MAINE - Life in the Slow Lane
Nice touch Lee. I would have to say my first trout caught on Moxie Pond Maine with my dad. No pictures just a happy thought held in my mind.
My most memorable trout takes me back a long ways. The
location was on the headwaters of the Little Southwest
Miramichi...It was also before access roads were put in. therefore
it was a seven mile hike each way....The ground rules were
simple...As it was a 3 day excursion, any trout kept on the first
day were designated for the fry pan. A keeper had to be a foot long
or weigh a pound. It was one of those mornings in June when the
pond was shrouded in mist coming off the water and the water was
warmer than the air. I was fishing a streamer called the Erskine.
Suddenly, as I started a slow retrieve, the fly basically fetched up.
As I prepared to mumble about hooking a sunken log, the fly and line
began to move further out into the pond. The end result was brook
trout over 5 pounds....I remember that while playing the fish I hollered
to my father that I had hooked a good fish.....His response was very
encouraging to say the least...He said "I hope you lose it" 
Stephen
He said "I hope you lose it"
And did you loss it or not, you forgot to tell us that part of the story.
Lee
My most memorable trout was not actually one that I caught but one the Mrs. caught. It was 17 1/2" long and caught on a #10 muddler while trolling about 5 years ago in a little lake in East Dalhousie N.S. The reason that it was so memorable is because it was the last time I took her fishing...LOL... I ask her to go every year but she never wants to (doesn't care much for the black flies) I have a pic around somewhere I'll find it and scan/post it.
This one brings me back a very long ways. 6,7 years old...
I was fishing a contributary to the Saint John River and I was about six years old. My mom would take me to a place called Bath, (In New Brunswick) to visit my grand mother. I was only a walk across the street to the stream I would fish every week. I woke one morning to go fishing on my own and took my spining rod and started casting away. Finally I hooked a fish (-----------This Big------------) and got it to shore. I couldn't get a handle on this gigantic fish flopping all around the shore and it finally broke off and back into the water. I tried and tried and tried some more but to no avail. Later on that day, I switched my lure up to a red devil instead of a worm and remembered exactly were I had hooked this fish. It took right away and once again, the fish landed on shore, I couldn't get a handle on it and it broke off and swam away. I tried again and again that evening, but again, to no avail. The next morning, I had to switch my lure again, but this time, (and I can't believe I still remember) it was a yellow trout fly that my moms friend (Joey) gave me. I tied it with a sinker on my spin rod and sure enough...I hooked the fish and got it to shore, and still couldn't get a hold of it. Of course I lost the fish again. Three times, I casted my line in the same spot and hooked a gigantic fish and couldn't get a handle on it. Well, it was getting to be that time to head back to Fredericton and as we were packing our gear into the car, I saw Joey comming across the street. He had an 18" trout in his hand and figured I could use it. As a kid, this fish was a shark and I will never forget fighting with that fish on the shore and couldn't get a handle on it. Even though I never caught the fish, I will never forget that all three times I had to switch my bait in order to hook it.
Guess I just figured it out, but I will never forget that day in Bath when Joey (The Master) came walking up across the street with this Gigantic Trout I have been trying to catch all weekend long.
RIP Joe...
What I know today, I wasn't aloud to legally fish that part of the water with a Red Devil because I was fishing just bellow the bridge that fed the Saint John River also, I know as kids, fish always appear larger, but this was what it was...
Nice story Richard . Might of fact all of you have nice stories. Richard I have a story simular to yours. When I was stationed down at Moody AFB Georgia I got into largemouth bass fishing. One evening I went fishing with one of my buds and I saw this nice fish on the bed. I told my buddy (Brian) not to move . I cast my lure out there and eased it by her ever so slowly. Then out of no where she shot fwd and grabed my lure. I fought her for a few min and snap my line broke. Brain was jus as disapointed as I was . Well I said I guess I will have to come back the next day and see if I can hook her again I could see the doubt in Brains face. I said what you don't think I'll be able to do it? Well the next day we loaded up our gear and headed for the little pond. Whe nwe got there we snuck up real slow so not to spook her. I cast my line over her and eased my lure back in front of her like the night before. Just like magic wham she took my lure . This time I eased off my drag and played her gently. I reached down a picked her out of the water . There it was my lure of the day and the eve before. She wieghed about 9 pounds. I took out both lures and eased her back into the water. I then turned to Brian and said I hope you won't doubt me ever again (with a big grin) He was impressed . He told that story to a bunch of our freinds He got oders and so did I . We lost track over the years but I will always remember his face when I lifted that bass out of the water with two lures hanging out of her mouth. I know it wasnt a trout story but your story reminded me of that time.
Dave V
Hey here's what happened to my daughter once. We were staying the the camp on Harvey Lake. My daughter caught about a 10 inch brookie off the dock, not a very common occurance. My boat was on one side of the dock. So she is posing with the trout and she leans on the side of the boat, the boat starts floating away. And well you can guess the rest of the story. I have this mental image of her arms outstretched hanging onto the gunnel of the boat and toes just barely on the dock for a split second and then splooosh in the drink she goes. Now she's not much for getting wet unless she has her bathing suit on so she's screaming bloddy murder. So anyway after pulling her out of the drink, the water is only knee deep so you'd have more of a change of scraping your knees on rocks than of drowning there, we had a good laugh at her expense.
Bill G.
Oh my God thats funny reminds me the day when I was fishing up in Caribou Maine with my kids My daughter. was wading in the stream with shorts and bare feet. I was just hooking up to a nice Brookie when I heard the loudest squeel I have ever heard. My Daughter was over on the bank hoping aroung like a bunny rabbit . I quickly ran to her aide and found her with a blood sucking leach on her toe. I put a little warm sand on it and it came off but she wasnt to amuzed. After I wiped her tears off and we both setteld down she did go fishing and caught a nice 2 pound trout. The biggest of the trip.
I think it is great reading everyones story. I'm sure telling our stories only makes us all appreciate the sport of fishing a heck of a lot more...So far, mine are old memories...
About twelve years ago, four of us went down this brook and split up into pairs...Two walked way down and fished up (which I believe they had the better advantage) and me and Justin fished down until we met the other two. We fished and we fished and caught all kinds of normal brook size trout...We came to a spot, hardly foot deep it seemed and Justin asked me to toss my line in there...I laughed at him and no sooner I did, a nice size trout took my line. AGAIN, I got the thing on the shore, tried to pick the floppy critter up and it fell off...I was so disgusted that I threw my rod on the ground. We both looked at each other as my small brook rod started to float down the river and we both lunged to grab it...I grabed that rod, ran for the hills with this dangling trout from the end about 20 feet into the woods...At last...!
Smilling the rest of the way down to meet our two buddies, we could hear voices and I started hooping..."I caught a nice one"..."Back at ya" was a reply...Until we met, we holored back and forth who caught the largest trout...For a tiny brook, I caught an 11 and a half incher while his was a quarter inch longer...As happy as I was, I was also disapointed that Jon had caught the larger one...But the excitment between us all was priceless.
That's what it's all about folks...Excitment...
I'm still a child when it comes to fishing...
I think this is a good question for the winter months. My self the most memorable Trout was the beauty I caught on the Rapid River several years ago when fishing with Bill Franke.
This was as colorful a Brook Trout as you could ever want to catch and he was big, maybe 18 inches and around 2.5 lbs.
My most memorable, join in with yours.
Lee
Lee Goldsmith
Site Admin
Acton, Maine
Life in the Slow Lane
E-mail: Lee Goldsmith