It’s tough to beat this County ‘retreat’

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Jim Barresi remembers the day more than 40 years ago when he showed his father the camp he had bought on the bank of the Aroostook River.

“He told me, ‘You’re going to be working on this for the rest of your life. And you’re going to love every minute,'” Barresi said the other day, as he proudly walked the property. “He was right.”

Barresi’s retreat, which is about a 10-minute drive from his home in Castle Hill, may as well be 100 miles in the woods.

The road here is a single muddy path, gated at one end. The camp, built in the 1920s, features head-high doorways, rough-hewn walls, and long, narrow roof shingles you’ll never find at the Home Depot.

And while the brook trout fishing is very good here, Barresi holds out hope that in time, he and other believers will successfully complete a mission they’ve been pursuing for the past 30 years.

Barresi wants Atlantic salmon back in the Aroostook River, and he and the group he helps lead – Atlantic Salmon for Northern Maine – are determined to make that happen.

Over the course of two days, Barresi and club president Ron Grover led me and colleague Kevin Miller on a tour of the hatcheries that are helping make that mission a reality.

In future editions, you’ll hear more about those efforts.

But by the end of Friday, after driving more than 350 miles to Fredericton, New Brunswick, then back to Fort Fairfield, and eventually to the small town of Wade, Barresi’s camp and the camaraderie we found there was most welcome … and worth mentioning.

Several other club members joined us there, as did Barresi’s wife and fishing partner, Judy. The meal was outstanding, and the tales shared around the old wood stove memorable.

But the camp, and the surroundings, were what made the trip truly spectacular.

Barresi is, simply put, a collector. The walls of his camp are covered with old skillets and saws and cleavers and tools used by woodsmen of yesteryear. Photos retell stories of good days spent with good friends on some of Canada’s top salmon rivers.

And outside, the mighty Aroostook River rolls on.

Barresi knows the river, and loves it here. He can show you where to find fiddleheads (though, it turns out, he’s got more access to more patches of the delicious fern than he could ever hope to pick clean).

He knows the area’s history, and shows you where the salmon will sit … some day … in deep, cool holding pools that look just as inviting as any you’ll find on the more famous modern salmon rivers.

Still, there are moments when even Barresi is surprised by what he finds on his home river.

“There’s an eagle!” he exclaimed on Saturday afternoon, as we trolled slowly against the current not far upstream from camp.

“There’s two!” he said, as another took wing and flew out over the water. “Three!”

In all, seven adult eagles emerged – it turns out a deer carcass was serving as a buffet for the majestic birds – and soared away as they heard us approach.

The fish, as it turns out, weren’t cooperative on Saturday.

But as we finally headed south after a whirlwind two-day tour, one thing was certain: The journey was one worth remembering.

And hopefully repeating.

‘Hot’ lure produces

Every year or two, a new, hot lure arrives on the scene and anglers trip over one another in order to scoop them off the racks at their local tackle shop.

For the past several months, I’ve been hearing about one such lure which has been (or so legend had it) producing phenomenal results in the Rangeley area.

The lure: The DB Smelt, is produced by D.B. Lures in Berlin, N.H.

And after dragging one around West Grand Lake last week, I’m happy to report that reports don’t seem to have been exaggerated.

In the fishing business, that’s rare … and worth noting.

Like many productive lures, the DB Smelt doesn’t look like anything special. It’s small (about 23/4 inches long), lightweight, and narrow. The color schemes, of which there are plenty, are pretty common among metal trolling spoons.

But in the water, the DB Smelt comes to life.

At least, that’s what the salmon of West Grand Lake told us.

Over several hours of trolling, guide Paul Laney and I didn’t pull in a record haul of fish.

Neither did we get out on the water early in the day, when fishing may have been better.

But we stayed busy, especially during the late morning hours … and all of the fish came on the purple-and-silver DB Smelt.

Laney said that over the past few summers, the lure has become a proven producer, and some guides tie it on first, last … and always.

Needless to say, I stopped at the Pine Tree Store to check their selection before returning to Bangor, and ended up buying a secret weapon of my own.

Piscataquis stocked

One rite of spring for Dover-Foxcroft and Guilford-area residents is a trip to the Piscataquis River to fish for brook trout.

In order to increase their odds, some anglers wait until they’re sure the state’s hatchery personnel have completed their spring work on the river.

According to the state’s weekly fisheries report, fish were stocked in the Piscataquis last week.

And since you’ve been good and waited an entire week before fishing the river, your friends won’t be able to rib you if you head over and wet a line for an afternoon this weekend.

After all, it’s not as if you’ve been following the stocking trucks around. Right?

The facts of the matter are, these fish are put in the Piscataquis to be caught (and, if you want, kept).

The river warms up quite a bit in the summer months, and often becomes too warm for brookies to thrive.

Therefore, if you’re looking for a feed of trout, this might be one of your best options.

And while many people will begin to fish at the popular stocking points (chosen by hatchery personnel because there’s convenient parking and access for their large trucks), the fish disperse soon enough, and a leisurely stroll down the riverbank to less-populated pools may pay off.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.