Portland man drowns while fishing on East Outlet of Moosehead Lake

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Maine game wardens have recovered the body of a Portland man who they said drowned Saturday afternoon while fishing on the East Outlet of Moosehead Lake.

In a news release Sunday evening, the Maine Warden Service identified the victim as 40-year-old Truc Huynh.

Wardens said that Huynh was fishing with a friend Saturday morning on the East Outlet, which flows out of Moosehead Lake and into the Kennebec River. The friends were in a fishing raft around noon when they decided to move to a new location on the river, according to Mark Latti, a spokesman for the Maine Warden Service.

Latti said the friends were descending down the river in the raft when they encountered whitewater rapids. The rapids overturned their boat, throwing both men into the water. Huynh was not wearing a life jacket and was swept under by the current, Latti said. Huynh never resurfaced, but his friend, who was wearing a life jacket, made it to shore and called for help.

Wardens and several other people who witnessed the incident searched the shoreline, but were unable to locate Huynh.

Latti said the Maine Warden Service launched an airplane to fly over the river. Game Warden Pilot Chris Hilton  spotted Huynh’s body around 4 p.m. Saturday along a stretch of the river located in Sapling Township.  Wardens launched a boat and recovered the body at 4:20 p.m.

Huynh was taken to a local funeral home.

The East Outlet of the Kennebec River, which is about 3.5 miles long, is a popular fly fishing spot particularly because it is loaded with landlocked salmon and brook trout, according to Maine River Guides, which offers fishing excursions on the river.

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