Fly Fishing The Savage River In July

Savage River in Summer
I spent a few days fishing the Savage River in Western Maryland last week. MDDNR was shocking the river, so flows were down to 30 CFs. I opted to fish the North Branch of the Potomac until later in the week, when flows on the Savage would rise to 55 CFs. Alex was out assisting the shocking survey for three days, and said they electroshocked a good number of trout. I fished the Savage a few weeks this year and the majority of wild browns I caught averaged between eleven to fourteen inches. In two days of fishing I fished dries in the pocket water and caught nothing under nine inches. In addition to good sized trout, I’ve noticed rising trout on each day I’ve been out on the Savage this year. It’s pretty common to see fish get into a frenzy right at dark, but I’ve witnessed fish rising steady during periods of bright sun. This week the midday or afternoon risers were taking flies off the surface so small, that only patterns in the 22-26 range on 6X worked. I used a size 24 amber mayfly pattern and a size 22 black beetle to catch my larger browns. I saw a few larger mayflies, caddis, and lime sallies at dark. In the latest video post I include some shots of the Savage, some rising browns, and an up close look at a Red-Spotted-Newt.