Yeah... those are some lofty size limits. 9 inch for brook trout and 18 inches for brown trout. Truly trophy size. Here in PA, a trophy brown is 14 inches. The difference between a 14 and 18 inch fish is only 4 inches, but an 18 inch fish is probably close to double the weight of a 14incher.
Savage River, Garrett Co., MD,09/14/2010
- Thread starter 3wt7X
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CodorusTUTom
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The following was posted by Fisheries Biologist Alan Klotz on MD DNR's fishing report back in July
"We just finished two stations on the Savage River Tailwater – one station within the Fly Only Trophy Trout Fishing Area and one station within the Artificial Lures/Fly Trophy Trout Fishing Area. This was our first fish sampling effort after the Savage River Reservoir was drained last winter to replace the release gates within the dam. The amount of wild trout collected within our sample stations was amazing! I did some quick analysis of the data and calculated that there are about 860 adult trout per mile in the Fly Only Area, and similar densities in the Artificial Lures/Fly Trophy Trout Fishing Area. This density is about 70% of the adult trout population density prior to the reservoir draining in 2009. Brown trout were the dominate species, with many of the fish in the 12 to 16 inch range. Brook trout comprised about 10% of the numbers, and most were in the eight to ten inch range. Most all trout exhibited excellent body condition. Spawning success, however, was poor due to the extreme measures the river experienced during the egg incubation period. With an abundance of large mature trout and good spawning substrate throughout the river – we can expect a good hatch next year."
"We just finished two stations on the Savage River Tailwater – one station within the Fly Only Trophy Trout Fishing Area and one station within the Artificial Lures/Fly Trophy Trout Fishing Area. This was our first fish sampling effort after the Savage River Reservoir was drained last winter to replace the release gates within the dam. The amount of wild trout collected within our sample stations was amazing! I did some quick analysis of the data and calculated that there are about 860 adult trout per mile in the Fly Only Area, and similar densities in the Artificial Lures/Fly Trophy Trout Fishing Area. This density is about 70% of the adult trout population density prior to the reservoir draining in 2009. Brown trout were the dominate species, with many of the fish in the 12 to 16 inch range. Brook trout comprised about 10% of the numbers, and most were in the eight to ten inch range. Most all trout exhibited excellent body condition. Spawning success, however, was poor due to the extreme measures the river experienced during the egg incubation period. With an abundance of large mature trout and good spawning substrate throughout the river – we can expect a good hatch next year."
I recall a buddy of mine fishing the Savage a good bit back in my college days. I thought he used to fish the tribs for brookies as well as the river. Maybe me meant above the dam? Anyhow, if there are tribs holding brooks below the dam, they may use them to spawn and grow before heading into the Savage as an adult when predation from browns wouldn't be as great. Could be a good explanation for mostly adult brook trout residing in the river...
3wt7X
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Sal,
I am not bug expert, but my experience on the Savage over the last few years has provided a few observations. First, prior to this year, the hatches were multiple and always pretty thick. It was not unordinary to see four or five different mayflies and several different caddis coming off along with the ever present midges, which are an important food source in that stream. Scuds are present, but not in spectacular numbers. This year has been a bit different, but my last trip out there was an exception. Prior to that trip, I saw very few mayflies and caddis and the majority of the bugs were midges with an occasional yellow sally or seasonal bug. The trip that I just took out there was the closest to the past couple of years that I've witnessed, which had me pretty excited!
With regards to your brook trout question, I would say that the water conditions coupled with the forage contribute greatly to growth rate of those brookies. Even at very low flows on the Savage (40 cfs) the water temps remain cool and there is plenty of good feeding habitat (pocket water). The stream does not get hammered with anglers, but it does see its share of pressure, especially on the weekends. Also, there are plenty of forage fish, which I've never really taken advantage of, meaning that I rarely streamer fish the Savage, but I am sure that they are a factor in growth rate. For further information, send me a PM...I would love to fish the Savage with you some day and we can do some field study.
I am not bug expert, but my experience on the Savage over the last few years has provided a few observations. First, prior to this year, the hatches were multiple and always pretty thick. It was not unordinary to see four or five different mayflies and several different caddis coming off along with the ever present midges, which are an important food source in that stream. Scuds are present, but not in spectacular numbers. This year has been a bit different, but my last trip out there was an exception. Prior to that trip, I saw very few mayflies and caddis and the majority of the bugs were midges with an occasional yellow sally or seasonal bug. The trip that I just took out there was the closest to the past couple of years that I've witnessed, which had me pretty excited!
With regards to your brook trout question, I would say that the water conditions coupled with the forage contribute greatly to growth rate of those brookies. Even at very low flows on the Savage (40 cfs) the water temps remain cool and there is plenty of good feeding habitat (pocket water). The stream does not get hammered with anglers, but it does see its share of pressure, especially on the weekends. Also, there are plenty of forage fish, which I've never really taken advantage of, meaning that I rarely streamer fish the Savage, but I am sure that they are a factor in growth rate. For further information, send me a PM...I would love to fish the Savage with you some day and we can do some field study.
No doubt, the Savage is a world class trout stream and produces brookies over 10" fairly frequently (except for me - I only seem to catch browns there). Some freestone/tailwater streams do produce decent sized brookies. Fishing Creek in Clinton Co comes to mind as does the Rapidan in VA. I don't know why some of these streams manage to grow good sized brookies but there does seem to be streams, some fairly heavy fished, where browns are dominant but brookies manage to hold their own and reach sizes over 10 inches (Slate Run and Young Womens' Creek come to mind too). Not sure why but it's nice to see those big brookies.
