Full Day Final.

We finished our last full day trip of the season this weekend. We had a late addition for Sunday that we cancelled due to odds. The trip for Sunday consisted of three clients who had never fly fished before. The weather forecast was calling for 4"-12" of snow along with steady winds for Sunday. Techniques of late have been sink tip systems and nymphing. Adding in higher than average water flows and this trip wasn't looking good.

Outfitting guests with proper gear isn't a problem, we can gear up to ten clients head to toe with solid, functional hard and soft ware. We had hired another guide to work that day with us (we have a two to one ratio policy). We cancelled due to expectations. Not theirs. Ours.

We guide a fair number of beginner clients throughout the season and with that comes a huge responsibility to the future of this sport. I have always believed that a fly fisherman is made out of their first few trips whether guided or not. If that novice has a bad guided experience that's even worse in our eyes. The future of conservation, ethics and etiquette fish with us every season and we don't ever forget that fact. A positive learning experience are our expectations.

Handing a novice a six weight loaded with a 200 grain sink tip and a streamer double rig is ridiculous. Asking them to cast it forty five feet up and across while dealing with snow and steady winds is just wrong. After a frank phone conversation we reached an agreement. We will see these three in 2012 either for a day trip or our two day school program. One thing we have learned after many seasons of guiding, booking and outfitting is that an honest appraisal of a client's wishes is in the best interest of everyone. The one aspect of the guiding business you don't hear enough of.

Dam Talk.

We received an email from Maine Rivers yesterday announcing an interesting event. Author Steven Hawley will be in Maine, talking about his new book 'Recovering A Lost River'. Along with the book will be a showing of "Salmon: Running The Gauntlet". Two locations for the evening.

November 8th at The Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville at 7:00 P.M.

November 9th at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve, Mather Auditorium in Wells at 7:00 P.M.

Maine has it's share of dam removal and salmon issues. Will the tide turn? We shall see.

Digits.

It's that time of the season. Fingerless gloves crucial. Two pair a minimum for wade trips. Three for float trips if you're the guide pulling the anchor rope.

Keep the wet ones tucked next to you under your waders to dry out quicker. Don't store them on the stripping deck for the wind god to take. We've played "Cast to the sinking glove" game too many times. We've only seen one winner. Ever.

During half time stack them on the dash of the field office for solar generated drying. Hand warmers in the pockets of your wader jacket rejuvenates. Plus you look really cool hooking up one handed.

Word.

Cooling down daily. The gloves are on in the a.m. The lucky beanie also. Hand warmers, full thermoses, spicy lunches and the super warm puffy getting used and abused. Sink tips, 6&7 weights, 0-2X fluorocarbon or Maxima, number one in the line up. Streamer boxes showing some gaps. If you have a streamer addiction this is dream time.

Streamer Fishing: Weapon of choice. Throwing two at a time working best. One large, one small. Mix up the retrieve. Fast, three fast then pause, tip strip, dead drift jiggle. Whatever you do mix it up. Old school down and across never stops working in the right hands.

Nymphing: Yep. The bobber is back. Alternate size and colors. Rubber leg stone in black followed by something funky has been the doing the voodoo. Focus on small P.T.s, Copper Johns or Engle's Baetis. Something that represents the absent BWOs.

Dry Fly: BWO hatches? Still weak. Will they come off? In numbers? We sure hope so. When they do come off, be ready. All rigged up, floatant applied and ready to throw. It's short lived right now. Sometimes an hour. Sometimes less. Sometimes the no show. Lawson's No Hackles, H&L Variants and Sparkle Duns all proving their value. Adams Hot Post Parachute for those visually impaired.

This week marks the end of full day trips for the season. Half days from here until the bitter end. Focusing on the potential midday rise. Gentleman's hours. Flask optional.

Sideline Event.

Sunday was a day off with a plan that never quite went off as I wanted. The plan was to do an early morning short float on the Androscoggin river with two friends and then attend the Maine Wilderness Guides Organizations annual meeting and banquet. Earlier in the week one member cancelled due to their work load and on Saturday the other bailed.

I don't let potential free time pass easily. I decided to do a half day wade and then leave in time to catch the event. Throwing streamers produced a few hits on an aggressive strip. Changing up to a swing and a tip strip produced a couple of small rainbows. After working two small runs I decided to grab the dry rod and hopefully find some risers in the soft bank side eddies.

The first area produced the blank. The second was money. Two small rises occasionally broke the surface. Looking at my watch I knew I was cutting it close. I made a deal with myself that if I hooked just one fish I would leave. After numerous refusals I made a fly change. Another refusal. Off went the dry and on went a size 20 P.T. Flashback. First cast and the rainbow nailed it. Nice fat, healthy fish. It was at this point I arrived at a crossroads. Stay or go. A deal is a deal I kept telling myself. Leaving rising fish is something I rarely do.

I arrived at Mahoosic Mountain Lodge a bit late. It never looks good when you arrive somewhere wearing waders and are changing in the parking lot. The cats pretty much out of the bag at that point. The meeting was already proceeding when I stepped in. Luckily I wasn't the only one to show up late. I think a lot of members were out enjoying the day as well.

Cpl. John McDonald from IF&W was the guest speaker for the event. He spoke about the need to strengthen and build better relationships with working guides. It was a very good presentation. Questions from the membership were well received and responses were thoughtful. It's always good to see that the Maine warden service is open to suggestions and new ideas. This was a big step in helping protect the resources we are all so fortunate to work in.

This years MWGO Conservation Award went to Karin Tilberg for her work in helping protect some of Maine's most spectacular areas. We are all very lucky to have people like Ms. Tilberg working for Maine's future generations in regard to conservation.

Meeting and talking with many like minded individuals was great fun. With so many diverse guiding backgrounds the goal is never lost. This is a driven organization dedicated to the protection of Maine's wilderness areas. This is a fun event that I look am looking forward to attending next year. There is still that one fish left in that pocket.

Fall Floats.

The one view drift boat guides never tire off. We've been seeing this same scene for the past week. Nice bends in those streamer rods a daily occurrence. Brown trout charging the space invader type flies. Salmon taking the bright and dull. Brookies on the slower strip. Working the slow side of the seams. Fishing bank structure on the short leash. Two to three strips, pause, strip. Cast to new water. Repeat.

Chartreuse has been the hot color this week. Sizes 2-10. Combine it with a natural/earth tone streamer. The dirty martini. It will change by tomorrow. Streamer fishing from a drift boat requires casting accuracy and the ability to read water well. Add the amount of stripping and rod manipulation, you have a technique just as challenging as dry fly presentation.

Blue Wing Olive hatches are still weak. Rising fish are few and rises are super sippy subtle. Parachute Adams, Lawson's No Hackle, H&L Variant and Sparkle Duns all getting slurped. Stay late. Later than you think for October.

Dirty little secret in guiding. Good guides work as hard as you fish. We've been kicking ass and taking names lately because our clients are putting a lot into their day. It's a team effort on a float. Get a mitt and get in the game.

Old Fly Face.

My first pair of Simms neoprene waders gave up the ghost many seasons ago. They still have a useful purpose though. Fishing report coming soon. Have a great weekend.

Spring Creek Fix.

If you've ever had the opportunity to fish a spring creek, you know how amazing this experience can be. After going through the Spring Creek Film site numerous times, you might get a idea of how special these waters are. I've been very fortunate to fish some well known spring creeks and some that were off the radar. All had their own personalities and degree of difficulty. None disappointed.

Do yourself a favor and put 'Fish a Spring Creek' on your things to do list. Bring your A game, and a dose of humility.

Waters Edge.

With water levels higher than average, the wading angler needs to adjust their game. The blue wings are hatching almost everyday. They are not blanketing the water by any rate but they are there. Paying close attention to those soft edges right now can pay off.

We have been working those small eddies and bank seams during the last few weeks with pretty good results. Even without seeing a rising fish we fished them as if we did. Gentle, quiet presentations produced takes. Looking closely from the bank we were able to spot a few also. Most of the time the fish were less than a foot of water.

Forget the power water for tiny dries for now. Fish the water most people wade through.

Fall Events.

There are a few events of interest coming up this month and next you might want to be aware of. We would like to attend all of them, but the possibility of that seems remote, given the days are numbered and the countdown is on. Put some of these on your calender and remember all of the proceeds of these events go to an environmental cause or organization. Give back.

• The Wild & Scenic Film Festival Tour will be hosted by Friends of Casco Bay in Portland on November 5th. If you haven't seen the movie Eastern Rises, you will be stoked.

• FFIM and CCA are hosting a special fundraising showing of Connect the newest movie from Confluence Films. Maine's very own Capt. Eric Wallace is featured in the film doing the skinny water striper voo doo. Shown at The Frontier Cafe in Brunswick on October 28th. Way cool place with a great micro brew selection.

• The Maine Wilderness Guides Organization will be holding it's annual banquet/meeting in Newry on October 23rd. Hosted by Mahoosic Mountain Lodge, this event is open to all. Great location and event.

• The Maine Council of Trout Unlimited is presenting 'The Maine Fly Fishing Show' on November 6th in South Portland. All proceeds will go to the 2012 Maine TU Trout Camp program. We have been involved in the Trout Camp program for a number of years. It is an outstanding opportunity for our future stewards.

• Mountain Film will be coming to Portland on October 21st. Always an entertaining evening. Contact Chestnut Mountain Productions for more information.

That should fill a couple of dates in your calender. Hope to see some of you at one or more of these events. Thanks and have a great weekend.

The Skinny.

This is where conditions stand as of today. We are experiencing flow regimes that have absolutely NO consistency. Levels are down one day and higher the next. Release data is proving to be untrustworthy at best. Being prepared for the unexpected is becoming the norm. With the next weather prediction for 48 hours calling for over an inch of rain, who knows what the levels will be. I know that the flow guru in charge is going to pull out all the stops. The dart board, Magic 8 Ball and a Ouija board will all be in use until the end of October. Nice to have a resource we all use not managed properly.

Enough bitching (though it felt good), this is the deal these last few days.

• Streamers: The go to technique lately. Sink tips in the 200-275 grain size and the stealthy intermediate line are getting the groceries delivered. Streamer patterns have included The Bad House Guest, Zoo Cougars, Lawson's Sculpin and Intruder in sizes 2-4. Don't overlook the smaller size streamers (8-10). These are working well in the dead drift/lift technique. Deadly.
  
• Nymphing: Gets it done. Easier to streamer fish though. Nymph combo is pretty simple right now. Start with a size 6 or 8, Stonefly, Czech or Prince. Drop a P.T. concoction, midge pupa or rock worm. Add split shot to taste.
• Dry Fly: Weak. Barney Fife weak. Savor those risers. Midge events in the a.m. have showed off and on. Baetis hatches have been poor. Searching those soft edges with a small offering can produce. October Caddis patterns working in heavier water throughout the day. Dark day bank offering has been the foam cricket. Subtle
  

This isn't the most positive report we've ever written but is pretty honest. Playing the cards we were dealt the best we can. Float trips and wades at this time of the year are to be savored. Having a few accessories along can certainly help.

October Dates.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. We have finally rescheduled and reconfigured every trip for the remainder of this month. We are now packed, racked and jacked for the rest of October. If you are thinking of doing a trip this month, contact us as soon as possible. We do have some availability. Not much but some.

Join in on closing down the 2011 season. Last call happening soon!

Accurate Casts.

Whenever the water drops around here we will hopefully have some heads poking up for blue wing olives. Casts need to be quiet and accurate. The reach cast, 5 and 6X, cripple patterns, four weights, sipping trouts. Bring it.

Spey Time.

Water levels are dropping, albeit slowly. With flows too high for the majority of anglers, this is our prime time to get after it. We discovered the two handed game awhile ago and haven't looked back. Using a spey rod enables you to fish where and when others can't. Armed with a spey rod changes your whole view on what's blown out and what isn't.

Add either a tapered sinking leader in either seven or twelve feet or a section of T8 from Rio. Figuring out the depth and speed for presentation requires a little thought. Armed with a loop system, changes are quick and painless. With these two tools in the box you can cover almost any water found in Maine rivers. Whether they be the size of the Kennebec or some of our other smaller sized waters during a spate. Learning to cast sink tips with a double hander is relatively easy.

Packing some streamers in black, burnt orange, yellow and chartreuse along with some larger wets would be a good idea also. Go long and get the grab.

Changes.

We are (unfortunately) getting really good at rescheduling trips. Levels right now are blown on both the Kennebec and Androscoggin rivers. Small and medium systems will hopefully drop by the end of the week. Thanks go out to our clients that have pushed back their trips or rescheduled for next season.

The drop can be a kick ass time if you work it right. Don't get hung up on the tried and true traditional techniques. Fishing the drop brings out the funky stuff. Keep an open mind and have the ability to think out of the box.

Welcome October.

Not a bad way to break in this new month. More to come, stay tuned.