My Little River
by Cap'n Chuck Duggins

Why my “little” river? Everyone knows I fish the Penobscot. In MY MIND, it is my BIG river. I just wanted to start this smaller and work up. The river this will be mostly about is the Piscataquis River as it runs from Sebec Lake near Dover- Foxcroft, Maine to where it joins the Penobscot River at Howland.

Now first of all you have to understand that I have not even seen this whole stretch of the Piscataquis, much less fished it. Any more than I have fished the entire Penobscot! I kind of doubt if anyone has. Another thing to keep in mind is that most of the fishing I do is done from an 18 or 20-foot boat and in most cases, if the boat won't float, I don't go! This both alters and influences my perspective. Yes, I have wade fished, and yes I have bank fished. Some, but not much. And I'm too lazy to want to do much more of it!

A word about Maine Rivers in general. Most of them offer everything from fast, churning water to slow, gentle glides, reasonable depth and gravel riffles, bottoms ranging from silt to ledge, drops from steep slopes to almost non existent, wildlife from mice to moose, and just about anything else you might care to think of, all on the same river! If you are a reasonable, thinking fisherman, willing to do a little planning and capable of exercising adult judgement, you should have NO big problems. If you are not able to mold yourselves into this category, they very well MAY bite you on the butt, BIG TIME! In any case, first trips are NO TIME to be alone. Rivers go right through most of our major cities, but get a couple of mile from those cities and you may well be the only person around within a mile or so!

Within the rivers themselves you will find an abundance of both natural and man-made cover. Culverts coming in from feeder streams, bridge abutments, old paper mill machinery that has washed into the river during floods, road signs that have been plowed in with snow, pieces of old structures and washed out dams. Islands a bunch and those ever present, at least in Maine, rock cribs, left over from the logging drive days. These are large, whole and half log “boxes” filled with rocks that were used to anchor “boom chains” during the drives. When the drives went away, they stayed, and it's kind of amazing just how many Smallmouth they will sometimes hold! Now don't get the impression that our rivers are junkyards. They definitely are NOT! Lots of this stuff is present only in tiny areas of any of the rivers, sometimes just due to the inaccessibility to the river to get it out after the flood.

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"If you are a reasonable, thinking fisherman, willing to do a little planning and capable of exercising adult judgement, you should have NO big problems."

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Another difference to note is the simple fact that “runoff” seems to have a different meaning in Maine than it does “other “ places. Spring run off here, commonly alters our rivers as much as 6 to 10 feet and that's a NORMAL year! I have seen a semi tractor in the parking lot in downtown Augusta on April 1st when all you could see of it was the air intake and exhaust stack. The rest of it was totally submerged. The parking lot is just ABOVE normal flood stage!

Ok, the ground rules are these. I will only describe those areas I have fished myself within the last couple of years. They can and sometimes do change from year to year.

From the Town of Milo, head south on the road. Come on south until it looks like the road take a pretty good right turn. At that point it becomes the Howland/Milo road. There is a dirt road that continues straight ahead. Go down it for about 75 yards. You will see a dirt/grass ramp leading down to the river on your right which is decent access for a canoe. I recommend you do not go down river from this point by boat, as there is a pretty good down pitch just around the corner to the left of the ramp. The fishing from there all the way back up to the Rt.16 Bridge is all pretty good. It could be floated, canoed, sections waded, or float tubed. No real bad water until you get below the aforementioned “ramp” and that is giving it the benefit of the doubt. Ten or twelve years ago there was a Fishing Hole Show shot on this section featuring Bobby Orr. Fish through here run to 2 ½ to 3 lbs. with an occasional slightly larger fish. Moderate current. This whole stretch can be fished by just about any methods you wish. EXTREME care should be used with motorboats.

Well, on looking again at the map, this whole piece of river from Milo to Howland runs east and west, so the flow is from WEST to EAST.

As you go east, from the last ramp, the next sharp curve to the left has a road going back, pretty much to the south from the main road. This one goes across the river on a bridge that is quit high. I have never been down in the gorge to fish, but it has always looked interesting to me. I suspect it to be well worth a try and know it worth the look! As you proceed to the east, you wall come to a large expanse of exposed gravel in the river. This whole area is one well worth fishing and, while the fish run small, there are a lot of them along with an occasional larger fish out of the deeper holes. Under normal water levels you would either have to portage or drag a boat through this section, there being no good channel to slip through. The next decent ramp is just above the dam at Howland, a good ramp with a very nice float provided. My personal best ever River Smallmouth came out from under the bridge by this ramp back maybe 7 or 8 years ago and was just a hair over 5 lbs. I haven't caught anything NEAR that out of a river since.

From the ramp at Howland, almost back up to the exposed gravel bar, there is water enough for small motor boats (use caution), canoes, places for float tubing, and even some areas for careful wading. This stretch has numerous cribs (some above and some just under the surface), islands, cuts, incoming streams, and lots and lots of fish. It also is home to one of the prettiest fish in out rivers, the Red Breasted Sun Fish. With its crimson breast, tail and fins contrasting with a blue-green, and almost iridescent back, make them, while small, a sight to be appreciated and make you wonder how they could get a bass-sized bite into that tiny mouth.

This body of water is NOT to be taken lightly. There are sections both isolated and hazardous. There are also all the different structures and covers you may encounter on just about any body of water in Maine, as well as more than adequate numbers of fish. With a little care, a bit of planning and common sense, you can have a safe trip and catch a bunch of fish without going any farther.

Accommodations are available at South Branch Lake Camps about 10 miles from Howland, other sporting camps in the area, as well as a motel in Milo. For additional information contact me at bassguid@midcoast.com or sobranch@midmaine.com .