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Home › Waters › Maine › East Branch Penobscot River
River · North Woods · Maine

East Branch Penobscot River Fishing Guides

A remote North Woods river running from Grand Lake Matagamon past Katahdin Woods and Waters to Medway, with wild brook trout, landlocked salmon and almost nobody on it.

A New England river running past a sandbar below low mountains in autumn

Map of the East Branch Penobscot River

28 numbered points: 3 access points, 8 campsites, 1 outfitter, 2 bridges, 1 park or conservation area, 1 agency office, 2 regulation section limits, 9 hazards, 1 USGS gauge. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Sep 25, 2026.

Printable version →
  • Access / boat ramp (3)
  • Campsite (8)
  • Outfitter / canoe rental (1)
  • Bridge crossing (2)
  • Park / conservation area (1)
  • Agency / conservation office (1)
  • Regulation section limit (2)
  • Dam / hazard (9)
  • USGS gauge (1)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.

Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.

Open the printable map
All 28 points on this map
#PointTypeLat, LonNotes
1Grand Lake Matagamon boat launch
Launch above the dam		Access / boat ramp46.14193, -68.79035Unnamed slipway in OSM.
2Baxter State Park: Matagamon Gate
Baxter State Park north entrance		Agency / conservation office46.15493, -68.80558
3Grand Lake Matagamon Dam
Outlet dam		Dam / hazard46.14113, -68.79053The East Branch begins below this dam.
4Reach boundary - Grand Lake Road bridge
MDIFW reach boundary at the first crossing below the dam		Regulation section limit46.13409, -68.79390Boundary of a reach listed under this river in the MDIFW special fishing laws. The rules themselves are not restated here - check the current law book.
5Matagamon Wilderness
Private campground at the Grand Lake Road crossing		Campsite46.13362, -68.79369
6Stair Falls West
Riverside campsite above Stair Falls		Campsite46.08721, -68.77772
7Stair Falls
Ledge drops		Dam / hazard46.08706, -68.77643First of the East Branch pitches.
8Haskell Deadwater
Riverside campsite		Campsite46.07273, -68.76849
9Haskell Rock Pitch
Pitch - carry		Dam / hazard46.07291, -68.76433One of the big drops on the East Branch; scout and carry.
10Pond Pitch
Pitch - carry		Dam / hazard46.06390, -68.75472
11Pond Pitch Campsite
Riverside campsite at the pitch		Campsite46.06366, -68.75518
12Grand Pitch
Pitch - carry		Dam / hazard46.05775, -68.74572The biggest drop on the East Branch.
13Bowlin Camp Road
Woods-road crossing		Bridge crossing46.03622, -68.72704
14Bowlin Camp
Private sporting camp at the Bowlin Road crossing		Outfitter / canoe rental46.03511, -68.72513
15Spencer Rips
Rips		Dam / hazard46.01742, -68.72389
16Elbow
Riverside campsite		Campsite45.98451, -68.68443
17Fiske Brook
Riverside campsite		Campsite45.96787, -68.65419
18Lunksoos Boat Launch
Katahdin Woods & Waters reach		Access / boat ramp45.90834, -68.61514
19Lunksoos Campground
Campground at the launch		Campsite45.90832, -68.61364
20Whetstone Falls
Falls and rapids		Dam / hazard45.86143, -68.62421
21Reach boundary - Swift Brook Road bridge
MDIFW reach boundary at Whetstone Falls		Regulation section limit45.86111, -68.62383Boundary of a reach listed under this river in the MDIFW special fishing laws. The rules themselves are not restated here - check the current law book.
22Whetstone Falls Day Use Area
Day-use area at the falls		Park / conservation area45.86135, -68.62322
23USGS gauge 01029500 - East Branch Penobscot River at Grindstone
Live stage and discharge		USGS gauge45.73028, -68.58944
24Grindstone Falls
Ledge drop		Dam / hazard45.72486, -68.58950
25Ledge Falls
Ledge drop above Medway		Dam / hazard45.63941, -68.54526
26Katahdin Shadows Campground
Private campground near Medway		Campsite45.61690, -68.55024
27Medway Recreation Area launch
Town launch at the West Branch confluence reach		Access / boat ramp45.61481, -68.53904Unnamed slipway in OSM, inside Medway Recreation Area.
28Medway Road
Route 11/157 crossing, Medway		Bridge crossing45.61336, -68.53741Downstream end of the East Branch listing in the MDIFW law book.

Guides on the East Branch Penobscot River

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About the East Branch Penobscot River

The East Branch of the Penobscot leaves Grand Lake Matagamon at the northeast corner of Baxter State Park and runs south through the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument to Medway, where it joins the West Branch. It is the quieter of the two branches and it is as close to genuine wilderness river fishing as you can reach by road in the East.

Wild brook trout are the reason to come. They are native, they are not stocked over, and in the cold reaches below Matagamon and around Whetstone Falls and the Haskell Rock Pitch they reach sizes that Southern New England anglers do not believe. Landlocked salmon run up from the lakes and pools, and the lower river below Grindstone warms enough to hold smallmouth bass and pickerel, which makes a summer float here a mixed bag in the best sense.

Most trips are canoe trips, and multi-day paddles from Matagamon down to Whetstone or Medway are a classic Maine itinerary combining fishing and whitewater. Guided single-day trips generally focus on the Matagamon tailwater and the pools around the national monument access roads.

The Grindstone gauge reads the whole East Branch. Spring flows are heavy and the whitewater sections are serious; by midsummer the river drops and the ledges get exposed, which improves the fishing and complicates the paddling. Look for a stable or falling river.

Millinocket and Medway are the supply towns and everything north of them is logging road country. Cell service is nonexistent for most of the corridor, gas is scarce, and blackflies own June. Plan like it is remote, because it is.

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We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

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Posting to East Branch Penobscot River.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the East Branch Penobscot River cfs

Now: 444 cfs, read 2:00 am CDT, Mon Oct 19, 2026 (USGS 01029500, East Branch Penobscot River at Grindstone, Maine).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Grand Lake Matagamon and the Matagamon dam: the top of the river at the Baxter State Park boundary.
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument: access roads reaching Haskell Rock and Whetstone Falls.
Whetstone Falls Bridge: mid-river access with parking.
Lunksoos and Stacyville: eastern access from Route 11.
Grindstone: access near the gauge on the lower river.
Medway: the confluence with the West Branch and the takeout for long trips.

Seasons

April and May: very high cold water, ice-out fishing on the lakes, difficult river access.
June: blackfly season and the best brook trout fishing of the year as flows drop.
July and August: warm afternoons, cold spring holes, mixed trout and smallmouth on the lower reaches.
September: the strongest month for salmon and big brook trout before the season closes; check current Maine rules.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the East Branch Penobscot River?

As of Oct 19, 2:00 am, the USGS gauge East Branch Penobscot River at Grindstone, Maine reads 444 cfs, the 22nd percentile for this date. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the East Branch Penobscot River?

Anglers target Brook Trout, Chain Pickerel, Lake Trout, Landlocked Atlantic Salmon, Smallmouth Bass on the East Branch Penobscot River in Maine.

Where can you access the East Branch Penobscot River?

Grand Lake Matagamon and the Matagamon dam: the top of the river at the Baxter State Park boundary. Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument: access roads reaching Haskell Rock and Whetstone Falls. Whetstone Falls Bridge: mid-river access with parking. Lunksoos and Stacyville: eastern access from Route 11. Grindstone: access near the gauge on the lower river. Medway: the confluence with the West Branch and the takeout for long trips.

When is the best time to fish the East Branch Penobscot River?

April and May: very high cold water, ice-out fishing on the lakes, difficult river access. June: blackfly season and the best brook trout fishing of the year as flows drop. July and August: warm afternoons, cold spring holes, mixed trout and smallmouth on the lower reaches. September: the strongest month for salmon and big brook trout before the season closes; check current Maine rules.

Where are the fishing regulations for the East Branch Penobscot River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Maine agency site: https://www.maine.gov/ifw/fishing-boating/fishing/laws-rules/index.html