Rapid River

On Jun 6, 11:23*am, David LaCourse wrote:
As many of you know, the Rapid River in Maine is my homewater. *I have
been fishing it for more than 20 years and know the short river better
than most. *The 2000 and 2001 ROFF clave was held on the Rapid, and
everyone agreed it is a beautiful river, full of big salmon and brook
trout, but difficult to fish. *Last week was the best week I have ever
had on this beautiful river.

I arrived late Sunday afternoon, bringing torrential rains with me. *I
settled right in preparing my fishing gear. *I was in no hurry; I would
be in camp for four weeks. *Plenty of time to fish. *While rearranging
my fly boxes I remembered my goal this year - catch big fish on tiny
flies.

Monday morning was wet and cold. *I awoke about 4 a.m. and shivered my
way to the woodburning stove and put a match to the already prepared
paper, kindling, and wood. *Quickly back to bed, I slept until 6 and
awoke to a more civilized cabin, one warm enough so that this old man
could better function. *After breakfast I hurried down to the dam. *
Except for a guide and his pretty good fisherman client, I had the
place to myself. *The flow was 1400 cfs, not really high, but not ideal
either. *I took up station on the Anvil Rock and proceeded to land
small salmon and brook trout on a size 20 caddis nymph. *None were too
small, nor were they big; just sort of average, I guess. *Fun, but not
very exciting.

However, my move to the first runway off the dam improved the
excitation factor. *On the second cast into the bubbles, I hooked a 17
inch female brook trout. *And, she was ****ed. *Fought like hell while
staying in a very small area, not like her brethren counterparts who
run all over the place slowly exhausting themselves. *Because (I am
assuming) the hook is so small (#20), as soon as I netted and released
the pressure on the hook, it came out of her mouth. This would happen
on every big fish I landed in the next five days.

I had found *the* spot on the river, because in the next hour, with the
guide and his sport watching, I landed five more brookies all greater
than 16 inches. *They absolutely loved my size 20 caddis nymph (the
fish, not so much the guide and his sport). *I switched to a size 22 of
the same pattern (had a helluva job threading it with my 5x tippet),
and the love affair with this pattern continued. *I hooked and played a
20 inch male brook trout into the net where he took a mighty leap off
the rubber webbing and found his freedom in the cold water. *The hook
was bent so its replacement would be a size 20 of the same pattern. *At
my age it pays to give your eyes as much help as you can.

A short time later I switched to Harry Mason's Proven Killer Caddis,
size 16, and cast to rising fish about 40 feet in front of me. *This
fly is unbelievably successful. *The salmon took it within a second or
two of it landing on the water. *The fish were all salmon, in the 12 -
14 inch range, but fun catching on dries. *I bet I went through half a
bottle of Frog's Fanny in the next two hours.

Back to camp and lunch at noon time. *I was very tired but happy. *
After a terrific lunch that would put my dietician in cardiac arrest, I
returned to my cabin and fell asleep listening to the rain on the roof
and the crackling fire in the stove. *Life is good.

More to follow......

Dave

Great report David. You said the river was running at about 1400 cfs.
And given you've seen this river more than anyone else here, . . .
What would you guess would be the cfs at flood stage for the rapid?
And the typical annual low?

Many of our rivers out here have very wide variations ( like a recent
small river cycle of many days at about a low 200-250 cfs, then in 36
hours spiking to 1000+ cfs.

Dave

David LaCourse wrote:
As many of you know, the Rapid River in Maine is my homewater....
etc.

Nicely done, Dave. Brings back good memories.

JR

On 6/8/2010 7:37 PM, Tom Littleton wrote:
"David wrote in message
news:2010060716283116807-dplacourse@aolcom...

excellent report, David!! What always strikes me, though, is your use and
success relying on such small stuff. Is the Rapid just rife with smaller
caddis species? If so, the shorter warm season you all have would give the
river a plethora of caddis larvae about this time of year. Still, one
envisions the flies from the 'classic' days up that way. My mind goes back
to the stuff in that Carrie Stevens book you kindly gave me. Not small
stuff, even the flies designed for river angling. Just another example of
the multitudes of variables in this thing we generalize by calling 'trout
fishing'........
Tom



....i watched canadian peter fling streamers that looked like the fender
from a buick and catch some nice brook trout in the stretch of the rapid
below pond in the river and the old historic dam building (no longer
there).

my best day ever on the rapid was just after 9/11 using a 14 elk hair
caddis on the other side of the river, walking and fishing upstream in
carolina fashion...well, there was also that one day daytripper and
peter tied up a bunch of size 22 "nits", shared a few with me, and we
caught salmon after salmon in one of those slower side runs on the
opposite side of the dam...amazing. very selective fish. my first time
ever fishing small flies. toss in an 18 parachute adams, nada...then a
24 nit, wham! beautiful and interesting place. you should go there some
time Tom...louie is a great host and a willing guide on his waters. and
lakewood is a comfortable "rustic" place with good food.

jeff

On 2010-06-08 19:37:04 -0400, "Tom Littleton" said:


"David LaCourse" wrote in message
news:2010060716283116807-dplacourse@aolcom...

excellent report, David!! What always strikes me, though, is your use and
success relying on such small stuff. Is the Rapid just rife with smaller
caddis species? If so, the shorter warm season you all have would give the
river a plethora of caddis larvae about this time of year. Still, one
envisions the flies from the 'classic' days up that way. My mind goes back
to the stuff in that Carrie Stevens book you kindly gave me. Not small
stuff, even the flies designed for river angling. Just another example of
the multitudes of variables in this thing we generalize by calling 'trout
fishing'........
Tom

I discovered the small nymphs a couple of years ago mainly through
experimentation. They work regardless the kind of hatch that is (or is
not) coming off. They seem to thrive it. I have given away many 20s
and 2s to non-believers, but if they fish them correctly, they will be
tired of landing fish, some of them BIG. No strike indicator, fishe
deep, with VERY subtle takes.

You are correct about the caddis. There has been a hatch on for more
than a week. Every couple of hours they appear and the fish are taking
mostly the emergers. However, Harry Mason's Killer Caddis works
wonderfully. I've turned on a couple of folks to this fly and they
have order thru Harry and the flies were delivered in two days to the
camp.

Fished this afternoon. Many small salmon and brook trout, as well as
some 15 inch brookies, and one nice 18 inch salmon that I had a helluva
time landing because of my legs. I finally had to sit in the water to
land him and it took awhile to resuscitate him. I normally land a fish
as quickly as possible minimizing the stress as well as I can. But
this old man is having a hard time of it..........

More trip reports to come.

Dave

On 2010-06-09 12:47:17 -0400, jeff said:

and lakewood is a comfortable "rustic" place with good food.


Ah, but it is. And, getting better. Donna is a very dedicated chef
and her salads, soups, and sandwhiches are to die for. Dinner is the
non-fishing hightlight of the day.

AND, if wayno knew of the four very beautiful 18 - 22 yo Polish girls
who are the waitresses, dish washer, and cabin girl, he would be up
here tomorrow. To hell with the fishing! d;o)

Dave

On 2010-06-09 04:23:40 -0400, DaveS said:


Great report David. You said the river was running at about 1400 cfs.
And given you've seen this river more than anyone else here, . . .
What would you guess would be the cfs at flood stage for the rapid?
And the typical annual low?

Many of our rivers out here have very wide variations ( like a recent
small river cycle of many days at about a low 200-250 cfs, then in 36
hours spiking to 1000+ cfs.

Dave

The ideal flow would be 900 cfs. That would allow good fishing on just
about anyplace on the river, and would allow folks to wade across First
Current to The Island. More than 900 and you would need a boat for the
island. They are running 400 now, although the lake is full. Can't
understand why the flow is so low, but Florida Power and Light control
it. Their logic escapes me at times.

Flood stage would be anything greater than 2000 cfs. There are still
places to fish, but you really have to know the river. At 4000s the
river is in the woods and there is no island. At 6000 they practically
scour the river. I've seen that a few times. FPL can be axxholes. In
fact, most of the time (including now) they ARE axxholes.

At 400 cfs the fishing is great, but if it stays at that flow, the
river warms and the brook trout escape to the springs in Pond in the
River. It's been at 400 for almost a week, and the very cold nights
and cool days have been a blessing. The lake is full, so there is no
reason why they shouldn't be running 800 - 1200 cfs.

Dave

On Jun 9, 2:51*pm, David LaCourse wrote:
On 2010-06-09 04:23:40 -0400, DaveS said:



Great report David. You said the river was running at about 1400 cfs.
And given you've seen this river more than anyone else here, . . .
What would you guess would be the cfs at flood stage for the rapid?
And the typical annual low?

Many of our rivers out here have very wide variations ( like a recent
small river cycle of many days at about a low 200-250 cfs, then in 36
hours spiking to 1000+ cfs.

Dave

The ideal flow would be 900 cfs. *That would allow good fishing on just
about anyplace on the river, and would allow folks to wade across First
Current to The Island. *More than 900 and you would need a boat for the
island. *They are running 400 now, although the lake is full. *Can't
understand why the flow is so low, but Florida Power and Light control
it. *Their logic escapes me at times.

Flood stage would be anything greater than 2000 cfs. *There are still
places to fish, but you really have to know the river. *At 4000s the
river is in the woods and there is no island. *At 6000 they practically
scour the river. *I've seen that a few times. *FPL can be axxholes. *In
fact, most of the time (including now) they ARE axxholes.

At 400 cfs the fishing is great, but if it stays at that flow, the
river warms and the brook trout escape to the springs in Pond in the
River. *It's been at 400 for almost a week, and the very cold nights
and cool days have been a blessing. *The lake is full, so there is no
reason why they shouldn't be running 800 - 1200 cfs.

Dave

Interesting. At 2000cfs my little river (Touches) is in flood, and it
is also now running at about 400cfs after spiking 1000+ a few days
ago. If the cite below works you can see the wide fluctuations
characteristic of many small Western rivers.

https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/wrx/wrx/...al=true#block2


Dave

On 9-Jun-2010, David LaCourse wrote:

Great report David. You said the river was running at about 1400 cfs.
And given you've seen this river more than anyone else here, . . .
What would you guess would be the cfs at flood stage for the rapid?
And the typical annual low?

Many of our rivers out here have very wide variations ( like a recent
small river cycle of many days at about a low 200-250 cfs, then in 36
hours spiking to 1000+ cfs.

Dave

The ideal flow would be 900 cfs. That would allow good fishing on just
about anyplace on the river, and would allow folks to wade across First
Current to The Island. More than 900 and you would need a boat for the
island. They are running 400 now, although the lake is full. Can't
understand why the flow is so low, but Florida Power and Light control
it. Their logic escapes me at times.

Flood stage would be anything greater than 2000 cfs. There are still
places to fish, but you really have to know the river. At 4000s the
river is in the woods and there is no island. At 6000 they practically
scour the river. I've seen that a few times. FPL can be axxholes. In
fact, most of the time (including now) they ARE axxholes.

At 400 cfs the fishing is great, but if it stays at that flow, the
river warms and the brook trout escape to the springs in Pond in the
River. It's been at 400 for almost a week, and the very cold nights
and cool days have been a blessing. The lake is full, so there is no
reason why they shouldn't be running 800 - 1200 cfs.

Dave

Dave I am jealous
I often confuse jealous and envious - the words
and I had to carefully look ion Wikipedia which defined the answer of no
malice involved.

I had the best nights sleep for 3 -4 night on Richardson Lake on an island
camppsite me and my bird dog Taylor
We, my wife , and I spent a lot of wonderful times @ Chesuncook and Umbagog

I remember the small speckled brookies of all colors and the few we ate were
unbelievable w carrots onions and eggs in fpil

Stay fishing, man
The world is nuts!

Pancho Villa

On 6/9/10 8:35 PM, Fred wrote:

Dave I am jealous
I often confuse jealous and envious - the words
and I had to carefully look ion Wikipedia which defined the answer of no
malice involved.

Envy is the desire for that which someone else has.

Jealousy is the belief that someone else has what rightfully belongs to
oneself, as for example a loved one.

You're envious, not jealous.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

On 2010-06-09 22:35:46 -0400, "Fred" said:


Dave I am jealous
I often confuse jealous and envious - the words
and I had to carefully look ion Wikipedia which defined the answer of no
malice involved.

I had the best nights sleep for 3 -4 night on Richardson Lake on an island
camppsite me and my bird dog Taylor
We, my wife , and I spent a lot of wonderful times @ Chesuncook and Umbagog

I remember the small speckled brookies of all colors and the few we ate were
unbelievable w carrots onions and eggs in fpil

Stay fishing, man
The world is nuts!

Pancho Villa

There are several island sites for camping Fred, and they all offer
some beautiful views and fishing. In addition there are two very close
to the river and on the same side. Both the Black Cat site and Comfort
Cove site are within a mile of the river. They are primitive sites (no
running water) and the bugs can get bad, but the fishing is good.

You ought to think about returning here some day.

Dave