50 Best Places Fly Fishing the Northeast. Bob Mallard

sculpin, fallfish, and smelts—which are found only below the Harris and Wyman Dams. Insects include stoneflies, mayflies, and caddis. Hatches on the Kennebec are strong and predictable. Mayflies start in mid-May and run well into June. They hatch intermittently in the summer and pick up again in the early fall. Caddis overlap early mayfly hatches, peak in the late spring and summer, and continue into the fall. Stoneflies can hatch pretty much anytime.

      Below Wyman, Williams, and Abnaki; the Kennebec is a classic dry-fly river. It is one of the few rivers in the area that offers season-long dry-fly fishing. Even in the heat of summer, most evenings will see a caddis hatch. Fish are also regularly caught on nymphs. On overcast days, fish will take streamers—including some of the largest trout.

      Pteronacys.

      Bob Mallard

       Tackle: A 9-foot 5-weight rod with a floating line is your best bet for the Kennebec River most of the time. If you want to fish streamers, a 9-foot 6-weight with a fast-sinking sink-tip is your best option. Dry-fly fishing is best done with a 9-foot 4-weight, as you may need to drop to 6X to effectively fish smaller patterns such as Blue-winged Olives. While rods longer than 9 feet can work, especially for nymphing, rods shorter than 9 feet are not practical. Strike indicators should be large enough to float two flies and added weight. Flies should include Woolly Buggers; sculpin and smelt patterns; and all stages of mayflies, stoneflies, and caddis in a variety of sizes and colors.

      John Vacca with dry-fly caught rainbow. Bob Mallard

      BOB MALLARD has fly fished for over 35 years. He is a blogger, writer, and author; and has owned and operated Kennebec River Outfitters in Madison, Maine since 2001. His writing has been featured in newspapers, magazines, and books at the local, regional, and national levels. He has appeared on radio and television. Look for his upcoming books from Stonefly Press, 25 Best Towns: Fly Fishing for Trout (winter 2014) and 50 Best Places: Fly Fishing for Brook Trout (summer 2015). Bob is also a staff fly designer for Catch Fly Fishing. He can be reached at www.kennebecriveroutfitters.com, www.bobmallard.com, [email protected], or 207-474-2500.

      Closest fly shops

      Kennebec River Outfitters

      469 Lakewood Road

      Madison, Maine 04950

      207-474-2500

      www.kennebecriveroutfitters.com [email protected]

      Closest lodging

      Inn by the River (B&B)

      Route 201

      The Forks, Maine 04985

      866-663-2181

      www.innbytheriver.com [email protected]

      The Evergreens Campground & Restaurant

      Route 201A

      Solon, Maine 04979

      207-643-2324

      www.evergreenscampground.com [email protected]

      Hawk’s Nest Lodge

      Route 201

      West Forks, Maine 04985

      207-663-2020

      www.hawksnestlodge.com [email protected]

      The Belmont Motel

      273 Madison Avenue

      Skowhegan, Maine 04976

      800-235-6669

      www.belmontmotel.com

      Closest restaurants

      Heritage House Restaurant

      (fine dining, reservations recommended)

      182 Madison Avenue

      Skowhegan, Maine 04976

      207-474-5100

      www.hhrestaurant.com [email protected]

      Old Mill Pub

      39 Water Street

      Skowhegan, Maine 04976

      207-474-6627

      www.oldmillpub.net

      Northern Outdoors

      (pub-style lunch and dinner)

      Route 201

      The Forks, Maine 04985

      800-725-7238

      www.northernoutdoors.com

      The Evergreens Campground & Restaurant

      (dinner and breakfast buffet on weekends—

      see above)

      6 . Grand Lake Stream

       Location: Eastern Maine, about a 2-hour ride from Bangor and 4 hours from Portland. Full-service airports are available in both cities.

      Long known for its fabled landlocked salmon fishing, Grand Lake Stream has been a popular destination with fly fishers since the mid-1800s. West Grand Lake—the headwaters of Grand Lake Stream—was home to one of only four native populations of landlocked salmon in the Lower 48, all of which are in Maine. The Grand Lake Stream fish hatchery program began in 1868, making it one of the longest-operating fish hatcheries in the country, where this strain of salmon is still raised today.

      The community of Grand Lake Stream is well known for its guides, sporting camps, and the Grand Lake canoe, which has been used for more than a century to

      guide anglers on the large lakes in the region. Grand Lake Stream was the setting for the fictional characters in The One-Eyed Poacher of Privilege and game warden Tom Corn, charged with trying to outfox him. Edmund Ware Smith, whose short stories were published in The New Yorker magazine, created them in the 1940s.

      Glaciers carved out the region during the last Ice Age, creating deep, crystal-clear lakes with shorelines dotted with large granite boulders, interspersed with fine sand and gravel beaches. Grand Lake Stream is also home to active faults, which intersect the stream in a couple of locations, creating significant waterfalls that make the stream difficult and dangerous to navigate with boats.

      Grand Lake Stream is approximately 3 miles long. It runs between West Grand Lake and Big Lake. The upper stream is defined by deep clear pools interspersed with riffles and gentle rapids. Wading is generally easy here at

      most flows. The middle stream runs fast, with a steep elevation drop for roughly a mile. This section is fishable at lower flows only, and offers tremendous small pool and pocketwater fishing under the right conditions.