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You know when everyone says, “Shoulda Been Here Yesterday!” We were. The gods were on our side. Moosehead Lake has been super high this year, hence they have been releasing tons of water and the famous Kennebec River has been blown out. But, that means big fish and lots of em have been moving up the river. Believe me, you wanted to be there when they dropped the water and we were. Shear luck put us on the East Outlet the hour that that they dropped the water levels. The sun shined for two days straight, the air was warm, the water was cool and the Salmon and Big Brookies were taking everything that had a hook on it. Pete rolled out a long cast and his Caddis fly dropped on the outside edge of a wonderful seam. WHAM! Fish on, and nice fish too! Pete enjoyed every minute of battling the Silver Salmon. It jumped, it ran and it only got better. Marshall was next. “Oh, there is one feeding on top!” He throws a caddis with a trailing ant at the fish. BANG! Fish on! Marsh lands the fish and life is good. I was catching boat loads of little Salmon and Brookies, but no sizeable fish for me. Yet! Marsh says, “Hey let’s go try this other little river.” Now, I must admit. It is a policy of mine to never leave a spot when the fishing is superb, but Pete wanted to try it and Marshall has not made a bad decision to date. So, we got in the car and drove up the road. The water was ridiculously low. Construction was being done on the dam! Can you believe it! Normally inaccessible water was ankle deep! It looked like nymphing water to me and it was. I tied on a conehead wooly to a prince to another prince (the fished LOVED the prince nymphs this weekend). Out she goes. Fish On! A nice Salmon leaps out of the water 3 or 4 times. So, now we are all like kids at Disney World and the whole amusement park is ours. Marshalls rod doubles over. A monster brookie probably 4-5 pounds takes his double nymph rig. Unfortunately just as we got it close to us, the second fly got hung up on a rock. Goodbye! I think I was more pissed than Marsh! I wanted him to land that fish so bad. It was one of the biggest brookies I have ever seen. I cast out my rig again. I feel the flies ticking along the bottom then I feel a big tug. I set the hook. Big Brookie on. I could see his colors in the clear water and then, your not going to believe this, I see a huge flash of silver darting around the brookie then my doubled over rod quadruples over! The freakingSalmon took the dropper fly! Needles to say, My tippet could not sustain the current and two big fish. Goodbye! So now we are really slap happy. This is just a fly fishing Nirvana and best yet, it’s only noon! We go back to east outlet and fish up by the headwaters. I cast under the tressle pool. Hutch, a phenomenal fly fisherman, is fishing below me and was probably thinking, “What is this moron gonna do if he does hook into a fish.” Then, I hooked a big brookie in the fast water and the fish wrapped me around the tressle piling and I said goodbye. Marsh and Pete are fishing a wonderful tail end of a big pool. Fish were rising in the slick water. Pete hooks a beautiful Salmon on a small emerger and then Marshall hooks a Monster 4-5 pound male Salmon. It was almost getting too good and it wasn’t over. Marshall went home to mow his lawn or something. Pete and I moved downriver. Hutch was down their too (across from me on the opposite side of the river) and we were hooking fish after fish. Evertime I looked over at Hutch he was fishing to a rising fish or landing a fish. I hooked a monster before dark and the only reason I did was because I went the extra mile. I waded out to a run that had not seen a fly in a long time. It was a tough wade but worth it. First cast, Caddis on top and BANG! Huge male salmon. So, Pete and I are exhausted we can’t even see straight. We find some dirt cheap motel and crash as soon as our heads hit the pillows. 6:30 am Sunday rise and shine. Fish On! Pete and I got 2 big Salmon and nice sized Brookie. Again, we waded out to spots that people hadn’t fished. We fished the headwaters of pools (right where the tumbling white water drops in). It payed off. Big Time. This weekend was just unforgettable. Great company, tons of laughs, a few little spats (when big fish were lost), a few swears (when big fish were lost), lots of sun, lots of water and lots of memories. Above all else, I was so glad that this weekend happened with Pete. Pete and I have been friends since grammar school and we have fished all over together. Lately we have been in a slump on our trips. Beat up by steelhead, Rainbows that wouldn’t cooperate, Striper fishing in 40 mph winds etc… Pete drove a long way for this trip and it all came together for us and we deserved it. I am so fortunate to have days and friends like this.