Last week I spent three days fishing the Savage River with my friends, Robby and Bryan Lepczyk. Bugs were abundant in pocket water stretches and in riffles. On any given night, I saw numerous species of Mayflies and Stoneflies.

Lime and Yellow Sallies in size #14 combined with hatches of Caddis, Sulphurs, and Light Cahills in size #16 made for some exciting fishing. Midges and BWO’s were hatching in the middle hours of the day. However, in the evening, lots of midges swarmed in clumps above the river. Throughout the mornings and afternoons, Robby, Bryan, and I had success fishing attractor dries. We often skated Elk Hair Caddis’ through the riffles and runs, while an Ausable Wulff was a great go-to dry fly for fishing pocket water. A standard size # 16 bead head prince nymph worked well in deeper water. We caught lots of nice brown trout throughout the trip ranging from 9 to 13 inches. However we saw some bigger fish and were able to catch a couple. Robby Lepczyk landed a nice 16 inch brown on an attractor dry fly right before dark on our second night. We also found some nice brook trout during our trip.
It’s really nice knowing that the Savage is only a three hour drive from Monkton Maryland, and that it is still a wild trout fishery with regulated sections.