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Sunday, July 24, 2005
Reeling in the compliments
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FARMINGTON — Robert Bennett didn't know anything about the national recognition the fisheries around Farmington had received. But he still took a day off work to fish Wilson Stream at high noon on a hot July day, when the fish weren't even biting. He came to "drown a worm" and cast for brook trout. The avid Jay fishermen said dropping a line in the little streams and rivers around the town of Farmington is worth it anytime. "I go to places like this, or where there is a public boat launch," Bennett said. The University of Maine-Farmington was recently named one of the top 10 schools in the nation for fishing by Fly Rod and Reel magazine. With the Rangeley region to the north, where Fly Rod Crosby helped market the guiding business back in the 1890s, the Belgrade lakes to the south, and the resurrected bass fishing on the Androscoggin River to the west, Farmington is surrounded by hot fishing spots. But even within the town itself, for a student who has nothing more than a beat-up car to drive or a bicycle to peddle, there are plenty of small rivers, streams and lakes, said Mike Jones, a Registered Maine Guide based in Farmington. Jones guides on the nearby Androscoggin, the Penobscot and the Kennebec rivers. He guides around Moosehead Lake about two hours north and on the Rangeley lakes. But Jones said within and around Farmington, there are plenty of small streams and rivers to find brown trout, rainbow trout, brook trout and bass, such as Wilson Lake, Clearwater Pond, Farmington Falls on the Sandy River and spots within the university campus where the river runs. He guided us to a half-dozen bass and brown trout waters in an hour. "Every spot has a turnout like this where you can pull beside the road," he said at Blue Ledge, a spot beside the Sandy River where a rope swing and a huge rocky cliff suggest great swimming. Like many places around Farmington on this hot July day, the rocks at Blue Ledge were deserted. Give it a month, Jones said, and the fishing would be back in full swing. "It's a hub. One of the great things here is not only the variety of fish, but the quality of fish," said Bob Dionne, owner of Aardvark Outfitters in Farmington. "There are smallmouth bass in the Androscoggin (River), pike in the Belgrade lakes and the whole legacy of the Rangeley lakes area. That railroad bed outside? That led the Narrow Gauge Railroad up to Rangeley (a century ago)." Back in the 1890s, Cornelia "Fly Rod" Crosby became one of the first Maine guides to market the fishing and hunting in the state. Based in the Rangeley area, a growing destination for wealthy fishermen, Crosby wrote about the brook trout fishing there and guided sportsmen to Upper Dam, Middle Dam and Steep Bank Pool. The Rangeley area became the home of the Grey Ghost streamer fly, which was tied by Carrie Gertrude Stevens in 1924, when she cast the now famous fly into the Upper Dam fishery and pulled out a 6-pound, 13-ounce brook trout. However, today, while Rangeley remains a nationally known fishing destination, the Belgrade lakes have grown in popularity with the excitement over northern pike, which were illegally introduced in 2,700-acre Long Pond more than 20 years ago. David Kufeldt was fishing for pike there a week ago. The New Hampshire native and recent transplant said he was excited to have such a notable pike fishery near his home in Fairfield. Having fished for the species in Canada, Kufeldt said Long Pond offered the chance for a sizeable pike without the crowds of Lake Winnipesaukee. "Long Pond, the Belgrade lakes, that's the area for big fish. I've heard and seen pictures in the little stores around," Kufeldt said. "On Lake Winnipesaukee you can't go fishing on the weekend. There are too many people. You start to feel unsafe." Access is a key reason Bennett enjoys fishing in and around Farmington. Bennett has fished in the area for about 50 years and said north of Farmington there are loads of tiny coldwater fisheries, and many "secret spots," where bank fishing is possible. The north branch of the Dead River, above the dam, is a good spot to cast for landlocked salmon, he said. Bennett would think nothing of "jumping in the car and going to Stratton Brook in Stratton or Flagstaff Lake in Flagstaff or the Dead River" in Eustis for a day of fishing within an hour's drive. "I've pulled some nice salmon from a spot in Eustis Village, 26- to 27-inch salmon," Bennett said. Bennett also said there are plenty of places around Farmington, just minutes up the road from his home in Jay. Places like Temple Stream and the Sandy River at the Strong Bridge promise brown trout and rainbow trout, Jones said. Even at midday on an 85-degree day you can see foot-long browns resting in the shallows of the Sandy River over the Strong Bridge. At least they look like browns. "You don't know until you drop a line," Jones said looking down at them.
Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at: dfleming@pressherald.com
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