Beaver Creek, Washington Co., MD, 02/01/2011

[3wt7X]

I made it out fly fishing for only the second time this year. I decided to stay local and fish the upper section of Beaver Creek in Washington County, MD. It was an overcast day, with temperatures rising to the lower 40s. The stream was at a decent flow and had a nice chalk color to it. I noticed dimple rises immediately as I approached several different runs in the upper section. Upon further inspection, I noticed small midges and BWOs coming off in pretty good numbers.
I started out fishing a size 24 sprout midge, and I took a small wild brown almost immediately. I fished that sprout midge pattern and a griffiths gnat for a little bit, with minimal responses, so I tied on a size 20 parachute olive and I began picking up fishing more regularly. I finished the day landing about 8-10 nice little wild trout, and I stuck and nice 14 inch Rainbow on a small streamer to top things off.
Anyone interested should check out the new fly shop on Beaver Creek. It is great to see small businesses in the area and the owner, Matt, is a straight forward kinda guy. The fly tying selection is pretty darn good too. Hope you enjoyed the report, Here are some pics from the day.

 

[phillyfly]

Those are some healthy looking trout man. How long did you fish with streamers for? Is this creek similar to fishing the Gunpowder? I think ive only caught 1 trout on GP over 12 inches on anything besides streamers.

 

[3wt7X]

I only swung streamers for about 30 minutes. I was Jonesin to catch some fish on dries, and I was excited to see the rising trout, even if they were smaller fish.

 

[3wt7X]

Phillyfish,
On a side note, they have not stocked browns Beaver Creek for several years, but I've read that the wild population that inhabits the stream are decendants of Gunpowder wild browns. Regardless, they are beautiful fish that get fished over heavily in the put and take area near the headwaters. Unfortunate, but they seem to be doing well.

 

[phillyfly]

Is the upper section you fished regulated? I immediately thought of the GP trout when I looked at those beauties so I believe it when you say they are decendants. I remember reading about the Beaver Creek Fly Shop somewhere and plan on making a trip there when I can find a few hours.

 

[3wt7X]

The section I was fishing was the put and take section to start. I did work my way downstream into the upper FFO section, but it did not make any difference fishing wise...The trout were rising in both sections.

 

[Fishidiot]

Neat report! Glad to see yuh got a dry fly fix Josh - 'bout time after all the time you spend dredging the bottom with uncouth flies made of rabbit fur (gentlemen prefer marabou):-D

Yeah, the browns are beauties. The MD DNR did transfer some browns from the Gunpowder, I think, maybe five or six years ago (although Beaver has had browns in the past) and natural reproduction was documented shortly later.
The rainows are beauties too and look like wild fish as well.

 

[JakesLeakyWaders]

That last rainbow almost looks like a cutbow.

 

[Pontus]

The gunpowder brows are a very very durable strain. if I remember correctly from what I've read, the stream was not in good shape for a while and there was another big fish kill after that. The fish that survived had been through a lot and proved themselves as the toughest. It would be interesting to see if transfered Gunpowder browns could populate other previously non-wild streams.

 

[3wt7X]

Jake,
I agree that rainbow had some unique coloration, but it definately was a rainbow and not a hybrid. I may be wrong on this, but Maryland stocked a Cutbow strain trout in the North Branch of the Potomac a few years back, and some of those fish migrated into the Savage. I do not believe it was a pure cutthroat strain fish, but in all the Maryland fishing books that I've read, they refer to them as cutthroats. I do not believe that they stocked that strain in Beaver Creek. To my understanding, it was just the North Branch, and some of them migrated into the Savage. I personally have never seen one in real life. I've seen pictures of one on this site, and I've met a couple people on the North Branch that claim to have caught one.

Pontus,
I may be misunderstanding you a bit, but Beaver Creek has always been a wild trout fishery. It is pretty healthy limestone spring creek that is real similar characteristically to the famous Cumberland Valley Chalk streams. It is not a tailwater like the Gunpowder. I don't fully understand why they transplated those Gunpowder Browns, but I am not complaining. I will say that many stream improvements have been implimented in the past ten years on Beaver Creek to improve habitat and fight the siltation problem. My hat goes off to everyone involved with those improvements, and I believe that Beaver Creek will only get better in the next couple of years.

 

[albud1962]

All those fish look wild. The fins are in pretty good shape if they are stocked.

 

[Pontus]

3wt, I didn't exactly word myself well. I'm just commenting on how durable the gunpowder strain of browns is, and I'd be interested in seeing more transplants into other streams.