What happened to Spring

Well, we had July weather in March and now in late April we are having early March weather with cold wind and night time temps back in the 20’s. I will be fishing and guiding the Rangeley area waters next week and then will give you a full report. Here is another book excerpt from the Spring Ice-Out to Leaf-Out section:

Book Excerpt:

On water that sees some fishing pressure, it is also a good idea to throw something that is smelt-like but perhaps the fish haven’t seen recently. Two streamers that have worked extremely well for me and aren’t fished as frequently as others are the Kennebago smelt, and a Mylar “Match the Hatch” minnow series originally created by Dave Whitlock, which includes a purple-feathered alewife version that works extremely well as a smelt imitation.

Over dosage of the tablet can result in certain purchase generic viagra complications. Researches have shown that quality of life and healthy and balanced habits like eating food at the right time and having correct viagra tablet naps can assist individuals a whole lot in keeping healthy and balanced. Although a small number, the researchers emphasize that this viagra shops foea.org change packs a big punch. The scientists emphasize that although complications are price of viagra tablet a common issue little is known about how they can be applied for treatment of MND. The Kennebago Smelt is a hair wing fly that is easy to tie and with its white, yellow (dyed) and blue (dyed) buck tail and peacock hurl wing, and silver-tinseled body, it imitates the rainbow iridescence of a smelt well. It works better than all other streamers in the Kennebago lakes area and is effective in other bodies of water as well. Because it is easy to tie, I can fish it on the bottom, lose a number to snags, but can always quickly tie more and be back in business. I tie it with a small hook so the hair can pulsate in the water even when I tie it sparse. It is easy to over tie. Decide how much hair you want and then tie on about one-third less. I don’t usually get short hits on this fly because I believe the trout strike hard at the head to stun its prey and then swallow it.

One early and very cold morning my friend Dave Van Wie and I were casting Kennebago Smelt streamers in a sunken creek channel, both of us being too macho to admit we were freezing to death, and not willing to quit while we were skunked. If I had been by myself, I definitely would have quit an hour earlier. After every cast we had to stick our rods in the water to melt the ice on the guides. About the time it started to feel hopeless, I hooked a very fat 16-inch brook trout. I was still reminding Dave of my obviously superior fishing prowess, when he hooked and landed a larger trout. With both of us successful, we looked at each other and simultaneously said, “Let’s get the hell out of here” Actually, our lips were frozen so it sounded more like, “Lef’s git ta hell o’ of ere.” The Kennebago smelt probably saved us from a macho-induced case of frostbite.

Dave Whitlock’s “Match the Minnow” flies are weighty Mylar and epoxy creations with a feather tied lengthwise on top that have a flash and scaly look that other streamers tied with traditional feathers can’t duplicate. The first fish I ever caught in Kennebago Lake, was right after ice-out, and was a 20 inch, three pound female brook trout that slammed a Mylar minnow alewife imitation in purple. Dave Whitlock developed this minnow series over twenty years ago, but they still work and can be easily constructed with the wide range of materials available today. Part of the advantage of this fly is it sinks fast and if you bend the body of the fly slightly and retrieve it erratically, it moves through the water unpredictably like a fish that is injured and can’t control itself. This seems to bring out the predatory urge in trout and salmon. Often a fish will flash at this fly without taking it but you can then follow up with subsequent casts and other streamers once you have found the fish.

ice out

Ice out occurred on the Rangeley area lakes last weekend on April 13-16. This is among the earliest on record. I actually caught a 13 inch trout on Kennebago Lake on April 14 – must be one of the earliest catches on the lake ever.

Since Kennebago Lake did not freeze until late December, Kennebago was ice covered for less than four months. This all feels like global climate change to me. Rivers and streams in the area are very low – at mid-summer levels. The Rapid River is running at below minimum levels. With the lack of rain and snow, the dirt roads are all in good shape. People have been able to get to # 10 bridge from all directions. Sporting Camps are going to have to open earlier in the year if this keeps up. On Monday, April 16th it was 82 degrees at Kennebago and I was being bitten by mosquitoes.

People have been asking me about timing of hatches and things and I believe everything will be at least two weeks early. We hopefully will be getting some much needed rain this weekend. We could use 3 or 4 inches. Here is another excerpt from my book…
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Regardless of whether you are fishing a river or a lake, if you are fishing near a smelt run, streamer selection is a matter of choosing your favorite smelt imitation. There are a myriad of smelt imitation flies. Some of the old patterns are as much a part of the history of the North Woods as their tiers, like Carrie Stevens, and the “sports” whom came by train from Boston and New York and are now immortalized in black and white pictures standing behind stringers of many huge, dead fish. All of the classic streamer patterns, as well as the newer creations work, at least once in a while.

Streamers are tied in a variety of colors, probably because a live smelt will reflect a myriad of tones depending on the light. Sometimes you will see a dead smelt floating on the surface and wonder how all of those gaudy streamers fool fish when the smelt appears a relatively drab gray. This is misleading. Dead smelt lose their color immediately, while live smelt have an iridescence along their lateral lines that reflect the sky and the water, every hue from pink to blue to purple to silver. When you see a school of smelt in a glass tank under low light conditions, what you see is not the complete outline of a fish but a thin iridescence that changes colors subtly as the fish move and turn…