Maryland is home to the nation’s first state-wide Fly Fishing Trail. I’ve had experiences at many of its 48 sites. In fact last spring in late May I was hiking near a trail site along the Upper Savage River at Big Run State Park. I had been hiking for just under an hour - about two miles upstream from the road - in search of the elusive Green Drake mayfly and brook trout, Salvelinus Fontinalis[...]

This Trail sites provides shoreline as well as boat-based fly fishing opportunities on the mid-Eastern Shore of Talbot County. The Black Walnut Point Fishing Area and Parking provides a place to cast and fish riprap on the Chesapeake Bay side of the point. Launching your boat in Dogwood Harbor immediately puts you in Harris Creek with direct access to the many other tidal creeks connecting into the lower Choptank River. With your sights set on[...]

As you head down the hill towards the shoreline and launch ramps along Piney Run Reservoir, you will automatically be wondering “where do I want to start fishing?” Piney Run Park and the Reservoir gives you a lot of choices in terms of where to fish and what to fish for. First, where to fish. You can fly fish from the shoreline in the immediate area around the boat launch ramps as well as from[...]

Well, now that spring turkey season is over here in Maryland, it’s time for us hunters to contemplate what we’ll do with all this free time on our hands. Most hunters, at least those I’m acquainted with, will tell you it’s only a few months before the opening of bow season! I’m referring to the elusive whitetail deer. For the majority, this dictates that it’s time to get your bow ready with a visit to[...]

The single-leaf iron and concrete bridge was built in 1932. It’s the focal point of the historic little town that serves as the county seat of Worcester County. It’s also the dividing line between good and great yellow perch fishing on the Eastern Shore. I swing wide around the tight corner at the town’s only red light, checking my mirrors to make sure my 16-foot jon boat trailer doesn’t clip the curb and resolve that[...]

In addition to the reputation for producing really big blue crabs, the tidal waters around Wye Island also host some very productive fish habitats, ideal for fly fishing. Launching from Wye Landing on the Wye East River, you will quickly find yourself at the eastern end of Wye Island adjacent to Skipton Creek. If you circumnavigated the entire island, you would pass by Pickering, Gross and Lloyd creeks, and Shaw Bay on the south side[...]

You have a campsite or a cabin on an island, boat launch ramps and place to tie up your boat, miles and miles of marked water trails, tidal creeks bisecting beautiful salt marshes, and access to miles of beaches on Chesapeake Bay– you just described a perfect weekday or weekend stay at Janes Island State Park in Somerset County on the lower Eastern Shore. And when you add that you can catch speckled trout, redfish[...]

Are you whiling away the hours until deer season comes back around? Here are some ideas to put that time to good use until opening day rolls around again. Why not try hunting something different? Spring turkey season can be a blast, literally and figuratively. If you’ve never been, get ready for an action-packed morning in the woods where you can enjoy the sounds of the forest as it awakens, interrupted by some gobblers who[...]

Imagine: a long and winding tidal creek, filled with long “S” curves, often surrounded on both sides by wetlands along mostly undeveloped shorelines in the upper reaches; and along the south shore, a widely recognized highly productive tidal largemouth fishery all fed by clean waters from a largely undisturbed watershed. Welcome to Mattawoman Creek in Charles County. Your fly fishing adventure will start at Mattingly Park where after launching your kayak, canoe, standup paddle board[...]