The North Branch - so much to love. After driving by Gormania on the way to Wallman or Lostland Run, my curiosity finally got the best of me.  The section of the NB from Gormania north is not part of the delayed harvest area, but is it worth fishing.  My conclusion is yes. Granted, I did not catch any fish here on the cold October day I fished it, but the potential is tremendous.  The water was a brisk 47 degrees on the day I was there - a bit below optimum for trout activity.  However, the river in this section is broad, fast and reasonably deep.  We drove down to Steyer, parked by the tracks and hopped on the high speed avenue of approach as shown below.  It looked like somebody had beaten down a path with an ATV which made going pretty easy next to the river.  When the ATV ran out, there was a faint game/fisherman trail that followed the river north.  Eventually, this runs out and you need to either walk in the river or bushwhack you way north. We hit this section after fishing on the Wallman stretch, so did not have much time.  Instead of walking down the railbed about a mile to start fishing, we jumped right in at Steyer.  The river was pleasant, easy to wade and deep - running 3 feet or better. As you can see from the pictures, this section is wide - no obstacles to speak of and, given my new commitment to learn to fly fish, this is the place I will come to give it a try.  There are minimal trees and other natural traps that will snag my fly when I get going.  In addition, the wide river will give me plenty of opportunity to recover from the bad casts that any beginner should expect. In terms of the fish, we did not catch any.  This is not a protected area of the river - no special regulations.  Given the beaten path mentioned above, I imagine it does get cleaned out fairly quickly. Pressure:  Nobody else was there on the Sunday in October we hit this section.  Given the chilly tempurature, you really cannot draw a conclusion.  I'll give it a thumbs up for now with another test in the Spring.	Getting there:  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.
High speed walking path next to the river	View of the river looking west from Steyer
Looking east - towards the park and Wallman	Wide, broad, and a nice current.  Typically, 3 feet or better in depth
Where we turned around - looking east /north towards Wallman and Potomac State Park	As with everything on the North Branch, the railbed gives you a fast way to move from spot to spot without dealing with Poison Ivy.

Disclaimer and Warning:  The contents of this site reflect the opinion of the author and you, the reader, must exercise care in the use and interpretation of this information.  Fishing is a dangerous sport.  You can slip and fall on rocks and sustain severe injury.  You can drown.  You can get hooks caught in your skin, face, eyes or other sensitive places.  All sorts of bad things can happen to you when to go into the woods to visit the places documented here.  Forests, streams and lakes are wild areas and any number of bad things can happen.  You must make your own judgment in terms of acceptable behavior and risk and not rely on anything posted here.  Calibrated Consulting, Inc disclaims all liability and responsibility for any actions you take as a result of reading the articles on this site.  If you do not agree with this, you should not read anything posted on this site.

Finally, access points may be different or restricted based on changes in property ownership since posting the original article.  It is up to you to make sure you are fishing where it is legal.