Tailwater · Mixed Metamorphic · Maryland, US

Savage River

Savage River terrain map

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.

Today · Not the day for it
Woolly Bugger
Forecast · Today
Not the day for it
Not much stacked in your favour today. Worth an hour if you are nearby, not worth the special trip.
45% projected
Today's fly
Woolly Bugger
Woolly Bugger
Conditions on the water · Today
Live gauge
Level
Rising
0.24 m
Lifting fast
Water temp15.8°C
ClarityUnfishable
Weather26°C
WindN 16 km/h
Pressure1019 hPa
Rain · recent0.3 mm
Rain · ahead3.6 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Ideal
16°C est.ideal 1016°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though time of day could be better.
Likely species
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 7am

12pm(now) Trico (Eastern)

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 38%
Also:Flying Ants33%Reed Smut28%
4 food groups active

Peak activity at 7am — Trico (Eastern) (Trico (Eastern))

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 4 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 with Pro.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · September 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
SulphurHatch
2
3
2
Trico (Eastern)Hatch
2
3
3
2
Eastern Blue-Winged OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Eastern Summer BWO (Drunella)Hatch
2
3
3
2

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

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
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.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
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
Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic lifeNot assessed
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Savage River' (MD-02141006-Mainstem), 2024 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: not assessed. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · MD-02141006-Mainstem

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 90%
How the 83 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time55 × 13%7.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity61 × 12%7.3
Conditions total= 83
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 January31 December
Related guides
Booking & contacts