A memorable stay and fishing adventure in the Forks

DSCN8643A few weeks ago Linda and I enjoyed a great visit to Northern Outdoors in the Forks. Our morning of fishing with Mike Pilsbury of Kennebec River Angler was particularly memorable.

Northern Outdoors is not a typical sporting camp, but it has expanded on the opportunities once offered by sporting camps along with a range of rooms and camping opportunities in a beautiful part of Maine alongside my favorite river, the Kennebec. This is a year-round resort offering every kind of outdoor experience including snowmobiling, ATV riding, fishing, hunting, hiking, birding, and leisurely floats on the river. Rafting trips in the Kennebec Gorge have always been an important part of their business, although rafting has declined significantly in recent years. I’ve even attended conferences here. The ride up from Skowhegan to the Forks is spectacular. It’s an official Maine Scenic Byway.

In 2011 Linda and I visited Northern for a two-day, one-night adventure, spending a half day fishing with Chris Russell of Kennebec River Angler and a whole day rafting with Northern, enjoying delicious meals and a very nice cabin, touring their brewery and getting to know some great people. Our only regret is that it took so long for us to return.

Northern has 250 beds, most nestled in the woods in gorgeous cabins, and another 150 in outdoor venues including hardened tents right on the river. The pool, hot tub, volleyball and basketball courts, and indoor game room are always in use.

Downstairs, for the past 20 years, they’ve made their own beer. When we visited in May they were making six brews including my favorite, their Porter. Master Brewer Mike McConnell was actually our rafting guide in 2011. The staff here is multi-talented! I was very happy to hear they are now selling beer-to-go in growlers. It’s especially popular with guests who can take a growler back to their cabins to consume with their cookouts.

Fishing Fun

Kennebec River Gorge trout threeLinda and I mustered out early Saturday morning for our fishing adventure. Mike Pilsbury, an accomplished businessman who mostly guides for fun, picked up us in front of the lodge at 5 am, then picked up his wife Kim who was in another vehicle at the landing where we’d complete our trip, and all of us road in to the launch site, about half way up the Kennebec River Gorge. Kim drove the truck back to the landing so it would be there when we finished our trip. Yes, guiding is a family business.

We were catching landlocked salmon and brook trout by 6 am and continued until about 10 am when the dam releases water for the rafters. When the river comes up and the flow increases, you can still catch fish, but we were ready for a break and enjoyed a nice snack on a gravel bar. This was an amazing fishing experience. We had the gorge to ourselves all morning, amidst spectacular scenery, with eager fish taking our flies. Mike is a personable and unflappable guide – certainly one of the best I’ve ever fished with.

Restaurant

DSCN8645Chef Seth Gavit is a master of dips, sauces, and simple but creative food. He was a vegan chef before arriving here a year ago, and that background is obvious in some of his dishes. The night we enjoyed dinner in Northern’s restaurant, Seth was offering specials of Avocado Spring Rolls with pickled onions and cilantro aioli, and Fried Calamari marinated in Whitewater Wheat Beer.

We feasted on so many appetizers that I could eat only about a third of the special steak entrée: Steak Frittas, a marinated 10 ounce sirloin topped with balsamic sauce. The steak was nicely pink, just as I requested, and the sauce was tasty. My Red Ale went very well with it.

There was a table of young guys from Nova Scotia in the restaurant that night, down here for a bachelor party. One of the guys said it was his fourth time at Northern. They were clearly here for the outdoor adventures, and were rafting the Dead River with Northern the next day.

When I heard the list of desserts, the Blueberry sorbet in Blueberry beer stood out. It really didn’t sound all that good, but I ordered it, and oh my gosh, it was one of the best desserts I’ve ever had!

The staff in the restaurant and pub is super friendly and well informed. Liz, who manages front of the house at the restaurant in the evening and was our server that night, has been here a year, and recently completed training to be a rafting guide. With three kids, she won’t have much time for that! Liz is very friendly and also very knowledgeable about the menu. And of course it didn’t hurt that Russell Walters and Suzie Hockmeyer, who own Northern Outdoors with Jim Yearwood, joined us for dinner. They know the menu very well too!

We enjoyed lunch on Saturday afternoon, after our fishing adventure, sitting on the deck with Suzie, starting with one of their microbrews and a very tasty dish of fried pickles, and knew we are blessed. My Fishwich of haddock battered in Deer in the Headlight beer, with their wonderful tartar aioli, was sooo tasty. Shannon, our server at lunch, got extra credit for recommending, after I’d ordered a burger, that I try the Fishwich instead. Great recommendation! The onion rings that came with it were wonderful too, very crispy, just the way I like them.

Conclusion

Summer, fall, winter, and spring, Northern Outdoors is open for the adventurous, and for those who just enjoy a comfortable cabin, good food, and a hot tub. The drive up to The Forks from Skowhegan is spectacular too. Take that drive soon!

If You Go

Northern Outdoors, Route 201, The Forks, 207-663-4466, or 800-765-7238. www.northernoutdoors.com.

Kennebec River Brewery Pub and Restaurant, Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 7 days/week, 7 am to 9 pm. Open until 10 pm on Friday and Saturday. The pub and lounge is open until 11 pm nightly and midnight on Friday and Saturday.

Kennebec River Angler, 207-672-3408, www.kennebecriverangler.com

 

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.