The forecast last week predicted mild temps and scattered rain showers for the western Maryland region, so I decided to fish the Savage for a few days midweek. The whole river was empty, and I saw no anglers until my last day on Friday. Water temps hovered in the 42 degree, and flows stayed at 60 Cfs. The fishing improved during the warm parts of the day, and rising fish could be found in numerous pools along the river. Blue wing olives sized 18-24 were bringing the fish up sporadically, so the dry fly action was a waiting game in some pools. Neil, a customer of the shop, made the trip for a few days and had some exciting fishing in these pools. After catching a few eleven inch browns on dries the first day, I spent the following three days nymphing small nymphs, in the fast water chutes and runs.
By weeks end I managed over twenty browns and brookies, the larger browns reaching fourteen inches. I spotted quite a few larger browns in the 16-19+ range on the bottom or even occasionally rising, but only had one take and missed the fish.The fishing at times was tough with the cold temps, so I spent a few productive mornings on some brookie streams.
