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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

More to come

Trout fishing is picking up in Rangeley with early hatches emerging over the last few weeks. The early season mayflies consist of an assortment of Blue-winged Olives, March Browns, Quill Gordons, Hendricksons, Black Quills, and early caddis and little stoneflies, depending on where you are. Trout are still rising to midges as well.

We tangled with some really nice brook trout that had ascended rivers and streams following spawning smelt or suckers, migrating baitfish, or early hatching mayflies.

Of course, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass fishing is fast and furious as well. Stripers are everywhere. I am hearing reports of large numbers of bass in the coastal rivers and estuaries in Mcoast Maine – a less fished but awesome fishery in the late spring.

Of course, as an avid gardener, I am torn between wanting to fish as much as possible but also spend time in my gardens….

First things first. The Maine Sportsman Show is the first weekend of April – March 31, April 1, April 2. I will be presenting on Friday at 3 pm in Piscataquis 2nd Floor, and Saturday at noon in Washington 2nd Floor. My presentation is: Fly Fishing Tactics and Flies that Catch More Trout All Year. I will be signing and selling books after each presentation. I will be at the Maine Sportsman Booth Friday evening so stop by and say hello.

Opening day is also this upcoming weekend and colder March weather this year means fishing options will be more limited than the last few years. Ice is breaking up in southern Maine and the only snow left is in shady areas so water temperatures should start to warm up soon. I have seen plenty of early brown or black stoneflies flitting about.

Upcountry though it is still dead of winter. I was up the Kennebago way last weekend and great fun cross-country skiing and snowshoeing and everything was locked up tight with three feet of snow on the ground. I don’t see things thawing up there for quite a while, but you never know if we get a warm spell.

I will be heading south next week for some more fly-fishing in the southern Appalachians. I will keep you posted. I hope to see some of you at the show in Augusta this weekend.