I finally made it down to one of the more renown rivers in the area, the Savage River. The river is held in high regard from fisherman that I hold in high regard, so I've had this on my radar. It's only 2-2.5 hours away, so it about equal distant to some of my other favorite streams, but somehow Maryland just feels further away. And that might have been the actual apprehension, because another state means another license. And its plain silly to buy the 3 day license even if you think you might come back, so you might as well get the annual license. I travel around a bit, so the license fees start adding up when you are fishing (and especially hunting) multiple states. This can get a bit annoying, but I like to think of the $50 non-resident license as a greens fees that I would pay if I actually golfed and somehow this rationalization helps.
I love new water. To me, there is something so exciting about seeing and fishing a completely different water. I fantasize about how a place might look, so its always funny to see how far off I am. With all this excitement and some pretty good water levels, I was already daydreaming holding one in my hands. I've seen the pictures of these Savage trout and they are some of the prettiest Brooks and Browns on the East coast. But, I have heard they can be tough. Still, i rigged up a couple nymphs and went at it.
I know I'm usually a bit rusty this time of year. My knots take longer, I forget to check my back cast, and I'm usually a millisecond slower on my hook set (which matters). All these factors usually result in less fish, but at least I can usually find a couple eager trout to help boost my ego.
Nope, not today. I tried every fly, weight, leader length combo i could test. I tight lined, indi-nymphed, and even threw streamers when it clouded up. But, not one singe bite. I was very far away from the excitement of a couple hours ago. And at some point you know it's just not your day. Even though another 1-2 hours might produce a fish or two, it's not going to be a stellar day. And those 1-2 hours could be used on the road after an already long day.
So with my tail between my legs, I packed it up and headed west. It's early and this river hasn't begun to wake up just yet, so i will be back. In fact, my $50 non-resident license guarantees I will be back at least one more time.
