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Having fished the Wallman North and South areas, on my last few visits, I decided to take a quick run at the Wallman Middle access point. I was a little nervous as I approached the faint dirt road that marks the turn into the parking area. The road was slick from a recent rain, but had my vehicle recovery equipment with me so decided to take the plunge down the hill that leads into a small unimproved lot that is not much more than a turnaround point. I didn't have any problems getting down and I hoped I wouldn't have any problems getting out. The good news is that there are plenty of trees that I could use with my HiLift Jack to winch myself back over the top of the hill.
I hit the rail bed and walked north to visit the large pool that I knew of from previous encounters. I approached it from the north, as usual, and attacked it with a sinking tip line terminated in a large streamer pattern. Even though I was careful to wait for the streamer to sink all the way to the bottom, no fish were willing to give me a bump. Surprised at getting skunked here since this pool is usually productive, I looked upstream and began picking my way carefully along the Maryland bank. My bad luck continued in the short stretch between the pool and the large island that splits the flow into two streams. The east flow is always the stronger of the two, so I veered left across the stream to rock hop to the first spot there.
In hopes of better results, I changed my attack from streamers to nymphs and worked them carefully in the small pools that the plunging water created. Again, no joy. In a mild fisherman's panic, I crested the hill at the southern end of the island and stared at the broad pool in front of me. There was a spin fisherman throwing a disciplined pattern of casts from left to right in the pool. I crossed back over to the Maryland bank, left the water and walked up to chat. He indicated that he had had pretty good luck using spinners that were a mix of gold and red. Thankful for this intelligence, I dug in my fly box and found a similar colored woolly bugger. I moved upstream 50 yards to give him plenty of room and began working the tail of a pool where it ran over a pile of rocks. In no time at all, I started to pick up fish. Finally!
When the action tailed off on the bugger, I noticed rings beginning to appear on the surface. In hopes of getting some top water action, I switched to a dry fly and floated it towards the tail of the pool. I watched a large trout surface and inspect my fly on the first three or four casts. On the fifth cast, he decided to risk it all and slammed into it. There's nothing more exciting than a large fish on a 4 wt rod in a rushing stream!
After releasing him back into the pool, I looked at my watch and decided it was time to go -- especially if I had to do a recovery operation to get back out to the road. Thankfully, that was not necessary and normal four-wheel drive was adequate to negotiate the slick surface. The end of another good day on the North Branch!
Bottom Line; This is a good spot as a result of the terrain features. The downstream pool continues to be a must visit spot with the best time to visit being a few weeks after stocking. At that point, the normal trout migration following insertion is complete and many of them decide to take up residence here.
Beyond the pool, the large island that sits just upstream of the parking area is the dominant terrain feature in the middle section. Since it forces the water into two separate channels, it also reduces the fishable water for about 2/10 of a mile. As a result of this, you can work your way through this section fairly quickly and continue into the nice water near the Wallman South parking area.
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Remember to refer to my rating explanations - these are based on what I look for - so RED for Physical Fitness translates to easy physically - you do not need to be in shape to fish this section. I prefer terrain that is tough to get into and out of.
Getting There: It's a bit confusing.
For detailed directions, please purchase either the North Branch Map Book for $4.95 or the full 190 page Fishing guide to the North Branch for $9.95. After checkout, you can download the books instantly.
The fishing guide is also available in hardcopy - click here
Both books include detailed directions overlaid on topo maps with pictures for the confusing places to get you to the river. The key difference is that the full book walks you up the river from Westernport to Wilson using over 140 pictures with a detailed discussion of what to expect beyond the parking lot.
Sorry to have to do this, but selling these eBooks is how I support the cost of maintaining this site. Please support the site.
Secrets Revealed? No. This is a very public location that is documented in the following places:
Maryland DNR
Guide to Maryland Trout Fishing
Mid-Atlantic Budget Angler
Date Fished: 03/22/2009 |
