Maine Fishing Reports | Maine River Guides

Jun

From Rangeley to Mount Katahdin

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 Big Maine Moose decided to run into his truck, folding his mirror in and leaving behind just enough fur to tie a fly or two. 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 us 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 blu winged olives, Cahills, March Browns, Golden Stoneflys, and Yellow Sallies in the air. This big bug buffet has had some evening anglers scratching their heads, while those willing to look closely, and 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 Big 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 too. Get on it…Prime Time is here.

Jun

Penobscot River Fishing: Summer is here!

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

May

West Branch of the Penobscot River: Maine Salmon Fishing Report

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!

May

Maine Spring Fly Fishing: Variety is the Spice of Life

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