About this time every year I get a bit of wanderlust. The Gunpowder is definitely fishable 12 months of the year, but if I’m being honest, it’s not always fun. The dead of winter can and does produce some great days. Still, enough slow, cold days in a row and I start pining for my favorite kind of fishing: sight fishing dries to rising trout. This time of year, that means spring creeks.
Last year I took a midweek trip to 2 spring creeks in Virginia to sate my dry fly craving. This week I thought about heading north to the more famous spring creeks in Pennsylvania, but considering that there is a legitimate spring creek less than 90 minutes from Baltimore, I decided to stay closer to home. Little and lovely, Maryland’s Beaver Creek was calling my name.
My last trip to Beaver Creek was mostly about exploration. I visited in July (highlighting one of the appeals of spring creeks–they are fishable when other streams are either too hot or too cold), and walked nearly the length of the flyfishing only section. This time I had less time to explore, so I followed the recommendation of James of Beaver Creek Fly Shop and stayed near the upper end of that section.
The reward? Sight fishing to rising fish. Really can’t ask for much more than that. Like last time, I saw some monsters. The fish I caught were more modest in size, but beautifully colored. Apparently there is excellent holdover and significant reproduction of rainbows in Beaver Creek, leading to a nice wild population of ‘bows. Plus I made some friends:
I’ve grown to love Beaver Creek. It’s a beautiful option when the Gunpowder shows its stubborn side.
James Kibler 