The start of fishing season is upon us. A warm late March has quickened ice out. Who would have thought over a foot of ice would almost disappear in less than two weeks. Some rivers and streams are raging and some are in reasonable shape. It will be interesting to see when the stocking trucks start moving.

This is the time of the year to look for early black or brown stoneflies, they are the earliest hatch to bring fish to the surface, even though waters are quite cold. This hatch may already be declining if you live in warmer environs.

The smelt will be running soon as well. Identify which lakes and ponds that you might want to fish have a smelt population and trout or salmon. Visit inlet rivers, streams, and trickles of water that will be bone dry in a month. Keep on the lookout for signs of smelt and start casting your favorite smelt imitation. My book, “Flyfishing Northern New England Seasons” delves into the smelt run and best patterns in detail. Here is a good video of a smelt run in a little outlet stream – watch till the end…

Come see me at the Maine Sportsman’s Show either Friday or Saturday. I have a presentation each of those two days.

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I will be giving a presentation to the Fly-fishing club of the University of New Hampshire on March 21st. If you would like to attend, please contact
unhflyfishingclub@gmail.com for more information.

I will also have a table at the annual western Maine fly-fishing event on March 26th Western Maine Fly Fishing Forum. at Gould Academy Fieldhouse on 39 Church Street, Bethel, Maine 04217. I will be selling my books and showing examples of my favorite trophy brook trout flies.

I write a column every other month for the Maine Sportsman monthly newsprint magazine. If you have never checked this publication out, I wholeheartedly recommend it, it is chock full of useful and interesting information. In the November issue, I wrote a column about a new fly pattern that I had some luck with at Upper Dam and elsewhere. It drew quite a bit of attention and so many asked for the recipe that the magazine published it. Since there seemed like such interest, I thought I would post my draft of the original column here along with a photo of the recipe from my book, “In Pursuit of Trophy Brook Trout”. Here it is:

A kaleidoscope of yellow and red leaves swirled down from the tops of birch and maple trees as I drove a western Maine logging road. Peak color was on the wane, and all but the aspens would be bare-branched soon. October’s bird season appeared in full swing on this Saturday. Every few minutes I passed a truck parked roadside, or the bird hunters themselves outfitted in blaze orange as they walked the side woods roads cradling their shotguns, sometimes with bird dogs sniffing ahead of them.

But no leaf-peeping or bird hunting for me, I continued on my way to Mooselookmeguntic Lake’s famous Upper Dam for a little late-season fly-fishing. Like any addict, I try to secure my angling fix before winter’s ice make me go cold turkey for months. I parked my car at the gate and briskly hiked down the hill to the dam. I was fully outfitted with waders, over-stuffed vest, wading staff, and two fly rods; my 10-foot nymphing rod and my seven-weight streamer rod.

Upper Dam

As I drew closer to the dam, I walked past an old apple tree. Suddenly, a half a dozen grouse exploded from within its yellow-leaved branches and flew across the open field. “How ironic after passing all of those hunters”, I said to myself, “If I had been walking with a shotgun, instead of a fly rod, I might have bagged two grouse.” But I was after creatures with scales, not feathers.

It was a decent day for the 2^rd week in October; a slight overcast with a breeze running up the river channel (as it often does) and temps in the low 50s. Given the moderate weekend weather, it did not surprise me to see a full contingent of anglers in all the usual and productive places – I counted 12. But low water levels allwed me more room to roam. So, I crossed the dam bridge, meandered down the far shore, and then made my way through the rocks and small runs out towards the backside of the main flow, downstream from the main pool.

It took me awhile to get into position. I am cautious now as I approach social-security age, and deceptively strong side-currents, an unstable rock, or an unseen hole could cause a stumble that might screw up a knee or an ankle. Better to go slow, and use a good wading staff with a metal tip.

I arrived at my mid-river destination and the closest angler stood over 70 feet away and on the other side of the main current. Once in position, I lay my staff and rods on two convenient flat-topped rocks, and considered my options. I could high-stick nymph fish, and use the length of my rod, two nymphs, and adjustable split shot to probe deep underneath the many rocks and boulders within reach that divided the lively current. I could also attach a strike indicator and cast further up or down river to cover more territory.

Proven Tactics

If nymphing, my patterns had to imitate what was available to the fish. Most caddis and mayfly larva are small at this time of year, so a match would be hook size 16,18, or 20. If I want my point fly to be heavier to better sink in the faster flows, I often choose a larger stonefly nymph imitation, since their multi-year life cycle produces larger nymphs year-round.

Alternatively, I could grab my streamer rod already rigged with a weighted streamer to fish across and down the main current or probe the deeper and slower water of the lower pools. In the fall, salmon and trout are deep in spawning mode and will attack colorful streamers that they see as either rivals to drive off or distracted younger brethren to grab for a cannibalistic meal.

I decided to begin by high-stick nymphing, with a size-10 black stonefly pattern of my design called (Sim’s Stone) and a size-18 beadhead pheasant tail. After a few drifts without a take, I added a split-shot to deepen the drift. On the second cast near a refrigerator-sized boulder, I had a strong take from a big salmon that surged in the strong current and broke me off. When you are fishing 5x tippet and small flies, that happens sometimes.

Nymphing the rest of the run, I brought several salmon and a brightly colored brook trout to hand – but of course – none as big as the first one.

New Patterns

I then switched to my streamer rod because I wanted to experiment further with a new family of streamer patterns I had developed for my “In Pursuit of Trophy Brook Trout” book. These streamers feature the spawning brook-trout colors of green, orange, and red but we tie them with Fish-Skull brand weighted heads. The combination has proven effective for hooking pressured trout that have seen the more traditional streamer patterns and no longer react to them.

On my second cast into a deep hole outside of the main current, I felt a tug and then a fish exploded into the air. It was so broad-shouldered and dark, I thought for a moment it was a smallmouth bass, but since smallies haven’t invaded here yet, I prayed that wasn’t the case. It turned out to be an old, scarred, but still powerful salmon that probably weighed four pounds. My fly continued to nail salmon for the next hour. I have no idea why landlocks were hammering a brook trout imitation. Do salmon feed on baby brook trout? Do baby brook trout predate salmon redds? Trying to explain the continuing mysteries of fly-fishing keeps me captivated.

October Options

Upper Dam is one of a number of Maine October river-fishing options. Try the Presumpscot, Saco, and Mousam Rivers in southern Maine, the East Outlet by Moosehead Lake, or the Fish River for landlocks below Fish River Falls (just to name several good options). Always double-check regulations.

Extend your season into October and later. Winter’s enforced fly-fishing celibacy will be arriving soon enough.

I would like to remind folks that my trophy brook trout book includes descriptions and recipes for all of the “guide’s flies” that I used to target trophy brook trout all over Maine for years. You can purchase directly from me signed or from other retailers such as Amazon, Orvis, the Rangeley Fly Shop, Royal River Books, and Shermans in Windham.

February continued the topsy-turvy weather that has typified this winter. In Windham we had two days that hit the mid 60’s, a number of mornings below zero, very little snow but inches of sleet, rain, and ice. As I write this, we are having the first major snowstorm of the month, but it is falling on bare ground.

What does all of this mean for the fishing?

Unless we get some major storms, spring snowmelt will be minimal in Maine and streams and rivers should be fishable early. I am still worried about drought conditions in western Maine, we need a big snowpack melting to refresh the groundwater and we do not have it. They did get one 18-inch snow in mid-February that most of Maine didn’t get, but with subsequent warm weather it wasn’t enough.

With no insulating snow and some very cold nights, ice cover is thicker than you might expect on ponds and lakes. Many of the smaller water bodies in southern and central Maine have 20 inches of ice. If cold weather continues, ice out dates maybe normal, certainly later than the last few years. Ice Out in the Windham area last year was March 28th. I am not sure 20 inches of ice will melt by then.

Happy mid-winter, but the days are getting longer and spring is around the corner! Covid once again is derailing the usual winter fly-fishing events with everything for the most part cancelled or postponed. Currently, I have absolutely no presentations planned for the next few months, but then I will get very busy. On April 1,2, and 3, I will be at the Maine Sportsman Show and giving presentations on how to catch pressured (i.e. smart) trout and salmon including hopefully some old big-boys. April 22, 23, and 24 will be the Marlborough Fly Fishing Show, postponed from this coming weekend. I will present each day: Patterns and Tactics for Pressured  N.E. Trout/Salmon that Refuse Usual Methods

I am also in the process of planning a few other presentations to smaller groups. I will keep you posted. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @mainelyflyfishing. I am going to keep this blog more active as well.

I have all my books in stock including my 2021/2022 updated Flyfisher’s Guide to New England. Most shops and stores that sell fly fishing equipment sells at least one title of my books. I am also in most of the Sherman Book’s locations. If you don’t see one you are interested in, ask. Or go to this website and order directly from me. Amazon is always an option.

The last month’s weather has been variable in Maine. Short cold snaps, followed by brief wqrm ups, and snow that ends in rain. Not much of a snowpack anywhere except perhaps the far north. During the warm spells, fly casters have been catching fish. I have heard good reports from the Mousam and photos of nice browns and brook trout from who knows where (although I have a few guesses).

But as we hit mid-January, colder air has resulted in thickening ice and even the hardcore fly casters have moved on to ice fishing or fly tying. The early part of the fly-fishing season was great if you were a risk-taker and didn’t mind easing out to ice that was less than three inches thick. Now, ice is safe in almost all places except the larger lakes or where current runs.

I have gotten out a few times myself. I find it fascinating that huge largemouths can be caught through the ice. Bucketmouths just seem more natural to a slough in Florida or a big lake in Texas. Yet, my friend Will and I (mostly Will) have caught fish from 3 to 6 pounds or larger so far.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that due to the warm December (and a little help from a coldframe, we harvested and ate fresh vegetables from the garden until the end of the month including tomatoes that we ripened on our windowsills

Till next time…

It will be Christmas before you know it and if you are looking for books for a flyfisher, I am in stock on all of my titles. For more information on the books and how to order, see right hand column of this website. Of course, I will personalize and autograph them for you. Anyone ordering before Xmas will also get a flyfishing Maine sticker, which you can put anywhere – I like mine on my car window. If you just want just the sticker or see other sticker options, you can go to www.reclaimedsignco.com.

Shops that carry all of my books include: Royal River Book Store in Yarmouth, Maine, Rangeley Sport Shop in Rangeley, LLCotes in Errol NH, and Evening Sun Fly Shop in Mass.

Next Wednesday, December 15, I am giving a zoom presentation to Downeast Trout Unlimited but anyone can zoom in, don’t have to be a TU member. Just go to the Downeast TU Facebook page and register. The title is:
Tactics and Fly Patterns for Catching Brook Trout and Landlocked Salmon Throughout the Year.” I use photos and videos to show how to successfully fish for salmonids from ice-out through the fall spawning season. Look forward to seeing you there.

Early December became seasonally cold and I only got fishing one more time. I took my kayak for a spin on Dundee Pond casting a Cosohammer streamer (brook trout colors) towards springs and inlets to see if some brook trout might be hanging out. I got several immediate strikes, see photo below:

By the first weekend of December, small ponds and lakes were starting to freeze up in central and northern Vermont, NH, and Maine, so unless we get a real warm spell, I might be limited to ice fishing for the foreseeable future.

Most of November featured many warm and sunny days and die-hard anglers took advantage of warmer-than-usual water temps and active fish. We did have some good rainstorms throughout most of New England so certain rivers ran too high to fish for a time, but usually at least some waters were fishable on any given day.

Anglers did well on waters with fall stockings as well as southern Maine lakes and ponds that have holdover fish who become active in the fall. I saw some nice photos of rainbows coming out of the Range Ponds.

Since I missed most of October due to my Florida trip, I wasted no time in early November, hitting some of my favorite fall spots that I hadn’t had a chance to fish.

I braved the crowds at Rte. 35 Bridge on the Presumpscot River by getting to my favorite run early in the morning, only t0 have two guys come in and start fishing just twenty feet downstream from me. It’s to be expected at this particular location. I still caught some hard-fighting trout including a brown trout that had been a resident for most of the year, and a brook trout that weighed several pounds.

I caught a few nymphing with a size 20 white midge with silver highlights. The big brookie came up through heavy water to nail a white Cosohammer streamer. I missed him the first time, but with good polarizing glasses, I watched for him to come up again and timed my strike better.

I always try to head south to the Durham/Exeter area of NH to fish the rivers because of the fall stockings by the Three River Stocking Association and the special regulations. They do such a nice job of managing the resource and putting in very high quality, large rainbows and other trout species from a private hatchery. I sell a booklet (Flyfishing NH’s Seacoast) on this website that is an excellent information source for where and how to fish the four coastal NH rivers that are stocked and managed in the fall.

I don’t get a chance to fish for rainbows too often, so I went down to the Exeter River on a record-breaking warm day with temps in the upper 60s. The river is small and fun to fish with many side channels, pockets, and deep runs. I didn’t have much success until I tried the tail out of a large complex pool. I was high stick nymphing in about three feet off water with a tungsten beadhead stonefly and an unweighted small pink egg. A number of chunky rainbows gobbled the egg as it drifted by them. One bigger fish took me down below the tail of the pool and I had to chase it a bit downstream before landing it.

I also tried the inlet to North Gorham Pond in Windham and the Mousam in Kennebuck to less success, although a big brown in the latter water broke me off and I lost a smaller brown as well.

Hopefully, I might even get out in early December once or twice if we get a warm spell. Tight lines, everyone.

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.

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.

https://youtu.be/s7LWVMZHHjU

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

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:

1. Water temperature should be below 65.
2. Don’t fish pools that are pounded by multiple anglers all day and the fish can’t move to other locations to escape pressure.
3. 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.
4. If fish are concentrated and it is like shooting fish in a barrel, catch a few, and then move on.
5. Fish barbless.

If we all follow these common sense solutions, the fish will be fine.

More to come soon…..