After two years of longing to go back up to Northwestern Maine to see friends and chase some salmonids, I finally was able to get back there for Memorial Day weekend. Ever since my beautiful son Luke was born in November of 2022, there have been certain fishing trips that had to be postponed. Not
‘Bows and Blowtorches and Bears, Oh My!
A warm welcome to Chris Lawson, who will be writing periodic guest posts. Thank you, Bill Hager, for connecting us with Chris! I’m not on the river nearly as much as I would like to be these days. Three kids, a wife in grad school, a job, and a new puppy will do that to
At the Vise: Sulphur Cripple
It could be coincidence, but I’ve had good luck throwing Sulphur Cripple patterns. This weekend, a brown almost at 19″ took one. Last month, a 20″ brown ate one as well. (Blog posts here and here.) Even when it doesn’t work, the pattern gets a lot of looks. Both times, I fished the flies on a
The Shallows
The river was chock full of anglers when I arrived at 7 am. Not every spot was taken: just the ones I wanted to fish. I fished the B water, working my way around anglers. A tightliner above me did well, fishing heavy flies. Relegated to skinny water, I focused on dries. I started with