Welcome to the Mainely Flyfishing website, your source for guiding, instruction, fly fishing information, books, videos, and more. My name is Lou Zambello and I am a guide, instructor, writer, speaker, and columnist. Please explore this site or email me to learn more.

More British Columbia

To get you through the last few weeks before fishing season opens, here are a few more videos of my trip to British Columbia last September on the Bow River, Livingston Creek, and the Crowsnest River. Also, a quick morning on the Little Red River in Arkansas while on tagging along a conference trip with my wife, Lindsey.

Just traveling between fishing spots in B.C. is mind blowing and well worth the trip.
We took a half day, DIY wander up the Crowsnest River by the town of Pilcher Creek

Lindsey and I fished the Bow River two consecutive days, but in different sections. This float took us through a section with many more rainbow trout than browns.



I don’t usually think of Arkansas for trout fishing, but the White River and other Ozark fisheries offer good fishing, albeit by heavily stocking. I was glad to catch a few trout in late November.
Livingston Creek is a trib of the Old Man River, not far from the Crowsnest River. It is full of native cutties, and although we had to work for them on this day, we ultimately caught enough. The creek was so interesting and remote that the entire experience resonates with us to this day.

The start of fly-fishing season?

Late 2023 and early 2024 will go down in history as the year with no winter. In many parts of New England, we only experienced a few snowstorms and rain melted that snow quickly. In southern Maine, we only had snow cover for a few weeks. Temperatures stayed between the 20s and the 50s most of the time. I feel like I suddenly moved to Seattle.

February and early March normal highs are upper 30s but not this year.

I fished on January 1st from my kayak and then during the first week of March when the Presumpscot River was running at fishable levels with water temps in the low 40s. With no snowpack, the higher sun angle will heat the soil quickly and also the water. The official fishing season needs to start earlier and end later. Maine winters used to be four to five months long, and now it is closer to two to three months.

Flyfished on March 7th on the Presumpscot River. Very fishable levels with with water temps in the low 40s, air temps in low 50s. Searching for big browns but came up empty.

Ice fishing season started in mid-January and ended for many places by end of February if the pond or lake froze at all. Avid ice anglers had to travel to the northern half of Maine. I don’t know when to claim ice out on Dundee Pond or North Gorham Pond because neither pond ever completely froze.

My crocuses are up, other early bulbs are poking their heads through the earth, and today after the rain, my driveway was covered with worms. I have planted my early greens, radishes, and spinach. Nature is telling us that even though the calendar says early March, the landscape is saying it is mid-April. I am sure we will get at least one more snowstorm or stretch of cold weather, but onceI the thaw commences and flora and fauna emerge, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle.

Crocuses emerged on February 22nd!!!
You are supposed to be able to plant early crops when cocuses bloom so I did on February 27th.

I suggest you finish tying the rest of the flies you need, and make sure your gear is in working order because the season is starting now!

February 2024 New England Fly-Fishing Report

Hello everyone,

Mid-January finally brought some wintery weather in the form of snow and cold, but it was interspersed with warmer weather and rain. Bottom Line: Very few lakes and ponds froze enough to be safe for ice-fishing or ice-skating, except in the traditionally coldest climes. Strong currents from all of the continuing rain left inlets and outlets and hundreds of yards of water nearby unfrozen.

The Presumpscot River in late January looked in perfect shape to fish with moderate flow and no ice.

Until you got up north to the Rangeley area and northern New Hampshire and Vermont, there was barely enough snow for skiing or snowmobiling unless snowmaking capabilities could cover the slopes. I managed to X-country for a few days.

Such a strange, non-existent winter. Only four sunny days in January, and I feel temps on many days were running ten degrees above normal. In southern Maine, we used to have double-digit numbers of nights below zero. This year? None. It hardly ever gets into the single digits.

I would predict for everyone a very early ice-out and an early start to fishing season, but can you call it ice-out when many stillwaters didn’t totally freeze? Near me, Dundee Pond only partially froze and North Gorham Pond as I write this is totally open water. A few bays of the major lakes are frozen enough to venture out, but that is it.

North Gorham Pond, an impoundment of the Presumpscot River is entirely open water as I write this because of strong currents from all of the rain.

I did get some ice fishing in, but it wasn’t very good, maybe the fish are confused given the strange weather. I know that turkeys were gobbling, songbirds were singing their spring songs, and male woodpeckers were drilling, marking their territories in late January.

Caught this 22-inch pickerel.

A couple of eagles, photographed at a distance, waiting for me to throw a fish on the ice. They left disappointed.

The Presumpscot River and its impoundments give up a few impressive brown trout every year. My son-in-law and myself have landed three brown trout between 3 and 4 plus pounds over the last several years. A gentlemen ice-fishing one of the impoundments at the beginning of February landed a monster. Why can’t I catch a fish like this ice fishing?

Hard to tell how large this fish is, but a monster for sure.

I am a member of the Sebago Chapter of Trout Unlimited, (sebagotu.org) a fine conservation and outreach organization. We host an Ice-fishing event every year on Chaffin Pond in Windham for families who want to learn about ice fishing. This year the weather was good, pond was frozen, and 70 or so hardy souls turned out. We even caught a few brook trout despite the commotion on the ice. Come join us next year,

A nice brookie caught by a few of the young men attendees.

I am always interested in hearing about your interesting fishing experiences. Email me. louzambello@gmail.com

2024 First Blog Post

(Note: This blog was supposed to post in early January but didn’t for some reason, so I am posting it in early February.)

I started to write about the warm, stormy and rainy November, December, and early January, but then I looked back at my blog post from this time last year, and guess what – they are identical!!! Here is what I wrote last year:

Mid-winter for all of the Northeast felt like autumn. Temperatures for November, December, and early January ran between five and ten degrees above normal depending upon where you live. There has was no snow to speak of. At my house in Windham, we have had green grass for most of winter so far as I write this in mid-January.

Ditto for this year, except the storms this year have been stronger. The December 18th storm did so much damage. In Windham, we lost a 90-foot maple tree that blew over, its upper-most branches scraping the house.

I am so glad that tree wasn’t thirty feet closer to the house.

In Kennebago, the lake water rose over the causeway and up onto our lawn, fortunately not washing away furniture, docks, or boats.

The Kennebago Causeway is usually a road next to a small beach, not a river.
A flood of Nash Stream near Stratton washed out the road to Rangeley.
One of my go-to fishing spots in September, where Bemis Stream empties into Mosoelookmeguntic Lake, had its bridge pushed into the lake, stranding camp owners on the other side. The actual road is out of sight to the left of this photo.

All of us who guide or fish often, and know our favorite Maine waters well, will have to start from scratch next spring because the rivers and streams will look quite different due to the flooding. Pools will be filled in, banks of gravel deposited, wider stream channels with longtime structure washed downstream, and new channels, undercut banks, and holes. We have had so many major floods in the last few years that the rivers have been constantly changing.

I worry that the eggs of fall spawning fish like brook trout, brown trout, and landlocked salmon will have been washed away by the flood waters. Usually, floods occur in spring and summer when the eggs have already hatched.

I could have done more fly fishing in November and December but decided to take a break and do other things (work on my next book). But it stayed so warm I fly-fished via canoe on January 1st, an experience I wouldn’t have thought possible. Next week is supposed to bring cold weather, so perhaps at least the ponds will freeze, and I can take out my ice fishing gear.

I didn’t hook a fish, but it felt like I could have. On January first!

British Columbia Fishing Adventure

I started flying extensively again this summer after a two-year break during the worst of Covid. I am a cutthroat trout afficionado and I was eager to get out west and find some yellow-golden beauties. So excited in fact that I went twice! I traveled to the St. Joe’s River in Idaho during early August and then spent two weeks in British Columbia with my wife, Lindsey, in mid-September.

I captured so much fishing action and beautiful landscapes through photos, video, Go-Pro, and drone footage that I am just getting around to editing and posting the content. I just had my column published in the December issue of the Maine Sportsman in which I wrote about cutthroat trout and directed folks to my blog for further video. Yikes, I hadn’t posted any yet! So here goes a few videos.

Floated the Bow River for one day targeting browns with streamers along with sporadic nymphing and was fortunate enough to tangle with a few big boys. I broke the tip off a flyrod trying to land one of them.
We fished a tributary of the Elk River in Fernie and found large cutthroat trout migrating downstream for the winter. The largest fish grabbed my favorite Cosohammer Streamer.


End of Season Fishing Report-Part 2

The second half of October has given us very warm temps for this time of year with highs reaching the 70s before returning to seasonal levels as Halloween approaches. I hope you have done a little fishing.

I closed my Kennebago Lake camp on the 17th and since it was warm and still, and the lake itself is still open until the end of the month, I ventured out in the kayak with my dry line and size 16 Puterbaugh Caddis. Low and behold, I landed a few fish including a good one that exceeded 12 inches. Good way to end things up there.


Also, had the opportunity to see the native brook trout spawning in the local streams, which is always a treat.

Closer to Windham, I took advantage of the warm weather and tried a variety of local waters. Due to high water and probably my own ineptitude, I didn’t fare well, except for the Pleasant River where I landed a number of holdover brown trout on my new favorite brown trout streamer, the Brownsylvania Special (a zonker-type pattern).

I must say, I have done more fishing this year than any other year in my life, and even I am ready to take a break and do other things for a little while, like a number of writing assignments that I have postponed. The warm weather has kept my vegetable garden going so I still have harvesting to do as well as preparing it for the winter.

Stick picking flowers, tomatos, swiss chard, greens, broccoli, etc. on October 27th

Second crop of the year pumpkins ripening, still no frost.

In other news, the TU event on the Mousam River went well; the weather cooperated, over thirty folks showed up, learned about the river ,and picked up a huge pile of trash along the banks including tossed greenhouse supplies and an old toilet.

The Mousam clean up crew discussing Mousam conservation.

My next speaking event will be November 13 at Maine Sport on Rt. 1 in Rockport during the Georges River TU chapter meeting. Visitors are welcome. Meeting starts at 6 and I present at 7. My presentation will be:
In Pursuit of Trophy Brook Trout: Where and How to Catch Them (and the flies to do it) – based on my book, “In Pursuit of Trophy Brook Trout”. 

End of Season Fishing Report – Part One

Well, it is early October, and I haven’t posted in over a month. My bad – but my excuse is a good one – I spent too much time fishing! Days in the Kennebago watershed and then weeks in western Canada on the Crowsnest, Elk, Old Man, Michelle, and Bow Rivers. Add in exploring Jasper and Banff National Park and a trip to Florida, and you have a crazy period. I do have some amazing photos to share, and I will do that over time.

First things first, Sebago Trout Unlmited is having a Discovery Day on October 22 at the Mousam River! The Mousam River in southern Maine has experienced the effects that dams can have on a once-free-flowing river. Come learn more from Greg LaBonte (from Maine Fly Guys) about efforts being made to improve the river. The event is at Rogers Park in Kennebunk from 10 to 1. I will be there if you want to stop and say hello.

In other news, I will be giving a fly-fishing presentation on October 17th in Brunswick, with lots of cool video on methods and techniques to catch more trout and salmon in each season of the year. I will be selling and signing books. The specifics: 6 to 8 pm as part of the Merry Meeting Bay Trout Unlimited meeting (visitors welcome). At the Joshua Tavern on 123 Main Street, Brunswick, Maine.

Make sure you all get out and fish during the rest of October. Weather is forecast to be reasonable for this time of year, and not only are some waters being restocked, but many trout from spring stockings held over because of all of the rain this summer. Please check to see which waters are still open! I am planning to hit the Pleasant River, the Presumpscot River, Little Sebago Lake, Crystal Lake, and maybe a few spots for pike.

To conclude, let me share with you a release video of the last brook trout I caught this season in the Rangeley area. It turned out to be my largest trout of the season if not the last few years. We didn’t take the time to do any real measurement but it was well over twenty inches and four pounds. I caught it on my favorite gray ghost soft-hackle marabou streamer that I call the Cosohammer. I write about it all the time and it really works. Enjoy.

Late August 2023 Fishing Report

The Western Maine Mountains rivers and streams have been fishing well all summer because of the coldwater flows from all the rain. Sometimes, most rivers have been unfishable because of the storms causing flooding, but in-between, iife has been good. Unlike the last few summers when low and hot water caused all of the fish that could to migrate into lakes and ponds, this year many fish have stayed put and pulses of water have actually drawn trout and salmon into the rivers and streams.

The last few summers I have fished the smallest tributaries – the blue lines you see on maps away from roads. In these small streams, the water stayed cooler and I had a ball catching hand-sized brookies on small rods. This summer I have fished those same headwaters for a different reason – they clear and return to normal flows fastest after a heavy rain washes everything else downstream. The hand-sized trout have been eager to hit a fly this year, but bigger fish, up to ten inches, have moved upstream, and we have enjoyed the surprise takes from bigger fish.

Too bad I didn’t get any video of the larger fish. The fly pattern I used all day was the Parmachenee Wulff.

Last week, I checked out the Kennebago River downstream from the dam, visiting some of its more famous pools and was excited to see that a few large trout and salmon had already begun their spawning runs from Mooselookmeguntic Lake. How did I learn this? By fishing to them of course. The larger lake-run fish weren’t super abundant, but I caught one or so on every foray to the river along with smaller 6 to 10 inch trout and salmon. The sea-run fish all exceeded 16 inches and one salmon was one of the largest I have ever caught. Such a contrast with the last few autumns when the runs didn’t really get started until late September.

The water flows were high, and the water temp was around 60 degrees. These conditions brought up some early-spawning-run salmonids.

What fly patterns were I casting? I caught the largest salmon on a Wulff dry fly, another on a rubberlegs stonefly nymph, another on a Cosohammer soft-hackle streamer – so no consistency.

Even in early July, when Kennebago doesn’t always fish well, my son, son-in-law, and yours truly found some trout and salmon best measured in pounds.

August Update

At long last, all three of my books are back in stock, including my hot-off-of -the-press Fly Fishers Guide to New England, 2023/24 Edition. You can purchase directly from me (signed) from this website. I am gradually increasing distribution again. You can now find my books at Royal River Book Store in Yarmouth, The Fly Company in Yarmouth, Rangeley Sport Shop in Rangeley, Brickyard Books (on-line), Selene’s Fly Shop in Gardiner with more to come.

It’s a good thing too, last week my Fly Fishers Guide to New England was selling used on Amazon for $ 120 dollars and more on Ebay.

I was on a West Coast swing last week and couldn’t resist a quick stopover on the way back to Spokane, Washington, where I rented a minivan and drove three hours up into the Bitterroot Mountains to car camp and fish the Saint Joe’s for Cutthroat trout.

Plenty of people have moved to Spokane and Couer D’Alene in the last few years, and I saw hundreds of RV’s camped along the river. But I still found water all to myself and the cutthroat were willing if not quite so naive as they can be. They really prefer softer water with less flow and will not take a fly that isn’t drifted drag free. It was all quite enjoyable and minivans are comfortable, with heated seats that recline into beds!

By the way, people have asked me how the striper fishing was in Maine this year, and the answer is quite good early on. Anglers had good luck almost everywhere, starting in early May. By mid July the fishing seemed to taper off dramatically in Casco Bay proper, I don’t know if the water got to warm or not.

Stripers have certainly moved north, however. Seth, who runs the fishing department of Maine Sport on Route 1 in Rockland tells of sight fishing for stripers around Thomaston and adds that in recent years the striper fishing in the area has improved greatly, particularly early in the season. I would stop in and ask him for recommendations.

Thanks to Izzy Hudnat and her dad, Steve, I did get out on Casco Bay in mid- July, saw fish working, and managed to land a good one. Izzy is a rod builder extraordinaire for Maine Fly Company. If you are not familiar with them, check them out at www.maineflyco.com

This fish was caught at 6 a.m.

Back In the Saddle: August Fishing Report

I haven’t blogged for two months. Sorry about that but that is what happens when grandkids come to visit for a month and then I take a long road trip, and I try to cram as much fishing as I can between it all.

What a difference a year makes. For the last five years, summers have been hot and dry and this author and my readers have lamented the low and warm water, drought conditions, and uneven fishing. Just page down and reread my blogs from the last few summers. But not this year! We have had either rain or flooding rain for the last two months throughout most of New England. In fact, Boston had the driest summer last year in over 50 years, but this this summer so far has been their wettest summer since 1872!

The bad news is that when the rain has been heavy, it has blown out rivers and streams and rendered them unfishable for days. The good news is that all this has been good for the salmonids – plenty of cool water.

Rivers and streams that are stocked in the spring, with poor survival rates because of low and hot water during the summer, have plenty of holdovers – even so-called put-and-take fisheries. As one example, in between spates of rain, anglers are still hooking plenty of trout in the Royal River in Yarmouth.

Of course, the rain has been a disaster for some. As I did research for my book: Flyfisher’s Guide to New England, I traveled to many small towns along rivers and streams, including Ludlow, Vermont. I can’t believe the photos compared to the bucolic town I remember. My thoughts are with them. Last week, we received five inches of rain in less than 12 hours and the Presumpscot crested above flood stage. Crazy.

The rain and colder weather have brought fall conditions to the western Maine Mountains and the northern half of Maine. Surface water temps in many of the lakes were up to almost 80 degrees in mid-July and are now down in the 60s. The water temperature of the Kennebago River and other major rivers is hovering around 60 degrees and with the heavy flow,

I assume the fall run of salmon has already started in some places. but fishing is very difficult because of the heavy flows. I did catch one fresh landlocked salmon, bright as a new nickel a few days ago before more rain made the river unfishable. On Kennebago Lake, fish are rising freely in the evening with the cooler water temperatures. I hooked a very lively salmon last evening.

First river is the flooded Presumpscot below Mallison Dam. It is usually riffles and runs down a steep bank. The second river is the Royal River in Yarmouth. Believe it or not, when this video was taken, it was down five feet from its crest two days before. It had risen up to the level of where my feet were.

More to come