Upper Patuxent River, Maryland

[mikesl]

Visiting in-laws in MD, and realized they live 5 minutes from the upper Patuxent River - managed as a catch and release wild brown trout fishery upstream of the Triadelphia Reservoir from what i can gather - anyone fished this before?

Fished this upper section in Patuxent State Park a few hours at midday today - beautiful setting, - water was crystal clear and 42-44 degrees... nice runs and pools, about the size of valley creek in the section i fished....maybe a little smaller, but... hardly any fish. Saw a few 6" fish that might have been trout in one big shallow pool, got some follows and nibbles on a microbugger, but that's it.

Looks like a very infertile freestone stream... no insects or crustaceans seen, only a handful of minnows/fry... makes me really appreciate Valley

Any thoughts on best bets for fishing this kind of stream this time of year?

Would fish (wild Browns) have migrated down to find warmer water in the reservoir/lake few miles downstream?

 

[csoult]

My brother in law lives 5 minutes from there also, so I will be curious to hear the comments.

 

[Fishidiot]

I've fished it a few times.....over thirty years ago when I lived in Maryland. I can recall getting wild browns and that the stream was very brushy and rather low gradient. They used to stock the section further down between the reservoirs but I only recall getting wild fish up in the reg section. Honestly, I think prospecting for trout this time of year is a rather low success endeavor. I'd rather stick to waters I know well in the late fall and winter. With that said, if I was going to hit this stream, I'd wait for a sunny afternoon and focus on the deepest pools. If no fish can be seen midging on top, I'd dredge the bottom with a small egg fly/nymph combo.

 

[midgeman]

You didn't see the browns because they heard your door shut and they hid under the banks ,)