Maine and most of New England endured another hot and dry summer. Many sections achieved some level of drought status. I really worry about our native trout populations that don’t have access to thermal refugia. This is the fourth summer in a row with hot and dry conditions for some sections of New England

Recently, the weather pattern has changed and we have received some welcome precip. in some areas including the western Maine Mountains. Water temps are falling through the 60’s with adequate water in the rivers. Perhaps we are looking at a better September fishing season with more waters fishing well, less crowding, and an earlier start of the fall migration.

My column for the August Maine Sportsman magazine that was all about fishing September either in the dark or during bad weather to beat the crowds has received some attention. You might want to check it out.

My summer fishing was time constrained (in a good way), because of lots of family visiting and my daughter, Mary’s wedding. I did some fun worm-dunking with my 2 year -old grandson, Noah. He has the makings of a fisherman. He claims every sunfish he catches is a “Beeg One”

I was also distracted at Kennebago because it was the best blueberry year in perhaps a decade. Everywhere you turned around was a lowbush blueberry filled with fruit. We picked gallons for the freezer and ate blueberry pancakes, muffins, turnovers, etc. constantly.

I did some local pond and lake fishing for bass and sunfish. One early morning, bass were subtly sipping dead insects from a spinner fall from the night before and were happy to suck down my popper but I missed many hook sets because they weren’t hitting it, just sucking it below the surface, so I missed several takes from good fish.

I did have a few leisurely afternoons wandering up the headwater streams north of Rangeley (where the water temps remained in the mid 60s) and catching small native brookies on my 3-weight. I think that the term “brookie” is most appropriate when landing fish under 8 inches from small waters. I don’t believe that a three-pound lunker should ever be called a brookie.

I will try to give you an early fall report in several weeks.