Fishing Morgan Run in Carroll County

By Mike Holland
Mike Holland on Morgan Run
Mike Holland on Morgan Run

I am sure many of you have fished Morgan Run and hope that those of you who have not will give it a try sometime. I fished the middle section for the first time with Andy Mekelburg on Saturday, October 2, 2020.

We parked at the access area on Klees Mill Road in Westminster, Maryland. To get there from Route 97, in Carroll Park, take Bartholomew east/south to Klees Mill Road and follow Klees Mill north until you cross the bridge.

Morgan Run is a smaller creek that runs through very large boulders on the north side of the bridge. There is a beautiful leaf canopy, particularly right now, and a fairly well-defined path that runs along the water. While waders will certainly allow you better access, you definitely can fish from the bank if you wish to do so. With regard to rod, you have options. Your typical 9 foot, 5 weight will work just fine but you can also have a lot of fun with smaller and lighter rods and there is an opportunity to use your Tenkara.
During our trip, we caught seven brook trout and a little pan fish. The brookies were very interested in hoppers that day.

In fact, I first realized that useful fact when I had a brookie ardently pursuing my white foam strike indicator. I ended up catching brookies with hoppers, a red Copper John, a Caddis dry fly, and a red San Juan Worm. The Blue Wing Olive drew attention as well and was also what the pan fish took.

Five days after we fished there, the Maryland DNR stocked it with 400 brown trout. Andy was recently able to stop by for a few hours and caught a nice brookie with his famed Mekelburg mop fly.

For more information, visit maryland.tu.org/maryland/local-streams.