News from Kennebago

Last week I, finally, got my chance to guide an old friend and his grandson. John and I have been friends for a long time and he had always promised to come to Maine and enjoy the vast vacationland we have. He and his wife travel the country in a motorhome and have been just about everywhere. I have always told him I was a guide and did this for others and would love to show him what I do and share what I love. John is "from away" not a Mainer. He finally decided to include Maine in their travels. The best part of their visit was that their 15 year old grandson came along. He is from New Jersey and I reckon the fly fishing around there is pretty scarce. He had experience with saltwater but that is far from fresh water skills. It was my job to teach him to flyfish and then take him to where he could catch fish, testing his new skills. It was a plan come together and I had a chance to combine teaching and guiding all in one. Of course I took them to Kennebago, where else would you go to learn the art of fly fishing. It just wouldn't be right to teach it anywhere else. The lad was a quick learner and inside of 30 minutes he was throwing a line with skill and charm. Now it was time for me to leave the educator roles and become the guide. Away we went to the bridge at 4 corners and with a few casts he had caught a trout in fact several . Now the story drifts a bit. Since he showed talent and patience I "guided" him and John to several spots I know in the area. All guides have "special" spots and I shared them with John and Eric. So over the three days he managed to catch several salmon of size and many trout. The boy is a natural talent and will spend many long hours perfecting his style of fly fishing. I really enjoyed meeting the challenge of starting from scratch and finalizing it with fish on the line. Not many guides get to do that. I also was asked to find a moose for them to see. Now we all know that these beasts are more a bother than anything else but if you are in Maine you want to see a moose. Most use can just look in the nearest swampy area and there they will be. We take seeing them as a normal occurrance but to some it is a treat. Since they were camped at cupsuptic campground, I sent them down route 16 thru to Stratton and back. Better known as "moose alley" and they saw one. I was surprised that they only saw one but he did the trick and all were happy. I guess my point here is Not to take things for granted here in Maine cause what we see as normal everyday sights are new and exciting for those from "away".
I do have good news about the road on the Rangeley side into Kennebago. It is in good condition and travelable. In fact I met a grader at about mile 7 and he was happily smoothing the road. I can't say about the Eustis side, we didn't travel it, but from what I have been told it is in good shape too. the rain has not done much damage. The water was surprisingly lower than expected and the fish were jumping all over the place. We took fish on small grey sedges and emergers. No real hatches but a few "almost" hatches, resulting in emergers. I figure that with some decent weather the hatches should come like clockwork. they have been held down for so long by the rains that the fishing should be fast and wild.
So I am going to keep this short so I can get ready to go fishing myself. My fishing partner Jim still is without wheels cause his daughter crunched his truck but as always he and I will figure a way to throw a line, we always have. Keep your fingers crossed for the sunny weather and Remember there is always time to fish. A pastor friend of mine once told me that God does not take away from your span of days for days spent fishing. Sure hope he's right then I'll live forever. Be safe all and have a great week Joe