I spent
two days in the Appalachian Mountains of western Maryland fishing the Savage
River and the North Branch of the Potomac River. These lie along the border
with West Virginia about a three hours’ drive from DC. The nearest cities are
Cumberland and Frostburg MD along I-68. The East Coast is known for its heavily
populated places, but this is not one of them. The trip at times had that end-of-the-earth
feeling.
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| Mountainous terrain, Garrett County, Maryland |
Weather
and river levels did not cooperate on this trip. Soggy weather taxed my rain
and camping gear. Severe weather including a tornado warning made for one rather
sleepless night of camping. The river water levels were below their seasonal
averages, which I suspect made the fish less active. Nevertheless, it was a
fruitful trip discovering new trout streams and exploring a remote area. Both rivers
are true tailwaters, born by the cold releases from impoundments with water
temperatures in the 50s.
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| Savage River in Western Maryland |
The Savage River is the main attraction. Though relatively
small and short in length as tailwaters go, it is managed with special
regulations and receives justified attention as a trout stream. Its
physical characteristics are unusual for a tailwater. This river is steep
gradient, boulder-strewn, nearly continuous pocket water its entire five-mile
length from the impoundment’s outlet to its confluence with the North Branch
Potomac.
Its narrow, heavily vegetated channel (mountain laurel makes tag
alders seem kind of wispy) forces you to be very conscious of your backcast.
The presence of didymo makes wading on slippery rocks tricky. But, the river’s reward
is the fun of exploring and fishing an endless channel of pocket water. Even in
low water level conditions, the amount of fish-holding habitat is impressive
for a relatively small stream.
After the
drive and setting up camp, I got to fish the first evening. Seeing a few rising
fish in glide water pools and runs bolstered optimism to fish a dry fly, even
though there were few bugs in the air. A blue wing olive fooled a pair of small
brown trout; then nothing else. I switched to a brown comparadun in an attempt
to imitate the larger mayfly that occasionally fluttered by.
Moving upstream,
I came upon a huge, deep pool. Like most good trout lies, the best-looking soft
water was on the far side and defended by a fast tongue of current midstream.
This was challenging casting, guarding the backcast while beating the current
seams. My best cast had less than two seconds of drag-free drift before the fast
current jerked it away. On about the fourth of these, the fly was taken by a
very nice trout. Netted after a spirited fight in the fast current, it was all
of 14 inches. Fast-fading light and a ten mile drive back to camp ended the evening.
The next
morning was clear and dry. Midweek fishing is great for reduced angler traffic,
so I had my choice of locations along the river. Picking my way slowly upstream
with wading staff, I learned to decipher how to read the river’s pocket water.
From the road, the river looks fast, a continuous rush of shallow water. Closer
inspection reveals pockets of slow water with surprising depth in between the
cascades. Even in low water, this river provides plenty of cover for good fish.
I tried
several dry flies to no avail. I reversed direction and began to swing soft
hackles downstream in a general searching mode. Inspecting midstream rocks for
insect activity, a bright green caddis that was pupating and nearing emergence
triggered my curiosity. I switched to a similar-colored soft hackle I had tied
for last month’s trip to the Delaware. The result was another nice brown trout,
14-15” long. But, other than another couple of dinks, that was it on down to my
starting point.
I took the
rest of the day to fish the North Branch of the Potomac. Finding it was the
first step, no easy task. It took quite an effort in the mountainous,
switchback terrain and with very poor signage. As the crow flies, it’s a
distance of less than 4 miles; driving if for the first time took forty-five
minutes.
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| North Branch Potomac River, Barnum WV |
The North
Branch of the Potomac, a tailwater below Jennings Randolph Lake, is very
different from the Savage. It is bigger, a much more open channel with longer
runs and less boulder-strewn. Once you find the as-advertised access point at
the Barnum Whitewater Area, there is plenty of access from more than a mile of
public land.
Where to
start fishing was a total guessing game. It was mid-afternoon; bright and hot;
no bugs in the air nor rises; no other anglers to go to school on. I tried
swinging a wooly bugger for a while without success. The glint off the sides of
a few fish working along the bottom of a deep run caught my eye, so I switched
to nymphing below an indicator to get the fly down deep. I managed two rainbow
trout this way, 12-13” with the fight of hatchery fish.
Calling it a success
just to find the damn place and wet a line, I headed back to the Savage River for
the evening. I chose a different access point this time. It was a poor choice
with little good holding water, mostly shallow cascades. The evening yielded
nothing.
Poor
weather hampered the rest of the trip, including a restless, soggy night in the
tent. It rained hard off and on through noon the next day, accompanied at times
by thunder that forced me out of the river. I managed one decent sized rainbow
trout. At least, it put up a good, tail-walking fight, unlike its hatchery
brethren on the North Branch of the Potomac.
Leaving
the rivers to drive home, I chose a route to follow the Potomac on its way
northeast toward Cumberland back to the interstate. The small river towns of
Luke and Westernport MD are classic Appalachia; tight, cramped, forlorn. A huge
paper mill dominates the landscape (see www.newpagecorp.com). Logging trucks hauling to the mill and the
Kingsford charcoal plant are constant. Tourism is completely absent; no wayfinding,
fly shops or B&Bs here. The river’s presence is marginalized; no access
points are heralded. I did see a number of river fishing boats trailering by,
rafts not driftboats to navigate these boulder rivers. There must be a few
access points to use them on the North Branch; the Savage is too small for
them.
A small
fly shop sits on the Savage River, Savage River Angler. It must be one of the
smallest Orvis-endorsed shops around, but it has a pretty informative website: www.savageriverangler.com
This won’t
go down on my list of best trout fishing trips. If I had my druthers, I’ll go
back to the Delaware and Beaverkill Rivers first. They aren’t that much further
away from DC. But, I haven’t chalked the Savage/North Branch Potomac off
entirely. I suspect they might fish better earlier in the season, and with more
water.
