Since we were already over in WV doing the South Branch of the Potomac in search of Bass, I talked the Basswife into a detour on the way home. I had heard alot about the Savage River and wanted to see it for myself. We headed north out of Petersburg, thru Romney and up to Keyser, Westernport, Luke and finally Bloomington.
The turn onto Savage River road – the road that parallels the river is not marked well – it’s a normal roadsign that you would see in any residential area – so be on the lookout. The entire length of the Savage looks to great. The MD DNR site indicates some of the property along the river may be posted. My recon did not allow me the time to scout out these locations – so I recommend you just start fishing and then hop out and skip around any posted areas. There are not that many places to pull over, so don’t be too picky. However, if there is already a car in a pullover, please just keep going. There is plenty of river – no need to stack too many fisherman in a particular area.
As you can see from the pictures below, the river looks great. Plenty of structure, nice rocks – got to be a huge number of pools in here where the big guys hang out.
One caution, in my short venture along the banks to check out the water (I was not given much time to fish as the Basswife is not interested in trout), it was clear that there was a good deal of algae growth – which will make spin fishing a challenge if your spinner touches it. This may be the place were we all need to become fly fishermen – just to avoid the agony of contantly clearing the lure of crud.
If you need some advice and flies, stop in at the Savage River Outfitters – they are very helpful. They are about halfway up the Savage River Road and have cabins you can rent as well.
We drove up to the top and looked at the Fly Fishing only section as well – same good looking water. We were there on a Sunday around 1100 or so – and there were only two other fishermen visible on the River – both in the Fly section. There was one car parked at the bridge – not sure whether this person was fishing or not.
Getting there: Mapquest yourself to Luke, MD. From Luke, head south on 135 and take the first right over the Bridge – that’s the Savage River Road. You can actually start fishing at the bridge between Luke and Bloomington – it’s the start of the trophy area that runs 2.75 miles up the river to the fly section.
Looking north from the parking area to the suspension bridge that marks the boundary of the special regulation area between flies and lures.
Looking south from the parking area at the suspension bridge into the artificial lure only special regulation area.
Pretty Savage River trout picked up in the pool under the bridge
The sign at the bridge makes it very clear what you can use and where you can use it
Unless stated otherwise, this article was authored by Steve Moore