The section of the Patuxent upstream from Mink Hollow Road is designated as fly fishing only. That attracted my attention, and I pointed my rod there in 2008.
There is limited parking near the bridge that marks the lower boundary to the fly fishing-only area. At most, two or three cars can pull off on the shoulder on either side of the bridge. Access to the river is constrained to a narrow trail on the eastern bank. There is a fence marking the boundary of private property, so you have to be careful to remain on the streamside. Given the big green blob on the map that indicates this is well within a State Park, I probably did not have to be so cautious – but better safe than sorry.
I walked upstream a little bit to get away from the road and watched the water as I went. The streambed is typical Maryland. It’s sandy with a few rocks and plenty of fallen logs and other structures that provide good holding areas for fish. Granted, I was looking for trout, but I found carp! This part of the river is full of big ones! As I fished upstream, I continued to throw patterns in search of trout without success. On the day I was here, the water was running medium-high, and it was difficult to wade in the stream below the junction of the small feeder creek that you can see joining the river from the Northeast. Above that point, the river shallows out enough to allow me to move in the stream bed, although there were frequent deep pools I had to circumvent. At the top of the red line, I gave up on trout and switched my attention to the carp.
You could see these big beasts cruising all over the creek. I knew I had to get my fly directly in front of them. I understand that they are more like vacuum cleaners and only pay attention to what is directly in their path. I put on a Patuxent Special in the hopes that the heavy beadhead would get it down and would allow me to bump it along the sandy bottom in front of the fish I could see. I tried that with at least five or six different carp without success. It was going to be one of those days!
As I fished my way back to the truck, I continued to see carp scattered throughout the river, holding under logs and at the tail of the deeper pools. Each of these became a target for me with similar ineffective results.
Patuxent River Trout Fishing Bottom Line: Unfortunately, you have to do the stock truck calculus when deciding on fishing upstream from Mink Hollow Road. While the truck could deposit a load at the bridge crossing, we know the trout will migrate downstream. So how do they get into the upstream section? Hopefully, they are inserted at Havilland Mill road; a location I have not fished.. From there they need to migrate downstream a half mile to get into this section. Additionally, there may be some “wanderers” that swim all the way down from the stocking location near the Brighton Dam.
Getting There: From I-495, take exit 28 onto MD-650N/New Hampshire Av toward White Oak. Turn right on Ashton Road. Turn left on Mink Hollow Road and follow it to the bridge.
Google Local Coordinates: 39.167585,-76.998003
Secrets Revealed? No. This is a very public location that is documented in the Maryland DNR stocking plan.
Unless stated otherwise, this article was authored by Steve Moore