Fly Fishing Schools

I will be teaching a number of fly fishing schools and casting classes this summer. If anyone is interested please contact the lodge for more detail or post your questions here. For more information about the lodge please visit the website www.savageriverlodge.com

SRL Outfitters Fly Fishing School is new for 2013! Check out the dates below!

SRL Outfitters Fly Fishing 101 & Casting ClassesFly fishing 101 curriculum includes Fishing vs. Spin Fishing, Essential Knots for on the Water, What Trout Eat & Flies to Match, What is a Fly Cast? and What You Need to Fish. The basics of casting with a fly rod will be taught at the Casting class. These are a great compliment to the 101 course.

Friday June 14, 2013 Fly Fishing 101 - $149 per person from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Saturday June 15, 2013 Casting Class - $50 per person from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Friday June 21, 2013 Fly Fishing 101 - $149 per person from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Saturday June 22, 2013 Casting Class - $50 per person from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Saturday July 20, 2013 Fly Fishing 101 - $149 per person from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Saturday July 27, 2013 Fly Fishing 101 - $149 per person from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Tuesday August 6, 2013 Fly Fishing 101 - $149 per person from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Wednesday August 7, 2013 Casting Class - $50 per person from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Tuesday August 20, 2013 Fly Fishing 101 - $149 per person from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Wednesday August 21, 2013 Casting Class - $50 per person from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

*Reservations required and a 50 percent non-refundable deposit will be taken upon booking.

Carpe Diem Memorial Day

If you have read my earlier post on waters fly fishers forget about you may remember that I said I would have a picture of a 15 lbs carp soon. Well here it is. I spent 2 days trying to get one of these guys and I finally made the perfect cast and played the fish just right to bring it to net. My wife even fell ass backwards into the creek trying to net the thing (that's is why I love her), so I had to include her in one picture. After some research and a couple of days of observation , I figured out their feeding habits and it was game on. These fish are super challenging to catch and in most small rivers they are the biggest thing that swims. The fight was awesome after 5 seconds on the line I saw my backing and once I caught up it was a dog fight from there. I was using a 5wt and 4X, so I couldn't lean on it too much and I didn't have the power in the rod to lift the fish, but I brought it to net in 5 minutes. 7X and 20 inch rainbows on the San Juan in New Mexico taught me a lot about fighting fish and what not to do to break them off. I am hooked on carp fishing pun intended.

Places to fish during high water

Most of the streams in the area are still running high from the rainfall we received last week. The head water streams of the Savage River where high but fishable. When the upper Savage USGS gauge is around 150 cfs the feeder streams will be at a good fishing level. I was looking to fish some may fly hatches, but when I got to the creek the water was still pretty high. I tied on a black and olive woolly bugger and put it into every likely spot and there was usually a brookie waiting to pounce. For the next 2 hours I must have released close to three dozen 7-11 inch fat brook trout. It is truly amazing how many fish there are in this river system.

Rain rain go away. Come back another day.

We have received a ton of rain over the past week probably close to 4 inches. The area rivers are high and for the most part unfishable. When the rain finally stopped I made a trip to a head water stream to see if I could entice some brookies to take a fly. The water was up but clear and 52 degrees. I tied on a small woolly bugger size 10 and put it in every likely looking spot. I caught some nice brookies up to 11 inches and they attacked the fly. If I were in Colorado I would have had a nice dinner, but here in Maryland brook trout should be treasured and released.  

Streams Fly Fisherman Forget About

I had a chance to fish one of the numerous lowland streams that feed into the Potomac in West Virginia this weekend and it was a blast. Trout obsessed fly fisherman tend to forget about these stream that are all over the place in our area. After being in Colorado for the last 5 years, it is amazing the amount of water there is in the Appalachians. These streams are incredible ecosystems filled with a variety of fish. I caught small mouth bass, rock bass, sunfish, fall fish and even hooked a 15 lb car that broke me off in short order. I will learn how to catch the monster carp that live in this stream! Signs of spring were all over the place from red bud trees to baby robins and spawning bass nests. It is a pleasure to fish these lowland creeks that have every bit of the beauty of trout streams. Many of your favorite put and take trout streams are fisheries like this one in the summer. I plan on finding more of these streams in search of small mouth in the coming months, so I will let you know what I find.

Upper Savage River May 4th and 5th

I had the opportunity to fish the upper Savage River watershed the last two days after I got off at the Savage River Lodge. This is an incredible Brook trout fishery that is catch and release on about 120 miles of streams through out the entire watershed. This is a fully connected fishery meaning that a brookie can swim the entire 120 or so miles unimpeded by any dams. This is a treasure right here in western Maryland and something that every fly fisherman should do in their lifetime. The water was 56 degrees and there are caddis bringing fish to the surface. There are tons of caddis cases all over the stream and the larva inside are around 1 inch long. I don't know what species of caddis they are, but when they hatch they will be big and all over the place.

Savage River Tailwater May 1st

I fished the Savage the following afternoon. The water was up to 125 cfs and there was not a cloud in the sky today. The hendricksons were already coming off when I hit the water around 2:30. I still have not yet seen any larger fish taking bugs off the surface, so I stayed with nymphs all afternoon. Over the last two days I have caught every species of trout in the Savage: Brown, Brook, Rainbow, Cutthroat, and Golden Rainbow. The later three swim up from the North Branch of the Potomac while Brown and Brook trout spawn in the Savage. I have only fished about the first half mile of river upstream from the North Branch since I have been back, but from what I have seen so far the Savage has some of the best natural holding water of any river I have ever fished. There was one pool that I could not get to the bottom of with a 14 ft  leader! I can not wait to explore the tailwater more.

Savage River 04-30-2013

I had a chance to fish the Savage at 100 cfs for the first time since I have moved back to Maryland. What a difference in wading! I walked down to the water at 2pm and there were hendricksons popping off the water. There were a few smaller fish rising to them, but nothing that would make me want to switch to a dry. I stuck with my hendrickson nymph and caught close to a dozen fish in the next 3 hours. Most of the fish were between 8 and 14 inches, but one was a nice 17 inch brown.

Funny Joke

Youghiogheny 04-25-2013

The Yock was at a great flow of 330 cfs and the water clarity was around 2 ft. At this level there is a lot of good holding water for fish. Caddis larva size 14 and BHPT size 16 caught fish. When I was sampling the water I caught two scuplins so it would be a good idea to try one of these patterns for a chance at a larger trout. The water temperature in the morning was 48 and there were a few caddis flying around. A great morning on the Yock.