Tales from the Outdoors: The Brothers Four Redux

By Bob Chapin

When we last left the intrepid fishing brothers, they were planning a trip to the St Croix River System, typically referred to as Grand Lake Stream or GLS.  GLS is actually a small town about five hours north past Bangor and east on Route 9. It is also the name of the stream which connects West Grand Lake and Big Lake. 

We had reservations for three overnights in the classic Maine fishing camp widely known as Weatherby’s Fishing Resort. While the buildings show their age, they are clean and comfortable and covered with log siding. They have seen the likes of Ted Williams, Gadabout Gadis, and Lefty Krey…all famous people that have vacationed at the lodge known for its fishing, particularly out of guided canoes that were 18 to 20 feet long. While the original canoes were paddled, the more modern ones are square ended and accommodate small outboards. The Lodge sits on West Grand Lake right where Grand Lake Stream begins its 3-mile run to Big Lake. When the salmon runs are on, it is the place to be. We were there the last week of June and missed the salmon run but the stream held a good number of small mouth bass which we tricked into trying to consume a fly with minor success.

Our first full day was with guides, two brothers to a canoe, and they took us to Big Lake, aptly named as it approaches the size of Sebago, but not quite. At the crack of 9 a.m., hey we were on vacation, we launched in brilliant sunshine and crossed the calm lake to Crescent Bay. The guides were studying their mounted depth finders and were looking for a rocky ridge several hundred yards from shore. The spot looked fairly nondescript to me, but they knew what they were doing. I had brother John with me and when J.R. Mabee, the guide, was reasonably sure that we were over the ridge we launched a couple of small black and purple bass bugs with black tail feathers and white rubber legs. In less than five minutes the first of over 60 fish throughout the day was in the boat. All but four small mouth (under 12 inches) were immediately returned to the water. The smaller fish were kept for our planned shore lunch. The action was fairly steady in both canoes. The fish were all a nice chunky size and fought valiantly to defend their reputations as scrappy fish. I managed to catch the lunker bass at 19 3/4 inches, a quarter of an inch short of the 20 Incher’s Club.

The shore lunch was the highlight of the day. We had selected chicken, but the fish stole the show as J.R and Deryn Lacombe cleaned, and beer battered the fish and sliced up some potatoes and onions for cooking over the fire in light oil as the chicken broiled in racks around the fire. I always thought that freshwater bass tasted like dirt as most of what I have sampled came out of relatively warm water down Virginia way. These were delicious. We could have done without the chicken. The afternoon fishing was a repeat of the morning. We always came back to the bugs and Senko worms rigged whacky worm style. After our experiences at Big Lake, we fished the next day from shore around the dam pool, the construction pool, and parts in between on Grand Lake Stream. It was good to be back fishing with my brothers and doing classic fly fishing rather than simply dragging a streamer behind the boat. The dining at Weatherbys was superb. The current owner/operator and Master Maine Guide is Jeff McEvoy and his partner, Michelle, and they are doing a tremendous job.

After three nights there we moved a short distance down West Grand Lake shore to Leen’s Lodge for two more nights where we rented a boat and motor. After all the hype we had heard about Weatherby’s we were expecting a letdown at Leen’s. We needn’t have worried. Scott and Kris Weeks are in their 5th year of operating the lodge and they too are doing a great job. The attention to detail, especially in the kitchen, is amazing. We had prime rib you could cut with a spoon and chicken that was superb. Vegetables were chosen with care to accompany the main dish and the desserts—warm apple pie ala mode and chocolate pot du creme were delicious…we talked about bringing our wives up next trip because we know they would also enjoy it.

These kinds of trips are not inexpensive, but they are a great value, and we are not getting any younger! < 

The original Tales from the Outdoors column by Bob Chapin about “The Four Brothers” appeared in the May 14, 2021 edition of The Windham Eagle newspaper.