Mid-Atlantic
Fly fishing in Maryland
Short answer
Maryland fly fishing is tailwater and mountain stream fishing in a small state, with wild brown trout below the dams and native brook trout in the western headwaters. The Gunpowder Falls and the Savage River are the headline waters. A non-tidal licence and a trout stamp are both required from age 16.
What makes Maryland different
The Gunpowder Falls is the best argument in the country for changing how a dam releases water. Before 1984 the river below Prettyboy Reservoir was a warm, intermittent trickle. A negotiated minimum release of cold bottom water turned it into a self-sustaining wild brown trout fishery inside half an hour of Baltimore, and it has needed no stocking since. It is now a standard case study in tailwater management, and it is a genuinely good river. Maryland's other half sits three hours west in the Appalachian plateau, where the Savage River holds wild browns and native brook trout in water that feels nothing like the Chesapeake watershed below it. One oddity of fishing here as a visitor: Maryland charges non-residents the greater of its own minimum fee or whatever their home state charges a Marylander, so what you pay depends on where you live.
What trout and other fish are in Maryland?
- Brown trout
- Wild and self-sustaining in the Gunpowder and the Savage. No stocking needed in either.
- Brook trout
- Native, in the cold western headwaters and the upper Savage system.
- Rainbow trout
- Mostly stocked, with some holdover fish in the bigger rivers.
- Smallmouth bass
- The upper Potomac, which is excellent and fishes all summer.
Where to fly fish in Maryland
- Gunpowder Falls
- Below Prettyboy Reservoir. Wild browns, catch and release up top, and thirty minutes from Baltimore.
- Savage River
- Western Maryland tailwater. Wild browns and native brookies, with a strict fly-only section.
- North Branch Potomac
- A tailwater on the West Virginia line, recovered from acid mine drainage by liming.
- Big Hunting Creek
- In Catoctin Mountain Park. One of the first fly-fishing-only streams in the United States.
- Casselman River
- Small western water with a catch-and-release stretch.
- Upper Potomac
- Not trout. The best smallmouth river in the mid-Atlantic and the right call in August.
When to fly fish in Maryland
| When | What is happening |
|---|---|
| January – March | The Gunpowder and the Savage fish all winter. Midges and small nymphs, and nobody about. |
| April – May | Hendricksons, caddis and sulphurs. The best weeks of the year on every piece of water in the state. |
| June | Sulphurs into the evening on the Gunpowder, and the western streams at their best. |
| July – August | Terrestrials early, and the tailwaters hold up when everything else is too warm. Or fish the Potomac for smallmouth. |
| September – December | Baetis, cooling water, and brown trout moving onto the gravel late in the year. |
Do you need a license to fly fish in Maryland?
Yes. Licenses are issued by Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
| License | Price |
|---|---|
| Resident, annual | $52 |
| Non-resident, annual | $85 |
The resident total is the $32 annual non-tidal licence plus the $20 resident trout stamp. The non-resident total is the $55 minimum non-tidal licence plus the $30 non-resident trout stamp — a minimum, because Maryland charges non-residents the greater of that figure or what their home state charges a Marylander. Both fees rose recently after decades unchanged. Prices change — check with the agency before you buy.
Rules worth knowing before you go
- A non-tidal fishing licence is required from age 16, and a trout stamp is required in addition for anyone fishing for trout in non-tidal waters.
- Non-resident licence fees are reciprocal: you pay Maryland's minimum or whatever your own state charges a Maryland resident, whichever is higher.
- The upper Gunpowder and several other stretches are catch and release with artificial flies only.
- Big Hunting Creek sits in a national park and carries park rules alongside state ones.
- Tidal water needs a different licence entirely, and it does not cover the trout streams.
Regulations change every year and vary water by water. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources rule book is the only authority — this page is a starting point, not a legal reference.
Flies that matter in Maryland
Each of these is a card in the deck, and each has a full page in Our Fly-brary.
Keep reading
- Do I need a fishing license? — how licensing works across states
- How to read water — where trout hold, anywhere
- Best time of day to fly fish — the seasonal logic behind the table above
- Our Fly-brary — every fly in the deck, explained
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The deck
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