Mid Summer 2024 Fishing News

Posted on August 28, 2024 by Lou

Late June and July has been hot and humid for most of Maine and New England with occasional heavy downpours that caused localized flooding. I checked southern Maine’s daily temperature highs and humidity and it compared closely to a typical July in New Jersey or Washington, D.C. Maine’s climate is changing rapidly.

Ocean, lake, and river temperatures were already above normal. It used to be almost too cold to swim in Maine’s big lakes and Casco Bay but no longer -water temperatures are well into the 70s. Obviously, trout fishing ended in early July at least on the surface or in rivers. Temps are just too warm and any trout caught would be stressed to the point of death. The exceptions of course are bottom-release tailwaters, and spring-fed tributaries in the mountains. The Magalloway River below Azischos Dam fished well because the flow was extremely low, something like 130 cfs. At that level all of the river is accessible, and the fish have nowhere to hide from the anglers.

Based on the Instagram posts I receive from Maine anglers, many flyfishers switched over to smallmouth bass fishing – a great idea. I like fishing for smallies in rivers this time of year, along with casting for big bull sunfish with poppers in the evening on local ponds and lakes.

Nothing better on hot summer days than wading wet along pond shorelines or riverbanks and casting for bass just like my son, Gwynn did with me one day in July.

I love fishing small, cold mountain streams for 6 to 8 inches with my 3-weight, although this July, all my family was visiting, and I now have three small grandchildren, so fishing time was limited.

Even in the height of summer, spring-fed beaver bogs stay cold with brookies active all day.

Many of you know that I live on 200-acre Dundee Pond, an impoundment of the Presumpscot River, created by Dundee Dam (originally called Great Falls Dam). In late June, a lower gate failed and stuck in an open position and virtually all of the water drained out of the pond. I will spare you all the details for now, but it is devastating for the aquatic life in the pond including fish, amphibians, reptiles, mollusks, birds, insects, etc. The dam will be fixed and pond refilled September, but it will be years before the pond recovers. I liked fishing right outside my door but that might not be possible for quite some time. And I will miss all of the wildlife I used to see on a regular basis.

What drained Dundee Pond looks like. The stumps are from trees logged before the Dam was built in 1910. Wood decomposes very slowly underwater..

You can just see the orginal river channel on the rightside of the photo. The dam is still holding back some water.

“Til next time….

2024 First Blog Post

Posted on February 9, 2024 by Lou

(Note: This blog was supposed to post in early January but didn’t for some reason, so I am posting it in early February.)

I started to write about the warm, stormy and rainy November, December, and early January, but then I looked back at my blog post from this time last year, and guess what – they are identical!!! Here is what I wrote last year:

Mid-winter for all of the Northeast felt like autumn. Temperatures for November, December, and early January ran between five and ten degrees above normal depending upon where you live. There has was no snow to speak of. At my house in Windham, we have had green grass for most of winter so far as I write this in mid-January.

Ditto for this year, except the storms this year have been stronger. The December 18th storm did so much damage. In Windham, we lost a 90-foot maple tree that blew over, its upper-most branches scraping the house.

I am so glad that tree wasn’t thirty feet closer to the house.

In Kennebago, the lake water rose over the causeway and up onto our lawn, fortunately not washing away furniture, docks, or boats.

The Kennebago Causeway is usually a road next to a small beach, not a river.

A flood of Nash Stream near Stratton washed out the road to Rangeley.

One of my go-to fishing spots in September, where Bemis Stream empties into Mosoelookmeguntic Lake, had its bridge pushed into the lake, stranding camp owners on the other side. The actual road is out of sight to the left of this photo.

All of us who guide or fish often, and know our favorite Maine waters well, will have to start from scratch next spring because the rivers and streams will look quite different due to the flooding. Pools will be filled in, banks of gravel deposited, wider stream channels with longtime structure washed downstream, and new channels, undercut banks, and holes. We have had so many major floods in the last few years that the rivers have been constantly changing.

I worry that the eggs of fall spawning fish like brook trout, brown trout, and landlocked salmon will have been washed away by the flood waters. Usually, floods occur in spring and summer when the eggs have already hatched.

I could have done more fly fishing in November and December but decided to take a break and do other things (work on my next book). But it stayed so warm I fly-fished via canoe on January 1st, an experience I wouldn’t have thought possible. Next week is supposed to bring cold weather, so perhaps at least the ponds will freeze, and I can take out my ice fishing gear.

I didn’t hook a fish, but it felt like I could have. On January first!

Spring Fishing Season Peak

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Lou

Its that time of year! Every kind of fishing imaginable is hot or heating up. Stripers are at the beaches and ascending rivers. Trout fishing is still good with plenty of cool water in rivers and streams. Pond and lake hatches are starting.

Pond and lake water temperatures are cold for this time of year – I think because of some cold days and lots of wind. The leaves on my mature trees just came out in the last few days. Still, bass are heading to the shallows and will get aggressive on topwater poppers soon. The pike are still in relatively shallow water, attacking anything and everything.

I don’t have enough time in the week to fish everywhere I want to, plus it is peak gardening season too. I also have other responsibilities that I foolishly committed to. I should never agree to do anything in June.

I will be doing a Zoom presentation for the DownEast Chapter of Trout Unlimited on May 31. Anyone can watch if they wish. Contact them for more information and the link, or email me.

I am also giving casting and flyfishing classes at The Fly Company (fly rod maker and much more) at their facility/shop in Yarmouth on the Royal River. We try to do one at the end of every month. They sell out fast.

Due to continuing publishing issues, I (and everyone else) are out of stock on Flyfishers Guide to New England and In Pursuit of Trophy Brook Trout. I do have plenty of Fly Fishing Northern New England’s Seasons. I will shout it from the rooftops when I am back in stock, hopefully soon.

Here are some recent photos and videos. I realize I haven’t posted in over a month (computer meltdown) but I will circle back and post material from April and early May soon.

My first smallmouth of the year on a very versatile “fly” pattern – the red beadhead squirmy wormy. So far this year I have caught bass, brook trout, and a 20 inch plus brown trout on this pattern. Notice the very defined vertical stripes on this bass.

I have enjoyed learning about pike fishing on the fly rod this spring. My personal best is still under 30 inches but I lost one close to the kayak that was bigger. Knotting wire tippets requires additional knot knowledge.

Even though many stocked general law southern Maine streams are pretty much put-and-take fisheries, that doesn’t mean you don’t occasionally catch multiyear holdover browns like my wife, Lindsey, did recently. She was fishing a bend pool with lots of sunken wood in it – just where you would expect to find a larger brown trout.

Kayaking the area where the Presumpscot River dumps into Casco Bay is a good location to intercept stripers in mid May

’til next time….Lou

January Maine Fishing Report

Posted on February 13, 2021 by Lou

The first half of January brought another freeze, rain, thaw, and refreeze cycle. Here is open water on January 17th.

In fact, some very nice brown trout were caught below Saco and Presumpscot River dams that were wide open without any ice or snow.

Below is a big Presumpscot River Brown caught in mid January. The net opening is 18 inches.

Finally, mid January brought winterlike temperatures. Well, winterlike for Connecticut, not Maine. But still cold enough to finally freeze sheltered ponds and coves for good. Usually, January is a busy time for me, traveling to and presenting at multiple fly fishing shows, TU meetings, and other fly fishing forums. This year – not so much. I still sold books every week through my website although the post office was backed up and books took weeks to arrive. Anglers who have bought and read at least one of my books will email me wanting another title. I take that as a high complement.

I tried ice fishing last year for the first time in decades, but this January, with an open schedule, I had the time to take it up a notch. My family and friends (Mary, Will, and Lindsey) explored Dundee Pond and a few other local waters.

Past the following in your browser to see video of Lindsey’s first ice fishing attempt.

https://youtu.be/aGYjAC2rzgA

I would have had time for more “fishing on the hard” but (1) I was distracted by watching to see if our country’s democracy was going to hold, and (2) we were also babysitting our one-year old grandson for the month and driving down to Florida and back to drop him and his mother back to their home on Killarney Lake. Did get to do a bit of Crappie fishing while there.

In Florida, the spring crappie bite is on.

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My daughter jigged this brookie.

We caught other species as well; pickerel, yellow perch, largemouth bass, and landlocked salmon. You never know what it will be, but mostly pickerel and brookies.

My fist landlocked salmon through the ice

We also found a local pond that I will keep quiet about for now, where we caught some very healthy largemouth bass including one that was the biggest I have ever caught using any method.

February will be a month I catch up on everything I planned to do in December and January. Replenishing fly boxes, replacing and fixing gear, writing articles, columns, and books, and so on.

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @mainelyflyfishing. Based on the statistics I have seen, fly fishing is welcoming many newbies to the sport. I want to remind everyone that at the back of each region in my Flyfishers Guide to New England book, I list recommended waters for new anglers as well as sites that are easy access.

Stay healthy everyone.

December Fishing Report

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Lou

Seasons Greetings,

I hope that you are surviving Covid and figuring out a way to see your loved ones in some fashion; in person or virtually. My family had our Christmas in hastily-decorated garage with car doors and windows open and everyone wearing masks. I think we deserve an A for ingenuity.

December is usually a month with little fishing activity, at least locally. The last few years, my wife and I have been fortunate enough to travel to southern climes, but not this year.

The weather has been a roller coaster. Early December was warmish, more indicative of November. Then in mid-December we had a burst of real winter; some zeroish nights, 20 inches of snow, and 4 inches of ice on the pond

Late December brought October weather – driving wind and rain, 50 degrees, and bare ground again with open water.

Ice breaking up. It was soon completely gone.

I am old enough to remember that late December in Maine frequently meant single digit mornings, snow on the ground from early December on, and lakes and ponds locked up tight with ice. I swear our weather is New Jerseyish now, at least 10 degrees warmer than it used to be. We hardly see any below zero temps anymore.

Fishing was a roller coaster as well. Early December featured water temps still in the 40’s and trout were still active to a well placed nymph. Some big browns were caught in the Royal River and Presumpscot River – some stocked that size, others hold overs or wild fish.

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A typical early Dec. brown.

A huge holdover brown weighing in excess of four pounds, caught in slow water where he probably overwinters. During the summer probably lives in some undercut bank or under a sunken tree and only feeds at night.

A huge holdover brown weighing in excess of four pounds, caught in slow water (not by me)where he probably overwinters. During the summer he most likely lives in some undercut bank or under a sunken tree and only feeds at night.

Brookies were active in early December as well, and fishing tailwaters worked well.

On December 22,23, and 24th the newly formed ice was thick enough (barely) to ice fish on, at least in Windham, Maine’s small ponds and lake coves. My Floridian son-in-law had never ice fished or had a brook trout fish fry so we fished a put and take ice fishing pond, caught some brookies and fried them up. I don’t think I had kept and cooked brook trout for over ten years.

First ice fishing of the year on Dundee Pond, a few days before Christmas

We caught a number of large pickerel in front of my house.

My son in law, Brian, caught a number of large pickerel in front of my house.

Destined for the frying pan. We could tell from the coloring that one was recently stocked, the other two not for some time.

The warm rain melted the ice and sent rivers and streams raging with high, 35 degree, brown water. But below dams where the flow was normal and waters clear, fish could be caught if the angler could tolerate cold fingers and only the very sporadic take from a sluggish fish.

High-stick nymphing with tiny nymphs or egg patterns is the highest percentage play for winter fishing

A brookie caught December 27th on a size 20 tungsten bead red midge nymph.

December Fishing Report and other 2019 highlights

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Lou

The weather stayed cold in early December and ponds and lakes continued the freezing process, although warmer temperatures and heavy rain in the middle of the month opened up some water again.

The Rangeley area has several feet of snow on the ground in places and lakes were locked up tight with ice.

The upper Presumpscot River continued to fish well in early December even with the colder water. I heard from anglers using flies discussed in my books that they were working well including the Cosohammer streamer, brook trout egg patterns, and bright-bead nymphs. Fly fishers are cetainly fishing later in the year now. Everybody used to quit when deer season arrived, but now the anglers are still at it after deer season is over! The following video was taken December 7th – a nice brook trout caught nymphing.

Year in Review: As I think back about 2019, I am reminded that you never know what might happen while you are fishing. For instance, you never know what fish species you might land on a fly. Here are two of the more bizarre hook-ups of the year.
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Will Folsum with four -foot eel he hooked and landed with a small Prince Nymph while fishing the fast water at the head of Dundee Pond.

A large yellow perch that took a 4 inch leech pattern designed for big largemouth bass or even brown trout.

A large yellow perch that took a 4-inch leech pattern designed for big largemouth bass or perhaps brown trout.

Finally, I found someone who illuminated me on the bait blitz that I posted a video of as part of my November blog. Apparently, landlocked alewives exist in Sebago Lake and the young of the year still attempt to migrate downstream. During several big rain events in November, a number of them were washed over the Sebago Lake and North Gorham Pond dams and became trapped in Dundee Pond, where in the shallow water, they became easy pickin’s.

Let me wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year with plenty of fly-fishing opportunities.

October Fishing Review

Posted on December 1, 2019 by Lou

The timeliness of my blog has certainly escaped me recently. If I don’t do better, I will have to call it a b-late-og instead of a blog. This post will cover October with another post about November posted soon.

October featured seasonal weather but night time temperatures rarely fell below freezing even in the mountains, with a number of calm sunny days in the 60’s. The growing season continued with gardeners avoiding frost in many parts of Maine. My garden as well as my family’s gardens had late maturing squash, leeks, carrots, beets, and tomatoes, and all continued to grow and ripen before winter weather arrived. My reseeded lawn went from dying, brown crabgrass to lush green fairway-quality grass.

Fall colors on the edge of Dundee Pond

I explored some new access trails to the Presumpscot River and discovered surviving trees and vines from an overgrown area that was obviously once a farm. I came home with a different type of catch – yellow delicious apples and concord grapes – that soon became grape jam and apple pie. Yum!

Unexpected harvest of wild golden delicious apples and concord grapes.

We finally got much needed rain in big bursts. My rain gauge in Windham showed a 5- inch storm, followed by 3 and then a 1- inch event. The ground was so dry, it absorbed much of the precipitation so rivers and streams only rose moderately. I wish we could have received some of this rain in August and September.

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Rivers that remained open, with dam-controlled flow such as Upper Dam and the Kennebec provided great fishing. Rivers such as the Rangeley River suffered from low flows and even lower lake levels. Southern Maine rivers stocked in the fall such as the Presumpscot, Royal, and Pleasant River (most now within 10 minutes of my winter home) provided immediate action with perfect water temperatures and flows. Here is a video of an upper Presumpscot male brook trout.

In other news, I did finally make a full recovery from Lyme Disease. I also received a new shipment of all three of my books so I have books available for those looking for Xmas presents signed by the author.

Happy New Year

Posted on January 7, 2018 by Lou

Happy New Year. Only three months until official Maine fishing season starts.

First some corrections to my last post regarding speaking engagements:

I neglected to mention that I will be giving a presentation on January 11 in Littleton NH at the Ammonoosic Trout Unlimited Meeting. See their website or facebook for all of the info. My wife Lindsey and I will be giving a video and pictorial talk on western Cutthroat fishing.

My talk at the Marlborough Fly Fishing Show will be: Advanced Tactics and Patterns for Catching Difficult Trout and Salmon in Heavily Pressured New England Waters. My talk at the Edison, New Jersey show is: 3 Best Places to fish for Trout each month of the year in New England (36 in all)

My daughter, Erika, and her fishing-fanatic husband, Brian, were visiting over Xmas vacation, so of course we went flyfishing. On Xmas eve day we headed over to the upper Presumpscot and for this winter it was a reasonable day with temps around 32 degrees. We crunched through the ice-crusted snow and nymphed the clear but cold water. It was beautiful with the sun shining through the ice-covered trees. We didn’t really expect to catch anything but then we saw a pretty good rise in a slow pool and then another rise under the bridge. We increased our intensity and fished until feet were numb but didn’t get a strike. Oh well, we at least can brag that we were out there.

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Late Fall Fishing

Posted on December 9, 2015 by Lou

Above photo is looking down at Rangeley in mid-October. Below photo is the Ellis River. Both photos look typical for late September, not mid-OctoberSorry for the long delay between posts. Busy with late guiding, travel and book deadlines, and then my website melted down for awhile. For yet another fall, weather seemed to shift by a full month. September was like a typical August, and October was similar to a typical September. Water remained low in October and even by mid-October hadn’t cooled enough to move many fish. Upper Dam did fish fairly well and when I guided there, most of my clients and other anglers were catching a number of brook trout (mostly smallish) and some big salmon. Casting Soft-hackle streamers into the faster currents and high stick nymphing on the edges of the faster water took the most fish.

I guided some in southern Maine, looking for freshly stocked fish in the upper Presumpscot or the Royal and sea run browns in the Mousam. Fishing remained relatively spotting and in southern New Hampshire stockings were postponed or eliminated because the water was so low. People were still harvesting beans and tomatos in October because of the absence of a killing frost.

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Early December so far has followed suit with highs in the upper 40’s or even 50’s so I plan to head to southern New Hampshire and try to jam in a few more days of fishing.

Photo: Winter fisherman

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Zambello

Mainely Fly Fishing Blog

Fishing report from the Western Maine Mountains and Beyond

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