Great Guide to Maine Brook Trout and More

I have always enjoyed Lou Zambello’s books and his columns in the Maine Sportsman. But I have to say, I think his latest book, In Pursuit Of Trophy Brook Trout, is his best.

The subtitle, The Ultimate Handbook Of Tactics, Timing And Territory, is accurate but there’s a lot more than that in this book, including amazing fish photos. I especially enjoyed the photos of Lou’s wife Lindsey with some of the great fish she caught. I’m guessing that she often outfishes Lou!

And while he tells you about lots of different kinds of fish and places all over the country to fish, the book is focused on Maine and our native brook trout.

Lou really knows our state and all the great places to fish, and he shares all of those places with you in this book. Regrettably, he tells you about some of my favorite places which I would prefer to keep secret.

This is much more than a where-to how-to fishing guide. It includes great stories, lots of information about everything from the best flies to the best times to fish, and he even tells you how to land large and powerful trophy-sized fish.

Lou includes a lengthy chapter on one of my favorite rivers, the Magalloway in the Rangeley Region. My friend, Bruce Verrill, has a place on the upper Magalloway where I have enjoyed amazing fishing on several trips with Bruce. The week that I read Lou’s book, Bruce was hosting our governor, Janet Mills, and our Fish and Wildlife Commissioner, Judy Camuso, at his place and they caught a lot of beautiful native brook trout.

There is so much more information in this book than I have told you about, and I can guarantee that whether you are new angler or an experienced angler, you will learn a lot from Lou’s book.

And as soon as you finish reading the book, you’ll want to hit the road to fish some of his very favorite places. Good luck!

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.