Just mention the words "West Branch" to a Maine fly fisherman and he knows you are talking about the West Branch of the Penobscot. One of Maine's premier land locked salmon fisheries, the west branch of the Penobscot is also one of Maine's most beautiful and rugged rivers. Mount Kathadin, Maine's largest mountain , stands like a sentinel overlooking the river. Driving along the Golden Road and catching your first glimpse of Kathadin will quicken your heart beat, you are in God's country.
Moose, Black Bear and Deer are abundant, it is not unusual to see a half dozen Moose in a single day. On a recent trip along a five mile stretch of the Golden Road we saw two Moose, two Bucks and three Black Bear. Moose photo safaries bring as many people here as Salmon fishing
The West Branch is a big, brawling river in a hurry to get downstream. The river is peppered with class IV and class V rapids, the cribworks below the Telos Bridge are something to behold. All this fast water and rapids bring rafters. Whitewater rafting is big business on the west branch, somehow rafters and fishermen peacefully co-exist here. The spectacle of a raft full of teenagers crashing down the river can provide an entertaining break in an afternoon's fishing.
This is McKay Power Station, below the Gorge, this pool can give up some very nice Salmon. It can be fished from either shore, Where these anglers are fishing requires a bit of a hike and a climb down a fairly steep drop. Smelts can be swept through the turbines and dumped, dazed, into the out flow where large salmon await their arrival. I used to fish here a lot when I was a younger man, nowadays I leave it for the younger guys. A word of caution, flows from the power station can raise the water level very quickly here, if you hear the sirens you'd better get out of there pretty quick.
This is my friend Jeff Bellmore, a Master Maine Guide, netting a salmon for a client on a downstream section of the river
This is Little Eddy, I caught my first west branch salmon here about 17 years ago. this is a wonderful pool but difficult to fish from shore. The opposite shore is easier to fish and is accessible by a trail. The best way to fish this pool is from a canoe but it can be very dangerous. If you venture out here you better know what you are doing. The current is fast and strong and the section below is a boneyard of rocks. That being said, an evening on Little Eddy with rising Salmon is other worldly. Not for the inexperienced or weak of heart. (I haven't fished it in years)
As I mentioned, the west branch attracts not only fishermen but occaisional beautiful young ladies. Here an angler tries to concentrate on fishing while a young lady relaxes on a rock at Sourdnahunk Falls.
This is the ledge above Holbrook Pool, this is a very good spot for drifting a nymph or floating a dry fly. salmon lay in the glassy pocket water behind rocks.
Another view of Sourdnahunk Falls, This is a spectacular and beautiful pool, a nice pebble beach and good riffles and pocket water downstream. A good pool to swing a wet.
Another view of Holbrook Pool, this is my old friend Jim McLarty, now deceased, fishing his favorite pool on the river. Jim's ashes were sprinkled here. Jim liked this pool for good reason, he once landed a seven pound salmon here. While we scrambled for a camera, Jim landed the fish, slipped it quietly back into the river, tapped his forehead and said "I don't need a picture, I'll have it forever in here"
This is me a hundred years ago, in a nice baby blue wading vest, what was I thinking?
And this is what brings us here, beautiful land locked salmon.
This is my friend Paul McGurren. Paul and I fish the Penobscot River every year for smallmouth bass. Paul manages the flyfishing department at Maine Sports in Rockport Maine. The smallmouth fishing on the Penobscot is outstanding, Paul is a registered Maine Guide and has been guiding this section of the Penobscot for 20 years. Paul is kind of a mentor of mine and a good friend, he has helped me with my casting skills and got me into serious fly tying. He is great company and a delight to fish with. If you are interested in a guided trip on the Penobscot you can contact Paul at "paul@mainesport.com"
This is Paul's most productive fly on the Penobscot, a black bead head chamoise leech. I have seen him catch some of the biggest smallmouth on this fly, in fact, thats the fly he caught the bass on in the picture above. We had tough conditions that day, high winds and high water, but Paul still nailed them on this fly.
This is my friend Richard, he is a retired flyfishing photographer. His work has appeared in all the major flyfishing magazines and books. Having spent the past fifteen years photographing other people catching fish, Richard now spends most of his time with a fly rod in his hand instead of a camera. We have fished together all over, Alaska, Labrador, Canada and all over the great State of Maine. This is "Richards fly". A simple hares ear soft hackle wet fly, but in Richards hands this fly is a fish catching machine. Everyone we know carries a few "Richards flies" with them and we all catch some fish with them, but Richard simply shines with this fly. We could be standing side by side, fishing the same run with the same fly and he would outfish me 3 to 1. This says a lot about having confidence in a particular fly, if you really believe in it, it will perform for you. Last week we were fishing the West Branch of the Penobscot River, Richard was doing his usual wet fly swing (it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing) picking up fish after fish. Soon all the hackles were worn off the fly, leaving only a hares ear body with a red head. Still it continued to catch fish, Richard speculated about stripping the fly to it's simplist form, it might catch fish with a bare hook and just a few wraps of red thread. While I go fishing with dozens of different patterns, Richard is a minimalist, he does fish other flies but generally works from an arsenal of less than a half dozen different flies, they all seem to work for him.
My name is Terry Walsh, I am a jeweler living in the mid coast region of Maine in the United States. I am also an avid flyfisher and fly tyer, I have two blogs, one fishing and one jewelry.I am originally from Dublin Ireland where I served an apprenticeship back in the 1960's. I have lived and worked in the US since 1971. I work primarily in 18Karat gold and Platinum. I hope you like my work.
Just mention the words "West Branch" to a Maine fly fisherman and he knows you are talking about the West Branch of the Penobscot. One of Maine's premier land locked salmon fisheries, the west branch of the Penobscot is also one of Maine's most beautiful and rugged rivers. Mount Kathadin, Maine's largest mountain , stands like a sentinel overlooking the river. Driving along the Golden Road and catching your first glimpse of Kathadin will quicken your heart beat, you are in God's country.
Moose, Black Bear and Deer are abundant, it is not unusual to see a half dozen Moose in a single day. On a recent trip along a five mile stretch of the Golden Road we saw two Moose, two Bucks and three Black Bear. Moose photo safaries bring as many people here as Salmon fishing
The West Branch is a big, brawling river in a hurry to get downstream. The river is peppered with class IV and class V rapids, the cribworks below the Telos Bridge are something to behold. All this fast water and rapids bring rafters. Whitewater rafting is big business on the west branch, somehow rafters and fishermen peacefully co-exist here. The spectacle of a raft full of teenagers crashing down the river can provide an entertaining break in an afternoon's fishing.
This is McKay Power Station, below the Gorge, this pool can give up some very nice Salmon. It can be fished from either shore, Where these anglers are fishing requires a bit of a hike and a climb down a fairly steep drop. Smelts can be swept through the turbines and dumped, dazed, into the out flow where large salmon await their arrival. I used to fish here a lot when I was a younger man, nowadays I leave it for the younger guys. A word of caution, flows from the power station can raise the water level very quickly here, if you hear the sirens you'd better get out of there pretty quick.
This is my friend Jeff Bellmore, a Master Maine Guide, netting a salmon for a client on a downstream section of the river
This is Little Eddy, I caught my first west branch salmon here about 17 years ago. this is a wonderful pool but difficult to fish from shore. The opposite shore is easier to fish and is accessible by a trail. The best way to fish this pool is from a canoe but it can be very dangerous. If you venture out here you better know what you are doing. The current is fast and strong and the section below is a boneyard of rocks. That being said, an evening on Little Eddy with rising Salmon is other worldly. Not for the inexperienced or weak of heart. (I haven't fished it in years)
As I mentioned, the west branch attracts not only fishermen but occaisional beautiful young ladies. Here an angler tries to concentrate on fishing while a young lady relaxes on a rock at Sourdnahunk Falls.
This is the ledge above Holbrook Pool, this is a very good spot for drifting a nymph or floating a dry fly. salmon lay in the glassy pocket water behind rocks.
Another view of Sourdnahunk Falls, This is a spectacular and beautiful pool, a nice pebble beach and good riffles and pocket water downstream. A good pool to swing a wet.
Another view of Holbrook Pool, this is my old friend Jim McLarty, now deceased, fishing his favorite pool on the river. Jim's ashes were sprinkled here. Jim liked this pool for good reason, he once landed a seven pound salmon here. While we scrambled for a camera, Jim landed the fish, slipped it quietly back into the river, tapped his forehead and said "I don't need a picture, I'll have it forever in here"
This is me a hundred years ago, in a nice baby blue wading vest, what was I thinking?
And this is what brings us here, beautiful land locked salmon.
