Giant Mayflies, Brook Trout, and Wildlife

Following some signs after going to Rangeley Region Sport Shop this morning, we accidentally found a brook trout haven. a small set of ponds connected by short, cold freestone streams. We went home, geared up, and headed out. The first bunch of fish I caught were fall fish, but I knew there had to be brookies. We were busting through the brush headed upstream when things began to open up and there was an awesome pond, full of rising brookies and Hexegenia so big you could see them on the water from 100 feet away. The fish actually had to chew on them in order to get them down! Every brookie we caught was fat and full of nymphs and duns. I very much wish I could show you all the beautiful photos I took, but the memory card I put in my camera this morning was corrupt and did not save the photos. I'll just have to go back....

It did somehow save these sweet photos of some loons I saw out on the pond:

In the evening we decided to go fish some of the area's larger streams. The Kennebago, at least where we fished it, turned out to be very warm and filled mostly with juvenile landlocked salmon. However there were some native brookies to be had out of a small tributary, though human prints indicated that someone had already fished it today. There were also a set of fresh bear tracks and abundant moose tracks. 

The next river we checked was much better: cold, fast, and full of bug life. We waded down to where it widened out and as the evening settled in fish began to rise. Salmon, brook trout, and fallfish were feeding like made about an hour after we got there, and I discovered that a CDC caddis stripped quickly would take fish. I caught a few brookies, including some rather nice ones, before it was almost all fallfish.

I noticed quickly that these fish has a gorgeous silvery color to them, something different than what I am used to seeing. The were gorgeous and fought with vigor.

My three last casts were the most productive. I hastily tied on a bead head Picket Pin. On the first cast I got the biggest brookie of the day. The next cast gave up a very scrappy young salmon. The third, a very large and hard fighting fallfish. Great way to end the first full day!