Month: June 2012

Photos by F. Carl Mahoney of Rockport, ME

This is Mitch Kotok from Senoma, CA.  He is the son of David Kotok, my longtime friend and fishing companion, known to the rest of the world as a highly sought-after financial expert and seasoned economist.  All that falls away and gets re-prioritized when we take to the water every June, August, and September.  I asked Mitch if he would be so kind as to field test a fly I tied at 5:30 a.m. the morning of Mitch’s last day of fishing in Grand Lake Stream.  He agreed, and the result is pictured here.  I first tied the fly for Peter Moulton, son of Henry Moulton, 86, of Cambridge, MA.  Henry’s father first came to GLS in 1913.  Henry’s nickname, “Gumpy,” is the name I’ve decided on for this fly owed to Peter’s success with it, further validated by Mitch’s success.  It is a Chernobyl Ant variant, with yellow marabou tail, and peacock under-body.  Both Mitch and Peter are accomplished fly casters, and so I  chose them to debut this fly on the storied waters surrounding Grand Lake Stream.  

Tom and Charlie McCandlish have had a fishing tradition in Grand Lake Stream since their Dad first brought them here as pre-teens.  They decided to rekindle it 7 years ago.  In this photo, taken on June 7th, Charlie hoists a hefty 18″ smallmouth for a photo as Tom tries to look happy for him.  The situation reversed soon after, when Tom landed a 19-incher!  We also salmon fished on the river, where we found ample action on tiny Caddis nymphs and elk hair dry flies.