Androscoggin River Report June 25,2005
Water temp 64 F Flow Rate 2280 CFS

The weather has finally given us a break. Although I had some good fishing with the high flows. The better fishing has come as the river dropped. I guided a client on Tuesday who took three good fish. All were Rainbows. The first was 16 inches that came straight up out of the water on the take. The fat Rainbow then headed into the fast water and made a great run before coming to net. The next was the biggest fish. It never jumped but made several reel screaming runs. It was a pleasure to watch my client play the fish. The next fish came on a cut bank right in tight to shore the 17 inch Rainbow hit as soon as the fly landed and then made a spectacular three foot jump hanging sideways at the top! Next came a long run up stream with a great leap at the end. You just have to admire Rainbows.
We met a four-man crew from IF&W doing a float and fishing to take a fish sampling. They were spin and fly-fishing. Each fish was measured weighed and a scale sample taken. I think it is important to all of us that we realize that the State of Maine has one of the best team of biologists in the East. Even with all the budget cuts the Dept has faced they prioritize, gather information and manage the resource well. Any thing we as anglers can do to help will make a big difference. The future of our fisheries depends on it.
I Guided for Bass the last two days and my clients did very well using poppers.
We started out using streamers and after working a riffle and eddy with only a couple of 12-inch fish moved down river and worked another eddy. They started to get some nice Bass that were holding right in tight to shore. After picking up eight or ten fish we moved down river and continued to work the banks. One client opted to try a foam popper and on the six or seventh cast he got a heavy and hard take. The Bass ran up stream head shaking and thumping the rod tip from down deep. The Bass then sky rocketed out of the water to reveal its size. It was a heavy bodied 19inch fish which plenty of attitude that continued to test my client and his equipment. The fish jumped three more times before coming to net. Both clients now went to poppers and for the next two hours they caught Bass after bass. I don’t know how many doubles they had. The 19-inch fish was the biggest in the two days of fishing but the majority of Bass were between 15 and 17 inches! My clients fished all day yesterday with poppers with excellent results. They were taking Bass from put in to take out. I enjoyed the fishing almost as much as my clients!
“A man should believe in something…I believe I’ll go fishing.”