Savage River, Garrett Co. MD 7-22-08

[Acristickid]

Savage is low and clear. The flows are at a steady 60 cfs and the trout can be spooky. The water is as cold as you will find anywhere. (below the dam that is)

Tough fishing there as the trout are selective and really take there time and the low flows do not aid the angler. Saw a few really large browns but they wanted nothing to do with me.

Very scenic area. Campground right near the river and road. Savage River road parallels the rivers length. It is more of a large stream than a river IMO.

Saw some sulphers, and many midges. Got many refusals on both. Managed to land 3, 9-10 inches browns closer to Bloomington- near it's confluence with the North Branch of the Potomac.

Several brookie streams are nearby as well and the thunderstorms seemed to help their cause.

Looking for a new area to fish? Want a challange? Savage,North Branch of the Potomac, plus numerous brookie streams are all within 5 miles of each other. This area has it all.

Just dont bring rock snot. They do have these stands to wash your stuff with if your not sure.

 

[albatross]

Paul,

Looks like you had a nice time on the Savage and the Potomac.

I had a nice day last fall with my brother on the Savage. We caught some brookies in the 8 to 10 inch range along with our browns and I managed a nicer brown of maybe 15 inches up closer to the dam on a royal wulf.

 

[Acristickid]

It was great. I never floated before nor have I had a guide. Scraped my WY trip. The cheapest rental car I could find for a week was $583. So figured I would do this instead.

It was so nice not to have to bust your hump wading. Cool getting to the best spots easily. Will do the trip again someday.

Know what I would do if I hit the lottery!

 

[tomgamber]

Looks nice...also looks lie MD has the wild (brook)/trophy thing much closer to where it should be...

 

[jayL]

Any cutthroats? What's the deal with that anyway? I've heard they are there.

 

[tomgamber]

Clean water...fish that looks UP constantly...won't compete much with native species...its win-win if you can get them to survive...I'm not much on stocking anything where they don't belong but...

 

[Acristickid]

Cutts are located more in the upper sections closer to the dam I have heard. Probably a little more scenic and much clearer water there. I have fished that section before for a whole day with two friends who are much more skilled and experienced than myself and nobody caught a cutt. There is a catch and release section in the first mile or two below the dam. Closest USGS gauge to the dam is Barnum WV.

I floated more of the middle section where my guide Danny told me we would have a chance at bigger fish. I let him pick the float. Especially since he floated it everyday last week and they did ok. When I called them to make an arrangements for a float this week (Monday) he told his client caught 16 on Friday.

Started to feel alittle uneasy after no hook-ups after the first 30-40 minutes particulary since we floated through 2-3 nice runs and holes. But ended up catching many and I was very pleased.

My arm was sore as hell by the end of the day after throwing a 6 wt with streamers all day. The fish have good fight there. No sense in using less than a 6 wt as they take line and it wont stress the fish as you land'em faster.