Being a guide has already been very rewarding as I have learned so much this year alone. Every day has new challenges that stretch my skill sets constantly. One huge challenge is catching fish through my clients. Each angler has a different skill set that you have to understand and know how to correct any deficiencies. If they are a beginner you have to teach the basics and build on each skill. Now if you only have a few hours then that is stressful.  There are a few secrets that I use to assist each angler in catching a fish and has been successful so far.  Last week I had a client, Cindy, that wanted to learn how to fly-fish.  Now for full disclosure I need to state that this client was my mother-in-law.  This added a much more complicated dynamic to this two day trip and included much more stress.  We started the day on the soccer pitch with fly casting lessons.  One of the biggest issues with most fly-anglers is that the wrist bends during the forward and backward motions.  To alleviate that I actually tied Cindy’s wrist to the cork handle.  After a few hours we were ready to hit the water.  It is always a good idea to not start off on the water when learning as currents and fish can complicate things very quickly.

Cindy during her casting lesson

Cindy casting over productive water

I chose Millinocket Stream as our location to fish for the day.  This is the stream that flows out of Millinocket Lake in T3 Indian Purchase not to be confused with the other Millinocket Stream further north.  I love this stream for the views and the fact that the fishing pressure is much less than some of the more popular spots.  Mount Katahdin is the backdrop to this stream and I never get tired of that view.  Also this stream is open year round and if you do not like the heat and bugs then fall fishing should be something you give a try.  I had been keeping an eye on the flows throughout the week and was concerned as the flows were over 580 cubic feet per second (cfs), but was relieved on Tuesday when I saw the flows go down to 289 cfs.  When we got into position at the first pool below the dam I tied on a Foxhole Special onto Cindy’s line and had her cast down and across the current, which brought her streamer over some very productive water.  Immediately I saw brook trout slashing at it and grabbing her streamer.  This is where it gets tricky for a beginner as this is a totally new process of fishing.  The other important item to have when fly-fishing is a good pair of polarized sunglasses.  We both could see the fish as they came after Cindy’s streamer.  I then moved Cindy to the middle of the stream where there was more current, but had more boulders which created more holding water for the trout and salmon.  I had Cindy retrieve her streamer along the seams of the current and she quickly had some hard strikes and she had one brook trout on that we lost while trying to get it to the net.  The look on Cindy’s face when that first trout struck her streamer was priceless and I remembered back to my first taste of success on a fly rod.  Not a bad start to the day.

Cindy with her first fish on a fly-rod

First brook trout on a fly-rod

After a short break we moved down stream to a pool that I know holds some nice salmon.  Again using the current to our advantage Cindy could reach more fish by letting out more line and retrieving along the seams.  When she connected with a  fish I immediately knew it was a salmon as it came out of the water.  Not to add to the pressure of landing her first fish, but I found myself telling Cindy that this was a salmon a few times.  Luckily we brought this one to net.  I don’t really know how to describe the feeling at that point.  I felt a huge sense of relief and accomplishment for coaching Cindy through the whole process.  Mind you I never touched the fly rod during the first day, it was all Cindy.  Also I wanted to add that she used the 4-weight rod the majority of the two days, which added a touch of difficulty for the bigger fish.  We definitely had to take a moment after that to reflect on her first fish, but as with many other anglers who have tasted success Cindy went right back to the water to catch another one.  She did not pull another one out of that pool, but she did catch and land a brook trout later in the afternoon on the lower section of the river.  For her first day on the water with a fly-rod Cindy had done very well and had the pictures to prove it.

View from the dam

Stonefly nymph shucks.

On the second day we were on the river early.  For those of you that do not know me I prefer to be on the water very early.  The benefits are many, but one that not many people talk about is if one place does not work out then you have more time to find another spot.  In my time on the water this has saved many a day when high water quickly changed our plans.  We started out at the dam again and this time Cindy did not let the first brook trout of the day slip away from the net.  This one was a healthy 11″ trout.  After the success of the day before I wanted to take Cindy to a different pool that I have had a lot of luck in.  Just a short walk through the woods brought us to a typical salmon pool, fast currents with large rocks and plenty of seams and holding water.  Shortly after getting into position at the head of the pool Cindy cast into the current, but her line got sucked down by a back eddy.  I was about to have her pull her line in, as I was afraid of her hooking bottom, when she hooked into a salmon.  Again after years of fishing I knew this was a salmon by the type of head shakes that the fish was using to try and free itself.  Cindy was doing very well of fighting the fish and when it got close I saw that this was a much bigger salmon than the one the day before.  This was at least a pound heavier and at least 18″.  As the fish got closer it dove behind the large boulder in front of us and I tried in vain to net it quickly, but the line went slack and the salmon was gone.  Talk about a punch to the gut for a guide, but that has happened to even the most experienced anglers.  Cindy went back at it and after moving down current a little bit she hooked into another fish.  She had hooked a rock in the current before this so I asked her if it was a rock and I got a short response, that was more like a grunt, of no.  I asked if it was a fish and again I got a quick response with a guttural tone of yes.  This ended up being a smallmouth bass, which fight very hard for its size and gave a strong series of runs before coming to net.

Cindy with smallmouth bass

The pool where we lost the salmon.

We ended the day in the same spot as the day before.  Again Cindy hooked and landed another brook trout in the midday sun.  This brings me to another point.  Some say the high sun will put fish down.  While that is somewhat true it never hurts to put your line in the water and give it a shot.  It worked for us twice.  Also if you fish any spots with any depth and current that will harbor fish then that would be a good midday spot to try.  One major thing that I noticed was the vast amounts of stonefly nymph shucks along shore on the rocks.  These nymphs need water that is highly oxygenated and are very sensitive to poor water quality.  This showed that this stream is very healthy and I will be definitely teach Cindy how to nymph at another time as I firmly believe that stonefly nymph patterns will produce trout and salmon here.  I cannot begin to explain how those past two days felt.  We had had success and I did not let my mother-in-law drown in the stream.  The most important thing that I took away was that Cindy had fun, caught fish and would do it again.  That is all a guide could ask for.

Brook trout

Millinocket Stream