New England Farewell: Hello Montana

by | Salt Water

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!

10 Comments

  1. jeremy on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    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…

  2. wrh on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    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.

  3. KodiakCommando on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    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

  4. greg on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I will look forward to pictures from your fishing trips in Montana, plenty of good fishing there and plenty of fish. Enjoy!

  5. jeremy on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    ps … i saw some nice sized landlocks in your video … feel free to PM me with some of your honey holes … i will look after them while your away:)

  6. waterwhippa on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    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.

  7. kimosabe on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Nice vid! Looks like you had a time in NE 🙂
    Safe travel to your new destination and tight lines!

  8. joey on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    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-

  9. Keith on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I’ll shoot you an PM J-bone. You probably know most of them, but maybe a few new waters for you to check out. And I’ll make sure to keep you in the loop on bull trout and ID steelhead, so long as you keep me in the game on the albies.
    Later

  10. laurenslegend on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    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.