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The Rapid River

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I have gotten behind on my blog posts but hopefully I can catch up.
I guided on the Rapid River in the middle of June during a hot sunny stretch of weather and there were fish to be caught but you had to work for them. We had most of our success on dry flies. Early on the trip, fish liked small black ants fished in the film, probably because there had been a lot of small black ants, beetles, and stoneflies on the water in great numbers throughout all of western Maine in June. On the 3rd day, stoneflies started emerging in large numbers – three weeks earlier than normal – and some fish switched to the larger food. Then the next day, Alder flies started emerging and after a day or so, some fish started on them -although some fish were still only interested in black ants. So we kept switching between Alder fly, Stone fly, and ant imitations until we got fish to strike.We caught fish on dries below the old lower dam site, between the 1st and 2nd currents, and at middle dam. The following is a relevant book excerpt:

The Androscoggin and Rapid Rivers generate clouds of greenish and dark brown Alder Flies (a species of caddis fly) in late June. Every year I have clients that want to fish the famous Alder Fly hatch. One year, Brett (a fellow guide) and I were guiding four clients on the upper stretches of the Rapid during the Alder Fly hatch. The company viagra cialis prix will cater your needs, whether you want single or multiple merchant accounts. Always Purchase Kamagra from a Reliable Store With increasing demand of these medicines, many retailers are best prices on levitra offering counterfeited Kamagra Tablets. Insurance companies will buy generic cialis you can check here sometimes cover this type of medication, but it is rare since ED is not a confirmed side effect. Getting a degree as a http://appalachianmagazine.com/2014/02/27/car-trips-along-the-appalachian-trail-in-the-northeast/ levitra 60 mg B. I noticed literally hundreds of the bugs in the Cedar trees lining the bank, but initially our clients wondered what the big deal was about. There were no flies emerging on the water and no fish rising. We rigged up and started casting dry flies, but there wasn’t much action. One of the guys along the bank walked through some cedar branches and suddenly there were hundreds of flies in the air. Then a gust of wind blew and a dozen flies hit the water, followed immediately by a bunch of quick rises until the Alder Flies were consumed. My sports’ eyes got wide – now they got it. After that, every time a wind gust blew a few flies into the water and my clients cast one or another Alder Fly imitation, they would get a rise from a landlocked salmon or a trout. The fish weren’t easy, often there would be a last second refusal, but plenty of fish were caught.

What a difference a week makes

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On the 1st of June, rivers were getting lower in the mountains of Maine and then 3-8 inches of rain fell – depending upon where you were. On June 1st, I was guiding at the end of the Rangeley River, where it dumps into Cupsuptic, and where two weeks before there had been good water flow and lots of good brook trout – now it was low, clear water and mostly small chubs rising. Fortunately, upstream in the pocket water there were hundreds of small caddis emerging, and nice chunky trout were hitting caddis imitations or nymphs.
And then the rains started… By June 8th, the rivers were high (but dropping) and the increased flow had brought fish in. Fishing reports have been good from the Rapid to Upper Dam to Kennebago. I guided my wife on the Kennebago on the 10th and she caught 6 good salmon out of just one pool on weighted streamers. Always good for the marriage.
Various mayflies and small black stoneflies continued to emerge off and on on Kennebago Lake. This is the time when fishing a hornberg dry really works (and also small black ants or something similar for the stoneflies).

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To really “knock em dead”, day in and day out, whether there are a lot of flies around or just a few, when it is calm or rough, cold or warm – well, you get the picture- the best fly to use is a number 14 gray Hornberg fished dry. The Hornberg is not a widely fished fly But if you want outside of northern New England but it may be one of the top five dry flies in Maine.

The Hornberg is constructed with a thin black and tinseled body, a standard grizzly dry fly hackle, and mallard feather wings. The uniqueness of the fly comes from the fact that the wings are tied in lengthwise but “on edge”, one on either side of the hook so a tent shape is produced. There are streamers tied that way but it is unique for a dry fly. My preference is to fish the hornberg on the surface without movement until a cruising fish finds it. I have found the Hornberg to be a killer imitating the early season mayfly duns as they rest on the water surface drying their wings. From our perspective, hornbergs don’t really look all that much like mayfly duns but to the fish looking up to the surface, I think it is a different story. Perhaps the hackle looks like the mayfly’s legs and the edge of the hornberg wing feather indents the surface of the water like a thin mayfly body and the wing silhouette looks like mayfly wings. My experience is that it works better than more exact imitations because it is impressionistic with exaggerated strike-triggering characteristics

It’s Hatch Time

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The sucker spawning activity has come and gone but there was good fishing to be had while it lasted. Lots of fishermen around too. One morning at the #10 bridge on the Magalloway River I counted 7 cars fishing there and another 5 cars parked at “the snowmobile bridge” trail. That is a lot of fishermen for a small area. The parking area at the Rangeley River by that snowmobile bridge was also full of cars. My clients during that week caught a number of fish on sucker spawn imitations but also green-colored nymphs such as a green copper john. I had someone slip in the Maggalloway and when he pulled himself up his waders were covered with olive green caddis larva so It is no mystery why green is a good color. Salmon were active up and down the Magalloway and were still whacking streamers –so were the big fallfish that were starting their spawning activities. Many fisherman, particularly beginners enjoy catching the two to three pound fallfish. It is good practice for setting the hook and playing a big fish – the larger ones fight pretty well.
Fishing the sucker spawn is always interesting – on the upper Mag (above the gates –have to stay at Bosebuck to access) – one riffle runs into a pool in five distinct mini current streams. Fish were stacked up in only one – the others were vacant –even though each current looked similar. Sucker eggs must have been drifting down there and nowhere else.
The first hatches started in the logan on Kennebago Lake with very few anglers around. Brook trout in the 12-16 range could be taken on dries which is always a treat. These early mayflies actually start to emerge under the water, fly rapidly away, and don’t linger at the surface, so emerger patterns work better than traditional dry flies, particularly for larger fish. Here is an excerpt from my upcoming book –from the chapter on spring hatches…
Ahh… the warmer days of late spring and early summer – the season of mayfly hatches – the foundation of fly fishing, and for many, its soul. Consider all the bank-side discussions shared, the flies tied, and even many a book written, waiting for the hatch to start.
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The biggest key to success is also the most difficult to pull off – be on the water when a hatch occurs. Since hatches are very unpredictable, it is best to keep your fishing schedule flexible, be around the water as often as you can to observe what is happening, and fish when you see evidence of a hatch, regardless of the time of day. Very difficult to do when you have conflicting needs on your time – little things like a job or a family. Have you ever noticed that many successful and/or famous fly fishing “gurus” don’t have wives or families? At least not for long, and I don’t think it is a coincidence.
I hope to get videos from the smelt run and sucker spawn up on the sight soon. Check back next week.

Smelt gone – Suckers starting soon

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The smelt run ended a little over a week ago but people caught a lot of big fish in the Rangeley area. It seemed like the smelt run lasted longer than normal and since the water was lower almost everywhere, it was easy to reach the big trout and salmon that were feeding on the smelt. I saw more large (from 2.5 to 4 pound) trout caught in a few days than I have ever seen. I guided a guy who caught 6-8 (I lost count) trout over 2 pounds in two days. I fished several days as well and caught two trout on successive casts that were over four pounds. Of course my video camera ran out of memory right before I landed them so I have no photographic evidence – but my buddy saw them. Most all the fish were caught on a certain smelt imitation pattern that not too many people use. But people were catching them on a variety of patterns. When I get a break from guiding I will post videos of the smelt run so you can get a sense of it. Because of the early warm weather there were some good hatches as well of blue-winged olives and plenty of fish caught on dry flies and small nymphs that imitate blue-winged olives. The Rangeley River and the Maggalloway river above Parmachenee (have to stay at Bosebuck camps to fish there) had anglers with 15 fish afternoons. The Rangeley river had some really fat and strong fish that fought hard, although I did better nymphing than with dry flies, but the fish were rising.

Now it is time for the suckers to start their spawning run and if one is in the correct spot, nymphing with sucker egg patterns can be very productive. Here is an excerpt from my book on the subject…

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Although smelt runs get most of the attention, as spring progresses and stream temperatures increase and water levels drop, other spring spawning runs can bring outstanding fishing. Following the smelt (about two weeks later) are the suckers, followed one or two weeks after that by fallfish (some call them chubs) and black-nose dace. Sucker spawn is small and varies in color. Most that I have seen are pale to medium yellow in color. Eggs leak from female suckers before and during the actual spawning activity. Trout and salmon line up behind sucker schools, feasting on the yellow eggs. I have caught a salmon, opened its mouth to remove the fly, and its gullet appeared to be full of lemon jello because it had swallowed so many eggs. Fishing can be so good during the sucker spawning run in the Rapid River that several guides I know turn down guiding jobs (even knowing there would be large tips involved) to fish themselves for brook trout up to 5 pounds. Believe me; I have seen the pictures (carefully edited to remove any landmarks that might reveal the exact location). Fishing the sucker spawn is not easy – it took me ten years to learn the intricacies of it – those that have figured it out don’t share readily. I can’t really blame them.

What happened to Spring

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Well, we had July weather in March and now in late April we are having early March weather with cold wind and night time temps back in the 20’s. I will be fishing and guiding the Rangeley area waters next week and then will give you a full report. Here is another book excerpt from the Spring Ice-Out to Leaf-Out section:

Book Excerpt:

On water that sees some fishing pressure, it is also a good idea to throw something that is smelt-like but perhaps the fish haven’t seen recently. Two streamers that have worked extremely well for me and aren’t fished as frequently as others are the Kennebago smelt, and a Mylar “Match the Hatch” minnow series originally created by Dave Whitlock, which includes a purple-feathered alewife version that works extremely well as a smelt imitation.

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One early and very cold morning my friend Dave Van Wie and I were casting Kennebago Smelt streamers in a sunken creek channel, both of us being too macho to admit we were freezing to death, and not willing to quit while we were skunked. If I had been by myself, I definitely would have quit an hour earlier. After every cast we had to stick our rods in the water to melt the ice on the guides. About the time it started to feel hopeless, I hooked a very fat 16-inch brook trout. I was still reminding Dave of my obviously superior fishing prowess, when he hooked and landed a larger trout. With both of us successful, we looked at each other and simultaneously said, “Let’s get the hell out of here” Actually, our lips were frozen so it sounded more like, “Lef’s git ta hell o’ of ere.” The Kennebago smelt probably saved us from a macho-induced case of frostbite.

Dave Whitlock’s “Match the Minnow” flies are weighty Mylar and epoxy creations with a feather tied lengthwise on top that have a flash and scaly look that other streamers tied with traditional feathers can’t duplicate. The first fish I ever caught in Kennebago Lake, was right after ice-out, and was a 20 inch, three pound female brook trout that slammed a Mylar minnow alewife imitation in purple. Dave Whitlock developed this minnow series over twenty years ago, but they still work and can be easily constructed with the wide range of materials available today. Part of the advantage of this fly is it sinks fast and if you bend the body of the fly slightly and retrieve it erratically, it moves through the water unpredictably like a fish that is injured and can’t control itself. This seems to bring out the predatory urge in trout and salmon. Often a fish will flash at this fly without taking it but you can then follow up with subsequent casts and other streamers once you have found the fish.

ice out

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Ice out occurred on the Rangeley area lakes last weekend on April 13-16. This is among the earliest on record. I actually caught a 13 inch trout on Kennebago Lake on April 14 – must be one of the earliest catches on the lake ever.

Since Kennebago Lake did not freeze until late December, Kennebago was ice covered for less than four months. This all feels like global climate change to me. Rivers and streams in the area are very low – at mid-summer levels. The Rapid River is running at below minimum levels. With the lack of rain and snow, the dirt roads are all in good shape. People have been able to get to # 10 bridge from all directions. Sporting Camps are going to have to open earlier in the year if this keeps up. On Monday, April 16th it was 82 degrees at Kennebago and I was being bitten by mosquitoes.

People have been asking me about timing of hatches and things and I believe everything will be at least two weeks early. We hopefully will be getting some much needed rain this weekend. We could use 3 or 4 inches. Here is another excerpt from my book…
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Regardless of whether you are fishing a river or a lake, if you are fishing near a smelt run, streamer selection is a matter of choosing your favorite smelt imitation. There are a myriad of smelt imitation flies. Some of the old patterns are as much a part of the history of the North Woods as their tiers, like Carrie Stevens, and the “sports” whom came by train from Boston and New York and are now immortalized in black and white pictures standing behind stringers of many huge, dead fish. All of the classic streamer patterns, as well as the newer creations work, at least once in a while.

Streamers are tied in a variety of colors, probably because a live smelt will reflect a myriad of tones depending on the light. Sometimes you will see a dead smelt floating on the surface and wonder how all of those gaudy streamers fool fish when the smelt appears a relatively drab gray. This is misleading. Dead smelt lose their color immediately, while live smelt have an iridescence along their lateral lines that reflect the sky and the water, every hue from pink to blue to purple to silver. When you see a school of smelt in a glass tank under low light conditions, what you see is not the complete outline of a fish but a thin iridescence that changes colors subtly as the fish move and turn…