Fly Fishing In Maine

“What are the Bests Flies to Catch Salmon and Brook Trout” May/June

“What are the Best Flies to Catch Salmon and Brook Trout?” May/June

I, like many a fly angler, have taken a short holiday from thinking about brook trout and landlocked salmon fishing, my favorite salmon flies for salmon and where the salmon of the Penobscot live while thoughts of family, and sugarplums dance in my head. Today being the 26th, I have a small handful of chores to complete during the next 5 days. Chore number one, take down the tree and haul the Christmas jetsam to the transfer station. You see, my wife and I believe it’s important to take care of all of the problems of this year, during this year so they are not carried forward into the following year. These “problems” include cleaning up from Christmas.

Chore number two, organize the fly tying vise, table and restock my fly box. You see, I have to move. My current fly tying location has been reallocated, so I need to find a new, quiet corner of the house for my wares. A place where I can add flies for catching salmon to my salmon fly box. It may be easier to visit my local fly shop, but I, like many fly anglers, find filling my fly boxes with my own salmon patterns more satisfying.

I can start considering what I need in my fly box? What morsels of landlocked salmon forage should be most efficacious, what are the best landlocked salmon flies? What trout flies should I invest my time in? Which reminds me of the most asked question, “What is the best salmon fly?”, or “What fly patterns are the brook trout taking?” and “What salmon flies should I fly fish with?” While I’m about to try to answer the question, I would like to preface any answer. Fish eat what they want, when they want and the answer can change from hour to hour. There is no magic, perfect answer for what fish will take. I believe a better question might be, “When fly fishing in May and June, what fly pattern should I try first?”

Now let’s get down to brass tacks. What flies catch fish.

Spring Fly Fishing in Maine

Ice out on the lakes of the Katahdin Region doesn’t occur until late April, often the 3rd of 4th week of the month. Ice out is typically followed by a few weeks of high water. I’m not saying you CAN’T fly fish in high water, but if the West Branch is running 8,000cfs, I would wait a bit before running up there to wet a line. During this period, if you can catch the smelt run at relatively normal water levels, you have a recipe for a trip to remember.

Early spring fly fishing before ice out on the lakes, is dominated by swinging or stripping streamers.. Particularly smelt patterns and sinking line. I like traditional patterns like a gray ghost that can imitate local bait fish. This time of year the water is still cold so the fish can be pretty lethargic, but there is a dedicated cult of personalities who will trudge through the snow on April first to fly fish Big Eddy.

What are the best Flies to Fish with in May – Mayflies

By mid May the water levels have usually dropped to a more normal level and the bugs are ready to help you out. There are lots of mayflies, and it’s not really important that you can identify every bug by name, but being able to match the size and color will increase your chances of landing a fish.

Mayfly Life Cycle

Nymphs

When a mayfly hatches from its egg it lives as a nymph, or an underwater insect, for up to two years. These nymphs crawl around on the bottom, but occasionally they are swept off their purchase and sent along the current. Salmon and trout will both eat nymphs drifting in the current. To find fish with nymphs in faster water will have to use heavily weighted flies or split shot. However many anglers feel split shot disrupts the connection between the angler and a strike.

Emerger

One Day until the day conditions are just right. The nymph will swim to the surface. Just below the surface film, the nymph will shed its nymphal shuck, climb through the surface and stand, as an adult on the surface. The time the insect spends just under the surface, shedding the nymphal skin and working through the surface, it’s referred to as an emerger. Emergers can be damaged during the molting process, or they can have a difficult time working through the surface film.

Dun

A Dun needs time for its wings to fully form before it can fly. During this time it will float motionless on the surface of the water, like a tiny sailboat. This is the typical dry fly people would think of as a mayfly. Duns are very vulnerable to predation by landlocked salmon and brook trout. The right fly, dead drifted, can elicit an aggressive strike when mayflies are sailing.

Spinner

Within 24-48 hours the mayflies will get together and mate. The females will then fall into the water to deposit their eggs. Many anglers call this a spinner fall. Fish call this easy dinner. Spinners look slightly different from Duns but the easiest way to tell them apart, spinners have transparent wings.

Eastern March Brown Mayfly

The March Brown hatch may not be the first mayfly hatch or the season, but it is likely the first hatch of large bugs to hit the Penobscot in the spring, and the salmon will be ready to sip these larger duns off the surface. If the water is right, I may try lifting march brown nymphs like a nymph swimming to the surface. At the end of the drift, give the nymphs time to lift in the current, and you may enjoy some late strikes. I may also swing wet flies because fish will be feeding on March Browns before you see them on the surface.

March Brown Mayfly Selection

Blue Winged Olive Mayfly

Like many mayfly names, Blue Winged Olive is a catch-all term for a collection of Mayflies. It’s not unusual for salmon and trout to snub the BWO hatches. If they are not taking the bugs off the water, you can try going subsurface with wet fly patterns or nymph patterns.

Blue Winged Olive Mayfly Selection

Hendrickson Mayfly

If you are lucky enough to be on the water for a Hendrickson Hatch you know salmon love floating Hendricksons. When targeting salmon, nice quiet, drag free drift and any fly that looks similar to a hendrickson is a target on the water.

Hendrickson Mayfly Selection

Light Cahill Mayfly

The Light Cahill dun is quick at working its way through the surface film, and will ride the surface for some time before taking off. Dun patterns work well for the Cahill

Light Cahill Mayfly Selection

Sulphur Mayfly

The Sulphur struggles to shed its husk and work its way through the surface. While the Light Cahill and Sulfur are both light colored mayflies, the sulfur is better fished as an emerger. I will tie about 10” of tippet off the shank of a dry fly and add a second fly like a yellow klinkhammer. A Kninkhammer has a white parachute, making it easier to see, not all emergers are easy to follow. Use the lead fly as a strike indicator. If it moves, goes under or a rise happens within a foot of your dry fly SET THE HOOK!

Sulfur Mayfly Selection

Best Flies to Fish in Maine in June

June delivers a wide variety of fly fishing bugs for Landlocked Salmon and Brooktrout to feast upon, and a few new ones to feast upon us. The blackflies are still pretty thick in early June, but will dissipate as the month wears on. The mosquitoes however, will power through the entire month. On the positive side, some of my favorite fly fishing patterns will emerge in June.

Black Stoneflies

June, I start looking for little black stoneflies. Most people throw a stimulator trying to fool a fish. If you want to try something else, find yourself a Bugmeister or a PMX. These flies can be lethal imitations of stoneflies or sometimes even hoppers. I am guilty of using these larger patterns as a strike indicator for a smaller, harder to see pattern like a sulfur emerger pattern like a Klinkhammer tied in a creamy or light yellow.

Black Stonefly Selection

Golden Stoneflies

The yellow stonefly is another of my favorites. I often fish a yellow bugmeister with a caddis emerger pattern dropper. Salmon love this combination, and the big bright fly makes a great strike indicator.

Golden Stonefly Selection

Caddis Flies

As June begins I start looking for a few new bugs to arrive on the scene. On the West Branch, the Caddis are king. The caddis begin hatching in early June and continue to hatch through the summer. If you are looking to fish the West Branch Caddis hatch, I’m going to recommend the last two weeks of June. If you can’t get Salmon to hit your caddis try skittering it across the surface. Caddis hatch as fully formed adults. There is no caddis dun, so they can hatch and flap their wings and move across the surface, so, sometimes surface movement is a good thing. There are many caddis with variations in body color, size and even wing color.

Caddis Fly Selection

Dragonfly and Damselfly

Some days even when there is nothing coming to the surface and you have exhausted all the flies you expected to work, a brook trout or salmon can be tempted by a well placed dragonfly or damselfly pattern. These are big bugs, a large meal worth moving for. When they say fly fishing with a large fly is how you catch big fish, dragon and damselflies might be a great fly to try.

Do you know the difference between a dragonfly and a damselfly? It’s in the wings. Damselfly wings fold back over abdomen and tail, while dragonfly wings stick straight out from the body when at rest.

Dragonfly and Damselfly Selection

Midge

Midge Nymph Selection

You can fly fish a midge nymph fly pattern almost any time. They tend to be larger in the spring, as they have been growing all winter. Midges are tiny. If you want to get down to a 6X tippet and try to land an 18” salmon on a size 24 griffiths gnat have fun. I’ll cheer you on. I’m likely to break it off when I set the hook.

Remember, fish eat more than just dry flies. If you don’t regularly fish trout and salmon fly patterns like nymphs, wet flies and emergers you are missing out of a lot of fish. We all love the take on a dry fly, but I prefer the take on any fly over practicing casting all day. To put it more simply, if what you are using isn’t working? Change your fly. Change your fly again and again until you find the best fly for salmon on that day.

I hope we helped you decide which salmon fly patterns to pack if you are headed to fly fish the West Branch of the Penobscot, or even better, what flies to spin up this winter so you are ready for spring fly fishing at Big Eddy.

About

Todd

Todd has been splashing around Maine rivers and poking around the woods since he as a kid. As a full-time summer resident at Big Eddy Todd loves sharing the natural beauty of the Katahdin region as a fishing and whitewater rafting guide.

May	June
Week 3	Week 4	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Size 10-14 Water Temperature: 55 F Degrees F Weather: Warm

Nymph March Brown Nymph Hare’s Ear	Emerger Klinkhammer – Brown Hi-Vis-Parachute March BrownMahogany Parachute
Dun American March Brown March Brown Parachute Brindle Chute Humpy – Brown	Spinner/Cripple Isonychia Spinner Rusty Spinner

May	June
Week 3	Week 4	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Size: 14-22 Water Temperature: 40-55 F Weather: Overcast to rainy

NymphBWO Nymph Bead Head (BH) Bird Nest BH Hare’s Ear (Olive)	EmergerCDC Loop Wing Emerger – BWO Klinkhammer BWO
Dun Blue Dun BWO Comparadun BWO Parachute	Spinner/CrippleBWO Last Chance Cripple Biot Parachute BWO CDC Biot Spinner BWO

May	June
Week 3	Week 4	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Size 12-16 Water Temperature:50-55 F

January 2, 2023