Outdoors
The BDN outdoors section brings readers into the woods, waters and wild places of Maine. It features stories on hunting, fishing, wildlife, conservation and recreation, told by people who live these experiences. This section emphasizes hands-on knowledge, field reports, issues, trends and the traditions that define life outside in Maine. Read more Outdoors stories here.
During my college days, thanks to a fraternity brother who grew up in the Eustis-Stratton area, that region became my outdoor mecca for hunting, fishing and, of course, downhill skiing.
That was more than a half-century ago. Between then and now, other areas of the Maine wilderness have monopolized my interest as I pursued my hunting and fishing adventures.
Recently, at the urging of my son Josh, I revisited a few of the many trout ponds north of Eustis. It was still early in the season for that country, but a light hatch of Dark Hendricksons was underway.
We boated and released a few respectable brook trout using a Hornberg on top and a Nancy’s Prayer, a West Branch favorite, as a dropper.
Good memories come flooding back on trips like that.
Aside from the trout fishing, this area remains a feast for the eyes. The Flagstaff watershed stretches for miles, while Bigelow, Spencer Mountain, Sugarloaf and other prominent peaks provide a magnificent backdrop beyond the paved highway, which leads to Coburn Gore, Benedict Arnold’s Chain of Ponds and eventually the Canadian border.
Like the famed Rangeley Lakes region to the west, with its rich sporting history and celebrated figures such as Carrie Stevens and Herb Welch, the Eustis area has a heritage of its own if you take the time to look for it.
A number of trout ponds in this part of Maine, including Jim Pond, Tim Pond and Lutton Pond, were named for early outdoorsmen who spent countless hours on these waters.
What we know about many of them comes not from written records but from oral tradition — campfire stories passed from one generation to the next.
Tim Pond may be the best example.
Today, Tim Pond and Tim Pond Camps remain iconic destinations for anglers. According to local lore, the pond was named for Tim Sutton, an Abenaki or St. Francis Indian guide and trapper who traveled and trapped throughout the Dead River region during the 1830s.
Sutton is one of those shadowy figures in Maine sporting lore whose story survives mostly through oral tradition rather than formal records.
Legend has it that Sutton helped Charles Lyman Eustis establish the first camp at Tim Pond around 1832 and guided fishermen and lumbermen through the region.
Remarkably, Sutton’s legacy survives today through the most celebrated fly at Tim Pond Camps: the Tim Fly.
The pattern was created by Eric Thoresen of West Newfield. To honor Sutton, Thoresen commissioned a plaque featuring the fly and an inscription that reads in part: “Catching wild Maine brook trout is a thrill and a privilege that we can all enjoy. Tim Pond is a rustic, peaceful place to relax and enjoy old friends. It is always a pleasure to come home to Tim Pond.”
The Tim Fly features a body of yellow floss wrapped with fine oval tinsel and finished with a red goose tail. The throat is yellow hackle with a head of black herl, while the wing is made from yellow-dyed mallard hackle.
If you enjoy Maine’s wild country and sweeping views and have never ventured beyond the Sugarloaf turnoff, you’re missing one of the finest stretches of the state’s north woods.