So, I had lots of obligations this weekend (barbecues, parties, traveling, etc..) and I blew them all off. I grabbed my wife, and my kid (my wife is 7 weeks pregnant) and we headed North. We kinda knew where we were going but did not really care if things panned out that way. We ended up at a camp ground on the Kennebec River. We rented a canoe and paddled through several pristine trout runs. I wedged the canoe, with my wife in it, between two rocks and trout fished. I was in heaven. Funny how different trout runs fish differently. At the first run I was at, the Salmon and Browns were feeding just below the surface. After unloading everything in my fly box, I finally started tricking them with a wet fly. Cast cross stream, let the fly sink a little, get a nice bow in the fly line and let the water do the trick. Hooked into several nice Browns and Salmon just as the fly started to swing. They must have thought it was an emerger. Dumbies! So we sleep in an old cabin. No TV, no cellular, just me, my wife, my 7 week old kid and the river. My eyes open and I am tricking the trout with first light. Magnificent on the river in the morning. We eat breakfast and drive north. We hit so many “no-name” trout runs and it was unbelievable. As we headed further North the water got colder and clearer. My wife would make a cast with her fly rod every now and then, but she mostly read her book and swam when she got hot. She called it quits at 6pm and we ran up to the nearest lodge and got a room. I dropped her off and went back to the river just in time for the hatch. The caddis started to come off the water and Rainbows were rising all around me. Fishing for these rainbows is kinda like steelhead fishing. You don’t get alot of em’ but when you get one you know it and appreciate it. I tappered my own 17 foot leader and tied on a small light caddis. I saw a beautiful fish rising in the distance. I casted a long cast across several crazy currents. The long leader allowed for the perfect drift, which is absolutely critical when fishing for these peculiar fish. The caddis bobbed and spun through a little piece of current and I saw the Big Rainbow roll on my fly. He did not splash at it like the smaller ones I had tricked. He took it with confidence and grace and took his sweet time. I set the hook and he did not like that. I swear, this fish beat me fair and square. He realized he was hooked, turned downstream and swam with all his might. He litterally ripped line off of my reel. It just kept going and going and going. I tried putting more pressure on my reel with my palm, but that fish was just to strong. So, he swam and swam and swam as my reel continued to sing zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Then, pop! The fly came shooting back at me. He spit the hook and I stood there dumbfounded. That was the nicest fish of the weekend and quite possibly the nicest fish of the summer. As far as I am concerned that is trout fishing at its best. Cold, crystal clear water, smart fish, big fish and no people for miles and miles. My wife and I met some nice people at the lodge and we swapped fish stories over pizza. We woke up in the morning. Hit some spots on the way home, took some photos and we are already planning our next Northen adventure. If we run outta space in Maine, we’ll just cross the boarder into Canada.