Youghiogheny River Catch and Return Trout Fishing Area

Type: Nontidal
Region: Western
Location: Youghiogheny River

On President's Day in Garrett County - temperatures finally were slightly above freezing and made for good conditions for a winter stonefly hatch in the Youghiogheny River Catch and Return Trout Fishing Area. I found a pod of trout rising to black stoneflies and some tiny midges and tied on a #16 dark bodied stonefly dry fly. I landed and released two brown trout, both better than a foot long, before the others in the pod stopped rising. Temperatures soon dropped to below freezing, ice formed in the rod's guides, and the hatch ceased. What a great way to begin the trout fishing season!