Upper Patuxent River, Maryland

[mikesl]

Visiting in-laws in MD, and realized they live 5 minutes from the upper Patuxent River - managed as a catch and release wild brown trout fishery upstream of the Triadelphia Reservoir from what i can gather - anyone fished this before?

Fished this upper section in Patuxent State Park a few hours at midday today - beautiful setting, - water was crystal clear and 42-44 degrees... nice runs and pools, about the size of valley creek in the section i fished....maybe a little smaller, but... hardly any fish. Saw a few 6" fish that might have been trout in one big shallow pool, got some follows and nibbles on a microbugger, but that's it.

Looks like a very infertile freestone stream... no insects or crustaceans seen, only a handful of minnows/fry... makes me really appreciate Valley 🙂

Any thoughts on best bets for fishing this kind of stream this time of year?

Would fish (wild Browns) have migrated down to find warmer water in the reservoir/lake few miles downstream?

 

[csoult]

My brother in law lives 5 minutes from there also, so I will be curious to hear the comments.

 

[Fishidiot]

I've fished it a few times.....over thirty years ago when I lived in Maryland. I can recall getting wild browns and that the stream was very brushy and rather low gradient. They used to stock the section further down between the reservoirs but I only recall getting wild fish up in the reg section. Honestly, I think prospecting for trout this time of year is a rather low success endeavor. I'd rather stick to waters I know well in the late fall and winter. With that said, if I was going to hit this stream, I'd wait for a sunny afternoon and focus on the deepest pools. If no fish can be seen midging on top, I'd dredge the bottom with a small egg fly/nymph combo.

 

[midgeman]

You didn't see the browns because they heard your door shut and they hid under the banks ,)