3wt7X
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2008
- Messages
- 704
I took a trip out to the Savage River yesterday despite the weatherman's call for showers and possible thunderstorms. Upon my arrival, I was pleased to see overcast skies and temperatures in the mid to upper 50s. I stopped by the fly shop to pick up some tippet materiel and split shot because I thought that I would be nymphing all day, but Mike, the fly shop owner, told me that the BWO were getting stronger by the day. Mike is always very helpful and with the stream basically in his back yard, he provides very accurate information on the hatches.
I started fishing in the run below the suspension bridge and I immediately noticed a pod of trout sipping BWO in a slow run on the opposite bank. I took a good position in the center of the stream and landed a few nice trout in short order on a size 18 parachute. One of the trout was my first native brook trout over 10 inches. That pod of fish shut off after a while and I moved down stream to the "Grumpy Old Man Pool." This pool is named for the home owner that lives just below it, who tends to get a little "Grumpy" when he sees people fly fishing behind his house. It was about 01:30 when I arrived at this pool, the BWO were coming off pretty strong. I noticed numerous trout rising and I had a great time for the next 3 hours. I hope that this is not taken as boasting, but I also landed my second and third native brook trout over 10 inches, which I was very proud of.
Towards the end of the day, I moved up stream a bit and I noticed a very large head sipping BWO in some pocket water about 6inches from the bank. This was a very nice brown and I pulled out the binoculars and could see that he was rythmically taking olives coming from the current on the stream side of the boulder that he was behind. I made a nice cast and he took almost immediately, but I set too fast and pulled the fly on him. I let him rest for about an hour and I returned to see that he was happily feeding again. This fish would no longer take my dry fly offering, as I think he had a good memory, but I swallowed my pride an attached a size 18 PT dropper to emulate the emergers and the big brown took on the very next cast. I was using 7X tippet throughout the day and I simply kept pressure on the fish and walked backwards until I got him into some slower water. I landed him a few minutes later and measured him to be my first 18in Savage River brown.
I apologize for the long story, but I was very exited to finally take what I consider a large brown out of that stream. I figured that was a great way to end the day, so I loaded up the truck and headed back east. As a couple side notes, the BWO seemed to shut off a bit every time the sun came out and there were midges throughout the day. The water level was a little higher than I like it, but that did not seem to hurt the fishing. It just made it a little harder to get a drag free drift.
I started fishing in the run below the suspension bridge and I immediately noticed a pod of trout sipping BWO in a slow run on the opposite bank. I took a good position in the center of the stream and landed a few nice trout in short order on a size 18 parachute. One of the trout was my first native brook trout over 10 inches. That pod of fish shut off after a while and I moved down stream to the "Grumpy Old Man Pool." This pool is named for the home owner that lives just below it, who tends to get a little "Grumpy" when he sees people fly fishing behind his house. It was about 01:30 when I arrived at this pool, the BWO were coming off pretty strong. I noticed numerous trout rising and I had a great time for the next 3 hours. I hope that this is not taken as boasting, but I also landed my second and third native brook trout over 10 inches, which I was very proud of.
Towards the end of the day, I moved up stream a bit and I noticed a very large head sipping BWO in some pocket water about 6inches from the bank. This was a very nice brown and I pulled out the binoculars and could see that he was rythmically taking olives coming from the current on the stream side of the boulder that he was behind. I made a nice cast and he took almost immediately, but I set too fast and pulled the fly on him. I let him rest for about an hour and I returned to see that he was happily feeding again. This fish would no longer take my dry fly offering, as I think he had a good memory, but I swallowed my pride an attached a size 18 PT dropper to emulate the emergers and the big brown took on the very next cast. I was using 7X tippet throughout the day and I simply kept pressure on the fish and walked backwards until I got him into some slower water. I landed him a few minutes later and measured him to be my first 18in Savage River brown.
I apologize for the long story, but I was very exited to finally take what I consider a large brown out of that stream. I figured that was a great way to end the day, so I loaded up the truck and headed back east. As a couple side notes, the BWO seemed to shut off a bit every time the sun came out and there were midges throughout the day. The water level was a little higher than I like it, but that did not seem to hurt the fishing. It just made it a little harder to get a drag free drift.
