Friday, August 28, 2009

Latest and greatest from the Kennebago

The rain has got to stop sometime and it finally has. Despite the rain ,Jim and I headed to Kennebago earlier this week. It ended up being just a slight drizzle by the time we got there. Of course the road in was muddy, mushy and down right slippery . We came in from the Rangeley side for a change. I say that because it was technically the Rangeley side over near Wilson.s mills where we started. Jim figured there had to be a road from Black Brook Cove, (The western end of the Lincoln pond road) to the Magalloway river. Of course I agreed with him. So off we go "exploring" roads and using a map that would have been better used as fire starter. To make this short, we ended up at Lincoln pond, in someone's camp site and lost as we could be. The map was not right , not to scale and printed by some idiot in New Jersey who probably has never even been to Maine. WE ended up coming back out to route 16 and going back to the Morton Cut-off road. I guess the lesson I am trying to use here is if you are going to go "bundocking" which we all do to find new fishing spots, PLEASE take a good and current map.

The Morton road had been graded cause Cupsuptic Campground has primitive sights just off the Lincoln Pond road on the river. But the stretch from the turn off to the Kennebago bridge was pretty rough. The grader was parked at the turn around so maybe he'll work on the road to the bridge. The rain has brought a lot of rocks up and made puddles to splash in.
So far this season has not brought much in the way of sunny weather but that is a nice thing about the Kennebago, There are fish to be caught even in rain. In fact I have better luck in the rain on the river and have caught some very nice fish in the rain. Rain and cold weather tends to drive trout and salmon down where it is even temp and not mixed up by rain .In fact game fish will swallow small pebbles just to weigh themselves down to stay on the bottom. So the best thing to do is go down after them. That is just what we did. A sinking tip line is a pretty handy thing to have. I use the 25' hi-D sink tip from beans. there are lots of others around but I have found that this one does well for me. Most fly fishermen prefer to use dry line and dry flies but if you really want to tackle nice fish, you have to get down where they are.
This entire adventure does have a very silvery lining, as part of our little 'ride" in the woods and corrections we found something very interesting and a really great fishing spot. Most fishermen know that all tributaries to the Kennebago are completely closed to fishing, this of course includes Crowley brook. BUT it says nothing about where it comes into the Kennebago and where they merge into some really nice trout and salmon water. I can not tell you exactly how to get there but I can show you. It is great fishing, lots of water and lots of fish and far from the crowds you usually find at the bridge. It was a great find and a is rapidly becoming a favorite fishing spot of mine. I tied on my usual for new water, a size 8 Muddler. This is the best imitation of a small fish or bait fish I know of.


Hook: Mustad 38941 size # 8 to 12, or 9575 streamer hook

Thread: Tan 8/0

Tail / Tag: Turkey feather, mottled.

Body: Medium flat gold tinsel wrapped over bare hook shank.

Ribbing: Medium oval gold tinsel.

Underwing: Grey squirrel tail hair.

Wings: 2 sections of mottled turkey wing.

Head / Collar: Natural deer hair spun and trimmed to a cone shape.

Note: The head is trimmed in a bullet shape and tapered back.

This pattern is the original but I have found that if you replace the squirrel tail with some yellow calf tail it seems to work better

Additional Information: One of the most popular flies, the muddler minnow represents a variety of trout foods. Fished as a dry it can represent a hopper or a moth. Fished as a streamer the muddler can represent a sculpin. The first muddler minnow originated in the 1930s but it has been changed by every flytyer in the world.



A Hornberg will work in a pinch but a muddler is still hard to beat. We headed down the river and right off we both figured that the Muddler was the one cause I got several hits sub surface at confluency of the two bodies of water. To keep this part of the story short, I'll say we both got fish all the way to the loggers bridge pool. 12" trout was about the best we could do. It was fast furious these fish were hungry for almost anything. It has rained off and on since early May so they really have not had a chance to feed on hatches or terrestrials yet. So the bait fish are really getting hit hard. Speaking of bait fish. when you wade the Kennebago I am sure you will see schools of bait fish swimming around your feet. Some of these get pretty good size (5"-6"). The fact here is that YES there are fish in these waters that feed on these fish and go after more. Dont pass up the chance to fish streamers and wets all season long. I would plan on Muddlers, Black ghost marabous and big hornbergs. There are serious fish in these waters. Sure dry flies are fun and lots of action but if you really want to find a trophy, go with the streamers and the wets, get down to them.
Jim and I played with fish at the Crowley area and at the bridge. We even took a few fish on the Lower magalloway. We traveled quite a bit that day so we got a good cross section of the fishing.. For some reason short salmon ( 6"-10"), slippery rocks and short rain storms seemed to be everywhere. That does prove that the fish population is alive and well in the river. All these fish were healthy and scrappy. No bragging rights on this trip but we had lots of fun and action, especially with a 4 wt rod.
SO I guess my info and advice for this entry is dont worry about the weather, The fish are still there . Heck they are already wet. But dont expect to use small flies if you are fishing in the rain, get the big stuff out and be ready for action. The Kennebago has never failed me yet no matter the weather. There is such a pattern as a Kennebago Muddler. It is pretty much the same as the standard Muddler except it has more yellow on the under wing. I'll try to find a specific pattern by next time. It does seem that most of the specific flies tyed for the Kennebago have a lot of yellow in them. Thats strange cause most of the smelts and bait fish are dark brown and black. I never figured that one out. Some research into this might be in order. Freddy Leeman may have the answer, but thats another story all by its self.
Cross your fingers for sunshine, the hatches are just waiting in the "wings". I'll let you know when they start. I found out I have a computer signal directly on the Bridge at Warden's pool. so I may make the blog direct from the Kennebago. The offer still stands from me and Jim, we would love to show you the kennebago and its fish. We can't promise trophies but we sure can promise action, conversation and lots fun. keep the tips up. Next time I will have a really interesting story of some legends from the point of view of the equipment we used. I think you will like it. Joe