On Jun 1, 12:38*pm, D. LaCourse wrote:
...... they have to kneel to bite you! *And the black flies are the
worse I have ever seen. *Add to that the fact that the river is running
at flood stage (8000 cfs when I got here on Sunday), and it equals *a
miserable trip..... * Well, not really.

Although there are few places to wet a fly on the river, it is
uncrowded. *The high flows keep the locals from walking/biking in, and
the camp is empty except for your intrepid reporter. *Instead of eating
alone I have been invited into the kitchen each day to eat with the
owners/workers. *Long table, long stories, long time friends, to say
nothing of the beautiful Russian girls here for a summer of work before
they return to university. *Wayno, get thee to an airport!

I was totally stumped fishing on Monday morning. *I did not know what
the fish wanted. *I saw a very big brookie finning, but I could not see
what he was taking. *Probably BWOs. *I tried some and they were
ignored; not even a come-up-and-look-see.

With the water running so very high, the only real place to fish is the
eddy on the south shore of the river at the dam. *The leaks in the dam
(I know, scary!) form a pretty good run-off into the river, while the
back eddy of the river forms a fairly big pool. *These areas are
usually full of fish, but I was totally baffled by what they wanted. *I
tried all my favorite nymphs, including some big ones (#16), and dries
including caddis and mayfly. *Nothing!

By pure chance I found a really beat-up Henryville Special. *This is
one of my go-to flies on this river, but I had none in my boxes except
for this pathetic looking example. *Wing torn, hackle bent, I tied it
on and gently cast it into one of the currents caused by the leaks. *
BAM! *The fight finally was on! *A fair size male brookie, about 17
inches, had ingested the hobo-looking fly. *I was fishing off of the
fartherest runway at the dam, with a usual drop to the water of about 6
feet, making it difficult to land any fish. *However, the river was so
high that the water was now only about a foot from the top of the
decking. *One swoop with *my net and Mr Brookie was in hand. *I was
disappointed to see several hook wounds in his lips, but other than
that he was a healthy and perfect specimen. *A quick release and I was
back to my job of fooling fish.

A few minutes later and I landed an 18 inch land lock salmon, followed
by two more small ones. *Not too bad for a river spoiled by flood
waters.

On Tuesday the dam keeper lowered the water to 5600 cfs. *You hardly
noticed a difference, although the water in fact dropped by at least 6
inches. * A new seam opened up between the runways. *I worked it for a
good hour without even a hint of a strike. *Back to the far side. *By
chance Whit had 8 Henryville Specials on hand at the lodge. *My fly box
now contains 8 normal looking well dressed Henryvilles, and one hobo in
tattered clothes. *I tied on the Hobo (of course!) and within the first
hour had two big salmon (18+ inches) and two small (12 inchers) salmon.
*No brookies, big or small.

I don't know how, but the nocturnal type of mosquito got into the cabin
last night as I was enjoying the movie QBVII. *The diurnal variety of
mosquitoes up here in the Maine woods are bad enough, but the nocturnal
ones are worse. *They remove flesh when they bite, and bite they did. *
I got little rest because of them. *I finally got out of bed about 5:30
and had a cup of coffe made at 6 when the electricity came on. *After
breakfast I was debating on whether to head for the river, or go back
to bed and let the day time skeeters have their way with me. *As luck
would have it, thunder storms were in the neighborhood with loud claps
and bright flashes. *Not wanting to tempt the gods by waving a
conductive stick in the air, I retired to my bedroom and three more
hours of sleep sans mosquitoes of any kind.

Refreshed and well fed, I plan on hitting the river after this is
written. *More to follow.

Dave

Mosquitoes are part of my weight loss program.
Enjoy the trip my friend.
Frank Reid