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Tall Timber's Fishing Blog

Fly Fishing NH's Connecticut Lakes Region

Putt loved his trips to Tall Timber, but we can't claim him for ourselves - he loved fishing a lot of places, Grand Lake Stream in Maine chief among them.

November 27, 2016

R.I.P. Putt

Our Tall Timber family of fishermen lost a good one this week, Richard Puttkamer, but everyone around here called him simply “Putt”.

While he was a real character – salty at times, and definitely not shy to tell a risqué story, he was always full of mirth and a love for the sport of fly fishing and a fondness for the people who love it as well.

Putt was a nearly weekly fixture at Tall Timber in the mid eighties and through most of the nineties – he would arrive, sometimes unannounced, most weekends and any other time that he could come north from his job as a busy producer at WCVB-TV in Boston.

He was on the Trophy Stretch a lot, and most of the time we would see him either early in the morning or in the evening, at the end of a day on the water. He seemed to take great delight in getting away to the river, and I’m sure that it was a refuge for him at times, as it is for most of us.

Still a great streamer pattern - thanks, Putt.
Still a great streamer pattern – thanks, Putt.

Besides his great personality and many jokes, Putt was the originator of the “Putt’s Favorite”, a particularly effective smelt pattern that we often still fish up here. Another favorite fish catching pattern of his was “Putt’s Mini Hornberg”, a sparsely tied smaller hornberg with silver wrap around the body. According to Cindy, it could be devastating when the trout were being tight lipped – no wonder why Putt liked it so much.

Eventually, we didn’t see Putt too often, as he retired and went to live in Washington state to be closer to his elderly father. His last visit to Tall Timber was in 2009, on a trip back to New England to visit some family and friends – it was great for us to be able to host him again.

As you might imagine, Putt was adept at meeting people and making friends wherever he went, and Washington was no different. He had a couple of close friends, Sam and John, who also found his personality infectious – they became fishing and drinking friends, and I’m sure that the tall tales flowed unabated.

Putt and his crew would regularly visit his other great north country friends, Tim and Lisa Savard, the former owners of Lopstick Lodge, at their place on Rock Creek in Montana, and their visits were usually coordinated with Jon and Cindy’s trips to the Missouri River.

Cindy and Jon were fortunate to see him usually every other year out there and they really enjoyed catching up with Putt again. My last time to see him was in 2011, on a trip out west with a friend of mine – we had a good couple of days with Putt and John, and enjoyed exchanging stories (okay, mostly listening to his stories) late in to the night.

Cindy received an email from Lisa this morning, letting her know of Putt’s passing. He wore his Tall Timber sweatshirt on his last day on Earth, and was actually cremated with that shirt on – he loved our lodge, and we all loved him too.  His ashes will be distributed between Rock Creek, the Bitterroot River and the Missouri River – he loved to fish them all.

He always brightened our spirits when he came walking through our door, usually with a tale to tell. The video below is one of them, but beware – while it is a bit on the salty side, it will give you a good idea of who Putt was.

30 Comments

  1. Hendrickson

    November 27, 2016 — 1:17 am

    Sorry to read of Putt’s passing, Tom. Thank you so much for posting this. Although I only met him once or twice to exchange hellos, Putt’s Favorite always brought fish to my line. R.I.P., Richard Puttkamer. May a few wayward fish follow you on your journey.

    • bs

      November 27, 2016 — 1:30 am

      Well said, Henry. He was a one of a kind. He told this one story (it was true) of how his truck caught on fire under the hood, while he was driving in some backwoods part of Maine. Turned out a red squirrel had built a nest in his engine while he was there, and eventually the fire took. Of course, he acted out, in perfect “downeast”, all of his interactions with the local law enforcement and tow truck drivers that helped him out. The way he told it was hilarious.

  2. Bill Pierce

    November 27, 2016 — 2:39 pm

    Tom very nice tribute and I know you could have written so much more. Video kind of says it all. Oh the stories that could be told.
    Cindy emailed me yesterday to let me know and I thought of all the times and places we fished and in the off season breakfasts with the “Happy Hookers” a group of friends from Tall Timber that gathered to relive past excursions and swap fly tying recipes.
    What a great loss. The world will definitely be a lesser place without him in it.

    • bs

      November 27, 2016 — 5:03 pm

      Right on Bill – those were the “good ole days” for sure. What a collection of fishermen (and women) with the personalities to match – Bob & Mary, Bob & Evelyn, Dale & Ernestine, Gene & Rose, Broadhurst, Peter, Dick & Judy, Joe & Lois, Guido, etc. I’m sure there’s someone that I’m forgetting. We’ve been fortunate to get to know everyone and spend some time with them. Putt fit right in with everyone and usually kept everyone well entertained – there was a warmth to him that can’t be expressed in a blog post written hastily, but you felt it when you were around him. Quite a character.

  3. bs

    November 27, 2016 — 5:14 pm

    Another interesting thing about Putt that just came to mind is how he fished up here on or near January 1, way before other fishermen were doing it. This is back in the mid 90’s I believe, when we had some pretty severe winters, and Putt would head out to the Logging Bridge pool and try his luck – he was successful catching trout a couple of times. Nowadays, getting out there in early January to start the season off is more popular than you would think, so Putt was something of a trailblazer in this regard. Of course, when he’d come back from fishing, he would fit right in with our winter clientele, the snowmobilers.

  4. Bob Oliver

    November 28, 2016 — 3:19 am

    Putt has been a close friend of mine for almost 40 years. We worked together at Channel 5 and fished together in Grand Lake Stream, Me. Putt brought so many people into the world of fly fishing by taking us to GLS in the early days and we continue the tradition to this day. Putt’s presence will always be there. Tight lines my friend.

  5. Peter Mehegan

    November 28, 2016 — 11:19 am

    I count myself fortunate to have fished with Putt for decades in his two favorite New England places, Pittsburg and Grand Lake Stream, Maine. Last spring, a collection of flies by Putt’s dear friend, the late Bob Upham, went on display at the GLS Historical Society. Included are at least a half a dozen patterns named for Putt, more than any other individual. One is “Putt’s Forerunner,” in the fiery colors of the blaze that consumed his truck on 95 south.
    The man was a treasure and his memory will be cherished by all fortunate to know him.

    • bs

      November 28, 2016 — 12:17 pm

      Thanks for setting me straight on Putt’s blazing Forerunner story – I knew that it happened on a trip back from Grand Lake Stream, but couldn’t remember that it was on 95. Sounds like the fly commemorated for that incident was aptly named. Hope you and your family are all well Peter!

  6. Geoff Sullivan

    November 28, 2016 — 12:20 pm

    Another great one has passed. Putt was a real character in the Director’s chair at WCVB for years. He taught me how to tie flies and cast a line in the late 70’s. In the early 80’s as many as 20 of us would gather at an old hunting camp in Maine and fish Grand Lake Stream for landlocks. Putt would always sleep in the “Dead Guy’s Room”.

    We became the Grand Lake Stream Salmon Association and the trek to GLS is now an annual event. Putt was always the “leader” of this group until he retired and headed West. But he will forever be the spiritual leader.

    • bs

      November 28, 2016 — 12:27 pm

      Thanks Geoff – those are some great memories of Putt, and it’s great that you’re carrying on the GLS tradition.

    • bs

      November 30, 2016 — 10:49 pm

      Thanks for your picture of Putt, Geoff – he loved those Montana rivers, and this one is from 2011 on a trip to the Missouri River we believe.

      Putt loved fishing Montana's rivers over the last 15 years or so.

  7. Tony C

    November 28, 2016 — 12:37 pm

    Putt was one of those larger than life individuals that it is a pleasure to have known. One of the best directors to ever work in TV, his sharp tongue and quick wit always keep us laughing. If not for Putt There are many of us including myself who would not have developed such a love for fly-fishing. May his memory live on.

  8. Bob Oliver

    November 28, 2016 — 12:41 pm

    My very first trip to Grand lake Stream, ME was in 1985. As I walked into the dam pool for the first time, with Putt guiding me to the best spot, he forgot to tell me that there was soft sand between the bank and where he was standing, which also included a rip of water moving at a very high rate. Keep in mind that this was the first time fly fishing, first time in GLS and the first time ever owning a very expensive Orvis rod and reel, which Putt insisted that I got. With Putt telling me to keep walking forward, my feet went out from under me and I started heading toward the dam with water pouring into my waders. All I could hear was Putt yelling, don’t worry about the rod, I’ll catch it with a fly, which he did. That was my initiation into fly fishing.

  9. Jim Lowell

    November 28, 2016 — 2:16 pm

    I knew Putt way back when…. before Grand Lake Stream, way before he was a flyfisherman! I knew him when he was the director of the 6p news, when he was the director of the Eyeopener News at Channel 5, long after he started his career at WTTG in Washington, DC and moved to Boston to work with start up WCVB for Boston Broadcasters, Inc. I fished with Putt in the 70’s, trolling on the Quabbin Reservoir, wading the Swift River and so many more local streams that allowed us to fish by day, returning to Channel 5 to work the 6pm news, stinking of the normal smells that accompany fishing in streams and rivers. We had a wonderful weekend at Jack and Marie Hynes’ (Newscaster) home on Cape Cod in Chatham; fished Opening Day at Schoolhouse Pond and caught enough of those stocked rainbows to feed us all for dinner. I travelled with Putt out to Washington to coordinate a Patriots pre-season game then crossed from eastern to western Washington to visit with his grandparents in Trout Lake, WA, a place with a bubbing brook running beside it. There, we fished the small ponds with his “Grandpa” using worms and catching the most beautiful-colored native brookies; 6-9″. We brought back a dozen for breakfast. His Grandma fried them and drizzled a bit of maple syrup on the tail giving a sweet taste to the crisp tail… Wow, nothing like it! Will supply some photos of his grandparents- his grandpa always had a stogie- what, would you expect anything else? Putt and I fished at Rainbow Ranch somewhere near Portland…it was a catch and keep meaning anything you caught would be weighed, cleaned and packed for you… (by the pound!). Not too tasty though… and on the same trip, we chartered a boat out of the Columbia at ocean’s edge with his mother and father- nothing but sea sickness as the mouth of the Columbia has rolling waves. I was with Putt when he caught his first landlocked salmon at Castle Island in the Belgrade Lakes of Maine. I remember both of us fishing out of a small motor boat, flailing away at the water with fly rods (his earliest fly-fishing experience, until I got hung up and tried to pull the fly from a back cast that I thought hit a tree. It was Putt’s cheek! (Thank god for fat cheeks!). So many great times- lost touch when he ventured out west. Although I had not been in touch with Putt for at least twenty years, he remained a long-lost friend as I feel fortunate to have known him, grown up in TV with him and shared fishing as a passion. (I was not as passionate as he!) We have lost a true character and that saddens me but gives me an opportunity to remember his life on the east coast which I am sure not many are aware of and I smile. Tight lines my old friend.

  10. Rich Spongberg

    November 28, 2016 — 4:34 pm

    I’m another of the GLSSA boys who caught my first salmon with Putt in the Dam Pool at GLS in the early 80’s. I remember that he he patiently worked with me for three full days before I finally hooked up on a black ghost during the evening frenzy. To this day I have that fly mounted in the handle of my stream net. It was a very happy occasion for us both. Year after year Putt graciously introduced newcomers to the joy of fly fishing. We were all saddened when he eventually headed west but as others have mentioned the tradition of returning to GLS continues year after year. Putt was truly a special kind of loving friend whose mortal presence will be dearly missed. His smiling spirit will remain with us always. I will surely raise a glass of his favorite rum and coke in his honor. One more “tight lines” to you my friend!

  11. Arnie Reisman

    November 28, 2016 — 9:24 pm

    Putt will surely sorely be missed by all who knew him. Including me. Funny but you say his name and I immediately recall the sign he placed above his head in the Channel 5 control room. It read something like: Doing a good job around here is like wetting yourself in a pair of dark pants. It gives you a warm feeling but nobody really notices.
    Bon Voyage, Putt!!

  12. Bruce Drucker

    November 29, 2016 — 6:10 pm

    First and foremost Putt was a TV director.
    We met here at channel 5 in the early seventies. Perhaps he loved fishing more then directing, but he mastered both.
    Anytime something came along that I didn’t feel comfortable directing I’d ask him to sit in the chair, He always said yes.
    Not many saw his softer side but he had one. He hid it well behind his salty somewhat frenetic personality. Not many know he attended the US Naval Academy only to find out fly fishing wasn’t part of the curriculum. Something had to go…and it wasn’t fishing! Not many people truly touch our lives along the way. I’m grateful he took the time to touch mine.

  13. Jim Lowell

    November 29, 2016 — 8:21 pm

    How can I illustrate those stories with photos, bs?

  14. Bob Hakkila Sr

    November 30, 2016 — 2:24 am

    I can say it has been a pleasure to have worked and fished with Putt for many years his spirt will live in all of us.

  15. John & Mary Arcaro

    November 30, 2016 — 3:50 pm

    John and Mary of Canal Side Cabins, Grand Lake Stream. We have had the great pleasure of knowing “Putt” his antics, his demeanor, his personality. He will be greatly missed and always remembered

  16. Dick Felone aka Pepe

    December 2, 2016 — 2:31 pm

    How blessed we have been to have known put and been part of his world.You will be missed old friend.Until we meet again on that far shore tight lines.

  17. Bruce Sutton

    December 10, 2016 — 8:28 pm

    Sad news to hear about Putt. As one of his fly fishing children I too learned from this master. His smiles and tall tales are legend among our group. I remember many stories the truck fire, the wives, golf. At WCVB Boston I would be amazed at his skills at directing. He could have a conversation with visitors and never miss a cue. Fly fishing was similar, he once said to me look on the other side of the river and cast 70′ to a 22 inch landlocked. He will always have a special place in our hearts.

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Tom Caron dispenses advice, wisdom, and bs in the pursuit of trout and salmon daily for Tall Timber guests.

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