Robert J. Romano Jr.'s Blog

OOPS! I’m not Steve Martin and this is not a promo for his movie, THE JERK.

What I meant to say is that my latest novel, RETURN TO RANGELEY, is here! Books will begin to ship to those who pre-ordered beginning the week after next. For those who haven’t yet pre-ordered, you still have a chance to do so if your letter is postmarked by January 15th. Send a check in the amount of $25.00 payable to WEST RIVER MEDIA to Andora and Romano, LLC 15 Essex Rd. Suite 406, Paramus N.J. 07652.

Pre-orde...

Winslow Homer is a Labrador Retriever. He resides with my wife, Trish, and I, on twelve acres of land located in the foothills of the Kittatinny Mountains. He’s been our constant companion for thirteen-and-a-half years. Old for a big dog. First to turn white was the black fur around his paws, causing Trish to call him “Socks.” His belly and rump were the next to go, followed by the fur over his eyes and around and under his jaw. A most distinguished gentleman by any standard.

We lost his ...

Soon after my wife and I purchased our camp in western Maine, we invited her parents to join us. It wasn’t long before this became routine. Her mother did the cooking for our little troupe, her father taking it upon himself to be caretaker of the camp. By midlife, Charlie Troop acquired many skills a young attorney from suburbia found foreign. He had a knack for coaxing a recalcitrant generator to sputter into life. Treating an ancient pump like a princess, he coaxed its mysterious levers to swe...

It’s hard not to smile as I tramp through a meadow sprinkled with dandelions and buttercups. Upon my approach, a pair of robins fly onto a nearby apple tree, pink blossoms sprinkling down from its branches. For the first time since last spring, I can feel the sun on the back of neck.

A warm breeze carries with it the scent of honeysuckle as I draw closer to the stream. The delicate petals of violets, bluets, and wild geraniums add touches of soft color along the path leading down to the water...

My opening day is not dictated by the calendar, but rather by temperature. This is because the state’s official opening day applies to streams stocked with hatchery-bred trout and not those where wild fish live out their secret lives, streams like Bonnie Brook, the little rivulet flowing a few miles from our home located in the foothills of the Kittatinny Ridge. Even so, the temperatures for most of March have remained in the mid-forties, dropping down into the thirties each evening. For this re...

They arrive on the earthen dam, the well-nourished female the first to climb up the ravine, nose in the air, white tail up until she feels safe enough to saunter toward the pond that remains at its summertime low. She takes a few sips, her ears twitching, hindquarters quivering from the flies and mosquitoes that will continue to plague her until the first hard frost. Our neighbors have named her The Moocher because of the big doe’s habit of striding toward people, hoping for a handout. She has b...

Western Maine is a land of deep forests, mysterious bogs, and wide lakes. Its rivers are unrestrained, as wild as the moose along their shores, with rapids willing to sweep an unsuspecting angler off his or her feet and moods that change as quickly as a salmon slips a hook. Dark pools hold char, commonly known as brook trout, called speckled trout or squaretails by old-timers, fish so large they’ll steal an angler’s breath away.

Palm-sized brook trout, as bright as a handful of marbles and as...

The fall is a time for reflection. The leaves of the oaks remind me of the golden color of a brown trout’s belly. Those of maple trees, a brook trout’s spawning colors while the darker browns and tans sprinkled across our property bring to mind bamboo rods, my connection with the rivers and streams where wild creatures live out their secret lives.

From March through April, I travel more than two hours to spend days casting my line upon well-known river winding through the Catskill Mountai...

I recently sat with second-generation Master Maine Guide, Michael Jones, for an in-depth interview on his FLY LINE PODCAST. Mike seems to know just about everyone connected with fly-fishing in Maine. His easy-going manner made for a fun hour. We not only discussed fly fishing in the Rangeley Lakes Region of western Maine and my books, but also how I began fly fishing, my other life as an attorney, and much more. For a change, I got to tell a few stories orally rather than scribble words across t...

I recently came into a set of my Rangeley Region trilogy – NORTH OF EASIE, WEST OF RANGELEY and BROOK TROUT BLUES. The first two books have been out of print for quite some time, and are very difficult to find, sometimes selling at ridiculous prices. The set of three books sold immediately. I’ve now come into a second set that I wish to sell at a very reasonable price compared to what you’ll find online. If anyone is interested in purchasing the books as a set, please email me at magalloway@mac....