RAPID RIVER

Rapid River boasts to be the best wild Brook trout fishing in America. The fly fishing stretch of this trophy river is pretty short, just a little bit over 3 miles long. The native Brook trout in here can easily top five pounds, but they usually run 2-3 pounds. Compare that with most streams when the brookies are usually less than 10" long.

There are two ways to reach fishable water, one is to walk one mile and the other is by taking a one-hour boat ride. Neither one of these methods is convenient, but you can make a nice day out of it. You really have to want to fish this great river, maybe knowing that there are monster brook trout in this stream is enough.

This is a fly-fishing only river that is catch-and-release only of the Brook trout, which will keep adding to their massive size. You can keep up to 2 of the land locked salmon as long as they are over 12" in length. If you are looking for the biggest Brook trout in America and one of the best Brook trout streams in the world then Rapid River is the place for you.

This river is fed from Richardson Lake and the fishing is good through Lake Umbagog. Since there is a dam on this river the flows are not always consistent. There may be 25% more flow on one day over the previous day and that is never any good for fly fishing. Rapid River is located near the New Hampshire border in the western Maine mountains, this is a very scenic area.

The best fishing is said to be between the Middle Dam at Lower Richardson Lake and the Pond in the River. That is only because it has fairly decent access. The very best fly fishing is below that, between the lower Dam and Lake Umbagog. The access is more difficult on this stretch and the there is far less fishing pressure. You will find some nice monster Brook trout holding in the pools in this stretch.

You may also want to fish the upper dam area between Mooselookmeguntic and Richardson Lake. Try using streamers in this stretch of water and try to get them in the deeper water where the large fish hang out.

In the middle dam area of this river between Richardson Lake and Pond in the River has a great deal of pocket water. You can access this area by the trail on the south side of the river after going over the dam. Using Pheasant Tails, Hares Ears, Golden Stones and Muddlers are some excellent choices to try.



Map of this area.

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