Hello from Housatonic Meadows Campground! This morning we gathered our things, packed the trailer, and said goodbye to the waters of Maine, looking forward to the several days of pike and smallmouth bass fishing we have ahead of us. After a long drive we finally arrived on the bank of the Housatonic and settled in to our new home for the next three nights.
The past 5 days have treated us well! After leaving Lakewood, we drove about 2 hours to our next campsite at Rangeley State Park, where we set up camp and then headed back to the Magalloway to fish the evening hatch. Fishing took off at sunset, with most kids catching fish and one of the biggest Brook Trout ever caught on a Lillard Fly Fishing trip brought to net, measuring at 21 inches. We returned to camp still buzzing with excitement and enjoyed s’mores before heading to bed.
The next day we drove to Moosehead Lake and the headwaters of the Kennebec River, setting up camp on Indian Pond, where the East and West Outlets of the Kennebec converge. We fished the East Outlet of the Kennebec, the waters of which hold massive Rainbow trout as well as beautiful native Brook Trout, and did very well, with every student catching fish and a few larger fish landed. Following our afternoon on the river we drove back to camp and prepared for our upcoming three day, two night backcountry trip. The next day, after organizing our things into dry bags and loading them into canoes, we began our 10 mile float from the West Outlet of the Kennebec to Elvi Island, a small island in the middle of Indian Pond that would be our camp for the night. The float fishing, which targeted smallmouth bass, would prove to be extremely productive. Having previously honed our smallmouth techniques catching them by the netful at Lakewood, the group took little time to adjust to the waters and was instantly catching fish. We netted well over 70 fish throughout the day including another Lillard-best fish, this time a smallmouth! We arrived at the island tired and sunburnt, ate some mac n’ cheese and hit the sack. The following morning we packed up our canoes and paddled three miles to our next camp, fishing along the way. Although tired, spirits were high. We beached our canoes, set up our tents and headed to the river to get some casts in, catching several Brook Trout, Land Locked Salmon, and even more smallmouth bass. After dinner, a group took off to fish a little more while the rest of us retired to a fire and conversation.
The following morning began our last day in the backcountry. We ate breakfast and paddled back to the van in the morning. After unloading and cleaning all our things, we drove into Greenville, Maine, where we did laundry, got ice cream, and played a few games of ultimate frisbee before taking back to the East Outlet of the Kennebec where the boys again caught several Brook Trout and Land Locked Salmon. The group returned to camp where we enjoyed a dinner of pasta with veggies and again enjoyed building a fire and relaxing before turning in. This morning we woke up early to begin our 7 hour drive to the Berkshires, which the whole crew was greatly looking forward to, as demonstrated by the entire group immediately rigging up rods at taking to the river as soon as we arrived. Over the next few days we will float the Housatonic river, fishing for trophy pike and smallmouth before departing for a campsite nearer to the airport, where you will all be soon reunited! We’ll make sure to recap what is sure to be an exciting last few days before the trip ends.
All the best,
Eli, Oliver, Stefan, and the boys
