We are coming up to Rangeley the 2nd week in August. My father and I have never fished for salmon before and we was wondering what types of techinques we should be using for the best success. I hear alot about trolling sewn bait. Can someone explain what that is? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Hi Matthew - My family and I will be going up to Rangeley this weekend for a week. You are going to have to troll deep & slow for Salmon and Trout. You can do this either of two ways. One you can use lead core line and this will get your sewn on bait (no live bait allowed) down to where the fish are. Or you will need to use down riggers to get your bait or lure down. Depending on how hot it has been during the recent past will determine how deep you must go. And you can troll different baits/ lures at different depths to see what is working. You can check at the Rangeley Region Fly Shop in town or the sporting goods store in Oquossic to see what is working. If you have never fished this way before I suggest that you hook up with Shaun Swain a local guide who will put you on some fish. He can be contacted at www.fishrangeley.com. If you go with him early in your stay, then you will have a good idea of what you need to do the rest of the week. Good luck, you will love it. Bob Herman

I just got back from a two week stay up on Rangeley. We got most of our fish (salmon and brookies) at 45 ft trolling with a downrigger at 1.5 to 2.0 mph with DB Smelt lures. We had the most luck just in front of Hunter Cove where it is 80-100 ft deep. We caught more fish between 3:00 and 4:00 PM in that area than we did at sunrise.