Landlocked Salmon are the same species as the Atlantic salmon, but have either become area bound without access to the sea, or have lost the migratory urge which makes the Atlantic salmon perform his phenomenal ocean to river migration.
The landlocked are both limited and widespread in habitat, as they have been planted in many lakes beyond their original home waters. But wherever they are found, they provide fast and exciting fly rod sport. My own first encounter with the species was at Kennebago, Maine. I was casting the Little Kennebago River and had a hit to my streamer fly, and then out came a bright, silvery colored number in a series of jumps so fast that I thought it must be a whole school of fish. I couldn’t believe that a single salmon could jump up such a storm. Since that day, so many years ago, I have caught many landlocked in widely scattered waters, and all of them kick up the same turmoil.
They are now found in many Northern Hemisphere spots, from Maine and New York to Northern Ontario, Quebec,
(where they are called ouananiche), Newfoundland and Labrador. They have been transplanted to New Zealand and Argentina, with great success. But most of these fish, wherever they are found, originated with stock from Sebago Lake in the Rangeley Lakes section of Maine, and the scientific name comes from this origin—Sa/mo salar sebago.
Many of the time-honored landlocked salmon flies also originated in the Rangeleys, Kennebago, Mooselookmeguntic and Moosehead Lake fishing camps. Smelt comprise the main food item on the landlocked salmon menu in Maine, and many of the flies simulate the smelt in one way or another.
The supervisor is probably the outstanding example of this tie and will probably get more hits than any other artificial in the books. But the gray ghost, green ghost, dark tiger and many Atlantic salmon flies will also take them, and when they are hitting well they can be caught on almost any type of fly, from nymphs through the wet flies and dries, as well as on streamers and bucktails. Best dries are the gray Wulff, white Wulff, royal coachman Wulff, green drake, gray hackle with yellow body, and the black gnat, all in sizes 14 to S.
The Grand Lake Stream area in Maine was at one time a choice landlocked salmon fly fishing spot. The lake itself was usually fished by trolling, hut wide-awake fly casters watched for risers and cast both wets and dries with great success. And the stream below the lake, running into Big Lake, three miles below, furnished wonderful dry fly fishing. On one trip there I recall taking several landlocked salmon over four pounds apiece on a green drake, size 12. We fished dries for them much as we would for trout, working the pools carefully, and finding them in the same places as we would have found rainbows or browns. They responded, however, with typical salmon spontaneity, and busted skyward with the usual spectacular aerial activity of the family. And wherever he has been transplanted, the landlocked salmon has carried on the traditions of Ms fore-
bear, the Atlantic salmon, earning his reputation as a rip-snorting game fish with plenty on the ball.
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