Big Brookies and Warm Fires

Jo and I arrived before lunch last Sunday, and after a great feed, I suited up
and headed for the river. By 5 pm I had landed several nice brookies (14 -
15inch) and lots of "rat fish" (landlocks smaller than 12 inches). I tried
several different versions of the green rock worm, and although it met with
some success, a small "Bruiser PT" had more success.

I didn't fish Monday a.m. while waiting for Allen and Moira Epps. After their
arrival about noon time, Allen and I head for the dam to wet some flies. I
honestly can't remember how well we did, but I remember getting Allen into a 15
inch brookie within 15 minutes of his arrival. Later, about 4 p.m., the
Hendrickson hatch came off. Tens of thousands of the little guys/gals. It
lasted only about 45 minutes, but we landed several fish in that time on
Adams', nothing of any size, however.

Tuesday was much of the same - very few fish being taken. In a pouring cold
rain, we headed to the Currents and I managed a nice 18 inch brookie and some
fair size salmon. Allen caught a few -- best let him tell ya about it. There
is something miserable yet enjoyable about drinking hot black coffee while
standing in a cold rain. For the first time in many years, I did not fish the
Wing Dam or the WD Pool. I wandered up to the "aquarium" to see if the 22 inch
brookie was still holding court. He was, but had grown to 24 inches. There
were several "lesser" brookies in his court (18 - 20 inches), but I did not
temp them with my latest Rapid River Tie. I should have, but believed somehow
that on this day they were just a little bit smarter than me, so, why even try?
Before we left I gave the 2nd Current one last chance to please me. Allen
appeared at the end of the island and suggested we return to the cabins for a
nice fire. Sounded like a plan to me. One more cast, however. And that cast
produced a 22 inch brookie (foul hooked, so it didn't count).

The warm fire in the cabin was a gift from my wonderful wife. She drew me a
tub full of hot water and I relaxed for the next 30 minutes or so. I dried off
on hot towels warmed by the woodstove fire. Life was (is) good.

Wednesday was a repeat of Tuesday - cold and wet with no rises and very few
fish taken. While leaving Zimmerman's Run, I slipped on a greasy rock. I made
a grab for the concrete blocks on the walkway, but my left arm wasn't strong
enough to hold all 220 pounds. I felt a stabbing pain in my left shoulder - at
least for the few milliseconds it took to fall two feet. Then I landed on my
right shin and knee and was met with the most excrutiating pain in my life.
Worse than getting kicked in the....... well, worse than that. Didn't breal my
rod, however. Back at camp, out of my waders and woolies, I gazed at a one
inch cut and scrape just below my kneecap. Not much blood, but a helluva lot
of pain. The knee had swelled to about the size of a softball. It looked and
felt like hell, but didn't impede my walking. I do, however, think that my
rock hopping days are slowly coming to an end.

Thursday was one of those days a flyfisher will never forget. Allen and I took
the camp's pick-up to Lower Dam right after breakfast. We headed immediately
to the Spawning Beds (and, no, there were no fish spawning at the spawning
beds). Just as I found my rock and was about to step upon it, my wading staff
slipped and I did a Full Reverse Reid with a half twist hard onto my back on a
big rock, and then slid backwards ungracefully into about three feet of water.
The pain in my back was camouflaged by the 52 degree full emersion. My pride
was also wounded as there were a couple of friends who saw the old geezer
version of a Reverse Reid. On my rock, shivering in the 50 degree temp and a
20 knot wind, all was forgotten when I got into an 18 inch brookie on my third
cast (small PT). I was warmed further when a very nice salmon fell prey to the
small PT. Allen was downstream a bit from me, and I believe he too was
catching fish.

There were several rises right in front of me - big brookies sipping caddis. I
took off the PT and tied on a #18 Goddard Caddis. Two or three casts and I was
into another nice brookie. Just as I was about to net him, the tippet broke
and he absconded with my fly. I landed another nice brookie with the Goddard
and then went back to the small PT. Within ten minutes I had another brookie
on, a familiar one; it was the thief that stole my Goddard. He may have been
strong, but he was dumb to fall for two man made flies in the same hour. Cold,
but not beaten, I retired from the field and headed back to Lower Dam to get
out of my wet clothes.

I sipped hot coffee and basked in the sun out of the wind for about 30 minutes.
It is surprising what warmth you can get from just an ordinary raincoat.
Warmed and refreshed, I returned to the hunt, spending the next two hours at
the dam without even a strike! Back to the Spawning Beds (and yes, there still
wasn't any fish spawning at the Spawning Beds). Green Rock Worm, Caddis
Emerger, Bruisers PT and I remained hitless. As soon as I switched back to the
18 (20?) PT, I was into a very big fish. After some minutes fighting him, I
managed to land a beaufiful 20 inch brookie. Then Jo and Henry and Moira
showed up. We walked back to the dam, said our goodbyes and I started to fish
just upstream from the dam. Wham! What a helluva hit. My line was traveling
sideways before I realized what had happened. Minutes later I landed my last
fish of the day, a wonderful 22 inch brookie that put a serious bend in my 4
weight Sage. A nice way to end the day..... six brookies and the small ones
were 18 inches! Allen had a similar day, but that's his tale, not mine.

I was so very tired on Friday morning that I went back to bed right after
breakfast. If the Epps' weren't leaving at 11 a.m., I would have slept through
lunch. With all the serious hurts I put upon my bod, it is a wonder that I
could sleep at all.

Friday p.m was spent casually fishing at the dam, catching some nice salmon on
streamers and foul hooking an 18 inch togue. Peter - the 3.5 Velocity with
sinking line worked wonderfully on the 7 weight.

It was a great week - started out well, then a slight slump, and finished
great. It was a pleasure to see Allen and Moira again and introduce them to
the Rapid. I have a feeling they will be back.

Me too. I leave in the morning for another week.
Dave

http://hometown.aol.com/davplac/myhomepage/index.html

In article , Dave
LaCourse wrote:

Jo and I arrived before lunch last Sunday, and after a great feed, I suited up
and headed for the river. By 5 pm I had landed several nice brookies (14 -
15inch) and lots of "rat fish" (landlocks smaller than 12 inches). I tried
several different versions of the green rock worm, and although it met with
some success, a small "Bruiser PT" had more success.

TR snipped

Me too. I leave in the morning for another week.
Dave

http://hometown.aol.com/davplac/myhomepage/index.html

Yep, what he said. Indeed a great trip.

The Monday arrival and evening Hendrickson hatch was nice. River was
flowing at 390 CFS so very wadeable everywhere. Dave was truly a
gentleman in giving me all the best spots and supplying me with flies,
split shot and other things I forgot (I supplied him with Yuengling and
anti-inflammitories). Right away he put me on a nice 15 inch Brookie on
a small green caddis. During the Hendrickson hatch I caught no brookies
but got three salmon. No Hendricksons in my box but I did have some
size 18 March Browns and that did the trick.

The next two days were exactly as he described, weather more Alaska in
Sept than Maine in June. I scrapped and scraped and picked up two or
three small salmon each day and Wednesday pm got invited by Harry the
dam keeper down to the Pond in the RIver where I caught a 13 inch
Brookie in 5 minutes in water so shallow his dorsal fin stuck out.
Then nothing at all for the rest of the evening.

But just as in golf there's that day that brings you back.

Thursday started 60 degrees and clear and rapidly warmed to a perfect
70. Yes, I watched Dave take his reverse Reid just as I realized that
my waders were leaking in the small of my back. Nothing like 50 degree
water slowly trickling in to wake you up (unless it's full submersion).
A few sporadic rises taking advantage of the caddis hatch so I tied on
an 18 EHC with a 18 olive emerger dropper about 12 inches back. Truth
be told the dropper was a foam winged olive from one of the fly swaps
so I just clipped the foam off. (my small size flies were running short
by this point). Then the fun started. Over the next four hours I caught
6 Salmon (all on the emerger) two were in the 15 to 17 inch size the
rest 10 to a foot. Then my fish of the year nailed the EHC and ten
minutes later, doubled over in the net was a 23 inch brook trout with
colors so vibrate it hurt the eyes. By that time the hatch had petered
out so went to shore to find Dave's underwear hanging in the sun. We
quickly ate lunch (my stomach couldn't really take the idea of the
Pirate going commando under that rain jacket and waders) Started again
at the dam and worked my way up to the old pilings as fish started to
rise again and caught 4 small salmon on the same rig. Moira and Jo,
along with Henry and Finn the wonder pup showed up and we walked up to
watch Dave lose that fine brook trout. He headed back to recloth and I
started casting again. Twice had nice brookies rise, once clean miss,
the second put the steel to it for a flash, caught another small salmon
then a very nice 18 inch Brookie that hit the dropper this time. Landed
him and just decided the day could not be any better so finished up.
Although I didn't fall in both my shins were bruised and battered from
rock collisions and now I have to find that leak in my waders.

Overall for the trip. Very surprise at the small flies. I came well
equipped I thought but next time there will be many more 18 and 20's in
the box. Remember to bring cocktail hour snacks as by the time you wade
around that river and get back in time for a beer before dinner you
need some of the three major food groups (fat, salt and preservatives,
Sorry Roger!) and if you can get there when the Pirates aboard he'll do
his best to cram his 15 years of experience into your head to make your
trip as good as possible. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Allen
Catonsville, MD

Dave,
Great report, but do be careful out there!
Tom

Dave LaCourse wrote:

Good reports, apart from the injuries, from both of you guys.

Any pictures?

Willi

Willi writes:

Good reports, apart from the injuries, from both of you guys.

Any picture

Jo gave me an Olympus Stylus 410 for my recent b-day. I carried it my vest and
it got wet, but I never took a picture except of Allen fishing at Lower Dam.
With my recent propensity to fall, just reaching for it while landing a fish
would be foolhardy. Sorry.
Dave

http://hometown.aol.com/davplac/myhomepage/index.html

In article , Dave
LaCourse wrote:

Willi writes:

Good reports, apart from the injuries, from both of you guys.

Any picture

Jo gave me an Olympus Stylus 410 for my recent b-day. I carried it my vest
and
it got wet, but I never took a picture except of Allen fishing at Lower Dam.
With my recent propensity to fall, just reaching for it while landing a fish
would be foolhardy. Sorry.
Dave

http://hometown.aol.com/davplac/myhomepage/index.html

None of fish as my digital is too big and non-water resitant to take
but I'll post a few as soon as the heavy equipment arrives to dismember
the bags.
Allen

"Allen Epps" wrote...
Dave LaCourse wrote:

Jo and I arrived before lunch last Sunday, and after a great feed, I suited
up
and headed for the river. By 5 pm I had landed several nice brookies (14 -
15inch) and lots of "rat fish" (landlocks smaller than 12 inches). I tried
several different versions of the green rock worm, and although it met with
some success, a small "Bruiser PT" had more success.

TR snipped

Me too. I leave in the morning for another week.

Yep, what he said. Indeed a great trip.
snip
By that time the hatch had petered
out so went to shore to find Dave's underwear hanging in the sun. We
quickly ate lunch (my stomach couldn't really take the idea of the
Pirate going commando under that rain jacket and waders)

Is it possible that was a flag of surrender? Jeez, Dave, you are like the Timex
of fly fishing!

Nice reports, both of you. Thanks for sharing.
--
TL,
Tim
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

On 05 Jun 2004 20:44:05 GMT, irate (Dave LaCourse)
wrote:

Willi writes:

Good reports, apart from the injuries, from both of you guys.

Any picture

Jo gave me an Olympus Stylus 410 for my recent b-day. I carried it my vest and
it got wet, but I never took a picture except of Allen fishing at Lower Dam.
With my recent propensity to fall, just reaching for it while landing a fish
would be foolhardy. Sorry.
Dave

http://hometown.aol.com/davplac/myhomepage/index.html


Good Lord, take car of yourself, otherwise you'll be taking that drift
trip next October, in a body cast.

Looks lke the brookie population is really rebounding as they seem to
get bigger every year.

How's the camp these days? Doing OK?

Peter

turn mailhot into hotmail to reply

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

On Sat, 05 Jun 2004 21:05:45 GMT, "Tim J."
wrote:


By that time the hatch had petered
out so went to shore to find Dave's underwear hanging in the sun. We
quickly ate lunch (my stomach couldn't really take the idea of the
Pirate going commando under that rain jacket and waders)


First breakfast, then Blue Rock Hole, and now this -- I swear the man
harbours secret desires to join a nudist colony.

Peter

turn mailhot into hotmail to reply

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

In article , Peter Charles
wrote:

On 05 Jun 2004 20:44:05 GMT, irate (Dave LaCourse)
w

How's the camp these days? Doing OK?


I have no basis for the past but I thought it was fine. Food was good
although not great (except the warm walnut and cranberry pie one night
which was wonderful) The owners Whit and Maureen are nice and very
concerned with making sure everything is as you want it. The cabin well
stocked with wood and ice every evening even if a 75 lb lab makes the
whole thing shake. The other staff were very pleasant. The tab for two
people four nights, licences (Moira never fished but did buy a license
in case the urge hit her) about $100 in misc stiff and the extra money
for having the dawg came to $1168. All in all a good bargin that I
would not hesitate to repeat. With Frank and I tag teaming the drive
we could easily be there in 14 or 15 hours from Baltimore next June.

Allne