Having just returned from my second trip to the Rapid River this spring, I do so with mixed emotions.  Make no mistake about it; the Rapid is Maine’s finest brook trout fishery.  In fact, the Rapid is the nation’s finest brook trout fishery.  I also consider the Rapid to be Maine’s finest river salmonid fishery and the only one in the state truly worthy of the title Trophy Fishery.  In fact, if I did not live in Maine I would fly to Maine just to fish the Rapid.  I cannot say that about any other water in the state today.  The Rapid is truly the crown jewel of Maine’s salmonid fisheries.

In an informal poll on my forum recently folks defined what a trophy fish was and what a trophy fishery was (and there is a BIG difference).  Many waters in Maine are capable of putting up a trophy fish.  However, few are truly trophy fisheries.  The generally accepted definition of a trophy fish was 18” for a brook trout, 20” for a brown or rainbow trout, and 22” for a landlocked salmon.  Even DIF&W director of fisheries John Boland agreed in a subsequent email that 18” is a fair definition of a trophy brook trout. 
  
As far as defining what a trophy fishery is, this was a little more subjective.  While everyone agreed that a “reasonable chance of catching a trophy on each outing” was what made a trophy fishery, the term “reasonable” is up for interpretation.  For the sake of argument (and so as not to penalize the fisheries for our own shortcomings as anglers!), let’s assume that “reasonable” means that there is good population of so-called trophy fish in the respective body of water.  While still a vague definition, let me assure you that I absolutely know it when I see it!       

By this definition of a trophy fishery, very few waters in Maine make the cut.  Sure the West Branch, Grand Lake Stream, Dead, Kennebec, Androscoggin, Moose, East Outlet, Roach, Magalloway, Kennebego and a few other waters put up some trophy fish.  However, they either have short seasons, are reliant on seasonal runs of fish, or while trophy fish are caught they are not the norm.  The West Branch used to be a true trophy fishery (a story for another time), the Kennebec in Bingham could be a trophy fishery, and I caught my biggest fish of 2005 on the Androscoggin.  While all of these are great fisheries, none is quite up to true trophy fishery standards.

For a river to be a trophy fishery; you should see trophy fish; hook trophy fish, and even land the occasional trophy fish each and every time you go there.  Where can you do this in Maine?  With a home in the middle Kennebec valley, a trailer in the West Branch region, and a job in the recreational fishing business, I fish more quality water in Maine than most anglers.  However, I don’t see much true trophy fishing unless I leave the state.  This is where the mixed emotions come in.  I see the Rapid River as both our greatest accomplishment and our biggest failure. 

Depending on how you look at it, the trophy fishing found at the Rapid River could be a walk back in time or a view into future if we only paid attention and acted accordingly.  This is trophy fishing the way it used to be and trophy fishing the way it could be.  From novice to expert, from guide to weekend warrior, anyone who goes to the Rapid has a good chance of catching the fish of a lifetime.  In fact, many of the large brook trout that grace the pages of our sporting publications these days come from the Rapid River.   

While some say that limited access creates trophy fishing, I don’t buy it.  In fact, many of the nation’s trophy fisheries (including the Rapid) receive more pressure than other lesser waters.  For example, the Beaverhead River in Montana, arguably the finest trophy brown trout fishery in the country, sees more driftboats most weeks than the average Maine River sees in a season.  The same could be said for the San Juan River in New Mexico; there are literally hundreds of anglers spread through the upper 3 miles on any given day.  So, to say that trophy fishing is all about limited access is misleading at best. 
Some anglers say that the trophy fishing is all about genetics.  If this were true, the Magalloway River would be just as good as the Rapid River as they share some of the same fish (fish from both rivers spend time in Umbagog).  In addition, many of the nation’s self-sustaining trophy fisheries are based on non-native fish (browns and rainbows) or native fish that have been stocked over.  There are also a few trophy fisheries (San Juan, Green and White come to mind) that are based primarily on stocked fish.  Once again, the answer is not that simple. 

Another misleading statement is that the trophy fishing is all about habitat.  While habitat (temperature, oxygen, food, structure, etc.), is important, even the best habitat can be compromised by de-watering, angler exploitation, disease, etc.  In fact, Rapid River is not as cold as the Magalloway River and while the Magalloway is a great fishery, the Rapid River is a better fishery.  As such, habitat alone does not make a trophy fishery. 
While all of the issues mentioned above contribute in some way to trophy fishing found in the Rapid River, the reality is that it is all about management.  The trophy fishing in the Rapid is no accident.  The Rapid River has trophy fishing because it is managed for trophy fishing.  As far as Maine waters go, regional biologists dedicate a disproportionate amount of their time to the Rapid River as do TU, SAM, Orvis, etc.  The Rapid is the most studied and actively managed fishery in the northeast bar none.  

With a management plan that includes no stocking, fly fishing only, catch-and-release, barbless hooks, and restrictive seasons, the Rapid River is the one place in Maine where everything is done right.  Replace the management plan in effect at the Rapid with one in place elsewhere on Maine’s brook trout waters and it would be just another “quality” but not trophy fishery.     

As I stated in the beginning of this article, the Rapid is a good news/bad news story.  As most know the Rapid has been infected with illegally introduced smallmouth bass.  To have come so far and now be faced with an obstacle that has not been successfully overcome anywhere else in Maine is truly sad.  While the DIF&W and others are doing everything they can to preserve this remarkable resource, it is unclear what the long-term prognosis is.  If we end up losing the Rapid River brook trout fishery we have lost something truly special and something that exists nowhere else in the state. 

This brings me to my last and most important point.  What are we doing to create another trophy fishery in the event that we lose this one?  Where else could the management plan in effect on the Rapid yield similar or maybe even better results?  Can we afford to have only one true trophy fishery in Maine?  Should we have only one true trophy fishery in Maine?  The Rapid has proven to us that Maine can still have world-class fishing if we simply make some concessions.  Will we embrace what has worked on the Rapid or will we ignore it?  Is the Rapid a view into our past or a glimpse of our future?  That is up solely to the DIF&W.  We can only hope that they see this.