Maryland has been the home of many great fly fishermen – Joe Brooks was born in Baltimore and Lefty Kreh wrote for The Frederick News-Post. Maryland anglers experience great saltwater fishing on the Chesapeake Bay and chase large trout in the rivers of its western corner, while Washington DC urban anglers ply the waters of the Potomac River for huge largemouth.
- Big Hunting Creek Hatch Chart
- Gunpowder River Fly Fishing
- Gunpowder River Hatch Chart
- Invasion of the Snakehead Fish
- Patuxent River Fly Fishing
- Potomac River Fishing
- Savage River Hatch Chart
- Western Maryland Fly Fishing
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The Gunpowder River
Located in Baltimore County, Gunpowder Falls is a premier trout fishery. With controlled releases from the Prettyboy Reservoir, the Gunpowder maintains an excellent year-round flow. The Gunpowder is among the few true trout rivers in the DC-MD-VA area offering a variety of water conditions from still water to riffles and rapids. Chest waders are strongly recommended. Below is a hatch chart list of recommended flies.
- January: Woolly Buggers (8-10), Streamers (8-10), Midges (18-26)
- February: Woolly Buggers (8-10), Streamers (8-10), Little Black Stoneflies (14-18), Midges (20-26)
- March: Little Black Stoneflies (14-18), Wooly Buggers (8-10), Midges (20-26)
- April: Hendrickson (12-14), Red Quill (12-14), Caddis (14-20), March Brown (12-14), Blue Quill (14-16)
- May: Hendrickson (12-14), Red Quill (12-14), March Brown (12-14), Sulphur (16-20), Blue Winged Olive (14-18), Light Cahill (14-16)
- June: Sulphur (18-20), Light Cahill (12-16), Blue Winged Olive (20-22), Caddis (14-20), Ants/Beetles (10-14)
- July: Sulphur (20-22), Caddis (14-20), Ants/Beetles (10-12), Blue Winged Olive (20-22)
- August: Caddis (16-20), Ants/Beetles (12-16), Hoppers (10-14), Blue Winged Olive (20-22)
- September: Caddis (16-20), Nymphs (14-18), Ants/Beetles (12-14), Hoppers (8-12), Woolly Buggers (8-10), Blue Winged Olive (20-22)
- October: Caddis (16-20), Woolly Buggers (8-10), Streamers (8-10), Ants/Beetles (8-12)
- November-December: Blue Winged Olive (20-22), Woolly Buggers (8-10), Streamers (8-10)
Big Hunting Creek:
Located in the Catoctin Mountain State Park, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources maintains the stream as a Catch-and-Release fly-fishing only area. Easy road side access and 16-20 inch trout make this stream extremely popular. This is a small stream ranging from 15-30 feet across and not more than a foot or two in depth in most places, and hip waders are recommended. Below is a hatch chart list for Big Hunting Creek.
- December-January: Woolly Buggers (6-10), Sculpins (6-10), Nymphs (14-18)
- February:Woolly Buggers (8-10), Sculpins (8-10), Nymphs (14-18), Stoneflies (16-18)
- March:Woolly Buggers (8-10), Stoneflies (16-18), Quill Gordons (14-16), Nymphs (14-16)
- April:Woolly Buggers (6-12), Blue Quill (16-18), Hendrickson (12-14), March Brown (12-14), Nymphs (14-16)
- May:Green Drake (12-14), Blue Quill (16-18), Light Cahill (16-18), Nymphs (14-18)
- June:Sulphur (16-18), Light Cahill (16-18), Trico (20-24), Caddis (14-20)
- July:Caddis (16-18), Nymphs (14-18), Ants/Beetles (12-16), Hoppers (10-12)
- August:Caddis (16-20), Nymphs (14-18), Ants/Beetles (12-14), Hoppers (10-12)
- September:Caddis (16-20), Nymphs (14-18), Ants/Beetles (12-14), Hoppers (10-12), Woolly Buggers (8-10)
- October:Caddis (16-20), Nymphs (16-18), Woolly Buggers (8-10), Streamers (8-10)
- November-December: Nymphs (16-18), Stoneflies (18-20), Woolly Buggers (8-10), Streamers (8-10), Sculpins (6-10)
Savage River:
Located in Garrett County, the Savage River maintains a constant year round flow with controlled releases from the Savage River Reservoir. The Savage River is the premier trout fishery in Western Maryland and offers all the characteristics of a large river. Due to occasional large releases for recreational kayakers, fly-fishermen should acquaint themselves with any scheduled large volume releases (information is available on the USGS website). See hatch chart list for Savage River below for suggested flies.
- December-January: Woolly Buggers (8-10), Sculpins (6-10), Nymphs (14-18)
- February: Woolly Buggers (8-10), Nymphs (14-18), Midges (20-26)
- March: Stoneflies (16-18), Midges (20-26), Nymphs (12-16)
- April: Blue Dun (12-14), Midges (20-26), Quill Gordon (12-14), Caddis (14-18), Nymphs (14-18)
- May: Blue Dun (12-14), Midges (20-26), March Brown (12-14), Nymphs (14-18)
- June: Green Drake (10-12), March Brown (12-14), Light Cahill (12-16), Blue Winged Olive (16-18), Caddis (12-16)
- July: Sulphur (14-18), Caddis (14-16), Nymphs (14-18), Midges (20-24)
- August: Caddis (14-16), Nymphs (14-18), Ants/Beetles (12-16), Midges (20-24)
- September: Caddis (16-20), Nymphs (14-18), Ants/Beetles (12-14), Hoppers (8-12), Midges (20-24)
- October: Caddis (16-20), Nymphs (16-18), Woolly Buggers (6-10), Midges (20-24)
- November-December: Nymphs (16-18), Woolly Buggers (8-10), Sculpins (4-10), Midges (20-24)
Western Maryland
This area is home to the Casselman River, Youghiogheny River (the Yock), Savage River, and the North Branch of the Potomac River. These are all excellent trout streams. Some of these rivers include beautiful wild trout and trophy sections. <>/p
Ken Pavol and his colleagues believed the polluted North Branch of the Potomac River could be saved. So they found ways to do just that.
www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-to.potomac17oct17,0,1773015.story?coll=bal-local-columnists
Chesapeake Outdoors
http://bayweekly.com/old-site/year99/issue7_20/chesout7_20.html
The North East and Elk river systems provide the ideal habitat for brackish water largemouth fishing in Maryland.
www.midatlanticgameandfish.com/at_aa030604a
Chesapeake Outdoors (1999)
www.bayweekly.com/year99/issue7_28/chesout7_28.html
Self-Guided Opportunities
www.dnr.state.md.us/outdooradventures/fishpotomac.html
by Martin L. Gary Courtesy of The Maryland Natural Resource
www.hudsontrail.com/articles.php?articleid=19
From Ocean City to the Susquehanna Flats, there’s a lot of great rockfish angling taking place right now in the Free State.
www.midatlanticgameandfish.com/at_aa060504a
ICPRB works as a regional organization to coordinate efforts across the watershed and across political bounds.
www.potomacriver.org
from Fishin Maryland
www.angelfire.com/md2/fishingmd/articles/LLstriper.html
Success story on Maryland’s North Branch of the Potomac
www.outdoors.net/site/features/feature.aspx+Forum+FlyFishing+Article
Code+1058+V+N+SearchTerm+
Until recently, the North Branch of the Potomac was considered to be so degraded by acid mine drainage that it would never support fish populations of any kind.
www.springcreekoutfitter.com/Northbranch.htm
The North Branch of the Potomac River emerges from the ground as a small spring…
www.wamonline.com/summer2001/northbranch.htm
PDF document details North Branchs recovery
www.wvu.edu/~agexten/landrec/PMills1.PDF
an online flyfishing journal with info on Maryland and Northern Virginia fishing
www.riffleandrise.com/homewaters.htm
an online flyfishing journal with info on Maryland and Northern Virgina fly fishing
www.riffleandrise.com/homewaters.htm
The Savage River may be better known as the site of World Whitewater Championships and Olympic Whitewater Trials than as one of the finest trout streams in the East.
www.springcreekoutfitter.com/savage.htm
America’s largest estuary offers year-round light-tackle angling.
www.shallowwaterangler.com/features/Chesapeake_Bay_Estuary
This is one of the most complete and comprehensive articles ever published on the strategies necessary to catch more and bigger bass on the Upper Chesapeake Bay rivers.
www.fishin.com/articles/SandKguideservice/Chesapeake%20Bay%20Bass%20
Fishing.htm
The Susquehanna River is one of the best smallmouth bass fisheries east of the Mississippi
flyfisherman.com/northeast/ejsusquehanna
from Fishin Maryland (1998)
www.angelfire.com/md2/fishingmd/liberty.html
Those of us who live in the Mid-Atlantic region are blessed with many great smallmouth fisheries that begin as small streams in the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains – by Barbara Fricke
www.riversmallies.com/articles_bf1.html
Virginia Fishing Virginia Hunting Maryland Fishing Maryland Hunting Reports
woodsandwatersmagazine.com
North Branch Potomac River Delayed Harvest Area Map
www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/maps/mapnbranch.html
from The Backwater Angler
www.backwaterangler.com/modules.php?name=News&file=categories&op=new
index&catid=3
Fishing Report Overview
www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/fishingreport
Real-time data for USGS 01597500 SAVAGE RIV BL SAVAGE RIV DAM NEAR BLOOMINGTON, MD
waterdata.usgs.gov/md/nwis/uv/?site_no=01597500
www.stripersonline.com/ubb547/ultimatebb.php/forum/18.html
P.O. Box 3112, Silver Spring, MD, 20918; 781-572-0921
www.lonelyangler.com/index.php
29 North Market Street, Frederick, Maryland 21701; 301-668-4333
www.huntingcreekoutfitters.com