By Angus Phillips
Sunday, September 3, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Md. I like a good sleep as much as the next man, but is even the soundest snooze worth a three-hour drive, particularly with gasoline at $3 a gallon?
"I thought we were supposed to be catching big trout," I groused to Jay Sheppard last week after eight hours flogging the storied waters of the Savage River and North Branch of the Potomac here in the highlands of Western Maryland. "Where's all the fish?"
"Maybe you could write about the great sleeping," he responded lamely.
It is true that of the world's soothing sounds, the chuckle of cool water tumbling over rocks in a fast-flowing trout stream may be most soothing of all. And it's undeniable that a deep and satisfying sleep coddled us both in Mike Evans's little rental cottage alongside the Savage, where the river purls and glides just beyond the sliding screen doors.
But except for the song of the creek it was mighty quiet--too quiet, as John Wayne used to say.
Evans, a Gaithersburg consultant escaping the Beltway rat race before cares and congestion do him in, recently bought three streamside dwellings along the Savage from elderly widows. He's poured his time and money into refurbishing them, hoping to lure more Washington area flyrodders to both the Savage and nearby North Branch, where big rainbow and brown trout are known to lurk.
Sheppard dragged me up with promises of glorious fall fishing but it was all lies. But for one lucky cast late in the day, I could easily have come home with the stink of skunk all over me. As with everything, it was all in the timing.
Autumn is supposed to be prime time for the North Branch in particular as big browns move downstream from around the dam at Jennings Randolph Reservoir to carve out spawning redds on the rocky bottom, accompanied by plump rainbows hoping to gobble some brown-trout eggs. Six- and eight-pound fish are not uncommon in the fall, according to local lore, and they're generally hungry as they fatten up for the winter.
Autumn comes early in the high country, but we jumped the gun by arriving at the end of August. "Mid-September to early November is best," counseled Harold Harsh, who guides flyrodders here through his company, Spring Creek Outfitters. "I'd say the height is usually around the middle of October, just after the leaves come down."
Which put us two to six weeks early for the fall bonanza. Oh, well, no one's perfect. The early visit gave us a chance to scout hotspots to return to later, and there are worse ways to spend an August evening than on a streamside porch sipping Wild Turkey under the stars, telling lies while the river burbles along.
The Savage and the North Branch are tailwater fisheries, with cool water flowing from the base of reservoir dams upstream to keep the trout chilled and frisky year-round. The smaller Savage below Savage Reservoir has been productive catch-and-release trout water for many years, while the North Branch is newly minted, the beneficiary of massive improvements in water quality since the dam was completed in 1982.
Harsh, a Garrett County native, was among the first to start guiding there 12 years ago, when the first North Branch stocked trout began to mature. The 10-mile stretch of river above and below Bloomington has grown steadily in stature since as trout blossomed in the clear water, which only 25 years ago was lifeless from unchecked acid mine drainage.
The Savage and North Branch converge at Bloomington and it's only a few miles upstream from there to Evans's sylvan outpost, Savage River Outfitters, where he runs a small Orvis tackle shop and has two cottages for rent, or will have when the second one is finished late this year. It marks the first time anyone has offered amenities to trout fishermen hereabouts, and it's overdue.
Sheppard, longtime stalwart of Potomac-Patuxent Chapter of Trout Unlimited and a regular visitor to Western Maryland, suggested we try the Savage by ourselves the first evening, then pound the North Branch with Harsh the following morning. He expected plenty of insect hatches and a decent supply of moderate-sized trout on the Savage, then a shot at some big 'uns on the North Branch.
Twenty-four hours later we were making our way home with "chump" written all over us. The Savage was so devoid of insect life -- for reasons unknown -- that even spider webs along the banks were empty. We fished till dead dark with barely a tap from a trout, though Evans said he caught a couple small ones in the pool behind the cottage. Fishing had been excellent the day before, he said.
"I've never seen the Savage so dead," said Sheppard, shaking his head.
Next morning we went charging across the river in Harsh's Hyundai, wading into the rock-strewn North Branch at Barnum on the West Virginia side. Harsh mostly guides anglers from a drift boat, but the water was too low for comfortable drifting and we had deadlines to meet back home, so we waded upstream, casting into pocket water and deep pools on the way.
It was slow going there, as well, as a cool mist hung over the water till noontime and the sun never broke through. Insects were rare indeed -- as were fish. Harsh landed a plump golden trout of about 18 inches and Sheppard pricked a couple of rainbows in the 10- to 12-inch range, but we never saw an insect hatch of any significance and no trout came to the surface to feed.
I was feeling low, having raised nary a strike on dry flies, streamers or nymphs. Departure drew nearer until at least time was all but up. "Three more casts," I told myself, tossing a bead-head nymph into a deep, fast run and watching the strike indicator bob through the chop.
Nothing.
"Two more." Nothing.
"Last cast," I said, resigned to defeat. But as the little fly swung in the current at the end of the drift, a ferocious tap came and a 10-inch rainbow burst from the water, shaking its head, with the nymph firmly embedded in its jaw. Oh, that felt good, proving once again that the biggest difference in fishing is the difference between no fish and one.
Other than that, the best I can say for this trip is it was a lovely sleep, and things are bound to improve.
* * *
Trout fishing should peak from mid-September through early November in the North Branch of the Potomac and Savage River around Bloomington, where most water is designated catch-and-release.
Five services comprise the Western Maryland Professional Guides Association, which specializes in these waters. They are Eastern Trophies (571-213-2570); North Branch Angler (301-387-5314); Sang Run Outfitters (301-387-7331); Savage River Lodge (301-689-3200) and Spring Creek Outfitters (301-616-8123).
Streamside accommodations, tackle and information are available at Savage River Outfitters (301-359-8010).
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