A little bit about Grand Lake Stream

Let's begin with Grand Lake Stream. Grand Lake Stream is a small village in Downeast Maine. It is known mostly for its Land Locked Salmon fishing and the locally made hand crafted canoes that bear the name "Grandlakers" I'll tell you a little about each.

Landlocked salmon are a freshwater form of the sea-run Atlantic salmon.

Prior to 1868, landlocked salmon populations occurred in only four river basins in Maine: the St. Croix, including West Grand Lake in Washington County; the Union, including Green Lake in Hancock County; the Penobscot, including Sebec Lake in Piscataquis County; and the Presumpscot, including Sebago Lake in Cumberland County. Average size is 16 to 18 inches and 1 to 1½ pounds, but 3-5-pound fish are not uncommon.

I love fishing for landlocked salmon, they are strong, acrobatic and aggressive. their main forage food is smelt, a small baifish common in Maine lakes. The abundance of smelt let to the development of Maine's famous streamer fly tradition, most notably Carrie Stevens and her famous "Grey Ghost" pattern. Streamer flies are tied to resemble smelt and other baitfish, generally fished Across and downstream, then stripped back, streamer fishing can bring savage strikes that make streamer fishing perhaps the most popular method of fishing for land locked salmon. In addition to streamer flies, landlocks can also be caught on nymphs and dry flies. Streamers tend to rule in the heavier flows of spring while dries and nymphs rule in summer . Fall is a mix of streamer and nymph fishing. Landlocks can be as difficult to fool as brown trout, in heavily fished areas only the most carefully presented dryfly or nymph will fool a wily salmon, often flies in sizes 20 or 22 are the only flies that will work.

Grand Lake Stream itself is a short stretch of river that flows from the dam at West Grand Lake downstream to Big Lake, a distance of about three miles. Those three miles, however, are fabled waters. All of the river provides fishing opportunities, from the Dam pool at the head of the river to the Meadow in the lower reaches, the river is a collection of famous pools, the Hatchery Pool, the Evening Pool, The Glide, Big Falls, The Corporation, The Picnic Area, The Bathtub and Little Falls. They all hold wonderful memories for me, and for countless others. I have fished Grand Lake Stream in the Spring and Fall for fifteen years. I have been there when the fishing was spectacular and also when you could not buy a fish. The flows from the dam dictate the quality of the fishing, a strong surge of water in the spring will bring fresh salmon up from the lake and into the river, if the flows are low the fishing will be slow. Strong flows will bring fresh fish, on the move and aggressive.

The town of Grand Lake Stream has a population of about 120 year round residents, There are an abundance of fishing guides and sporting camps, perhaps the most famous of these is Weatherby's. I always stay at Grand Lake Stream Camps, owned by Gary and Nancy Betz, theirs are the oldest sporting camps on the river, and I mean "on the river" The camps are nestled right on the river bank, all the cabins are named for ducks, The Wood Duck, The Mallard, etc. The cabins are rustic but very comfortable, I sleep as well in the Wood Duck as I do in my bed at home. Obviously I don't travel to Grand Lake Stream alone, my friends Donny, Scotty and Jeff all share the "Wood Duck" other friends like Richard and Roy often come for a few days. Because of the quality of the fishing and the shortness of the river, it can get pretty crowded, especially during the peak times. despite the crowds you can usually find a place to fish, the crowds tend to congregate in the most popular and easiest to access pools like the Dam Pool or the Hatchery Pool, a short walk or a visit to some of the more difficult pools to access can bring rewards.