For some anglers, fishing offers more rewards than a big catch

Fishermen are famously tight-mouthed about their favorite spots or the secret flies that land them copious catches. But there are those who have made it a habit, even a mission, to share their knowledge while out on Maine’s rivers and trout ponds.

These good Samaritans of the waters serve at times as mentors to others. Sometimes, they will step aside at a productive pool to give a novice angler a go. These are small kindnesses from a bygone era, some say.

Often unrecognized, these fishermen still exist, generously sharing their knowledge and love of tight lines, spreading, as it were, the good word of the waters. Here are a few:

BONNIE HOLDING

Holding is the Maine coordinator of Casting For Recovery, a nonprofit that teaches women fighting breast cancer how to fly fish. Since 1998 the weekend retreats have been held each year at no cost to participants at sporting camps around the state – with a half dozen volunteer anglers, including Holding, helping 14 women learn to fly fish.

“I’d love to say it’s all about the fly fishing, but one of my favorite sayings is – it’s all about the fly fishing and not at all about the fly fishing. It gets them to step outside their box,” said Holding, 65. “A disease like this isolates you, from what they’ve told me. You’re fighting for your life. It’s a hard journey to go through. It’s a huge benefit, being with other women who have gone through it.”

Teaching others to fish comes naturally to Holding, a retired Registered Maine Guide who often comes upon children or novice fishermen trying to figure out a water. She’s always happy to stop by a dock or a shoreline to offer a fly or a lesson in casting.

“I try to read people to see if they’re open to help,” said Holding, a resident of tiny Coplin Plantation in Franklin County. 

Ken Beaulieu with a striped bass he caught in Casco Bay. Photo courtesy of Ken Beaulieu

KEN BEAULIEU

Soon after Beaulieu graduated from college, he was fishing on the Kennebago River in Rangeley one day when he met a stranger who taught him a lot about fishing – and kindness. 

“His name was Ted and he was with this group of World War II veterans who called themselves the Elder Pool Fly Fishing Group. They were 70- and 80-year-olds,” Beaulieu said. “He was fishing in the middle of the river and I thought, bummer. And he turns around and says, ‘Hey, come in and share the pool with me.’ He ended up teaching me the whole back section of the river.”

As his fishing knowledge expanded over the next 35 years, Beaulieu, 59, didn’t hesitate to share his flies, or advice.

One time he was fishing the Kennebago and a couple paddled up in a canoe. They stopped and chatted and shared that they weren’t having any luck. Beaulieu gave them his never-fail fly: the black leach.

At the end of the day, when they paddled past him again, they were beaming. The woman had caught her first fish, and the man had done well. 

“I guess you’d call those little acts of kindness. It all goes back to Ted, when he did that for me,” said Beaulieu, who lives in Danville, New Hampshire, but spends much of the year at his Rangeley camp.

Years after Ted’s example, Beaulieu was the Fly Fishing in Maine member who thought up the “Day Camp” that follows the Casting for Recovery retreats, when experienced fishermen help women fighting breast cancer get better at fly fishing.   

“The retreat is a lot of tears and stories,” said Beaulieu, who has volunteered at Holding’s weekend retreats. “But I said, there’s got to be a way to do more.”

Tom Seymour of Frankfort with a double catch. The avid fisherman has published more than a dozen books on fishing and nature. Photo courtesy of Tom Seymour

TOM SEYMOUR

Seymour is a native Maine fisherman, a former Registered Maine Guide, the author of 14 naturalist books, and a columnist in The Maine Sportsman. But these days the resident of Frankfort in Waldo County also is a pastor who preaches about fishing. So the concept of good Samaritan resonates strongly with him.

“Tom Seymour may be the most humble man I have met. I know many anglers that have told me what Tom has done for them out in the field and it does not surprise me,” said Maine Fisheries Biologist Scott Davis in Sydney.

Seymour, who learned to fly fish in the Midcoast in 1959, often runs into fishermen who recognize him from his fishing column – and he takes advantage of the second opportunity to help them.

“I can be almost anywhere in the state and a sportsmen will come up to me and say, ‘Hey Tom how’s the fishing?’ Like an old friend,” said Seymour, 73.

But every week, Seymour goes out his way to help those at his church, Frankfort Congregational Church, as well.

“People find out I like to fish and they’ll ask, ‘Will you take me fishing?’ I take them and show them and even give them tackle. I always have more rods than you could shake a stick at,” Seymour said and added with a chuckle: “Who were the first disciples but fishermen? I think God likes people who fish.”

Craig Beauregard helps a participant at a Casting For Recovery event learn to fly fish. Photo courtesy of Craig Beauregard

CRAIG BEAUREGARD

Beauregard learned to fish when he was 23. In the years since, he’s taught a lot of friends’ children how to fish. And, like other good-natured fishermen, he hands out flies on rivers. He’s also a regular volunteer at the Casting for Recovery events.

But the Bethel resident cautions, you have to read people. Some come to be a part of the river, more than to catch fish. Then, it’s best to leave them in peace.

“People fish for different reasons. Sometimes they fish to catch fish, sometimes they fish to be alone out in the wilderness,” he said. “If I feel people are approachable, if people want help, I’ll ask them if I can offer them a fly.”

Beauregard, 59, reflects on how the internet has changed the experience of fishing – like so many other things. For one, there are no secret spots anymore, since so many post photos of their catch and where they landed it.

“Then you go that spot the next day, and the parking lot is overflowing,” he said.

But, as Beauregard adds, there are still many generous fishermen among the masses, people who share with total strangers the fly they use, or an effective method of casting.

“The ones I know are like that. If there is a fisherman down on a river not catching fish, we’ll actually cast our fly over to them so they can see what we’re using,” Beauregard said. “I’m very fortunate that the group of people I fly fish with are very generous people.”

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