Michael Grenier, 76, of Lyman has been fishing in the Moosehead region most of his life. But he never caught a landlocked salmon as big as the one he reeled in a few days ago. The fish weighed nearly 5 pounds and was 25 inches long, with a girth of 12 1⁄2 inches.
Grenier was fishing with Al Rockwell, who owns Reel Moosehead Guide Service, one morning, trolling streamer flies when the big fish struck. He worked the fish for about 10 minutes, fighting to keep the rod as straight up as possible, keeping tension on the line so the fish wouldn’t spit out the hook. “I was afraid I would lose him,” he said.
The male salmon broke the water surface five times before Grenier got it near the boat, only to have the fish take off away from the boat three times before Rockwell could get it in the net. Grenier said he normally practices catch and release, but this fish was a beauty and he had just the right place for it on the wall of his man cave. “I had a hard time to make up my mind to keep it or throw it back,” he said.
“But it was a nice male with nice colors and a gorgeous hook jaw.” It was also the biggest salmon Rockwell had caught this year off his guide service boat. Rockwell carefully wrapped the fish in a wet towel until they docked the boat, then scrounged a piece of a 2-by-4 near the dock.
He laid the fish flat on the board, then rewrapped it in a wet towel to keep it in good condition until Grenier could get it to his taxidermist, Pete Sterling Taxidermy in Ea.