It's like Alan Jackson sings, " I wanna have fun. It's time for a good time." A good time is to be had at the old fishing hole, except this fishing hole is miles and miles of rustic river that pulls on the fisherman's and fisherwoman's heart line and fly line. The weather that found me on the water was sunny and warm -- actually, it was great. The incredible, scenic setting is the icing on the cake. The fishing in Garrett County, Md., is the cake. The Place Deep Creek Lake is a beautiful mountain setting in Swanton, Md. The 3,000 acre Wisp Resort is located in nearby McHenry, Md., overlooking Deep Creek Lake -- the largest inland fresh water lake in Maryland. The lake, with 65 miles of shoreline and 3,900 acres of water, is 15 minutes off Interstate 68, 180 miles west of Wash-ington, D. C., and 106 miles east of Pittsburgh. Wisp is Maryland's only four- season resort. Wisp Outdoors, housed on the Wisp Resort property, is the only Orvis Sporting Traditions endorsed outfitter in Maryland. Wisp hosts some of the best fly fishing in

the country, yielding access and professional guidance to the mountains of West­ern Maryland, where you can fish the river waters of the Savage, the North Branch of the Potomac, Youghiogheny and Casselman for your choice of the rainbow, gold­en, brown, brook and cutthroat trout lurking there. In fact, Garrett County claims all Maryland state records for trout. What are these productive rivers like? The Rivers North Branch of the Potomac River A high- quality trout stream is now to be found upstream of the Jennings Randolph Lake. The stream is a major reclamation project from acid mine draining ( AMD) and still has several lime " doser" machines, installed in 1993, which add lime to neutralize the continuing acid drainage. The process was effective enough that fish could survive since 1994 and the trout stocking began. Currently, about 14 miles are stocked for put- and- take harvest, while seven miles utilize delayed harvest fishing. This upper- North Branch yields trout fishing in a wild setting with much of the isolated water available only to the hiker.