Maine River Guides

Signs of Change: Maine Fall Fishing is almost here!

boz — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:39:14 +0000

Ah…The Dog Days of August… While the extended forecast shows high day time temperatures the nights are beginning to cool off… The days are growing shorter as the earth tilts, and it won’t be long until my favorite season to fly fish in Maine is here. I have already seen some early signs of Fall color along the backroads:

Change is coming...

While last season brought torrential rains keeping anglers off many bodies of water here in Maine… this year the extendend periods of high temperatures have made trout fishing a tough game. What’s a trout hound to do? I traveled with my wife to her homeland in Finland to try to escape the heat of late July early August…only to arrive to record breaking high temps and smoke from Russian wildfires filling the air across Southern Finland. I gave trout fishing a try… Then realized that cold beverages and Sauna with faraway family was a better use of time…

Trying to pull a rabbit from the hat...

River in Finland

After Sauna swim under Midnight Sun

Chunky Summer Salmon

The Future of Fishing...

Fall Color is on the way...

Back home in Maine for over a week now, and the River temps remain around the dreaded 70 degree mark on my favorite trout and salmon waters… I have fished over six counties catching Rainbow Trout, Landlocked Salmon, and Smallmouth Bass. If you are still chasing trout and salmon right now…avoid light tippet and tackle, play them quickly, keep them in the water, and fish barbless hooks.

Other fishing opportunities? While trout purists may cringe at the thought, Fly Fishing for Bass in Maine is where it is at right now. Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass remain active during these high water temperatures and provide a lot of fun, and action for the fly fisherman until cooler (trout friendly) water temps arrive. I had a some great days recently including showing a boat-full of young fishing addicts the joy of catching Smallmouth Bass on the fly rod in Southern Maine. If you have forgotten what fishing is really about, check out these photos! It’s all about having fun on the water!

Summer is growing short, and Fall never lasts long enough.
Give us a call and get on the water!
207-749-1593

Hot Days: Huge Hatches

boz — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:20:18 +0000

Taking a break from the heat this afternoon after a nice long swim in the Big Eddy, and realized an update was long overdue. Had some awesome days in late June on the water and some extremely slow days as well. Got some good press in the July 2010 Issue of Field and Stream Magazine in an article titled “The North Woods Way” written by Edward Nickens. It’s a well crafted piece about Eddie’s travels and experiences fishing with three Maine Guides, myself included, last June. Get out and pick up a copy, or check it out here: The North Woods Way

For the last few weeks I have been burning the candle at both ends. Fishing the West Branch of the Penobscot during the morning and afternoon, and hunting Native Maine Brook Trout rising to Hexes, and exploring cool mountain streams. Things have been fishing well all around with the action on the river having picked up since a late June slump. The Landlocked Salmon and Brook Trout on the West Branch of the Penobscot River have been happily feeding on a wide variety of dry flies from tiny black caddis to super sized Stoneflies. Water temps are already over 68 degrees on the West Branch so take time releasing fish and avoid overplaying them.

While I have had some epic evenings on Maine Trout Ponds withing a 50 mile radius of the Big Eddy Campground, I do believe the Hex hatches are tapering off and the fish getting fussier by the day. Like everthing else this season, hatches are coming and going a few weeks ahead of normal.

Chris and his wife Kim just showed up for the afternoon round of fishing…so I gotta run. Check out the fish Chris landed this morning… Nice work!

Chris gets a beauty to the net

Nice River Brookie

Kevin's first Salmon on a fly

Looking for the Hatch

Game on!

Hot days on cool mountain streams

Should've been here last night (Hex Shucks)

Emilia with a nice West Branch Salmon

Small Stream Gems

Landlocked Salmon caught on tiny caddis.

Kennebago Lake to Mount Katahdin: Caddisflies fill the skies

boz — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:44:49 +0000

Been a wild ride lately from a few days guiding for Grants Camps up on Kennebago Lake back to the West Branch of the Penobscot where I will be guiding and fishing through July. Had a lot of fun with a good group of folks up at Grants Camps, and got to spend some time with some good friends and fellow maine guides. My friend Tony had a rough commute in to the Camps when a moose decided to fold in his mirror and leave just tuft of fur to tie a fly or two with. On the fishing front, flows on the Kennebago River went from too low to too high, so we spent most of our time looking for windless waters and rising fish on Kennebago Lake. Although fishing was a bit tough, we got some feisty brook trout in the net and the hospitality at the Camps was exceptional as always.

Tony's truck after clipping a Moose

Evening Calm Kennebago Lake

Subtle Sunset Kennebago Lake

Kennebago Limbo

Motoring out from Grants Camps

The West Branch of the Penobscot greeted me with huge numbers of caddisflies and the fish have been hot on their tails. We have been seeing a good mix of caddis species as well as bwo’s, cahills, march browns and golden stones, and yellow sallies in the air. This big bug buffet has had some evening anglers scratching their head while those willing to keep changing flies have been rewarded.

What are they eating?

Brookie barf tells the tale...

I'm not a pro photographer, but Matt Boutet is.

Last week we fished the river hard from Ripogenus Dam to the Abol Deadwater, and found some awesome dry fly fishing and solid fish throughout. Spent a day chasing fish from sunrise to sunset with friend and photographer Matt Boutet. He picked the right day for epic caddis…and got some amazing shots…Check out some incredible photos from the day along with many other stunning images at Matt Boutet Photography

Foam is Home

View from my cubicle...

Fat West Branch Salmon

The way things are going up here the big bugs will be here very soon, so have some winged stonefly imitations in the box if you are heading up. Stimulators, Sofa Pillows, and Bugmeisters get it done. For you Pond anglers, Hexes will be showing early this year if too. Prime Time is here.

Penobscot River Fishing: Summer is here!

boz — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:50:27 +0000

June is here and it sure feels like Summer. We have seen some high daytime temps and humidity followed by powerful thunderstorms that felt more like July than late May… As for hatches, the Hendricksons seem to be trailing off, but I have been also seeing some good yellow sally hatches as well as bwo’s and the occasional golden stones and sporadic caddis. Spent wing mayflies have been the ticket in the evening and early morning, so keep an eye on the foam lines for subtle sipping rises. Not all small rises are small fish:) Streamers and nymphs have been filling the void between hatches. Try grey/white mitchell creeks, conehead olive wooly buggers, small stones and pt’s, green caddis, and hot wire prince nymphs.
Things really seem to be progressing very quickly this season, I even noticed some Lupines beginning to bloom at The Big Eddy over the holiday weekend! I’m guessing by mid next week we should be into our first really big caddis hatches of the season so keep your box stocked with elk hairs, X2 caddis, and Nancy’s Prayers as well as larvae and pupa imitations cause it will be on very soon!

I do have some open days for left for June and July, but they are limited, email if interested.
maineriverguides@yahoo.com Or call my cell 207-749-1593

Rusty Spinner Kennebago Lake

I have fished in good company the last few weeks from Grants Camps to the West Branch, made some new friends and caught up with the seasonal crew up at the Big Eddy. Here are a few photos from the past week and a half, including a shot of an empty Big Eddy Pool from last week… Won’t be seeing that again for a long time as Summer is here!

Misty Pool

Postcard day with a family of flyfishers...

Hendrickson by driftboat

Spring Salmon

Nesowadnehunk cleaning out a rafting crew...

Kevin with a nice Brook Trout

The Big Eddy Crew

Wood on water

Big Eddy Sunset

West Branch of the Penobscot River: Maine Salmon Fishing Report

boz — Thu, 20 May 2010 16:18:30 +0000

Spent a few days fly fishing the West Branch of the Penobscot River this week, skies were blue, black flies were hungry, and I was happy to fish in the wind. Water temps were right around the magic 50 degree mark varying a bit from one location to the next.

Katahdin in Spring

On Tuesday I was in good company with Blake and Chad both from the big state of Texas. We had a beautiful day to float, and shared alot of laughs as the fishing was a little slow. We fished a good variety of flies, but nymph fishing with pheasant tails and caddis larvae seemed to be the game for getting some smaller fish to the net. By mid afternoon we began to see a few scattered Hendrickson duns sailing up river in the wind, but they were early to the party as a true “hatch” never materialized, nor did we see any rising fish.

Blake fighting his first Salmon

Blake with a 21 inch Salmon!

We had a good float and Chad had to put the rod down in the afternoon, because his fishing license expired. Blake and I decided to give one more spot a few casts, before calling it a day. Glad we did. In true Texas fashion, Blake ended Big!

Flies and Fins: West Coast Steelhead Fishing Video

boz — Sun, 16 May 2010 23:49:02 +0000

Took a Flies & Fins sponsored trip out to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State back in Late March/April. The “Sasquatch Crew” as we dubbed ourselves, got dealt with on the weather for a few days…Hurricane force winds and torrential rain and hail limited our fishing days…thank god for good company, a warm fire, whiskey, guitars, and Rainier Beer! This video highlights some of the fun we had out in Forks Washington on and off the water. Everyone on the trip got Wild Pacific Steelhead in the net thanks to the hardworking crew from Brazdas Fly Fishing Thanks Braz, Tyler, and Jeff! If you haven’t fished for West Coast Steelhead the Brazdas crew will get you in the game! Big thanks out to Joey Mac over at LateralLineMedia for putting this Steelhead Circus together, Well Done! Get your Commemorative Sasquatch Hoodie Today!

Swinging with Sasquatch

Buy your very own Sasquatch Hoodie Now!

Sweet Sasquatch Hoodies

The Real Deal Steel.

Maine Spring Fly Fishing: Variety is the Spice of Life

boz — Mon, 10 May 2010 16:55:41 +0000

This spring has brought a amazing variety of Fly Fishing opportunities here in Maine. I have had the pleasure of fishing with a good variety of anglers and friends over the course of the last three weeks. We have seen some epic smelt runs, big March Brown hatches, too many Moose to count, and an unforgetable encounter with an overly aggressive loon trying to grab a brook trout away from a friend as he was landing it!

This is just the beginning, the next few weeks fishing should really kick in to gear. If you haven’t planned a Maine Fly Fishing Trip yet, you should!

Give us a call: 207-749-1593

Maine Smelt Run

Maine Lake Trout

Fat Maine Smallmouth Bass

Nice Brookie Megan!

Megan and Derek with a slippery Brook Trout

Spring Landlocked Salmon

Maine Pike on the fly

Beautiful Brook Trout

See you next time!

Maine River Guides: Maine Sunday Telegram

boz — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:35:17 +0000

Here is a link to the full article Shannon Bryan wrote on learning to fish with Maine River Guides featured in the Maine Sunday Telegram today.

Read Full Article

Maine Guide Greg Bostater teaches Shannon Bryan the basics of fly-casting and fishing.

John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Maine Fly Fishing Report 2010: First Time for Everything

boz — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:27:24 +0000

Meet with Shannon this morning at 9am, skies were grey rain was cold and the wind was moderate. Perfect day to introduce someone who has never fly fished to the sport. We began the morning at a local park in Portland, I told Shannon that our two “simple” goals for this half day excursion were for her to learn to cast a fly 40 feet, and to catch a fish. These goals are rarely ever that simple, even when conditions are perfect and skies are blue.

I am happy to report that Shannon caught on to fly casting quickly, we had some laughs and in the end she caught her first Maine Brook Trout on a fly rod. It would’ve been an easy day to to pack up and call it quits, the right attitude is everything.

Thanks Shannon!

Check Shannon’s Blog out at:

http://blogs.mainetoday.com/category/blogs/maine-today-blogs/out-going

First Time Fly Fishing: First Trout

Steelhead Fishing Trip: Olympic Peninsula, Washington

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:59:35 +0000

Spent last week out on the Olympic Penninsula looking to hook into my first Ocean Run Steelhead. Had some heavy rains steal a few fishing days from the “plans.” Had a unbelievable time out in Forks Washington with a fun group of characters, and drank my share of Rainier. Stay tuned for a story and video on www.fliesandfins.com coming soon. Til then, here is a little West Coast eye candy…

Rocky Coastline and Rainier

Fishy Water

Green