The Tim Fly

By V. Paul Reynolds

During my college days, thanks to a fraternity brother who grew up in the Eustis/ Stratton area, that location became my outdoor mecca for college break hunting and fishing trips, 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 over the years as I pursued my hunting and fishing adventures.

Recently, thanks to the urging of my son Josh, I revisited a few of the many trout ponds north of Eustis. It was early for that country, but there was, surprisingly, a light hatch of Dark Hendricksons. We boated and released a few respectable brookies using a Hornberg on top and a  Nancy’s Prayer, which is a West Branch favorite, as a dropper.

At times like that good memories come flooding back. Aside from trout, this area is still today a feast for the eyes. The Flagstaff watershed stretches for miles, and Bigelow, Spencer Mountain, Sugarloaf and other formidable elevations serve as a magnificent backdrop beyond the paved highway, which will take you quickly to Coburn Gore, Benedict Arnold’s  Chain of Ponds and on to the Canadian border.

Not unlike the fabled  Rangeley Lakes area to the west, with its significant outdoor history and celebrated icons like Gray Ghost creator Carrie Stevens and Herb Welch, there is ample history grounded in the Eustis tract as well, especially if you look closely enough.

A number of the trout ponds in this neck of the woods, such as Jim Pond, Tim Pond and Lutton Pond were named after early outdoorsmen who spent many hours at these bodies of water. We know what we know about these namesakes, not from documented history, but from oral history, or campfire stories, passed on from generation to generation.

For example, Tim Pond and Tim Pond Camps are a popular and iconic fishing location. The pond is named after a trapper named Tim Sutton. Sutton is one of those shadowy early figures in Maine sporting lore whose story survives mostly through oral tradition rather than formal records. The best-known account says that Tim Pond in western Maine was named for an Abenaki or St. Francis Indian guide and trapper called “Tim” who traveled and trapped in the Dead River region in the 1830s. 

Indian guide Sutton, according to legend, helped Charles Lyman Eustis build the first camp at Tim Pond around 1832 and who guided fishermen and lumbermen there.

Remarkably, to this day, the most popular and celebrated artificial fly at Tim Pond Camps is the “Tim Fly.” Tim Pond Wilderness Camps still preserve and celebrate that heritage today. This fly was tied by Eric Thoresen of West Newfield. Thoresen memorialized the legendary Indian guide Tim with a plaque that contained some verse and the fly itself. The plaque  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.”

Here is the recipe for the Tim Fly: Body is wrapped with yellow floss, fine oval tinsel and finished with a red goose tail. Throat consists of a yellow hackle with a head of black herl. Wing is made of yellow dyed mallard hackle.

If you enjoy Maine and long views, and have never visited the north woods beyond the Sugarloaf Mountain turnoff, you have missed a splendid section of Maine’s vast North Woods.

Tight lines.

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide and host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network. He has authored three books. Online purchase information is available at www.sportingjournal.com, Outdoor Books.