3wt7X
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2008
- Messages
- 704
My wife gave me the free pass to take a two day camping/fishing trip for Father's day, so after a long internal debate on where to go, I decided on doing the Savage River and N. Branch of the Potomac. I arrived Monday afternoon on the Savage, and I was greeted with cloudy skies and a threatening storm. I fished a stretch below the fly shop, and I noticed multiple hatches coming off, which included tan caddis, sulphers, midges, craneflies, Isos, yellow sallies, quills and BWOs. I started a flat stretch, that contained some braided water, and I quickly missed a fish on top with a sulpher dun. I worked further upstream and I was able to land three on a yellow sallie dry fly in the pocket water, before being run off the stream by a thunderstorm. I felt pretty good because one of the fish was a beautiful 16 inch wild brown. I waited out the storm, and I hit a nice BWO/Sulpher spinner fall, which produced a few more on top just before dark.
Day two, I made the mistake of getting on the water too early. From 6am-8am, the water was dead. Once the sun came over the hill, the Savage literally came to life, with swarms of midges and tan caddis. I was in the pocket water at the time, and I immediately started taking nice browns on a Elk hair caddis. The sheer number of midges blew my mind, so I went hog hunting on one of the Savage's deep pools, and I was able to fool a very large brown on a size 24 hi vis midge pattern. I thought he was my first 20 inch Savage river brown, but the mark I put on my net only reached 19 1/4 from the handle. Oh well maybe next time🙂 P.S. The rock snot is a total pain on the Savage, very slippery and basically eliminates any attempt at indicator nymph fishing.
Day two, I made the mistake of getting on the water too early. From 6am-8am, the water was dead. Once the sun came over the hill, the Savage literally came to life, with swarms of midges and tan caddis. I was in the pocket water at the time, and I immediately started taking nice browns on a Elk hair caddis. The sheer number of midges blew my mind, so I went hog hunting on one of the Savage's deep pools, and I was able to fool a very large brown on a size 24 hi vis midge pattern. I thought he was my first 20 inch Savage river brown, but the mark I put on my net only reached 19 1/4 from the handle. Oh well maybe next time🙂 P.S. The rock snot is a total pain on the Savage, very slippery and basically eliminates any attempt at indicator nymph fishing.
