I have other reasons to think that's where it was. But, you have to compete with bait fishermen and why do so when there is so many other miles of river with C and R rules. And I've also heard that DNR surveys found far less trout per mile in the put and take section as the C&R.

Maybe I should head there on Saturday?

[Jeffrey Rasband]

Salmo,

If you go definitely follow Guy's advice! Anecdotally it seemed as if the further we got from the put and take section the better the fishing. We only fished the upper C&R stretch but the fish seemed more plentiful as we moved away from the pounded stretch. On the other hand im sure there are still thousands of fish in the put and take section, and quite frankly it would be nearly impossible to "fish out" this area as there would be a constant influx of trout from the upper and lower C&R sections to replace the harvested fish. Alas, if you do fish the N. Branch I would follow Guy's advice and try the lower C&R far away from the access points. And don't be afraid to try a HUGE hopper imitation!

[spilunkr]

ST,

Jeff is correct about using big flies in the C&R area below the Blue Hole. My biggest MD trout ever, a 21" rainbow, hit a 3" long black wooly bugger about 2 miles below the BLue Hole.

Guy

[Salmo trutta]

Yea, I'm very familiar with that stretch of water and spent many days fishing down there when I should have been in class while in college in the 90's. My biggest trout too has come from that river. I've also caught 19" cutthroat in their on a #14 prince nymph in the middle of the most popular pool.

About 9 years ago we hiked up into the C and R and set up camp hidden in the woods. Which was probably illegal. I wanted to night fish (which was also probably illegal) and it paid off, big time. The trout I caught was enormous. The girth was that of a high school cheerleaders waist and the length was well.... long. I measured it up against my rod and the nose came to the first guide. I have pictures somewhere (35mm) and everyone would swear this fish came from Chile or the Great Lakes. It was caught in the C&R and obviously had to go back but at the time probably would have given the state record a run for its money. This was back in my spinning rod days and the fish hit a white grub on a jig head, just after midnight. Right around that time was when I'd argue with myself whether to use the fly or the spin for trout. I'd often take both with me on long wading trips but not that night.

Plus the year of the cicada was just silly on that river for large trout on dries. Enough hyping that place up. When I was steelheading last winter and told some guy I was from MD, he said "Do you ever fish the N. Branch?" I didn't say much at first and he went on and on about how awesome it was and he was from steelhead alley. Why the heck would he drive that far south when 8 months of the year he's got more and bigger fish in his back yard? Plus how the heck did he find out about it? After all, I ran into this guy when we were both 4 miles from our cars so he also had the fishing bug.

[Jeffrey Rasband]

ST,

hahaha You remind me of me. We drove all the way to Walmart so I could buy a spinning rod for night fishing. Its a blast to get out at night, even though we didn't catch a thing. The most amazing night fishing experience ive ever had was in the San Juan river in NM. I can not think of a more ideal place to night fish than this river as it gets pounded so hard during the day, it seems logical that many of the fish would adopt nocturnal feeding habits. That night I caught so many monster rainbows it was just silly.

BTW Salmo, ive never fished for steelhead or lake run browns but this fall I plan on making a trip w/ my buddy. Mainly I need suggestions as far as where to fish, as I have no knowledge of the area.

Also, how do you catch fall steelhead and lake run browns? do you mainly use a strike indicator w/ egg paterns/nymphs or do you swing streamers? I can't wait!