Savage River

We had a blast fishing the TU Top 100 rivers in Maryland: Big Gunpowder Falls, North Branch of the Potomac and the Savage.  Who knew Maryland had such great trout streams.  Given the proximity to DC, its really quite amazing that these streams don’t see even more pressure than they do.  We sure seemed to have the rivers to ourselves a lot during our stay here.  Please enjoy “Maryland Memories”, our video montage of our time in Maryland.

Our first stop was to fish the Big Gunpowder Falls river near Monkton, MD.  Our base was the Backwater Angler fly shop.  Make sure you stop in here and visit with Theaux Le Gardeur.  He knows this river inside and out.  He’s the “Riverkeeper” for the BGF river.  He and the young guys in the shop do a tremendous job of giving you the flies and the river intel to have a great day on the water.  He also hooked us up with Micah Dammeyer of Knee Deep Fly Fishing who guided us on an afternoon/evening of fishing.  At 6’6″ Micah is never more than “Knee Deep” in any part of the BGF river.  You can read his guide talk here.

Next stop was to fish the North Branch of the Potomac with Harold Harsh of Spring Creek Outfitter.  We were in a small raft  floating down rapids and fishing holes in between.  Had a lot of fun and caught lots of beautiful rainbows along the Maryland/West Virginia border that the NB makes.  Hear more from Harold’s interview here.

Our final stop in MD was on the Savage River.  We had an absolute blast fishing this river and its tributaries.  We caught many small brookies in the tribs that were gorgeous in color and spunky for their size.  When we got on the Savage with Charlie Laffey and Mike Evans of Savage River Outfitters, we were treated to some amazing browns.  Their size and fight were a real treat.  We highly recommend this fishery and for sure heading to SRO for guiding, flies, tips and perhaps even a glass of wine by the river out back with Mike and his wife.  Check out his interview on the banks of the Savage.

SRO

By TB

Driving from our campground at Deep Creek Lake State Park to the fly shop at Savage River Outfitters takes you down along one of the many brook trout streams in the Savage River Watershed, Crabtree Creek.  Barb and I are brook trout junkies for sure.  So, of course we pulled off the road to cast our small, light rods for beautiful brookies.  What we didn’t realize was what was in store for us when we made it to the Savage River, more specifically, the “lower” Savage below the dam.

Being a “technical” stream to fish, we knew we needed help and called the guys at SRO, Mike Evans and Charlie Laffey.  To say that they took care of us would be an understatement.  Mike sent us out to fish more brook trout streams in the watershed first before our guide trip with Charlie and him.  We had a great day fishing for the wild brown trout that inhabit this beautiful stream.

We wish we had more time to fish the Savage and its tributaries.  However, we know we’ll be coming back and stopping at SRO for guidance and great hospitality.  They have cabins that are really nice and set right on a gorgeous and productive section of the Savage River.  Get there and enjoy some great dry/dropper fishing.  For now, please take a few minutes to learn more about this amazing fishery from Mike Evans.