Last weekend, we held our first annual "Meet the Family" event at Lakewood Camps on the Rapid River in northwestern Maine. Twenty-three folks showed up to take part in the program, and everything went off without a hitch.

Dave Klausmeyer and I arrived on Thursday afternoon and headed out on the river after dinner. Since the Rangeley Region is so steeped in history--and there were no fish rising--I figured I'd start with a local classic: a Grey Ghost streamer. I stood at the top of a long, deep pool and swung the fly through the rough water near the head. On about my third cast, the line went tight, and a fifteen-inch landlocked salmon took to the air. Four more fish jumped on the smelt imitation before it got too dark for us to see what we were doing.

The next day, most of the guests arrived, as did Macauley Lord (AA's casting columnist) and Bill Bullock, executive director of the American Museum of Fly Fishing. Over the next two days, Mac and Dave taught casting and tying, I showed some knots and demonstrated angling tactics, and Bill gave a great presentation on the museum and the role that Maine played in the history of American fly fishing.

Plus, there was lots of great fly fishing. Several salmon over 20 inches were taken, and Dave caught a 16-inch chunky brook trout on a ridiculous floating smelt pattern. Dry flies were working well in the mornings and evenings, and nymphs and streamers produced all day, although bright sun made afternoons tough.

Everyone had a great time, and we've already scheduled next year's event for the last weekend of June, 2008.