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Larry Rideout with a State record 12-pound salmon
The Origin of Rideout's Maine Fishing Lodge
In 1947, the USA had just emerged from World War II. Harry Truman was president, and Jackie Robinson was
breaking the color barrier in the
major leagues. Here in Maine our founder, Larry Rideout, had just opened his Maine fishing lodge to his first customers.
Early Memories of Rideout's Maine Fishing
Lodge
Those early years at Rideout's Lodge have become the stuff of legend: Larry
caught a state record, 12-pound salmon that put
his new fishing lodge on the map. The
Lodge building was a quarter of its current size, and a
lean-to canvas shelter served as our first
make-shift kitchen. Still, the
fish were quite often trophy-sized, and many of the
guides exceptional. What matters is that the
Lodge flourished, and Larry’s warm and gracious
manner kept customers coming back year after
year. Larry thought so much of his fishing lodge, he even wrote to Ike to
see if he’d make the trip up. Although he was respectfully
declined, Larry was heartened by the arrival of other
notables, including Maine’s own L.L. Bean, who
visited on more than one occasion. Later in his
tenure, Larry opened a Johnson Outboard Motor
franchise and a Lone Star Boat dealership. Both ventures were quite successful, and every once
in a while you might
just see one of Larry’s old Texas-made Lone Stars
cruising on East Grand Lake.
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Rideout's
Lodge was a quarter of its current size
While Larry Rideout founded this great Maine fishing lodge, George & Jean Graham can be credited with
ushering in Rideout’s Golden Age. When Larry retired in 1963, the
hustle and bustle of urban life was becoming more
and more of a burden to Americans. People needed a
place to escape...a place where they could step back
in time and leave behind phones and traffic jams. With their strong commitment to
peace and quiet, cleanliness, and rustic simplicity, George and Jean
made Rideout’s the ideal place for wholesome
family fun or that much-needed rest. During the
Graham era, the Lodge was enlarged and many cabin
rentals
were added to accommodate the increasing numbers of
fishermen and summer vacationers. And friends were
made every year. Playing ping-pong
and board games in the Lodge at night, and fishing
with new acquaintances in a semi-wilderness location by day
pretty quickly made you part of the larger Rideout’s “family”...whether you planned it or not.
Today, we routinely greet returning
guests who have been
coming to Rideout’s for 30, 40 and even 50 years.
Now they bring their children and grandchildren to enjoy that special Maine fishing lodge experience. They still enjoy the fabulous fishing and the quaint,
rustic Lodge built by those who came before. And
we continue to provide memorable vacations in our
wholesome natural environment by keeping one thing
in mind: we value and
maintain the fine traditions of customer service
we've inherited.
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Ten-pound landlocks were common in those days
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