We were about four hours into an all-day hike, fishing our way upstream on a gorgeous brook-trout and landlocked-salmon river in a remote corner of Maine’s Baxter State Park, when guide Jeff LaBree stopped next to a seemingly uninteresting stretch . . .
Read Morefly-fishing for brook trout
Pro Tips: Top 10 Flies for Winter in the Driftless Area
Winter is one of my favorite times of the year in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin. You can have the spring creeks all to yourself, the water is clear, and the fish are hungry. There are a few things . . .
Read MorePhil’s Top 10 Dry Flies for Mountain Streams
In late summer, many of the valley rivers in Southwestern Vermont get low and warm. That’s when I head for the hills, by which I mean the Green Mountains. This beautiful stretch of the Appalachians is veined by tumbling freestone streams that are home . . .
Read MoreClassic Pro Tip: 15 Steps to Fishing a Mountain Trout Stream
The keys to catching good numbers of trout on steep mountain streams are stealth and speed. Wild brook trout are wary, fast, and can hide in tiny spaces. There are lots of predators that. . .
Read MoreClassic Story: The Doc, the River, and Lessons Learned
Although I had been a fisherman since early childhood, I didn’t learn to fly-fish until I was in graduate school at the University of New Hampshire in the late 1980s. My older brother, Brian, lived nearby, and he taught me to cast one chilly January day in . . .
Read MorePro Tips: 6 Flies for Mountain Brook Trout in Early Summer
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ve no doubt noticed how much I love chasing wild brook trout in mountain freestone streams. As soon as the springtime hatches on the Battenkill are over, I head for the hills with my Superfine Glass 3-weight . . .
Read MoreStory and Photos: Just What the Doctor Ordered
One August afternoon several years ago, I returned to my desk at Orvis HQ to find that my neighbor, Tom Rosenbauer, was missing. Taped to the back of his chair was a hand-scrawled sign that said, “At an appointment with Doctor Triceau.” Once I . . .
Read MoreLibby Camps, Day Two: The Dream Stream
Our second day at Libby Camps in the Maine North Woods dawned clear and calm, perfect weather for a short flight and a long day on the water. After flying the guides and gear over to a lake at the western border of Baxter State Park, lodge owner and . . .
Read MoreBook Excerpt: Brook Trout and Beaver Ponds
With the exception of small freestone streams, no type of aquatic habitat is more identified with brook trout than beaver ponds. In areas such as interior Maine, they are more important to the brook trout angler than freestone streams, which are often . . .
Read MoreJoin Phil Monahan for Orvis Week at Maine’s Libby Camps in Late May
Although I grew up in New Hampshire, I really learned how to fly-fish on the brook trout and landlocked salmon rivers of Maine. Twice a year, in spring and fall, I’d head north with my friends Fred and Sandy Hays–a.k.a.. . .
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