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Salt Water New England Farewell: Hello Montana
Posted by keith on March 13, 2007

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Farewell New England Video

Over 4 years ago I was tying a fly in my kitchen in Montana when I got a phone call with a job offer in New England. It was a great opportunity but all I could think was “Oh no, the fishing probably won’t be any good”. Well, last week I got a call with a job offer back in Montana and all I can think is “Oh no, the fishing won’t be anywhere as good as Maine”. It is funny how these things work. I decided to take the job and will be leaving New England mid-March. All week I have been reflecting on the last 4 years of fly fishing. I can truly say that the state of Maine has some of the best fishing opportunities in the country. Beautiful mountain streams, large burly rivers, thousands of lakes and ponds, plus miles and miles of Atlantic coast that are loaded with stripers from May through October. This plus the state’s proximity to the Atlantic salmon waters of Canada, the steelhead of the Great Lakes and the saltwater options in Southern New England make Maine an angling dream come true. With the help of some great people from Flies and Fins and some of Maine’s of hardcore fly fishers I was able to take full advantage of what the state has to offer. I hit it hard every chance I got. Often waking up before the sun and driving hundreds of miles a day in search of new waters or to ply the ones I came to know. It is in Maine that I fell in love with the land locked salmon. Before moving here, I had never

even heard of this species. Now I can honestly say it is my favorite freshwater target with the fly rod. Not to mention the fact that Maine holds the best chance in the U.S. for an angler to land a wild trophy brook trout. And the ocean, oh how I will miss the sights, sounds, and smells of the Atlantic. After landing my first striper with Jeremy’s help, I could not get enough. The vastness and endless water had me hooked. Of course the chance of hooking a 40lb fish was attractive to say the least. I had successes and failures in my fishing endeavors while in New England. My greatest success was landing an honest 6lb landlocked salmon that taped out at over 26”. My greatest failure was going 0 for 5 on false albacore from shore one magical fall weekend. All is not lost. I am looking forward to the opportunities Montana has to offer. I will be moving to the Northwest part of the state. And while this area doesn’t have the fertile trout streams that MT is famous for, it does have some great fishing. There are rivers that are loaded with native Westslope cutthroats and small lakes that have rainbows in the 4-5lb class. Plus, this area offers one of the best chances in the U.S. to tangle with a monster bull trout, some pushing the 15lb mark. And although it won’t be in my back yard, I’ll have some of the countries best trout fishing within a few hours drive. So, with Jeremy’s help I have put together some of my favorite images of my time fishing in New England. Thanks to everyone that was gracious enough to share some information with me and so long to all those I have wet a line with. I’ll be checking in to F&F from time to time, and let me know if anyone is headed to Big Sky country. Who knows, in a couple years I may get a phone call to come back East. At least I won’t be worried about the fishing!



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Re: New England Farewell: Hello Montana
by jeremy on March 13, 2007 http://www.ineedasimplesolution.com
keith - we had some good times man and lots of laughs ... the krystal penguine in rhode island "love what you've done with the place ... very stark" ..... maine stripers with double clouser setups ... and of course the albies ..... the cool thing is i remember when you first moved here and we bumped into each other fly fishing for stripers ... and you told me about all the places you had already been fishing for salmon and trout in maine and i asked "how long have you been living here?" and you said .. "a couple weeks." ... i thought to myself, "wow, this guy does get it done." i always admired that about you and your willingness to hop in the car last minute and make a solo trip anywhere the fishing might be hot ... and you were always infamous for surprising everyone with these random fishtales from canada, redfish in florida, steel in michigan, scotland etc.... no doubt, you take your fly fishing seriously ... so, i will keep an eye on the albies and landlocks and brookies and stripers for ya .. so that when you come back to visit they will be waiting for ya .... so, waste no time when you get to montana finding those big bull trout .... so that when i come out there to visit you, you can put me over one of those monsters .. i have no doubt you will find them ... anyway man, take it easy ... and just cuz your moving in the physical sense ... flies and fins will still only be a click away ... so, i expect to see som fish tales from montana and NW canada etc... great fly fishing with ya man ... safe journies...



Re: New England Farewell: Hello Montana
by wrh on March 13, 2007 http://www.theanglersnet.com
Good luck in MT. It's nice to hear from someone who knows how good the fishing is in the Northeast. Being from MA., it gets kind of tiring to always hear about the west in regards to fishing. I love the variety of fish that we have. So thanks for posting your successes and failures as well as how much you loved Maine and other NE states. Enjoy MT and all that it has to offer.



Re: New England Farewell: Hello Montana
by KodiakCommando on March 13, 2007 http://www.royalwolf.com
Great job Kieth! It's pretty cool that you got to experience some of the best of the east and west. One day I hope to taste some of the best maine has to offer



Re: New England Farewell: Hello Montana
by greg on March 13, 2007 http://www.fliesandfinsnorth.com
I will look forward to pictures from your fishing trips in Montana, plenty of good fishing there and plenty of fish. Enjoy!



Re: New England Farewell: Hello Montana
by waterwhippa on March 14, 2007 http://salmonriverspecialists.com
Keith,

It was a pleasure crossing paths with you. The short time you were in New England you really got it done. Maybe we could meet halfway and fish some Michigan chrome.....safe travels.



Re: New England Farewell: Hello Montana
by kimosabe on March 14, 2007
Nice vid! Looks like you had a time in NE :-)
Safe travel to your new destination and tight lines!



Re: New England Farewell: Hello Montana
by joey on March 14, 2007 http://www.fliesandfinseast.com
good luck out west keith. It was pleasure to meet and fish with you. Shoot me a PM when you reach your destination. Maybe we can meet in MT and wet a line. Safe travels.

j-



Re: New England Farewell: Hello Montana
by laurenslegend on March 14, 2007
keith,
Thanks for sharing those pictures. That brookie is sweet! Shaq and I will be in Mt in July. I hope you can come down to the Madison to join us.


 
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Summary: Flies and Fins contains fly fishing pictures, videos, tips, tactics, forums and articles related to salt water and fresh water fly fishing. The stories are comprised of fly fishing trips and vacations to travel destinations worldwide with fly fishing tips and tactics related to trout, steelhead, salmon, tarpon, permit, bonefish, tuna, striped bass, shark, sailfish, and other freshwater and saltwater fish species. Flies and Fins is an online fly fishing community comprised of fly fishermen of all different levels and all walks of life. Flies and Fins is a state of mind, a way of life; an opportunity for fly fishermen to use video, pictures, and the written word to share their fly fishing experiences and live vicariously through the experiences of other fly fishermen. Please browse our stories site map, corresponding fly fishing story archives, and forum site map.