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Paint Branch

Type
Freestone river, Maryland (East)
Designation
Catch and release
USGS gauges
1 live
Guides
3 nearby
Shops
2 nearby

Today on the Paint Branch

Reading the gauge…

Regulations & access Guides & shops

Paint Branch is a freestone river in Maryland, listed as Catch and release by Maryland Department of Natural Resources (Maryland Fishing Guide, eRegulations edition).

More about the Paint Branch

1 USGS gauge on the water reports flow. 3 guides and 2 shops nearby are listed here.

Updated · Sources: Catch-and-Return Trout Fishing Areas—Limited to the Use of Artificial Lures, USGS Water Data

Representative photograph of similar water; not a photograph of this place.
Representative photograph, not this water.
Where it is

Paint Branch is a freestone river in Maryland.

Flow now at the gauge
Reading the gauges…

Check any river's flow

Follow Paint Branch for flow alerts

Pick one of its USGS gauges and hear from us when the flow moves into or out of its usual range for the date, or crosses a flow you set. We check the public USGS reading every 2 hours and email only when it crosses, at most once every 6 hours. Flow alone is not a fishing forecast or a safety call.

Follow this water

Signed in: one step. Otherwise we email a confirmation link first. Every alert has one-click links to stop it.

Where to fish

About this

Start from the agency's public access map. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Maryland fishing maps (Public Angler Access Map)

Paint Branch on the map

About this

Gauges, shops and guides within 40 miles

Map of Paint Branch: gauges, shops and guides

RestroomsAccess map

Map of Paint Branch with 1 USGS gauge, and shops and guides with an exact address within 40 miles.

Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors · OpenFreeMap · © OpenMapTiles

Restrooms near Paint Branch

Restrooms near Paint Branch

Restrooms within 2 miles of Paint Branch in a straight line, nearest first, with what anglers found when they went. The map says a restroom is there, not whether it is clean or open today.

Map of 4 restrooms near Paint Branch

Skip the map; every place is in the list below

Map of 4 restrooms near Paint Branch, numbered as in the list, with the water’s point marked.

Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors · OpenFreeMap · © OpenMapTiles

  1. Bathhouse 2

    1.0 mi away in a straight line

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    Directions
    We don't know yet: is it clean? · flush or vault? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Flush or vault?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

  2. Bathhouse 3

    1.1 mi away in a straight line

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    Directions
    We don't know yet: is it clean? · flush or vault? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Flush or vault?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

  3. Bathhouse 1

    1.4 mi away in a straight line

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    Directions
    We don't know yet: is it clean? · flush or vault? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Flush or vault?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

  4. Restroom

    2.0 mi away in a straight line

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    Directions
    We don't know yet: is it clean? · flush or vault? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Flush or vault?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

Restroom locations and map details: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License, read Oct 24, 2026. Ratings, answers and photos are members' own; who shared them is never shown, and every photo is reviewed before it appears. Visits older than 18 months no longer count. Distances are straight-line miles, not driving. Nothing here grants access to private land. Community guidelines.

More water near Paint Branch

  • Big Gunpowder Falls flowing between bare winter trees, seen from a rail-trail bridgeCatch and release
    Photo credit

    Big Gunpowder Falls from the Torrey C. Brown rail trail, Maryland. Photo: Henrysz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Gunpowder Falls

    Maryland · about 43 mi

    Rainbow, brown & brook trout

  • The Savage River running over rocks through hardwood forest in Savage River State ForestDelayed HarvestRepresentative photo · not Middle Patuxent River
    Photo credit

    The Savage River from the Allegany Bridge, Savage River State Forest. Photo: Aneta Kaluzna, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Middle Patuxent River.

    Middle Patuxent River

    Maryland · about 14 mi

  • An angler wading Yellow Breeches Creek at Boiling Springs between green, shaded banksCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Patuxent River
    Photo credit

    Fishing on Yellow Breeches Creek at Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania. Photo: Staecker, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Patuxent River.

    Patuxent River

    Maryland · about 15 mi

  • Letort Spring Run seen past a wooden trail-bridge railing, with autumn treesDelayed HarvestRepresentative photo · not South Branch Patapsco River
    Photo credit

    Letort Spring Run from a bridge on the Letort Spring Run Nature Trail, Carlisle. Photo: Morsea24, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not South Branch Patapsco River.

    South Branch Patapsco River

    Maryland · about 22 mi

  • Sunrise through bare trees over a misty, still pool on Penns CreekCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Morgan Run
    Photo credit

    Sunrise on Penns Creek, Union County, Pennsylvania. Photo: WiiWillieWiki, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Morgan Run.

    Morgan Run

    Maryland · about 29 mi

  • Black-and-white view of the Little Juniata River flowing under a steel truss bridge between wooded banksDelayed HarvestRepresentative photo · not Catoctin Creek
    Photo credit

    The Little Juniata River at the 1898 Birmingham Bridge, near Birmingham, Pennsylvania (black-and-white survey photograph). Photo: Jet Lowe, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Catoctin Creek.

    Catoctin Creek

    Maryland · about 42 mi

Regulations

About this

Seasons, limits, special regulations and closures for each reach are on the agency pages below. Read them before you go.

Official designation: Catch and release

Each comes from the agency's own published list; where the list names a reach it is quoted. A designation applies to the listed reach, not necessarily the whole water.

The water on the map

About this

Measured from the NHDPlus High Resolution (flowlines and waterbodies) (U.S. Geological Survey, read 2026-11-04) for this water’s own mapped feature. Rounded figures; they describe the channel, not today’s conditions.

Length
14 mi
Drains
31.2 sq mi
Drop
448 ft · 32.1 ft/mi
Flows into
Northeast Branch Anacostia River
Watershed
Middle Potomac-Anacostia-Occoquan

Guides and shops near Paint Branch

About this

Listings marked Unclaimed are built from open map records and the business's own website: confirm licensing, rates, dates and hours directly.

Guides

All Maryland guides

2 shops nearby

All Maryland shops

How these are chosen

Guides whose own website names this water come first, nearest first. After them, fly-focused guides within 40 miles whose website does not name it. Distances are straight-line.

Shops: fly shops first. A distance is shown when the shop’s website gives its location (within 60 miles); otherwise the shop is in one of the towns within 25 miles of the water.

Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories.

Species and hatches

About this

What 3 nearby guide websites mention: what guides advertise, not a survey or a promise of what you will catch.

Named on 3 nearby guide websites

  • Striped bass3
  • Rockfish & lingcod2
  • Bonefish1
  • Brown trout1
  • Smallmouth bass1
  • Steelhead1
  • Tarpon1
  • Trout1
How we put this together

Named by guides nearby (within 40 miles), counted from the species each guide lists on its own site. No agency page we hold lists species for this water.

Plan a trip here

About this

None of our destination hubs is within 40 miles in a straight line. The trip planner builds a trip around the water itself: the guides and shops listed within 40 miles of it, its gauges and its nearest towns and airports.

No hub within 40 miles

Plan a trip here

Gear checklist

About this

A practical checklist for fly fishing small mountain trout streams: a short 3–4 weight rod, light line, a few buoyant dries and simple wet-wading gear, with estimated prices and where to buy.

An angler stands on a boulder at the edge of a fast forest stream and fishes the run

Small mountain streams

7′6″–8′6″ rod, 3–4 weight, floating line · Brook, cutthroat, rainbow and brown trout

Open the checklist
Videos for this water (5)

Watch: reading a trout stream

About this

Seams, shelves and soft water, shown on real rivers.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • How I Learned to Read Water (Fly Fishing)Embedded from YouTube · Mad River Outfitters · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • How To Read The Water with Tom RosenbauerEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Reading the Water to Successfully Locate TroutEmbedded from YouTube · Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on reading water

Watch: nymphing basics

About this

Indicator rigs, depth and detecting the take.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • 90° Nymph RigEmbedded from YouTube · Huge Fly Fisherman · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Casting with an Indicator & Better Nymphing TechniquesEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on nymphing

Fish Tales

About this

Trip stories anglers chose to share publicly and tagged with Paint Branch.

No stories from here yet.

Write the first story Share your day

Sources for this page

Not a statement of access, fish presence or conditions.

Something wrong?

All 11 sources and dates

A water page organises discovery. It does not assert public access, legal access, current fish presence, guide availability or fishing conditions.

Flows, gauge statistics and flood stages come from USGS and the National Weather Service when the page is shown. Regulations, stocking, species and season statements link to the agency that publishes them; this page copies only the species names and the quoted sentences. Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories. Position: the USGS gauge PAINT BRANCH NEAR COLLEGE PARK, MD. Water type is our own classification.