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Home › Waters › Maryland › Savage River Reservoir
Reservoir · Garrett County, western Maryland, a steep-sided impoundment in the Savage River State Forest above the tailwater that runs down to the North Branch Potomac · Maryland

Savage River Reservoir Fishing Guides

A cold, steep-sided mountain reservoir in the Savage River State Forest of western Maryland, holding trout and smallmouth above one of the East's best-known trout tailwaters.

An angler standing in a bass boat along a wooded reservoir shoreline
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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About the Savage River Reservoir

Savage River Reservoir sits in the Savage River State Forest in Garrett County, the mountain corner of western Maryland, impounded behind a dam that releases into the Savage River tailwater below. Most anglers know the name because of that tailwater, which is a nationally recognised trout fishery and already a familiar destination. The reservoir itself gets far less attention and is worth a separate look: a deep, cold, steep-sided lake surrounded almost entirely by state forest, with a shoreline of hemlock and hardwood and remarkably little development anywhere on it.

The fishing reflects that setting. The reservoir is cold enough and deep enough to hold trout through the summer, and brown and rainbow trout are both present, with brook trout moving down out of the feeder streams. Smallmouth bass use the rocky points and drop-offs and are the most consistent warm-weather target. Yellow perch are abundant, chain pickerel hold in the shallower coves, and largemouth bass occupy the few weedy margins the lake offers. Access is largely from the bank along the forest roads and from small boats and kayaks, and the steep shoreline means that shore anglers work a narrow strip of water while boat anglers can reach the deeper structure that holds fish through summer.

The USGS gauge near Bloomington reports reservoir elevation, storage and precipitation rather than a discharge figure. On this water the elevation trace does double duty: it describes the reservoir itself, and it foreshadows what the celebrated tailwater downstream is about to do. Releases from this dam drive the flow and the temperature of the Savage River below, and the scheduled whitewater and fishery releases are what make that river the water it is. An angler planning either the lake or the river should read this gauge together with the release schedule, because a drawdown that improves the tailwater can change the reservoir’s access and fishing at the same time.

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Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

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Pool right now

1,441.90ft NAVD88
  • 24 hours-0.44 ft ↓ falling

Reading taken 1h ago at USGS 01597490, SAVAGE RIVER RESERVOIR NEAR BLOOMINGTON, MD. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.

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Posting to Savage River Reservoir.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Lake level alert

Tell me when the pool at Savage River Reservoir ft (NAVD88)

Now: 1,441.90 ft pool elevation, read 7:00 am CST, Mon Nov 2, 2026 (USGS 01597490, SAVAGE RIVER RESERVOIR NEAR BLOOMINGTON, MD).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Savage River State Forest - the public land surrounding the reservoir, with roads, trails and bank access.
Bloomington - the community near the dam at the lower end, and the gauge location.
Savage River Tailwater - the celebrated trout river immediately below the dam.
Frostburg - the nearest town of size to the northeast, with lodging and services.
New Germany State Park - a developed park in the same forest with camping and a small lake.
Big Run State Park - a campground at the head of the reservoir where Big Run enters.
Deep Creek Lake - the much larger Garrett County lake to the west, a short drive away.

Seasons

Spring: trout fishing is at its best as the reservoir turns over and fish spread through shallower water.
Summer: trout hold deep in the cold layer while smallmouth bass take over the rocky points and shoreline.
Fall: cooling water brings trout back into reach of shore anglers and the forest around the lake is at its finest.
Winter: cold, quiet and lightly fished, with drawdown for spring runoff often changing shoreline access.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Savage River Reservoir?

Anglers target Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Chain Pickerel, Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Yellow Perch on the Savage River Reservoir in Maryland.

Where can you access the Savage River Reservoir?

Savage River State Forest - the public land surrounding the reservoir, with roads, trails and bank access. Bloomington - the community near the dam at the lower end, and the gauge location. Savage River Tailwater - the celebrated trout river immediately below the dam. Frostburg - the nearest town of size to the northeast, with lodging and services. New Germany State Park - a developed park in the same forest with camping and a small lake. Big Run State Park - a campground at the head of the reservoir where Big Run enters. Deep Creek Lake - the much larger Garrett County lake to the west, a sho...

When is the best time to fish the Savage River Reservoir?

Spring: trout fishing is at its best as the reservoir turns over and fish spread through shallower water. Summer: trout hold deep in the cold layer while smallmouth bass take over the rocky points and shoreline. Fall: cooling water brings trout back into reach of shore anglers and the forest around the lake is at its finest. Winter: cold, quiet and lightly fished, with drawdown for spring runoff often changing shoreline access.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Savage River Reservoir?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Maryland agency site: https://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/pages/regulations/index.aspx