raftman
Active member
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2012
- Messages
- 942
My wife and I just got back from a two week trip through Maine and New Hampshire. It had been about a decade since I had worked up in Baxter State Park and I was really excited to get back up there. My goal for the trip, other than to spend some quality time with the wife and dog and to see some of my old stomping grounds, was to catch some landlock salmon and nice brookies.
The first few days were pretty overcast and rainy. We started camping on the coast and then headed up north to the West Branch of the Penobscot. It's big water and in the middle of nowhere. The Golden Road is the only way to reach it and if you get there without a flat tire or getting run down by a logging truck, you can count yourself lucky. The washboarding got so bad that, at one point, the door to our camper flew open from the rattling. It's great country.
Those are some class 5 rapids.
It finally cleared up a bit the first evening so I headed out to the water. I started fishing at the top of a big eddy where some rapids were coming in since it was right out of our campsite. I hadn't been there for more than 10 minutes when an old timer came out about 20 feet below me and started throwing a big spoon. I quickly got into some brookies. A few dinks and a few nice ones.
With each fish I'd release, Richard the old timer would just kinda grunt and give me a nod. Eventually I got into some landlocks. They are ferocious fish. Even the small ones put up a great fight. Flying, leaping, running up and down the river. It's a blast. I was stunned the first time one jumped 4 feet out of the water as I fought him. I got into one that I fought for what seemed to be minutes (it wasn't). He kept diving down, into the fast rapids. I could hear Richard stop fishing to watch me land this one. As I finally got the fish to the net, I suddenly hear Richard scream "Watch out for the Eagle!!!!". And just like that there was a quite large Bald Eagle swooping down within inches of my face, talons out, trying to poach the salmon out of my net. Luckily, he missed and flew down, across the eddy and stayed perched up in a big pine, staring down at us for the rest of the evening. Those were the first words from Richard. All it took was a Bald Eagle to break the ice. After that, we shot the #censor# and shared stories. It was a great first evening on the river.
We stayed a couple more days. In between sporadic rainstorms I got out and fished a lot of water and got into some really beautiful fish.
Nesowadnehunk falls with Katahdin in the distance.
I love the woods of Maine. Their deep, dark, green, and full of cedar. The soft fir and pine ground is a great path to do your exploring. It's hard to leave them.
We slowly and methodically made our way to the Greenville area along the Golden Road. It took us 2 hours to go about 38 miles. You're in the middle of nowhere so a flat tire or car trouble could mean a lot of trouble. It's a great drive, though terribly rutted and rough.
After Greenville (we stayed at Lily Bay State Park for a few days), we headed down to the Rangeley Area. We only had two days there, but I can't way to go back. I spent one morning on the Magalloway. It was awesome. I got there wicked early which turned out to be great because it was pretty packed by the time I walked out around lunch.
The fishing was slow until I took barbless' advice and threw on a bugger with a nymph tailing it. I immediately picked up a few small brookies along the bank. I worked my way down to a beautiful rapid that led into a nice eddy and landed my first 14 inch brookie. I also picked up a few salmon. Due to the time, I decided to nymph it and head back upstream. I ended up landing 4 more brookies in the 13-14 inch range, and one between 15-16 inches.I unfortunately didn't get a photo of the largest (he slipped out of the net before I could snap a photo). Those brookies are interesting fighters. They are really slow at first, but once they get moving, they'll take you for runs up and down the river. They don't jump out of the water like the salmon, but they are intense fighters nonetheless.
We finished our trip with a few days in the White Mountains. I fished a few streams and got into some nice wild rainbows and brookies. A great way to end our trip.
Here's our home away from home:
Big thanks to Afishn and barbless for the pointers! I owe you guys some beer.
The first few days were pretty overcast and rainy. We started camping on the coast and then headed up north to the West Branch of the Penobscot. It's big water and in the middle of nowhere. The Golden Road is the only way to reach it and if you get there without a flat tire or getting run down by a logging truck, you can count yourself lucky. The washboarding got so bad that, at one point, the door to our camper flew open from the rattling. It's great country.
Those are some class 5 rapids.
It finally cleared up a bit the first evening so I headed out to the water. I started fishing at the top of a big eddy where some rapids were coming in since it was right out of our campsite. I hadn't been there for more than 10 minutes when an old timer came out about 20 feet below me and started throwing a big spoon. I quickly got into some brookies. A few dinks and a few nice ones.
With each fish I'd release, Richard the old timer would just kinda grunt and give me a nod. Eventually I got into some landlocks. They are ferocious fish. Even the small ones put up a great fight. Flying, leaping, running up and down the river. It's a blast. I was stunned the first time one jumped 4 feet out of the water as I fought him. I got into one that I fought for what seemed to be minutes (it wasn't). He kept diving down, into the fast rapids. I could hear Richard stop fishing to watch me land this one. As I finally got the fish to the net, I suddenly hear Richard scream "Watch out for the Eagle!!!!". And just like that there was a quite large Bald Eagle swooping down within inches of my face, talons out, trying to poach the salmon out of my net. Luckily, he missed and flew down, across the eddy and stayed perched up in a big pine, staring down at us for the rest of the evening. Those were the first words from Richard. All it took was a Bald Eagle to break the ice. After that, we shot the #censor# and shared stories. It was a great first evening on the river.
We stayed a couple more days. In between sporadic rainstorms I got out and fished a lot of water and got into some really beautiful fish.
Nesowadnehunk falls with Katahdin in the distance.
I love the woods of Maine. Their deep, dark, green, and full of cedar. The soft fir and pine ground is a great path to do your exploring. It's hard to leave them.
We slowly and methodically made our way to the Greenville area along the Golden Road. It took us 2 hours to go about 38 miles. You're in the middle of nowhere so a flat tire or car trouble could mean a lot of trouble. It's a great drive, though terribly rutted and rough.
After Greenville (we stayed at Lily Bay State Park for a few days), we headed down to the Rangeley Area. We only had two days there, but I can't way to go back. I spent one morning on the Magalloway. It was awesome. I got there wicked early which turned out to be great because it was pretty packed by the time I walked out around lunch.
The fishing was slow until I took barbless' advice and threw on a bugger with a nymph tailing it. I immediately picked up a few small brookies along the bank. I worked my way down to a beautiful rapid that led into a nice eddy and landed my first 14 inch brookie. I also picked up a few salmon. Due to the time, I decided to nymph it and head back upstream. I ended up landing 4 more brookies in the 13-14 inch range, and one between 15-16 inches.I unfortunately didn't get a photo of the largest (he slipped out of the net before I could snap a photo). Those brookies are interesting fighters. They are really slow at first, but once they get moving, they'll take you for runs up and down the river. They don't jump out of the water like the salmon, but they are intense fighters nonetheless.
We finished our trip with a few days in the White Mountains. I fished a few streams and got into some nice wild rainbows and brookies. A great way to end our trip.
Here's our home away from home:
Big thanks to Afishn and barbless for the pointers! I owe you guys some beer.
