Just returning from my 2 week vacation, the memories of the great fly fishing remind me why Maine is probably my favorite destination of all for vacation. I had all my plans set prior to leaving probably months in advance. I was going to hit one of the finest watersheds the state has to offer. Maine”s Kennebec river. Primarily the East Outlet. I had my best trip to date in Maine this outing. And the beauty of it is, I never even got to see the East Outlet at all. Mother nature and the dam keeper foiled any plans that were in place. The water was way over the flow levels necessary to fish it for the entire 2 week period. The only part of the Kennebec I saw was the back river of the Kennebec. Casting to the striped bass as they started their journey up this great river, as they do every spring when the spawn begins. All of the fish I caught were in the small 16″ range. But they were still a blast to catch and the first striped bass I have caught on the fly. But as I have learned this trip, Maine offers endless opportunities for fish when others aren”t working out. Early in the trip I also went to a small river I had fished in the past in hopes of catching what is, and always will be, my favorite fish. The Brook trout. Maine is one of the only states left that has an abundance of these beauties. Still they eluded my attempts and I landed mainly all small browns and a huge surprise that I had hoped was a nice big Brookie. Nope, a black bass that was in the 3 lb. range. What a fight he put up on my small 3 wt. rod. But the best part of the trip had yet to come. On the fourth day in I met up with Jeremy and fished a water he was very familiar with that managed to still be at perfect flow level. I have to say after fishing with Jeremy the past few times he is probably one of the most gracious people I have had the privilege of meeting. He was determined to get me into some of the fine Brookies that Maine has to offer. I”ve paid guides that didn”t have half the determination Jeremy does in regards to putting people on fish. And he does it simply for the love of fly fishing. The first day my wife, myself and Jeremy fished from mid afternoon to around 5 or 6PM. We had a few nice fish on but none were brought to hand until right before we left. Jeremy caught what was probably the largest and most nicely colored Brookie that I have had the privilege of laying my eyes on. Still determined to put a nice brook trout on my line Jeremy and I fished the same spot again a couple of days later. This time early in the morning. And the fish were definitely feeding. My first cast and, BAM, a huge Landlock Salmon charges my fly. And as I have done many times before, and probably many to come, instinct blew the chance. I pulled the fly right out of his mouth. Times like that you just have to fall back laugh it off and get right back to work. And that”s exactly what I did. On about my fifth cast I finally hooked up with the big Maine Brookie I had always hoped to catch. What a great fish. I was way to happy and caught up in the moment to think about getting a measurement. But I”d guess he was in the 16-18 inch range. He was definitely at or over my personal best of 16 inches. After that first fish everything started settling in and the fishing just got better from there on in. Fish started rising all around us as a nice hatch of tan caddis were coming off. Jeremy decided it was time to change up and fish the surface. He tied a elk haired caddis fly on and gave it a few cast up stream and let it drift down a side of the pool where the fish were rising. No takers. Jeremy handed me the rod and I gave it a shoot down stream where I had seen one fish in particular sipping caddis off the surface. On my first cast I got the perfect drift. Just as the fly began to bounce off the water at the end of the drift, “got him!!!!”. Second fish of the day. A nice Landlock Salmon. Nothing beats catching trout on dries. But this being my first Landlock puts it up as my most memorable experience fishing dries. Our day was just beginning however. We worked our way down stream and fished a nice run of riffles. Jeremy caught the first of the fish that hit our flies. A nice beautifully colored Brookie that was about a foot in length. I would swear these fish were ready to spawn. Their bellies were a blaze orange that you usually only see on them in the fall. Absolutely magnificent despite being smaller than the other fish we had caught. We later found out that the state had just stocked the stream. We caught at least 30 of these great little fish each. Fishing for the big wild fish is always tops on anyone”s list. But these little guys were a blast to catch. They wouldn”t leave the fly alone they were so aggressive. We had such a productive day that I met up with Jeremy and Joey the following day. And the fish were still taking the fly as aggressively as the day before. After catching a few of the stockies we went up stream to fish to the wild fish that liked to hold in this one pool. Those fish also where feeding quite aggressively. Joey caught a nice size Brookie in the same lie that I had caught my first the previous day. I fished downstream a bit and found a nice pod of wild Brookies that were feeding on the surface and sub surface. Not as large as the fish just up stream a bit. But nice and fat. And very eager to take the wooly bugger I was throwing their way. For me it was Maine fishing at it”s best. Even though I know there are still places like the East Outlet that are the home to some much larger fish in larger numbers. The second week got a lot tougher as all the rains brought water levels up quite a bit. My wife and I got out that Wednesday and fished to the stockies in the rain. They were beginning to smarten up. I caught a few on the bugger, but they were definitely getting hip to it. My wife was having some good success with a little red chironimid pupae that was fished as a dropper off a nymph rig. You could see the fish rolling down near the bottom as they were feeding on bugs that were drifting down their way. I couldn”t have been more pleased with all the great fishing we got in. Much of the credit goes to Jeremy. As does much thanks from myself and my wife. After several failed lessons I have given her on the art of roll casting that ended up in a face off, lol, Jeremy had her roll casting in about 15 minutes. I”m sure that”s just a matter of the selective listening all marriages have though. 🙂 Thanks much bro. Looking forward to fishing with you again. Joey it was also a pleasure meeting and fishing with you. I envy the great Brookie fishing you guys have up there. Thanks for sharing.