04/10/97 Today the river is sad. Water conditions are: high, fast, cold and muddy. Do yourself a favor and try some small feeder streams. The water temperature is still holding around 38 degrees - to cold for anything but an occasional fish.

04/11/97 Today a little better. Not so fast, or muddy. Still cold.

04/12/97 Flow good, not so fast or high, but too high to wade most areas. 38 degrees fairly clear.

04/17/97 Flow fast, water high & cold (38 degrees still). I think they (CMP) must be making room for the rain we are going to get.

04/22/97 Flow fast, water high & brown. (40 degrees) Going down slow. Warming up slow.

04/25/97 Flow moderate to fast, water higher than I like, but fairly clear. (42 degrees) Still not much safe wading. Try the Pasture Pool (downstream from the T. U. Kiosk) or the finger ledges below the dam and the gated sandpit off the River Road. You might also try Ft. Halifax park in Winslow or the ledges in Winslow behind the Lobster Trap.

04/30/97 Water is dropping slowly. Temp. is 43 degrees. Hang in there 

05/02/97 Still 43 degrees. The water is surprisingly clear. You can see 4-5 feet into the water. The rain last night didn't bring the level up all that much, but it was high to start with. The places to try remain (Shawmut Dam area) the Pasture Pool (downstream from the T. U. Kiosk) or the finger ledges below the dam and the gated sandpit off the River Road. You might also try Ft. Halifax park in Winslow or the ledges in Winslow behind the Lobster Trap. Ft. Halifax park has had some regular rises but not many people have been able to prompt a strike. Small midges seem to be what they are after but 20 Griffith Gnats and Blue wing Olives don't seem to work. Some of the fish showing are good sized fish.

05/09/97 Still 43 degrees although I could stretch it to 43.5, the red line was a little above the 43 mark. Flow is moderate, water is high, just coming out of the bushes. Quite clear for this time of year.

05/12/97 46 DEGREES finally! The fishing should start. I am going tomorrow morning and will post some information in the log when I return. Flow is moderate, water a little high, but well out of the bushes. Clarity is good.

05/16/97 47 DEGREES Some fish rising, no good hatches. Water is high. It came up hard with today's rain. Not as clear as I would like. Muddied up some. Forget wading. Bank fish or bring a canoe.

05/30/97 51 DEGREES Hatches have started, Tan Caddis sporadically all day long. Hendricksons at about 2:00 pm and then off and on into the evening. Blue Wing Olives also. The river is still a little high. Wading is limited. Canoes are still the order of the day. However, some good fishing is being had off the bank at the pasture pool. The peninsula at the bottom of the pasture pool can be reached if you wade aggressively. I got out to it yesterday but almost took a swim. (As you can guess from this the water has to go down quite a bit before the peninsula stops being an island) The water level has been dropping quite a bit each day and should be good tomorrow or Sunday. Another thing that will help is Flashboards on the Shawmut dam. The plywood was delivered today (early this am) and if they install Flashboards today the water level below the dam will drop.

All that water coming over the top of the dam doesn't help.

05/31/97 YES YOU CAN WADE!!!!! The water is about 54 degrees and the flow is moderate. Still seeing Hendricksons but not as many. I guess they have run the course. Blue Wing Olives and Tan Caddis still.

06/01/97 The river is sweet! Just a little high, and producing well. Clarity is good, flow is moderate. I waded out to the big rock (east side of the river just below the dam) and the water was waist high. 54 degrees. Hatches like crazy, early and late flies all at once. Everything that didn't hatch when it was supposed to earlier is hatching now. Early and late flies together.

06/07/97 The Water is heading up to 60 degrees. Hatches are good, count on one about 2:00pm and another about 7:30pm. Some insects have been hatching off and on during the day, but not with enough insects to start fish feeding. Light Cahills and Blue Wing Olives seem to be the biggies. Flow is moderate and the water level is good for wading. COME & FISH!

06/11/97 The water temp. is 62 degrees PERFECT FOR BROWNS AND RAINBOWS. (Check the chart on my general information page) Flow is good. Level is good. Clarity is good. Hatches are good. Fishing is good.

06/13/97 Things are good. The rain hasn't pushed the river to spate. As a matter of fact the wading is still quite good. Temp. About 60 degrees. (The rain did cool it a little) This posting is at 9:00 PM on Friday and I will try to get a quick posting out tomorrow morning for tonight's rain influence on the river.

06/14/97 Things are good. 7:00 AM Saturday. Come and fish. Bring Light Cahills!

06/20/97 The river was very high this morning. This was due to the Run-off from heavy rain the night before last. Takes awhile to get down river to us. Last night when I left the shop it was up a little, but nothing like this morning. The good news is Today (it's about 2:00 pm now) it is already starting to ramp down. By tonight it should be fine. I just called Kennebec Hydro and they said they also expect it to be good tomorrow. The water also got roily, but is clearing up. Big Golden Stones are hatching.

06/28/97 Flow is good. Level is good. Clarity is fair. Hatches are good. Come on down.

07/04/97 Flow is a little fast due to yesterday's rain. Level is good. Clarity is poor to fair, it should clear up by tomorrow. The fish are hitting well even though the water temp is about 70 degrees. Most every night we are getting good hatches from 7:30 on.

07/11/97 Flow is good. Clarity is fair. Temperature is 70 degrees (down from 74) and the level is just right for wading. Good hatches of Alder flies (Goddard Caddis) and Tan Caddis. Most of the Mayflies are slowing down. Some big HEX flies showing in the slower sections of the river.

07/25/97 The river is hot. Unfortunately, I'm talking about the temp. not the fishing. It running about 75 degrees. The flow is good, almost slow for Shawmut. Some Alder flies still. Tan Caddis and Blue Wing Olives are sporadic but still hatching. If I wanted to do some fishing this weekend I'd head to Bingham. The water is cooler and this time of year the releases are reasonable. In the spring and fall releases can be scary.

08/01/97 Temp. 74 degrees. Flow good. Alder flies, some Blue Winged Olives. Wading is best you will see.

08/15/97 Temp. 72 degrees at 10:00am, 75 degrees at 4:00pm. Fishing is best in the morning - like 5:00 am to 7:00am. Same hatches as listed on the 1^st. With the addition of a small white mayfly.

08/22/97 TEMP. IS 69 DEGREES THIS IS GOOD! The temp. has dropped one degree a day for the last three days. With today's rain and low temp. is should drop at least another degree by tomorrow. This means the fishing is on. Bring your white or silver streamers the alewives are running. Flow is moderate, water level is great. Small White mayflies hatching in the evening. Blue Wing Olives, Alder Flies, and Tan Caddis hatching.

08/29/97  The flow and level is up with today's rain.  It is about normal rather than low as it has been.  Very wadable.  Temp. is about 68.  I will do a posting in the morning so you can find out what the fishing is like and if the water came up more overnight.

09/05/97  Sorry about no posting on 08/30/97.  I made one but evidently it didn't upload correctly.  However today the river - IS GREAT, WONDERFUL, JUST RIGHT and FISH ARE SHOWING!  Water temp. is 68 degrees and the level is up a little.  Flow is moderate.  If you are planning to come, do so.  If you aren't able to get here this weekend, come next weekend - the fishing is just going to get better from now until it gets to cold.  I can't wait until it hits about 65 degrees - things will really be happening.

09/12/97 Water temp. is 66 degrees, level is up but the flow is still moderate, water is a little dirty from the rain runoff and in general fishing is good.

09/26/97 Water temp. is 60 degrees, level is good, flow is moderate.  Water is clear.  Wading is good. FISHING IS VERY GOOD!

10/03/97 Water flow is moderate (about 4,500 cfs) clarity is good, level is getting to the high side.  You can still see the white rock up by the dam, but wading to it is WORK!  Alewives are running hard.  It is amazing to watch when the browns are working the bait fish, you would think you were at Popham Beach.  You have to be there at the right time though, that's what we call it the Alewife hatch.  It's kinda like waiting for a Mayfly hatch, it might happen and it might not.  When it happens though there is no mistaking the fact that something significant is going on.  One of the guys I saw up by the dam this morning said last night about sunset the fishing was like what you read about.  Gulls were feeding, big fish were showing and people were catching 18 to 24 inch fish.  He mentioned one specific incident that happened to him it went like this - "I was retrieving my fly when all of a sudden it looked like someone was pushing a bowling ball through the water behind my fly, there was this big bulge, a swirl and then my fly and the bulge were gone, that's why I'm back here this morning."

10/11/97 Flow is moderate, clarity is good, level is just right.  All the places that should hold fish seem to be, the fish have enough water to hide if they want and to feed if they want.  Take note: the big fish are back up in the wading area.  The water is 56 degrees, flies are hatching, alewives are running and this morning on a Black Ghost (size 4) I took a 19" Brown up by the big rock.  The pasture pool are is also producing similar fish.  If you haven't made the trip to fish Shawmut yet, you owe it to yourself to come and do it now.  If you have fished Shawmut you know what it's like when it's hot and it is hot!

10/24/95 Flow is moderate, clarity good, level just a bit low.  We could use some rain it would help the alewife run.  I think a lot of alewives are holding just above the dam just waiting for a good rain.  If not, then the run from Lakewood is much lighter this year than last.  Water temp is 50 degrees and falling.  That doesn't mean the fishing is slow - 50 degrees is what we look for in the spring, and it's just as good now as in the spring.  We just don't have the hatches.  Fish some streamers and woolly buggers, you should catch some fish.  Want to know what water temperatures to look for check out my General Information page the part titled Trout Temps.  Note the best temperatures for Landlocked Salmon, it might be worth doing some fishing in Winslow near Ft. Halifax or the new Donald Carter bridge - there are landlocked salmon there. (or you could drive to Solon, Bingham)????

10/31/97  Flow is moderate, clarity good, level low, TEMPERATURE IS 45 DEGREES down 5 degrees in one week.  Brrrrrrrr!   Fishing is still good though and it is worth the cold.  Last year they stopped feeding at about 42 degrees so we don't have much time left.

11/03/97 Flow is FAST, clarity is POOR, level is HIGH, Temperature is 47 degrees.  All this rain is coming through high and fast.  But that is a good thing - the fish have been holding in the lower part of the river and this should bring them up to the dam.  Also if any alewives have been holding up above the dam waiting for water to wash over the top - well they have what they have been waiting for.  Water should be down and fishing up by Thursday or Friday.
 
11/07/97 Flow is swift, but water is wadable.  Level is up from what it was most of the summer but the White rock up by the dam is showing.  It isn't white any longer the bird white-wash is gone. Blue Winged Olives still hatching mid-day. Temp is 47 degrees.