Tailwater · Mixed Metamorphic · Maryland

Savage River

The Savage runs out of the Corps dam up in Garrett County and falls hard toward the Potomac at Bloomington, and in those three-odd miles of pocket water and plunge pools it hides as good a population of wild browns and brook trout as Maryland has.

Species

About as good as it gets

Low and clear — careful approach country. Take your time — read the water before you cast.

90% confidence in this read
Water temperature for steelhead
Ideal
9°C est.ideal 4–13°C
0°14°28°
Why this score · for steelhead
  • Temperature10028% weight
  • Flow8022% weight
  • Clarity9518% weight
  • Feeding Time8013% weight
  • Pressure757% weight
  • Insect activity5212% weight
Conditions
Level
Dry recently
No gauge reading
Water temp
9.0°C
Estimated
Clarity
Clear
Air temp
24°C
Wind
N 13 km/h
Gentle breeze
Pressure
1025 hPa
Rain · 24h
0.0 mm
No rain
Rain · ahead
0.0 mm
No meaningful rain · next 48h

Live readings — water temperature is an estimate where the gauge does not record it.

How to fish it · for steelhead
When
Sulphurs and caddis late spring into summer; cold release fishes year-round when flows are wadeable
Where
The Savage runs out of the Corps dam up in Garrett County and falls hard toward the Potomac at Bloomington, and in those three-odd miles of pocket water and…
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though insect activity could be better.
Through the year
0–3 scale · June highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Black MidgeHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Freshwater ShrimpHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Western Blue-Winged OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Pale Morning DunHatch
2
3
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Maryland licence required; trophy / catch-and-return special regulations on the below-dam reach — pinch your barbs and verify the current MDNR rules and reach boundaries before you go.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
About this water

The Savage runs out of the Corps dam up in Garrett County and falls hard toward the Potomac at Bloomington, and in those three-odd miles of pocket water and plunge pools it hides as good a population of wild browns and brook trout as Maryland has. It's a tailwater, so the trout don't much care what the weather's been doing — they care what the dam's doing, and the release can flip the river from a wadeable trickle to a shouldering torrent inside an afternoon. Cold, tumbling, boulder-strewn freestone-in-character water with a special-reg reach that asks you to pinch the barbs and put them back. Watch the release schedule, fish the seams behind the rocks, and don't wade where you can't see your boots.

  • Mixed metamorphic
Seasons & zones
  • Trout1 January → 31 December