Mainer.

There is something to be said about being a native Mainer. Not all good, not all bad. I've known quite a few local characters over the years. One who will never leave my memory is Bob Wagg. I first met Bob as a kid fishing in The Forks. He was a wild man to a impressionable youth. Later when I started guiding whitewater trips I got to know Bob a bit better.

The stories he told about logging, hunting, trapping, fishing and general mayhem in the woods were entertaining to say the least. Treat yourself and your friends to the classic Maine film 'Dead River Rough Cut'. This isn't a regional movie made by Hollywood. It doesn't have those atrocious fake Maine accents that make a Mainer want to puke. No pretty people or B.S. This is the real deal.

I can still see Bob at the rest area on river left in the late afternoon light. A cigarette poised in his mouth, a Bud by his side and an ever present wave of his hand. He was always one of the highlights of a trip for me. Most guests were a bit taken aback by this apparition on the bank. He wasn't included in the brochure. Though he should have been.

Not many made like Bob anymore. Take a step back in time.