THE ATLAS · MD · TAILWATER

Savage River

The best month to fish the Savage River is October. The month to avoid is January. Right now, in August, it is worth going.

January: 59 out of 100
February: 62 out of 100
March: 65 out of 100
April: 83 out of 100
May: 86 out of 100
June: 71 out of 100
July: 64 out of 100
August: 65 out of 100
September: 71 out of 100
October: 87 out of 100
November: 66 out of 100
December: 63 out of 100

AUGUST: GO, WITH CAVEATS65/100

Water averages 66°F this month — fishable, but the margin is thinning. Fish early, land them fast, and stop when the afternoon heats up.

RIGHT NOW, THIS RIVER IS NOT ITSELF

Flow is well higher than normal — 32 CFS against a typical 8 CFS.

LIVE FROM USGS GAUGE 01596500 · EVERYTHING ELSE ON THIS PAGE IS A TWENTY-YEAR NORMAL

WHERE IT IS

LOADING THE MAP…

GAUGE 01596500 · COLOURED BY AUGUST

THE NUMBERS

Month by month

MONTH	TYPICAL FLOW	RANGE (P20–P80)	WATER	AIR HIGH	RAIN	SCORE
January	94 cfs	55–141	33.2°F	—	—	59
February	119 cfs	71–167	35.7°F	—	—	62
March	141 cfs	105–189	39.5°F	—	—	65
April	122 cfs	52–169	48.1°F	—	—	83
May	146 cfs	78–182	54.1°F	—	—	86
June	34 cfs	16–95	61.8°F	—	—	71
July	13 cfs	7–45	67.7°F	—	—	64
AugustNOW	8 cfs	5–38	66.3°F	—	—	65
September	9 cfs	4–13	61.1°F	—	—	71
October	13 cfs	10–26	51.9°F	—	—	87
November	27 cfs	16–48	41.8°F	—	—	66
December	81 cfs	49–119	36.7°F	—	—	63

WHERE THESE NUMBERS COME FROM

Flow and water temperature are medians of the monthly means reported by USGS gauge 01596500 over 2006-2025. Air temperature and precipitation are ten-year normals from Open-Meteo at this river’s gauge coordinates.

The window is deliberate. USGS’s own full-record statistics for a dammed river reach back before the dam — at Lees Ferry, to 1922, forty-one years before Glen Canyon closed — and describe a river that no longer exists.

Flow is scored against this river’s own fishable band of 13–119 cfs. There is no universal band: 8,000 cfs is low water on a big tailwater and a flood on a spring creek.

Water temperature is a ceiling rather than a weight. Above about 68°F a trout that is fought and released frequently dies anyway, so no month above that line is scored as worth booking, however good its flow.

IF THIS MONTH IS WRONG

The Savage River is at its best in October — water around 52°F, flows near 13 cfs.

← RIVERS GOING WELL IN AUGUST

Regulations, licences and access change without notice and are not reproduced here as fact — check the state agency before you travel. A median describes twenty years; it does not forecast your week. Source: U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System.