The Savage River was flowing in the 500-600 CFs range when I hit the road last week for four days of fishing. The higher flows may not be considered ideal by most anglers, but there are still some options, even at these levels. The region was saturated from recent rains and all of the smaller streams and upper Savage were flowing extremely high on Monday. The roar of the lower Savage was deafening, although the water was clear and fishable in a few sections. The water temps rose from the high forties to the low fifties with the spillover from the rain. I caught my first brown on a streamer in the first ten minutes, and landed a few more before setting up for the night at the campground. On Tuesday the flows came down into the 400-300 Cfs range and I switched from streamers to nymphs, catching a few fish. I switched to dries at Noon and quickly found fish looking up to the surface for a meal. I saw yellow sallies, midges, blue quills, march browns, blue wing olives, caddis and a few other mayflies hatching during the week. I mainly saw midge hatches and trout sipping them in the slow water, but I brought fish to the surface on a size 12 march brown/olive pattern. The challenge was dropping dry flies into the slow spots in the high flows, and getting zero drag during the short drifts. All the slow water along the edges, and the calm pockets behind or in front of rocks held trout. High sticking a long leader and dapping the dries was an easier technique than trying to sling heavy nymph rigs and streamers in the high water. By Wednesday the flows came down and I managed to raise two dozen fish, landing half of those fish. On Thursday the flow dropped into the upper 200s, and I fished dries all morning and switched to nymphs in the afternoon. The majority of browns I landed this week were between 6-14 inches, and brookies between 6-11 inches. In the higher flows I was able to sight fish to some larger browns between 15-19 inches in the slack water on the edge of the river. These wary browns only stayed put for a cast or two, before refusing and spooking or running off with my fly. The latest video post features the high water when I first arrived, a few insects I filmed, and some of the trout I caught.

Fly anglers in Maryland are experiencing some great trout fishing on waters both big and small. The sulphur hatch on the Gunpowder and many of the freestone streams in the state provide great fishing in the evening. Caddis and midges are a good bet for dry fly anglers fishing in the morning or even midday on sunny blue bird days. Blue wing olives are hatching in good numbers on cloudy days, and get the fish sipping naturals in the flat water. Nymphing is producing a lot of fish, and larger browns for anglers bottom bouncing shallow riffles and deep pools. Caddis or midge pupa paired with mayfly nymph imitations are consistently producing trout, and the shop has a large selection of effective patterns. For anglers looking for the big trout, consider fishing a baitfish or crayfish pattern like the one pictured above. I fished this crayfish pattern on a freestone stream and enticed some large trout into chasing the pattern, but I only landed browns in the 10-12 inch range. On a different day I fished the Gunpowder and lost a really nice brown using a shop caddis pupa pattern. I was fishing a caddis/sulphur nymph tandem in a choppy riffle while the adult caddis hatched out of the water. I set the hook on a strong fish and tried to keep it from running me into any debris. I directed the trout into slower water and got a good look just as the fish came unbuttoned. The brown had big jaws and was between 17-18 inches, so it looks like there are some bigger fish feeding subsurface during these hatches. The latest video features a mix of water and fish from small water to the Gunpowder River.

Trout rising to insects is a common sight on the Gunpowder this time of year. Midge, caddis and mayfly hatches during the course of the day keep the trout looking to the surface for a meal. The sulphur hatch is one that tends to send the trout airborne after emerging duns, and seeing trout flying out of the water isn’t unusual. Many reports from anglers this week mentioned fish rising and leaping out of the water along the Gunpowder. I’ve seen this occurring in just about every stretch of river in the afternoon when the sulphurs start hatching. Throw in a midge hatch and intermittent egg-laying caddis toward dark, and the fishing gets interesting. A few anglers relayed that despite the aggressively feeding trout, they found it challenging to get the fish to notice their fly, amongst the naturals. I witnessed a unique sight, where a dozen trout took to the air repeatedly. The fish were consistently leaping two and three at a time for twenty to thirty minutes. The fish were so keyed in on a specific stage of a hatching insect, that it was a better situation to film than to fish. In the latest video post I filmed a dozen three to ten inch browns flying a foot or more out of the water. The brown below took a streamer, so a bigger fly is a good way to get the trout’s attention amidst the hatching insects.

Small to medium size streams are abundant throughout Maryland, and many are downright scenic this time of year. Some of the streams support trout, either stocked or wild, but many also hold populations of bass, panfish, carp and other assorted coarse fish. The joys of fishing these types of places include not needing a big selection of flies, less wary fish, and rarely having to wear waders. The idea is an easy day of fishing where each cast may bring in a different species, and the fly choice boils down to either a black or white wooly bugger. I’ve always enjoyed covering new water and exploring different places, even when in many cases the fishing is hit or miss. Many anglers lament doing the legwork on unfamiliar water, but not knowing what is around the next bend is the pull for me. In the latest video I shot some footage of a variety of water while on my travels recently, including high gradient and meadow stretches. I caught ten small mouth bass in one spot where wild flowers were blooming, and the bass were putting up a nice fight on a four weight rod. Nearly every county in the state has streams that if they don’t hold trout, may have good populations of warm water fish. The adventurous angler has numerous opportunities for a variety of fish, in all types of water throughout Maryland.