On Jun 5, 5:13*pm, Dave LaCourse wrote:
May 13: *Getting a jump start on the season

Every time I drive up South Arm Road on the way to Lakewood Camps, I
anticipate the water level of Lower Lake Richardson. *I see the lake
through the trees as I approach, but I can't really tell its level
until I get to the boat ramp. *On the 13th day of May, two days before
Lakewood Camps opened, I made that last bend in the road, saw the lake
through the trees, and then........ hurray! *The lake was full. *And,
I mean *full*. *There should be plenty of water flowing from Middle
Dam into the Rapid River. *

I met Whit at the Lakewood boat dock. *Good to see him. *I missed the
fly fishing show in Marlborough this year, so I didn't get to see Whit
and his lovely wife Maureen and have dinner with them. *After loading
the bike, cooler, fly tying bag, rod bags, reel bag, wader bag, snack
bag, booze/wine box, and finally my personal luggage, I was huffing
and puffing while Whit just smiled at me. *He did most of the work,
but I was the one out of breath. *It ain't fair to grow old.

I always enjoy the trip from South Arm dock to Lakewood, regardless of
how choppy and rough the lake is. *It's a quick journey of only 15
minutes if the lake isn't too rough. *On this day it had some pretty
good whitecaps, but we were going with the wind, and Whit had the boat
only at half throttle so we could talk. *He filled me in on the winter
months and what damage was done to the camps and docks, while I spoke
of my trip to Tierra del Fuego and how Jo was doing. *

Maureen was waiting for us at the dock, as usual, and after hugs we
unloaded the boat and I moved into French, a small cabin in the middle
of the block of cabins. *Quick to change into full fishing regalia, I
put my 5w together, *put on the old faithful G3s (ofg3), donned *my
vest and other accoutriments that make me *look* like a genuine fly
fisherman, hopped on the bike and was off to the dam.

The flow was 1600 CFS. * That's a bit high, but not too high to fish
most of the river. *I have a custom of starting out the season with
the same fly that I ended with the previous September. *This year it
was a home-tie like a PT, but very small, a size 22. *After ten casts
with no hits, I switched to a Hare's Ear. *Over the years, I have
found that in the early season a light colored nymph is good way to
fool these beautiful brook trout and landlocks. *

A few casts brought a small salmon to hand. *A little later a small
brookie fell for the HE. *Then another small salmon, before I called
it quits and headed for the camps. *It was very cold and although I
was dressed with three layers top and bottom, the chill of the water
got to me. * A fire in the Ashley stove brought the cold to its knees
and warmth flooded the small camp. *In fact, the warmth overwhelmed
the camp. *I opened the door and left it that way when I went to
dinner.

One of the best things about Lakewood Camps is its meals. *Donna the
chef had fixed a turkey and spinach crepe. *Uh, spinach? * Cooked?
Uhuh! *In a salad, yeah, but I do not like the slimy stuff cooked.
Well, at least not until I tasted Donna's crepe. *Very delicious.
With a white wine of undetermined/unknown pedigree, a bowl of tomato
bisque, a wonderful green salad with *uncooked* spinach, I enjoyed the
meal as the only one in camp. *

Fishing for the next two days was sort of iffy. *I went downstream,
got a boat and fished the currents. *My biggest problem with spring
fishing on the Rapid is that I do not know how to properly fish a
streamer. *Peter Charles does, as do a couple of old friends, but I
have never had the knack for it. *I tried anyway, tossing some Carrie
Stevens 10x long #2s - Gray Ghost, Rapid River, Green Ghost. *Nothing.
There was a guy in a boat fishing First Current, tossing big streamers
into the PIR and taking some very nice (18+ inch) salmon. *He confided
to me that he was using a Gray Ghost. *Go figure. *

Parked the boat on the island and wade fished second current with very
small, soft hackle Pts. *Picked up a couple more small salmon, and a
14 inch brookie. *Nothing to write home about.

I returned home on Saturday after three days of having the camp and
most of the river by myself. *I would return in a week for four weeks
of fishing the Rapid. *In the mean time, I will dream of the big
brookies I did not catch.

May 25: *My return to the Rapid

Traffic heading north on Memorial Day was light. *But those poor souls
heading south had their hands full. * I passed the usual speed traps
in Massachusetts near the 495/95 interchange, and mile marker 14 on
the Maine Turnpike. *Fortunately they were both on the south bound
side. *

Whit was waiting for me at the South Arm dock. *I left all my fishing
stuff in my cabin when I was last there, so suiting up was quick, and
before too long I was fishing at the dam. *I only had about an hour to
fish, but if I had 2 or 3 or 4 hours, I am sure the results would have
been the same - nothing. *But, I was fishing. *It was cold and rainy,
but I was at least fishing my beloved Rapid.

Long story short: Most of the week was spent fishing the dam. *The
sucker spawn was on at the Second Current, and the usual yokels were
jam packed, almost shoulder to shoulder. *In an area of the river that
would usually allow two men to flyfish, there were now twelve, with a
waiting list of four. *Bull****! *Plain and simple: Bull****! *They
were catching big brookies and salmon, but they were catching the same
fish over and over. *There is little skill in catching these fish
during the spawn. *You can fish an egg pattern, a nymph, or a streamer
and you will catch fish. *Just chuck about anything upstream and you
will have a big fish to fight. *I left. *Parked the boat at the PIR
dock and fished the dam for the rest of the week. *

Someone, a guide I think, brought a drift boat to PIR for Aldro French
(owner of Forest Lodge below Lower Dam on the Rapid). *Aldro runs a
guide service on the river. *He was using the boat to allow wounded
veterans a stable platform to fish the river. *Someone took offense to
the use of the drift boat. *I was told that they angered lots of the
folks fishing the currents. * Some obnoxious jerk pulled the plugs on
the boat after it was tied up at a small dock next to Lakewood's dock,
and sank it in about four or five feet of water. *We don't need that
kind of fly fisher on the Rapid or any other river. *

Fishing at the dam the rest of the week was not very good. *The water
was very cold (about 51 degrees) and the big fish had not yet come up
river. *It was very rainy and cold the entire week, so the water
temperature remained low. *The flow stayed at 1300 most of the week.
I took my fair share of salmon and brookies, but the really big ones
had yet to come up-river. *

There were not many people in camp due to the current economical
conditions. *Lots of folks worrying about jobs and such. *Whit and
Maureen said their business was off about 40%. *Hopefully it will pick
up. *I intend to spend three more weeks here, and may even come back
in July. *Because there is so much water and it is so very cold, the
river will probably fish well into mid-July. *So much for global
warming in the north of Maine.

May 31 - Back with Joanne and Jenny

The lake is still full. *Dam running at 500 cfs -yahooooo.

I went home on Saturday and picked up Joanne and Jenny the pup. *We
arrived Sunday at the Lakewood dock at South Arm in the middle of a
very bad rain and hail storm with lots of lightning. *Whit was at the
dock when we arrived. *We waited in the shed for the storm to break.
It took about 15 minutes. *I've seen lots of storms on Lower Lake
Richardson, but none as violent as this one with high winds, pelting
rain and hail, and lightning claps all around us. *

We arrived safely at Lakewood and took up residence in one of the
bigger cabins, the same one I will be in for the next three weeks. *A
quick fire in the stove warmed up the living area and I sat down to
tie some flies. *Soft hackle pheasant tails, with a red glass bead in
front. *No fishing on this day because we arrived late. *Just being
here in a warm cabin with my wife and dog is more than enough
satisfaction. *The fish can wait. *I'll get ‘em tomorrow.

And I did. *

Friends from Maryland were in camp. * Brett and I went downstream and
fished the currents using the boat, while the ladies took Jenny for a
walk. * It's tough fishing two in a boat when you are both fishing the
same seam. *Somehow we synchronized our casting and managed to get
some 18 inch salmon and a couple of 12-16 inch brook trout. *When
Harry the dam keeper opened the spillway to 1000 cfs, our anchor
slipped. *Rather than struggle against the current and drop anchor
again, we went to the island. *Brett fished First Current, picking up
three more salmon, while I fished the Wing Dam Aquarium. *

The Aquarium is a small pocket of slow moving water about four feet
deep and as clear as glass. *In it are two, sometimes three, big brook
trout of 20+ inches each. *The trick to hooking up one is to let a
very small nymph (size 18-24) fall over the rocks with the current
into the Aquarium. *It is the only way you will hitch up to one of
these wise old fellows. *I had a black starling soft hackle fly with a
brown thread body and some green flash in it, a size 22, and I am sure
these fish have never seen this fly before. *Ever careful to not spook
them, I stood back from the Aquarium and dropped the fly into the
small current emptying into the pool. *I did not see it go over the
edge, but I did see my leader move. *I set the hook and all hell broke
lose. *The brookie, at least 20 inches and fat as a pig, took off
running into the deep water of the Wing Dam Pool. *He must have made a
50 foot run and turned and came back faster than I could strip my
line. *I managed to get him on the reel again only to lose him. *When
examining my size 22 fly, I saw the hook was almost straight. *The
beautiful fish had turned my hook into a spear, ...

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Great report, Dave. Apparently one of the guys from the Fly Fishing In
New Hampshire site was on the Rapid at the time of the boat sinking
incident, and there has been quite a bit of talk about it on the
forum. Can't imagine why anyone would do that....hope they catch him.
There has also been a lot of discussion about the practice of throwing
bass up on the river bank. Seems there could be a less conspicuous to
dispose of them. Just one more thing for PETA to bitch about.