I had heard of trophy Landlocked Salmon in the Penobscot river and always thought they were stories about the good old days, until I felt the sharp pain in my shoulder of a take I was not expecting! My friend, Jeremy, and I had been fishing small caddis with what I thought were fair sized and fun Salmon. I settled into these fish never suspecting for a minute what was about to happen. Jermy said ” hey tie this on” so I swung the line to him and I could not make out the pattern other than it was awkwardly big, brown and buggy looking. I figured this was a waste of time do to this bugs size and appearance on the water, perhaps his attempt at a joke. OK I’ll play along. First cast, Bang! A sharp pain was in my shoulder and I was dazed! Seriously confused. In the emotional fog of amazement, I tried to focus and saw my backing running and yelled holy @#$%^&. I got some line back on my reel and he jumped, again holy $%^%^. This unbeleivable Salmon jumped 6 or 7 times, his chrome sides almost blinding in the bright Sun. At 26″ plus and a weight of maybe 6 pounds, I had the Salmon of a life time on and ,I thought well hooked. I was precariously perched on a rock out from the shore and started looking for a rock to jump to and land on my feet and start backing up, I turned almost ready and the pull was gone as fast as it came. After the usual silence of defeat and a few experlatives, I tied on another fly. Now nice fish were pests and only another like him would be counted.
Book
- Alaska
- Guide & Fisherman
- Guiding: Choosing Your Guide And Choosing Your Customer
- Guiding: Do It Yourself With A Guide
- Guiding: Evolution Of A Guide
- Guiding: Freshwater, More Than Meets The Eye
- Guiding: Friends For Life
- Guiding: Know Where You Are
- Guiding: More Than Just A Fisherman
- Guiding: Mystery Of The Fisherman
- Guiding: Payment
- Guiding: Saltwater, A Different World
- Rough Fish
- Fly Fishing For Rough Fish: Why Do It?
- Introduced Rough Fish: The Carps & Other Invasive Species
- Methodology: Gear & Tactics For Pursuing Roughfish On A Fly
- More Roughfish: Bullheads, Whitefish, Goldeye, Burbot & Drum
- Rough Fish Environments: Where To Look For Rough Fish?
- Rough Fish Species: The Suckers
- Rough fish: A Lifetime Of Learning
- Rough Fish: Fishing For Dinosaurs (Gars & Bowfin)
- Rough Fish: What Are They?
- The Hook: Some Common Rough Fish Fly Patterns
- Spey
- Spey: Applications, Where Can You Do It?
- Spey: Atlantic Salmon, A Significant Fish
- Spey: Defined And Demystified
- Spey: Gear, The Nuts And Bolts
- Spey: Lines, They Are That Important
- Spey: Steelhead, New Traditions & A Modern Movement
- Spey: The Energy
- Spey: The Flies
- Spey: The Swing
- Spey: Two Critical Casts
- Striped Bass
- Striped Bass: Fishing Rocky Shorelines
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Beaches
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Flats
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Reefs
- Striped Bass: Fishing Tidal Rivers
- Striped Bass: Flatwing Swing
- Striped Bass: Fly Line Options & Choices
- Striped Bass: Gear, The Nuts & Bolts
- Striped Bass: Migration Patterns
- Striped Bass: What They Eat
- The Art Of Escape
- Fly Fishing: A Natural Drug
- Fly Fishing: A Validation Of Freedom
- Fly Fishing: Don’t Fight The Current
- Fly Fishing: It Is What It Is
- Fly Fishing: Socialization For Asocial Individuals
- Fly Fishing: The Allure Of The Fish
- Fly Fishing: The Art Of Escape
- Fly Fishing: The Simplicity Of It All
- Fly Fishing: Time Flies
- Fly Fishing: Times You Remember & Try To Forget
hey greg,
that was, without a doubt, the biggest landlocked salmon i have personally ever seen hooked in Maine in a river … i will forever remember when that fish took that fly and jumped out of the water … it’s width .. its length … unbelievable … an awesome fish for sure … no wonder you were back up there yesterday … i would have been too….. oh that’s right ..i was:) ,… stay tuned for that fish tale … sorry didn’t cross paths with you and kenny … the trip took on a different dimension from its original plans … hope you guys tied into some nice ones ..
ps —- i don’t know who wanted you to land that fish more … me or you…. that’s the way it should be .. thanks greg.
Was I using innapprpropriate, ???? That was a huge fish by anyones standards. The fly floating on top was enough to make me take up golf.
We don’t swear, lose our cool, make mistakes or lose small fish…All we can do is tip our hats to the ones that make us shake…stare…and fumble. If it didn’t happen from time to time like that, it wouldn’t be fun.
Keep up the good work!!
greg,
I just spoke with Jeremy he is still have a tough time describing that fish without stuttering. isn’t it fun to hook up on them. we all lose fish that we hope to land. our last outing i lost that huge brookie and it left me with the feelings you just experienced (although the brookie did not match the size of landlock) glad you had the chance to get a fish of that quality on, and i am real glad to see that quality of a fish in maine
Greg, Those are the fish that keep us awake at night with the could of…should of…would of’s. Some times you get the chicken and some times you get the feathers.
A friend of mine likes to say we remember the one’s that get away more than the ones that we land. I am haunted by vivid memories of a brown that I lost and now you have this salmon that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Ah, what a great sport, it humbles us and we take it on it’s terms and keep fishing.
Wow! I’ve hooked up to salmon a tiny bit smaller than that on the WB but it usually ends in 4 seconds with a big huge splash… It resembles the splash of a boulder being thrown into the river! Great experience, and great story!