With the main Savage River blown out for the latter half of May (2025), I took a short drive up to fish some of the small brook trout tributaries on the upper Savage. Big Run is one of the smaller waters, about 15-20 feet wide in a good stretch, but it does have a breeding population of some feisty Maryland native brook trout.
While these little gems do spook pretty easily, they’re not too picky about what flies they’ll eat. Get a good drift through a feeding lane and you’ve got a good chance of hooking up with them.
I spent this particular morning tossing a #14 snowshoe hare sulphur dry fly and had enough action that I never even changed it out. Miraculously, I didn’t lose it in any of the rhododendron bushes you’ll be battling in much of this tiny creek.
The following is some footage of a pretty fun day fishing one of the Savage River State Forest’s pristine brook trout tributaries.
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