All images by Charles Hildick-Smith
Our 2nd day at Libby Camps in the Maine North Woods dawned clear and calm, ideal weather condition for a brief flight and a long day on the water. After flying the guides and equipment over to a lake at the western border of Baxter State Park, lodge owner and pilot Matt J. Libby returned to get Charlie and me, in addition to visitor Jerry Birchmore, who would be joining our experience. Flying in floatplanes is constantly amazing, and skyrocketing over a spectacular wilderness, with Mount Katahdin in the range, was a cool experience.
We touched down on the lake, which is the headwaters of a beautiful stream that topples through a piney forest in a series of swimming pools, pocketwater stretches, and sweeping bends. The strategy was to trek downstream for a little over a mile and after that fish our method back as much as the lake. The secret to making it all work, stated guide Jeff LaBree, is time management: there’s a lot excellent water that you need to keep requiring yourself to continue upstream or you’ll never ever make it in time to fulfill the airplane house.
We lastly stopped on a gravel bar, where we rigged up with smelt replicas. Jeff mentioned a much deeper run along the far bank and informed me to wade midway throughout the stream to provide the fly from above. On my very first cast, a trout took a huge swing at the fly however didn’t consume it. However a couple of casts later on, he smashed the fly, and the very first of lots of fish concerned the web. Whereas I’m utilized to capturing most fish as a banner swings throughout the existing, the trout in this stream typically struck as the fly came straight upstream, so it took a great deal of healing to attain simply the best angle in some areas.
For the next 7 hours, our 2 fishing groups leap-frogged each other upriver, capturing trout in nearly every area we stopped. The brookies were big by my Vermont-mountain-stream requirements– primarily 10 to 14 inches– however there were no lunkers landed. We moved a couple of much larger trout however could not get them to take in the intense, bright conditions. There is a lot beautiful water that it was difficult to pass some stretches by. “Time management!” Jeff would announce, requiring us to continue inexorably upstream. I might quickly imaging costs 3 or 4 days fishing what we covered.
At one point, Jeff stopped at a brief swimming pool that really didn’t look appealing at all to me. When he saw my apprehension, he stated, “Humor an old male, would ya?” So I pitched in and continued to capture 4 trout from an area I would have gone by without a reservation. Jeff smiled from ear to ear each time he dipped the web to get another brookie. “Functions whenever,” he laughed.
As I compose this, being in the lodge after supper, I have that fantastic sensation of being both tired from the day’s efforts and elated by the incredible experience. I’ll leave you with a couple of more of excellent shots Charlie took that actually record the taste of the experience. Tomorrow, we fly out once again, searching for landlocked salmon. Stay tuned.
Click on this link to check out The first day of our journey.
Image by Phil Monahan
