Fly fishing in Maine

My wife and I are planning a trip to Maine for next september or october... Where should we stay?? What city??? I would like to get a little fishing in if possible... Any help would be appreciated!

What kind of fishing are you interested in? Landlocked Salmon and Trout?

The season on most waters in Maine ends at the end of September. If you go in October there is limited water still open (it's good water to fish and beautiful, but still limited). I would check out the East Outlet of the Kennebec River (in which case you would want to stay in Greenville) or Grand Lake Stream (in which case you would want to stay at Grand Lake Stream village). Grand Lake Stream village has a bunch of places cabins and camp you can rent out. I'd recommend going to the following sites/forums to find out more about fly fishing in Maine from people who live there.

Some Maine fly fishing forums:
www.maineflyfish.com
www.flyfishinginmaine.com
www.maineflyfishing.com / www.flyfishingonly.net (same site but the latter link takes you directly to the forums.

Joel

If you're planning a trip up to Grand lake stream, I'll give you some local info for that area. I know of some cabins that you can rent out for you and your wife. You could call the general store and talk with Curt or kathy and they can also help you out.
Bill is right about limited access to certain streams.
Too bad you're not going this year. I heard that the fall fishing is going to be good this year.

Hi,

I'll second what these guys have said... and the fishing in Maine is really picking up right now, for sure. My favorite spots close Oct 1st, but that still leaves two weekends :-)

The East Outlet and GLS would be my recommendations, too, although the Shawmut area of the Kennebec might be great (Waterville area up to the Madison area, actually).

If you go to Grand Lake Stream, you might want to consider a little time taking in Acadia National Park on the way. There's a guarenteed whale watch out of Bar Harbor and an LL Bean outlet in Ellesworth, as sidelights.

If you go to the East Outlet, you might want to go in to Baxter State Park and see the moose at Sandy Stream Pond or climb Katahdin.

As far as peak color is concerned, right now its pretty beautiful up by the Rangeley Lakes, but only just getting started at our place near Farmington.

If you are driving out, we cross the boarder into and out of Michigan four to eight times a year, and customs is a snap with a passport. Crossing thru the Soo takes longer once you get into Ontario, though its neat. We do it when we can, otherwise crossing from Pt Huron over to Niagra Falls is quick and crossing into upstate New York at Cornwall then down to highway 2 across to Maine can be breathtaking in the fall (Vermont, New Hampshire).

Flying in to Bangor or Portland is a piece of cake, too. Both are port towns, Bangor on the Penobscot River and Portland right on the Atlantic. Each has its charm.

The web sites Bill gave you (Bill was a Mainer) are great.

Maybe we'll see you here,
Kat

Kathy,

I happen to be a Penobscot, but I was born, and for the most part raised, in Texas. I first moved to Maine when I was 15 and have moved between Maine, Texas, and California since that time. :wink:

Edit:
We tried to go whale watching out of Bar Harbor a couple Octobers ago with my Dad and Stepmother. Unfortunately, the water was far too choppy at that time to go out. I don't know if choppy water is typical in October, but the guarantee only applies if you can get the tickets in the first place since they won't sell them if they expect the water to be rough. If you do go out you are pretty much guaranteed to see whales, however, the underwater terrain keeps whales in a particular area pretty much year round.

However, if you want to go whale watching and aren't able to do so, there should still be plenty of fall colors and scenery to see in Acadia National park in October.

I think we are going to fly into portland and drive to and stay in bar harbor.....then we can stop at LL bean in freeport on the way.....

Anyone know of any good deals on houses or cottages for rent in Bar Harbor???

anyone???

Hello Joel, a way to find a vacation rental is to locate a rental management company or a realtor in the area you wish to stay. It goes pretty fast after you do that and you can usually initiate the process on the internet. Google comes to mind.

Cheers,

MontanaMoose

I have used google and found many places....But I was thinking someone here might have a suggestion or have stayed there before or might even have a place for rent...

joel, I know it is to late for this year. But if you deceide to come another year try this site http://www.deerislemaine.com there are a lot of places to stay and you are close to Bar Harbor.

Well we narrowed it down to the week of Sept. 29 - Oct. 6th. Mainly because of the fall colors....and we have been looking at staying on mt. desert island because of Acadia National Park....

We still have yet to book a place to stay....

Acadia is a great place to stay and is very pretty but it is also very pricey.
You could book a motel in the city of Ellsworth and Acadia is only about 20 minutes away.
Deer Isle is about an hour and 15 minutes away is is also a very pretty place to see.
A lot of people that I take fishing stay on Deer Isle and make day trips to Acadia.
Just a heads up. Like I say places on MDI are expencive to stay there.

if after landlocks and want to get downeast please PM and I will let you know--do't want to go comercial--otherwise scroll through www.flyfishinginmaine.com and see what excites you.

I would love to go after landlocks...I've never done that before.... I read that Green Lake is good for that...Is that true??

i do not know that lake well--but the Grand Lake Stream is trophy water

what is the fishing like on the first week in october???

Wow...If you could get up to Grand Lake Stream, or even the West Branch, you'd be hitting prime fishing time for Landlocks up here. Even if you only book one night at a lodge and fish for one day, you would never regret it (and you would never want to leave). I don't know much about many hot salmonid fishing holes down south, but you could possibly get into some fall run stripers in the surf. I know a good guide down south that might be able to get you into some good fish as well, but the fall can be shifty fishing for stripers sometimes. If you really want to get into some trout/salmon I'm sure you can find some good fishing in southern Maine.

Thanks for the info....Salmon or stripers I don't really care...I just want to be able to put my fly rod to good use!!!

GLS is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Acadia.
There are lakes on MDI that hold salmon and such if that is what you are after.