Maine and
most of New England endured another hot and dry summer. Many sections achieved
some level of drought status. I really worry about our native trout populations
that don’t have access to thermal refugia. This is the fourth summer in a row
with hot and dry conditions for some sections of New England
Recently,
the weather pattern has changed and we have received some welcome precip. in
some areas including the western Maine Mountains. Water temps are falling
through the 60’s with adequate water in the rivers. Perhaps we are looking at a
better September fishing season with more waters fishing well, less crowding,
and an earlier start of the fall migration.
My column for the August Maine Sportsman magazine that was all about fishing September either in the dark or during bad weather to beat the crowds has received some attention. You might want to check it out.
My summer fishing was time constrained (in a good way), because of lots of family visiting and my daughter, Mary’s wedding. I did some fun worm-dunking with my 2 year -old grandson, Noah. He has the makings of a fisherman. He claims every sunfish he catches is a “Beeg One”
I was also distracted at Kennebago because it was the best blueberry year in perhaps a decade. Everywhere you turned around was a lowbush blueberry filled with fruit. We picked gallons for the freezer and ate blueberry pancakes, muffins, turnovers, etc. constantly.
I did some
local pond and lake fishing for bass and sunfish. One early morning, bass were
subtly sipping dead insects from a spinner fall from the night before and were
happy to suck down my popper but I missed many hook sets because they weren’t
hitting it, just sucking it below the surface, so I missed several takes from
good fish.
Smallies on small poppers is how I learned to flyfishSunfish are fun too. They should call them funfish.
I did have a
few leisurely afternoons wandering up the headwater streams north of Rangeley (where
the water temps remained in the mid 60s) and catching small native brookies on
my 3-weight. I think that the term “brookie” is most appropriate when landing
fish under 8 inches from small waters. I don’t believe that a three-pound
lunker should ever be called a brookie.
I will try
to give you an early fall report in several weeks.
The major mayfly hatches are winding down with a few hexes still emerging in northern climes. From what I have heard, it was a pretty good hatch season. Little rain and warm temps encourage good hatches I think. Of course, it isn’t great for rivers and streams. Most of Maine is now in some sort of drought condition (again), much of which is classified as the moderate category.
In Windham, we have had very little rain for going on three months and we must be at least six inches below normal. My lawn in many spots is totally brown and we have had to water so much that I am concerned about our well. Streams are very low. This is the fourth year in a row in our part of Maine we have been in some sort of drought for at least part of the summer. Maybe this is the new normal.
The Western Maine Mountains enhanced or created some thunderstorms and has seen more rain but still could use some real soakings. Rivers and streams are really too warm to fish for trout and salmon now without risking their survival, although anglers are still finding rising fish in larger lakes and ponds.
Lindsey and I did hit the brown drake hatch pretty well and because it was earlier than normal and fairly windy at the time, we had the rising fish to ourselves. We fished for two days, took a week break, and fished two more days. Lessons learned: Just because the lake isn’t calm, doesn’t mean the flies are emerging and fish keying on them. It is just harder to see. The fish were fat and healthy and Lindsey in particular landed dozens between 14 and 19 inches.
Many boats went right by us and didn’t stop. My observation is that as more anglers’ fish out of bigger boats with more powerful engines and go faster, they miss subtle clues about what is happening on the lake. I still do a fair amount of rowing from my Rangeley Boat or very slow cruising in order to be able to closely observe. People stop me all of the time as I am rowing and ask if I need assistance because they don’t understand why anyone would row if they had a functioning outboard.
A few landlocks migrated up Kennebago in the spring, but not many. I did hook several one morning that were substantial. My experience is that salmonids of the same size tend to school together. The first was a good three pounds although he wiggled free at my feet. I then missed a hard strike, and then hooked a salmon that took me into my backing (that rarely happens) and changed directions so fast that I had a hinge in my fly line. It confused me when my rod was pointing one direction and the salmon jumped way off my right shoulder. I have had bonefish do that. After landing him (without a net), a quick measure against my rod showed him to be a broad shouldered 23 or 24 inches. One of the largest I have ever
Obviously, the fishing season is in full swing and with relatively normal temperatures and rainfall, conditions have been good in most places and certainly better than last year’s early low and warm water. Most plant growth and flowering and hatches are earlier than normal by several weeks. At my camp north of Rangeley, we have Indian Paintbrush blooming already and I usually associate their red flowers with mid July.
My wife and I were able to try our hands at a few days of salter brook trout fishing in Acadia in early June. So fascinating to explore these unique brackish and coastal ecosystems. No wonder that brook trout historically were so widely distributed. They can adapt and thrive in widely diverse waters – deep lakes, fast flowing rivers, swampy bogs, tiny high-elevation streams, and brackish and saltwater creeks. Salters are not easy to find; they move around, populations are not high, and they mix with non-salter populations.
Salters are generally of modest size and we found them in small creeks including one that actually went underground on the beach and then the water came up through sand and rocks at waters edge. I assume the trout can actually only get to the ocean and back during very high tides, storms, and major run-off events, although saltwater no doubt mixes with the fresh water through the sand and gravel.
I always try to fish Damariscotta Lake during late May or early June and have managed it for 50 consecutive years! And after all of those decades, I might have had my best morning ever. Fishing a small popper on an early foggy morning, I hooked dozens of smallmouth and largemouth bass including at least 10 that between three and four 1/2 pounds. It was so much fun with constant action from large fish. I was in a rowboat, so I didn’t fish more than half a mile of one shoreline.
It is possible that the bass are growing bigger because of the massive alewive runs now. Baby alewives in the millions represent a lot of food.
A sampling of my morning
Now is also the time of the big drake hatches – brown, green, and Hexes. In Rangeley the drakes start about the time the lupine are in full flower. Get out there and try to find them. I know I will.
This is the time of year when fishing heats up for every species: Trout, Salmon, Bass, Pike, Stripers, Etc. in Ponds, Lakes, Streams, Rivers, The Salt. How is an angler to choose? Here is an excerpt of a column I wrote recently in the Maine Sportsman:
When the month of May arrives, almost everyone in northern New England gets a spring in their step (pun intended). And why not: days are longer and getting warmer, spring flowers are blooming, kids are counting down to the end of the school year, and vacation time is approaching. Life is good.
But not for me. I stress out during May and it gets worse every year. “Why,” you ask? It’s because this is the month when fly-fishing season gets into full swing and I can’t be everywhere at once. No drug can be prescribed that cures fishing fever.
Many Options
First of all, where I live, the local streams, rivers, and ponds are freshly stocked and the fly-fishing will never be better for the rest of the year. Further north, the native fisheries are producing their biggest trout and salmon of the year as they chase after smelt or gobble sucker eggs. In warm-water lakes and ponds, the bass are on their spawning beds (or soon will be) and they are at their height of aggressiveness towards topwater poppers. The stripers arrive by the end of the month and will not be this naïve for the rest of the summer. Pike continue to prowl in shallow water and are easy to reach. How is an angler supposed to choose where to fish?
I am paranoid about missing great fishing. Nothing is worse than heading to the water this time of year and not doing well. You lament the opportunity lost because you just know if you went somewhere else, you would be crushing it. I have sat in the carparalyzed because I couldn’t decide where to fish. This is not a recent psychosis. I was like this in my twenties.
May started out cool and water temps stayed in the upper 40’s but then we had a week with 100% sun and temps rising into the mid 80s or even 90 in spots and water temps zoomed. I took a reading on May 15 that showed surface waters approaching 60 degrees on Kennebago Lake, probably well over 10 degrees above normal. Trout started rising and we caught a bunch. My wife decided to wade a river in a tank top it was so hot.
It was mid May but felt like mid July
By the way, I will be taking part in Rangeley’s Flyfishing Festival on June 4 with a table selling and signing books and chatting with folks and a presentation at 11:00 on How to Catch Trophy Brook Trout.
Back in my other house in Windham, in the early part of May, I found trout at most of the tailwaters and tribs of the Presumpscot River that are less than fifteen minutes from my house. You never know if you are going to find: nothing, stockers, holdovers, or wild trout. Click on link.
I do apologize for the lengthy interval between blog posts but that’s what happens when I go to Florida for grandfather duty with a two year old and all hell breaks loose for a month! I do post to Instagram at least several times a week, and that is a good resource to keep up in real time with what is going on: @mainelyflyfishing.com
End September/ beginning October: The last few days of the official season yielded a few last nice fish moving up river on their way to spawn and then I was hurrying back to my winter house in Windham on the Presumpscot River to pack and get ready to drive to Florida for the month to assist my daughter. I do like landlocked salmon fishing the last few days of the season on the Kennebago River with friends and family.. Click on the links to see videos and then click on back arrow at top left of screen to return to blog.https://youtu.be/H6kwsr0e3Ik
The upper river can get crowded with anglers vying for pre-spawn brook trout. I avoid the crowds and fool jaded fish by fishing pre-light in the early morning. Trout that are tough to fool during daylight, hammer big surface flies in the dark.
A big brook trout heading back into the water. Time of photo? 5:52 AM. Sunrise? 6:36My two go-to flies for night brook trout fishing.
Once in Windham, I did manage to make it to the Pleasant River to cast for brown trout who might be in ornery pre-spawn mode. I cast my favorite Cosohammer soft-hackle streamer but in a yellow and brown coloration and I had a chance at a few nice fish, but missed one strike and broke a bigger one off on a bad knot. I eventually caught one beautiful brownie as a consolation prize.
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October featured unseasonably warm weather and no frost in most spots. Regular rain in the form of a few big rainstorms continued to increase river flow to more normal levels. Lakes and ponds in Maine that remained open yielded very nice fish including warmwater species such as pike and bass as they put on the ol’ feedbag in preparation for winter and because water temperatures remained in the upper 50’s if not warmer. I had a friend who caught a 5 1/2 pound largemouth in a local pond in Windham, his personal best.
Western Maine, surprisingly, remained in a drought. They got some rain for sure, but dry surface soils and a still-depleted ground water levels mitigated the precipitation. A well-known spring outside of Oquossoc on Rte. 16 was still running at about ¼ usual flow, even in early November. Kennebago Lake and River are still at very low levels as I write this.
Massachusetts had an overabundance of rain this summer and fall but levels were fairly normal in early October when I got to go on a float trip with my daughter, Mary, on the Deerfield River with Brian, owner of Pheasant Tail Tours. We had great fun on a beautiful fall day.https://youtu.be/lqOuRkt5poo
A few days remain in the season for some waters, while other locales offer extended seasonal opportunities. I strongly suggest playing hooky and abandoning all other responsibilities and get out fishing. Rain has come to all areas of Maine and flows are good. For some rivers, this is the first time they have been at normal flows since April, and the first time September flows have been normal in several years. So get out there.
I have been hopscotching around: both Kennebago Rivers, the Diamond Rivers in the Dartmouth Grant, N.H.’s Wild River, the Mags, the Roach and East Outlet of the Kennebec, to be more specific. I can’t say the fishing was easy, but persistence and changing approaches when required has yielded some good fish.
Releasing a nice trout from the upper Dead Diamond River on another hot September day.A released Wild River brown trout resting a slow current.This is my largest brook trout of the year and came from the Roach River. I didn’t want to take it out of the water but I am unhooking my fly from the corner of its jaw, and its tail goes past my leg. It was also very fat. 4 pounds maybe? The pattern you ask? Size 14 dark brown Klinkhammer, swung like a wet fly.
The average size of the salmon seem to be much bigger than normal this year. Doesn’t seem to be many of the skinny 14-inch variety, and a good number of 18-plus inchers.
Biggest landlocked salmon of the year, on a dry fly no less. Didn’t try to weigh or measure this big male, but somewhere north of 22 inches and four pounds.
The crowds on the rivers have been intense, but I can’t really blame anybody, no one has been able to fish some of these waters for months, and everyone seems in a good mood, just happy to get a line in some moving water.
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The weather has been unseasonably warm (along with the rain) and looks to continue to be that way. 35 years ago, fly fishing the last week of September on the upper Maggaloway River meant neoprene waders, down jackets and gloves. Water temps were in the 40s, air temps in the morning were below freezing, and the air might be spitting sleet and snow. I know that seems difficult to believe for you young-uns, but that is the way it was before climate change. The forecasted lows for the Rangeley area during the next week – first week of October – barely nudge below the upper 40’s. The change in seasons have moved at least three weeks later in the fall.
On the book front, my new 2021/2022 edition of Flyfisher’s Guide to New England has finally arrived and I am sending it out to stores and shops as fast as I can. You can also purchase from me directly. If you already own a copy, don’t feel like you have to rush out and purchase the new version. Overall, it has additional waters and some other updates, but not enough to warrant replacing.
In my In Pursuit of Trophy Brook Trout book, I discuss and give tying instructions for a number of patterns that I find very effective at hooking big brookies. One of these is the Lou’s Brookie Sculpin. Last week, I walked into The Warden’s Pool on the Roach River in late afternoon after it had been hammered by anglers all day. According to those leaving, success had been limited. Within the first few casts, a nice fat brook trout inhaled this pattern. Now, that sort of thing can happen with any pattern (to the dismay of anglers who are packing up to leave after a fruitless few hours on the same water), but this not the first time this has occurred with Lou’s Brookie Sculpin. Last year, I had a similar experience in October at Upper Dam.
A nice Roach River brook trout with Lou’s Brookie Sculpin in its mouth. See next photo for a close up of the fly.You can see by the two eyes peering upward that this fly is tied with a sculpin head available now commercially. Search on Fish Skull to find them
As the official season winds down to it final days for native trout and salmon waters, I will leave you with an excerpt from my book, Flyfishing Northern New England Seasons,
On the last day I quit fishing for the last half hour before dark, even though fish may still be rising. I sit and watch the water, and reflect on the fishing season past and the fishing seasons still to come. It may be a long seven months until the ice breaks up and fishing begins again in earnest so I try to fix in my mind the good memories, long-time friends, and personal tranquility that fly fishing has brought me. During the winter I recall these mental snapshots. It helps me bridge the gap between seasons.
By then it is dark, so I gather up my gear and go home, to reacquaint myself with family and friends that haven’t seen much of me in the past month – but not without one last backward glance at the water, to see if the fish are still rising.
I am just adding this quick report because I know so many are interested in what conditions are like in the waters of the Western Maine mountains (and elsewhere).
Waters have cooled into the low 60’s with the absence of hot weather and some rain. Rain has been of the hit or miss variety and while some areas have received several storms that dumped an inch of rain or more, locations just 30 miles away received next to nothing. The Kennebago watershed has somehow missed most of the rain and the river remains very low. The Diamond Rivers in the Dartmouth Grant got more rain and flow increased from 20 CFS to 100 in less that a day. before settling back to 75. The Mags was in between. The folks who monitor drought says the Rangeley Area needs over 12 inches of rain in the next few months to recover from drought conditions.
Lake levels remain either below normal or very below normal. This is now the 4th year out of five that we are in low water conditions during September. Is this the new normal, or just bad luck, given that the rest of the Northeast has basically been underwater for a month.
Trout and salmon are starting to move – either cruising the shallows waiting for increased flows to move up river, or starting to congregate in the deepest pools near lakes and ponds. Anglers are going to have to be careful not to stress the fish in the usual and well-known pools where they wait (and most of you know where these spots are in the Rangeley area). Many anglers are opting not to fish for trout and salmon under these conditions. I think that you can, if you obey the following rules:
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Water temperature should be below 65.
Don’t fish pools that are pounded by multiple anglers all day and the fish can’t move to other locations to escape pressure.
Do not sight nymph where you can direct the nymph to hit the fish in the mouth or head. If the fish is not moving to your fly, you are snagging.
If fish are concentrated and it is like shooting fish in a barrel, catch a few, and then move on.
Fish barbless.
If we all follow these common sense solutions, the fish will be fine.
Hi folks, I have a few little details to cover before I get started.
First of all, I added a April/May/June report for local southwest Maine rivers and streams with photos and video. It was posted in calendar sequence after my latest post, so if you missed it, scroll back.
Second, if you are on Instagram but not following me, you should, because I provide real-time fishing and related outdoor updates almost everyday. @mainelyflyfishing.com
Third, if you like stickers, check out the cool Maine outdoor stickers my daughter is selling, along with other outdoor related items. www. reclaimedsignco.com
Just a few of many stickers available. Also check out all of her merchandise at Cool As A Moose stores.
Fourth, my book, “Flyfisher’s Guide to New England” is pretty much out of stock everywhere. An updated edition is currently stuck on a boat somewhere on the West Coast waiting to be unloaded. Hopefully, back in stock by early September. In the meantime, you can upload an electronic Kindle version on Amazon, and LLBean and Trident Flyfishing might have a few left. Don’t forget my other books though. “In Pursuit of Trophy Brook Trout?” does outline all of the places that trophy brook trout can be found, along with technique and tactic information.
Fifth, I did a little guiding in June, mostly teaching fly-fishing beginners. For example, I took Thomas out to various spots on the Presumpscot River, and before we were done he landed his first trout on a fly and learned how to fish dry flies and the different approaches for nymph fishing. So much fun to watch someone hook their first few fish with new skills required.
Thomas with first trout. The brown took a pheasant tail nymph.
Now onto the update…..
July weather couldn’t have been more different than March, April, May, and June. Massachusetts saw flooding rain several days and certain locations broke July rainfall records. Western Massachusetts rivers were over their banks. Most of Northern New England received good rain as well. In Windham, Maine where I live part of the year, we had over 5 inches of rain. The western Maine mountains missed the early July rainstorms but did receive some decent rain later on. Flows did not increase significantly through mid July and remained low, but I hope they have improved since then. I haven’t been in the Rangeley area for several weeks so I need to get an updated report, but for most of New England, the drought is over.
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For most of July, with river flows ridiculously low, western Maine mountain fishing consisted of hitting the lakes and ponds or fishing the lower Mags, Upper Dam, or Middle Dam. Since hatches started early this year, they ended early as well, so sporadic Hexes and misc. caddis provided most of the action on lakes and ponds.
Drake hatches are frequently concurrent with Lupine blooming. When the Lupine are done, so are the major hatches.
We did catch many nice-sized brookies and salmon by fishing the thermocline with sinking line and streamers. We went out to drop-offs when it was windy. We cast full-sink lines with Cosohammer streamers, let them sink 20 feet or so, and then retrieved them halfway to the surface, before letting them sink again. We would do this several times until we cast again. Because of the wind drift, we covered new territory with every cast. Fishing was exactly fast, but several times an hour, we would feel the heavy thump of a good fish on the line.
You can catch nice trout in the middle of a bright summer day, but you have to go deep for them.
I saw good fish being caught at Upper Dam (usually by one angler who happened to be at the right place, at the right time, with a fly pattern that intrigued the salmon.} The flows were low below Azischos Dam so the fish couldn’t really hide from the anglers. Persistent anglers did well. On a family fishing trip, Will Folsum landed a 3 pound plus brook trout at Mailbox Pool on a small black nymph while the river was flowing at 750 during a weekend kayaker release.
With water low and warm throughout Maine, many switched to the salt in pursuit of stripers. I caught them randomly while doing other things. Caught a few kayaking Scarborough Marsh and a few after swimming of the dock at the Cumberland Town Beach. My buddy, Will, going over the Cousins Island Bridge, spotted out of the corner of his eye a school of stripes smashing bait on the surface, stopped his truck, pulled his bass rod out of the back, and caught a few nice ones.
Every year I kayak Scarborough Marsh for stripers This might have been the smallest striper I have ever caught.
So much to cover, I might have to break this into several blog posts…
Book News
I will be at LLBean on Monday, July 12, in the evening signing books and chatting with folks. Beans is starting up a Monday night author/speaker series. I won’t be giving a presentation but chatting with folks, signing books, and will bring a bunch of interesting video on my computer at the table. Stop on by.
My Flyfishers Guide to New England is sold out virtually everywhere. The book is printed in Asia and there is a shipping delay. My new edition is due in mid to late July and is updated. I made some changes to reflect new information and added new water for the 2021 edition. The changes aren’t large, just a few, here and there.
I do still have copies I can sell and send out, You can see how on this website. I also believe Rangeley Sport (Flyfishing) Shop still has copies as does Evening Sun Fly Shop.
Windham Fishing
What a diversity of fishing within 15 minutes of my house. In one 24 hour period a week ago, I caught brown trout, brook trout, big sunfish, smallmouth, largemouth, pickerel, alewives (accidently), and stripers.
I didn’t know alewives took flies but the few I caught had the nymph in the corner of their jaw. They fight and jump like crazy for their size. As I said, I caught them accidently while nymphing for trout. Some of the general buy viagra prescription safety guidelines regarding the medication are discussed in this article. The Sildenafil buying cialis on line http://twomeyautoworks.com/?attachment_id=285 loaded pill ensures a healthy erection during intercourse. With great efforts and determination, you can free get viagra twomeyautoworks.com make changes. Have you ever heard of homeopathy? http://twomeyautoworks.com/item-8917 discount cialis You probably have, but have no idea what it really is. Brown Drake Hatch
The brown drakes started emerging at least two weeks ago in the Western Maine Mountains, which by my calculations was at least 10, if not closer to 14 days early. It means people that plan their fishing vacations to coincide maybe disappointed when they arrive and it is already at the tail end of the hatch. The warm and dry spring has collapsed all of the hatches together. Last week, I saw good trout eating midges, while others were after early caddis, while salmon were attacking brown drakes. At the same time Hexes started to emerge from the Connecticut River in New Hampshire to the Presumpscot River system in Maine. Better bring all of your dry fly selections with you.
My family and I managed to hit the brown hatch just right for a few days when it was just starting – meaning the fish were still hungry and relatively naive. We had some epic fishing. One morning my wife landed 20 salmon between 14 and 18 inches. My daughter Mary and her boyfriend Will landed over thirty salmon and trout in one outing. One day I landed three trout over 18 inches on drake imitations.
Early on during the hatch, trout and salmon attacked almost any size 8, 10, or 12 mayfly imitation as it was stripped across the surface. Even a strange pattern such as the Kaufmann Royal Wulff Stimulator wacked the salmon.
As the hatched progressed, the fish became pickier. When my wife caught all of those salmon, she was fishing a Quigley’s drake cripple size 10 but tied small. A regular size 10 and a regular size 12 took a few fish but not many. The trout and salmon wanted a size in between. Her one fly lasted for all of those fish until finally one broke her off. A new emerger pattern floated too high to interest the fish, After taking a bunch of fish, a pattern would start floating too low and the action stopped. The pattern had to float just in the film for success. Our floatant crystals got a big workout. As the fish got casting shy, it paid to leave the fly on the water for awhile before casting elsewhere. If it sat long enough, it would eventually trigger a strike if it was the correct size and silhouette.
The loons got to be a problem. Waiting for us to release the fish and then nabbing them. Our solution? Play the fish quickly – landing them while they are still fresh. Landing the larger fish with a long handle, large-diameter boat net, removing the hook, and then releasing the fish on the opposite side of the boat from where the loon(s) were. Loons don’t like to directly under the boat and the extra second or two gives the fish a better chance to escape. We revived our fish by cradling them with our hand underwater but inside the net. We waited until they were fully recovered before freeing them from the net, so they would swim away strongly and not be immediate loon food.
Here is a video showing a sampling of Brown Drake action on Kennebago Lake.
I guess people like to read about the local southern Maine fishing because I neglected to post about it and several have written me to ask. So here is a summary of May and June southwest Maine fishing.
In southern Maine, observing the local flora will tell you when the good fishing is going to start. When the Coltsfoot are blooming and the Trillium are out of the ground, the first consistent fishing of the season begins, along with the early mayfly emergences.
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Colts Foot blooming
I always fish my local rivers first; Collyer Brook, Pleasant River, Presumpscot River, and the Little Andro, and occasionally, Chandler Brook, Royal River, Piscataqua River, Merriland River, and Stevens Brook thrown in for good measure
Nice riffle and run on Collyer Brook
It dawned on me on April 24th as I headed for Collyer Brook that this was exactly the 35 year I had fished it. Impossible to believe. Really. It was the second stream I had fished after my first experience with fly fishing in 1985.
I usually only fish Collyer several times in April or early May before I switch to the Rangeley area, so in all those years, I have only fished it perhaps a total of 70 times. I will bet you too that I have only been skunked once or twice in all of that time. I usually catch one or two trout – often freshly stocked, sometimes holdovers, a few stocked by the local school kids as fingerlings, and even a wild one or two.
This trip was no different as I caught two holdovers in a deep pool on a part of the stream that gets less fishing pressure. The pattern? A Wood Special.
First brook trout of the year in southern Maine.
A day or two later, one of my favorite sections of the Pleasant River yielded several stocked brookies and two wild ones. Several weeks later, downstream, I landed a nice brown. Click on this link for a releast video.
The upper Royal River yielded a surprising wild fish that was either a small salmon or a rainbow trout – which makes any sense, since neither species live in that river, as far as anyone knows. Any guesses, based on this photo?
The tailwater below North Gorham Pond (the inlet to Dundee Pond) yielded salmon and brook trout to my daughter, Mary, and her boyfriend, Will, but none to me. Will caught a beast of a brown trout below one of the Presumpscot River dams.
On 5X tippet , nymphing. This fish took him several hundred feet downstream before he landed it.
T go to the Little Androscoggin every spring for my annual rainbow fix. When I arrived on May 27th, the water was already low, but fishable. Small browns were rising regularly to tiny stuff but I wanted rainbows. I caught a few on wood special streamers and caught a number more high-stick nymphing. as well as using a strike indicator. They were picky but persistance paid off.
A mystery wild fish The Little Andro in Oxford Plains
I love to catch rainbows in Maine because they aren’t as widely available.
