What a fantastic time we had last weekend in Rockwood, ME. We fished the Moose River (photo above), the East Outlet (which is the start of the Kennebec River) and the West Outlet. The Moose River flows into Moosehead Lake and the East and West Outlets flow out of Moosehead lake. I’ve been going up there the last several years with my close friend, Travis, who introduced me to the area. This time, we were fortunate to have two of my other friends come along (Rob and Bruce), and something tells me they will be coming back for many years to come. We stay at Maynard’s in Maine, in Rockwood, which is a great place to relax. Maynards was started in 1919 and it has a lot of character. The best part is that there are only four channels on the TV and your cellphone will barely work, which makes you relax and enjoy your time up there. A close second is Moe, Larry, Curly and Shemp, who were the four mounted bucks in our cabin!
We have recently started choosing cabins that have a full kitchen, as I love to cook. Maynard’s has a meal plan, which is great, and is reasonably priced, but there’s nothing better than cooking for your friends with fresh ingredients. I’ll speak briefly about two dishes that I served. The first is Pasta with a Cilantro cream sauce, with mixed grilled vegetables, tossed with fresh Salmon and a grilled pineapple on top.
For breakfast on Sunday, we had Pesto Poached Eggs over sliced Baby Potatoes with Salmon and Sriracha, paired with Asparagus wrapped in Bacon! Hey, it may not be ZERO calories, but it sure helped four old men catch some fish!
If you are curious how I cooked the salmon, here’s how I did it. I marinated the fish overnight with a lemon pepper spice blend and pineapple juice. I also put some sliced pineapple and onion inside the fish so some of the flavor would soak in. On a medium hot grill, I cooked the salmon on foil, turning it once. I find the key to cooking salmon is to slightly undercook it (medium rare) as it will continue to cook after it’s taken off the grill.
If you’re ever up in Greenville, ME and want to know where the fish are, stop into the Maine Guide Fly Shop, Penny runs the show and Dan finds the fish. They’ll tell you which flies to use and they will be spot on! If you ever want to fish with a guide, this is the place to go. Travis and I did that last year and it was the best day of fishing I’ve ever had.
A big shout out to my friend Bruce, who hasn’t fly fished in years, but caught salmon and brook trout using streamers, nymphs and dry flies!
Rob catching his first Land Locked Salmon!
Bruce 2.0
Moe, Larry, Curly, Shemp, Rob and Travis!
Matt Becker
Live from Matt’s House
