Thanks for the message, your kind words are very much appreciated. Try fishing that Maple close to shore during the Spring. I typically do best using a sink tip, or a long leader on a floating line (15+ft) if you tied the fly weighted. I’ve seen people do very well trolling it with a sinking line as well. In that case, I usually rig it with a grey ghost tied on about ten feet behind it–makes for an interesting looking tandem setup.

Let me know how you do, I’m interested to see how my patterns work in other areas. Let me know if you ever journey up here, we’ll get together and throw some line!

Tight Lines,

-Ben

Thx.

Listen Ray,

“Them boys” have done more for the fisheries in northern Maine during their early lives combined than most could do in a lifetime. Two of them are reputable registered Maine guides, one is an active duty soldier awaiting his second tour in Afghanistan. All of them make their careers in the woods of northern Maine. I have been actively fishing the fish river below the falls for nearly 10 years, and we have caught more trout and salmon in that stretch during the last three years than I ever have before. The Fish river is nasty during the Spring, and remains swift throughout the Summer even when the water is low. Muskie prefer slow moving water, and in the Summer tend to stick to the warmer shallows. Illegal introduction in large numbers (1 or 2 fish would never develop and support an entire population) is the only way most biologists agree the fish river chain could ever see a population of muskie. I agree that the effects would be devastating, but what do you suggest we do? Implying that killing every fish we catch would somehow save the trout and salmon populations is a joke, and a fairly uninformed one at that.

All four of them are also respected and knowledgeable trout and salmon fishermen. I’m guessing you’ve never fished for muskie, because there is a reason they call it the fish of a thousand casts. I’ve thrown flies and gear for muskie frequently for the last three years, and I can say with experience that it is by far the most time consuming, tiring form of fishing I have ever attempted. I will always prefer trout and salmon, but killing every muskie we catch would literally remove in the ballpark of 20 fish MAX from the river each year. The population has been growing since the late 1970s, so your candid remarks are not only rude, they are unwarranted and ignorant. I understand that the fishing was better “back in the day” but the Saint John River is long gone as a Trout and Salmon fishery. As a whole, the fisheries in northern Maine have angler ignorance and ridiculous bag limits to thank for their massive decline in productivity, NOT muskie. So while you are pissed off about muskie threatening the trout and salmon, know that it is because of past generations that MY generation never got to experience the native fishery you speak of. With that said, I cant remember the last time I told my grandfather or other older anglers that they “need to be slapped upside the head.”

Think before you speak. There are more civil ways to get your point across, and countless have done just that without trashing on a group of guys who probably love fishing ALL species as much if not more than you do.

-Ben