By Mike Roche

The expression “small world” often comes into play when circumstances bring people together who learn that they have people in common. This writer has frequently experienced this phenomenon when traveling to engage in hunting and fishing activities or places where people with an interest in conservation matters gather.

Many sportsmen in the northeast get involved in both fly fishing for trout and salmon and upland hunting for grouse and woodcock. Both interests are activities where the challenge involved is relatively high and the success rate relatively low. In short, you do often catch a lot of fish or bag a lot of game, but that becomes a given.

Both pursuits also require considerable specialty gear, which is not inexpensive. Upland hunters need a dog (or dogs) and also an investment of time and money into training that dog to acquire the special skills required. Shotguns that suit the whims of upland hunters are also personal, special and can also require a very healthy investment. Clothing, from head toe, is also specialized and certain brands – Orvis and L.L. Bean come to mind – have made a reputation providing things discerning upland hunters want.

Fly fishermen who lust after wild trout and landlocked salmon invest in fly rods from brands like Thomas & Thomas, Orvis, Loomis, Sage, Scott, and Winston which all have their followers. A quality rod in the hands of skilled caster is a something to behold. Essential gear includes waders, a vest, and of course, flies. Hand-tied bits of hair and feather, expertly tied by a skilled master, will imitate one of the life stages of the insects that trout feed on and “matching the hatch” with the right color and size fly can create a magic moment for the fly fisherman.

Last week, my trip to Lakewoods Camp in the Rangely, Maine, region put me into a place where a group of enthusiasts were gathered. Early on, one fisherman who was accompanied by a pair of English setters caught my eye. When we met, he told me the dogs were from the “Old Hemlock” line of setters that were developed by George Bird Evans. This long-sustained line is respected and prized by grouse hunters and has a very special reputation by traditionalists who love to pursue ruffed grouse.

Immediately, my mind went to two people in my life who were passionate Old Hemlock enthusiasts. One was my good friend and fellow outdoor writer, the late Randy Julius, and the other was Jim Killay. “Jim Killay!” proud owner Chris Lorenz responded, “His dog is the grand sire of these two dogs!” He and his fishing and hunting companion Glenn Jonsson both have known Jim and his wife Karen for a long time through the Old Hemlock Society, a group of folks who are committed to the Old Hemlock line of English setters. Glen, in fact is editor of the excellent newsletter the organization distributes to members, and they had spent a lot of time with the Kallays at various gatherings over the years.

My first memory of Jim Killay was as a boy of 12 joining “the men” at deer camp in New Hampshire. They would travel north to central New Hampshire in the summer and pitch an army surplus 40-man tent. Heated with a stove fashioned from a 55-gallon drum and furnished with army cots, that tent was heaven on earth for me, and those men were the best mentors a young boy could ever hope to have. Jim evolved into a passionate bird hunter with excellent dogs. When he retired, he fulfilled his dream of having an English setter, an Irish setter and a Gordon setter who were all fine gun dogs. Indeed, what a small world!

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Now for the big water part. Lakewoods Camp is located on Lower Richardson Lake and is a short walk to the headwaters of the Rapid River. It is a renowned brook trout water teeming with big brookies and landlocked salmon. The camp came onto my radar last fall when I was given a chance to hunt birds there for a couple days.

A couple who have hunted with me in New York at the Ruffed Grouse Society New York Hunt had purchased a Lakewoods hunt at the New York City RGS event, but were unable to make it. A friend knew that I was in Maine and offered me the days.

It was eye-opening to drive the 16-mile logging road from the highway to the gated camp. What really caught my eye was the camps themselves. They were built in the mid 1950s during the “Gilded Age” when the wealthy from New York, Philadelphia and Boston sent their families north to escape the city heat. That was preceded, however, by these industrial barons having the influence to extend the railroad line north from the pulp mills in the middle of New Hampshire and also being able to have grand hotels and camps built in the Rangeley area for them and their families to enjoy.

Last week, the “rustic” cabin was home to my high school friend Clay Morin and his Essex neighbor Paul Rullo, who has become a good friend and hunting/fishing companion. We arrived Tuesday and immediately rigged our fly rods and headed to the Rapid River. It was indeed rapid! Good fishing conditions are considered a flow of 300 to 500 CFS (cubic feet per second). The rains, which have fallen heavily this spring in Maine as they have here in the North Quabbin region, produced flows that measure 2,000 CFS to as high as 4,000 CFS!

Learning how to present a fly in that raging torrent was a challenge and wading without getting swept off your feet was critical to survival. Over the next few days, we tried a number of spots on the river and the staff dropped us off and picked us up for meals whenever we wanted. By trial and error, we all managed to catch fish and on our final day, my experiments in what to use and where to fish in the flow patterns of the river finally came up with something that worked. A large green beadhead (to make it sink) Wooley Bugger drew strikes from brook trout and landlocks in an eddy, and four came to the net before the fly was lost due to my stupidity. But it was lot of fun and a great getaway.

Paul has already booked some time hunting at Lakewoods in the fall and if my schedule is open, the dogs and I will join him. Next on the agenda is to get into summer bass fishing mode!

Mike Roche is a retired teacher who has been involved in conservation and wildlife issues his entire life. He has written the Sportsman’s Corner since 1984 and has served as advisor to the Mahar Fish’N Game Club, counselor and director of the Massachusetts Conservation Camp, former Connecticut Valley District representative on the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board, a Massachusetts Hunter Education Instructor and is a licensed New York hunting guide. He can be reached at mikeroche3@msn.com.