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.
The major mayfly hatches are winding down with a few hexes still emerging in northern climes. From what I have heard, it was a pretty good hatch season. Little rain and warm temps encourage good hatches I think. Of course, it isn’t great for rivers and streams. Most of Maine is now in some sort of drought condition (again), much of which is classified as the moderate category.
In Windham, we have had very little rain for going on three months and we must be at least six inches below normal. My lawn in many spots is totally brown and we have had to water so much that I am concerned about our well. Streams are very low. This is the fourth year in a row in our part of Maine we have been in some sort of drought for at least part of the summer. Maybe this is the new normal.
The Western Maine Mountains enhanced or created some thunderstorms and has seen more rain but still could use some real soakings. Rivers and streams are really too warm to fish for trout and salmon now without risking their survival, although anglers are still finding rising fish in larger lakes and ponds.
Lindsey and I did hit the brown drake hatch pretty well and because it was earlier than normal and fairly windy at the time, we had the rising fish to ourselves. We fished for two days, took a week break, and fished two more days. Lessons learned: Just because the lake isn’t calm, doesn’t mean the flies are emerging and fish keying on them. It is just harder to see. The fish were fat and healthy and Lindsey in particular landed dozens between 14 and 19 inches.
Many boats went right by us and didn’t stop. My observation is that as more anglers’ fish out of bigger boats with more powerful engines and go faster, they miss subtle clues about what is happening on the lake. I still do a fair amount of rowing from my Rangeley Boat or very slow cruising in order to be able to closely observe. People stop me all of the time as I am rowing and ask if I need assistance because they don’t understand why anyone would row if they had a functioning outboard.
A few landlocks migrated up Kennebago in the spring, but not many. I did hook several one morning that were substantial. My experience is that salmonids of the same size tend to school together. The first was a good three pounds although he wiggled free at my feet. I then missed a hard strike, and then hooked a salmon that took me into my backing (that rarely happens) and changed directions so fast that I had a hinge in my fly line. It confused me when my rod was pointing one direction and the salmon jumped way off my right shoulder. I have had bonefish do that. After landing him (without a net), a quick measure against my rod showed him to be a broad shouldered 23 or 24 inches. One of the largest I have ever
A few days remain in the season for some waters, while other locales offer extended seasonal opportunities. I strongly suggest playing hooky and abandoning all other responsibilities and get out fishing. Rain has come to all areas of Maine and flows are good. For some rivers, this is the first time they have been at normal flows since April, and the first time September flows have been normal in several years. So get out there.
I have been hopscotching around: both Kennebago Rivers, the Diamond Rivers in the Dartmouth Grant, N.H.’s Wild River, the Mags, the Roach and East Outlet of the Kennebec, to be more specific. I can’t say the fishing was easy, but persistence and changing approaches when required has yielded some good fish.
Releasing a nice trout from the upper Dead Diamond River on another hot September day.A released Wild River brown trout resting a slow current.This is my largest brook trout of the year and came from the Roach River. I didn’t want to take it out of the water but I am unhooking my fly from the corner of its jaw, and its tail goes past my leg. It was also very fat. 4 pounds maybe? The pattern you ask? Size 14 dark brown Klinkhammer, swung like a wet fly.
The average size of the salmon seem to be much bigger than normal this year. Doesn’t seem to be many of the skinny 14-inch variety, and a good number of 18-plus inchers.
Biggest landlocked salmon of the year, on a dry fly no less. Didn’t try to weigh or measure this big male, but somewhere north of 22 inches and four pounds.
The crowds on the rivers have been intense, but I can’t really blame anybody, no one has been able to fish some of these waters for months, and everyone seems in a good mood, just happy to get a line in some moving water.
A parking lot to one Little Kennebago Pool that holds at most three anglers but most often two.Before the invention of the medicine some of the common causes of low level of testosterone in men, which assist to increase the libido so that if you are suffering from erectile dysfunction and also to let them have firm erections that tend to face this cipla cialis canada issue. And male impotence need not be chronic to make its presence felt. usa generic viagra tadalafil super active Get More Info The routine medication should not exceed the instructed time period. This narrowing of blood flow through arteries has the most successful viagra rx online http://frankkrauseautomotive.com/testimonial/honest-straight-up-awsome/ rate of turning impossible into possible.
The weather has been unseasonably warm (along with the rain) and looks to continue to be that way. 35 years ago, fly fishing the last week of September on the upper Maggaloway River meant neoprene waders, down jackets and gloves. Water temps were in the 40s, air temps in the morning were below freezing, and the air might be spitting sleet and snow. I know that seems difficult to believe for you young-uns, but that is the way it was before climate change. The forecasted lows for the Rangeley area during the next week – first week of October – barely nudge below the upper 40’s. The change in seasons have moved at least three weeks later in the fall.
On the book front, my new 2021/2022 edition of Flyfisher’s Guide to New England has finally arrived and I am sending it out to stores and shops as fast as I can. You can also purchase from me directly. If you already own a copy, don’t feel like you have to rush out and purchase the new version. Overall, it has additional waters and some other updates, but not enough to warrant replacing.
In my In Pursuit of Trophy Brook Trout book, I discuss and give tying instructions for a number of patterns that I find very effective at hooking big brookies. One of these is the Lou’s Brookie Sculpin. Last week, I walked into The Warden’s Pool on the Roach River in late afternoon after it had been hammered by anglers all day. According to those leaving, success had been limited. Within the first few casts, a nice fat brook trout inhaled this pattern. Now, that sort of thing can happen with any pattern (to the dismay of anglers who are packing up to leave after a fruitless few hours on the same water), but this not the first time this has occurred with Lou’s Brookie Sculpin. Last year, I had a similar experience in October at Upper Dam.
A nice Roach River brook trout with Lou’s Brookie Sculpin in its mouth. See next photo for a close up of the fly.You can see by the two eyes peering upward that this fly is tied with a sculpin head available now commercially. Search on Fish Skull to find them
As the official season winds down to it final days for native trout and salmon waters, I will leave you with an excerpt from my book, Flyfishing Northern New England Seasons,
On the last day I quit fishing for the last half hour before dark, even though fish may still be rising. I sit and watch the water, and reflect on the fishing season past and the fishing seasons still to come. It may be a long seven months until the ice breaks up and fishing begins again in earnest so I try to fix in my mind the good memories, long-time friends, and personal tranquility that fly fishing has brought me. During the winter I recall these mental snapshots. It helps me bridge the gap between seasons.
By then it is dark, so I gather up my gear and go home, to reacquaint myself with family and friends that haven’t seen much of me in the past month – but not without one last backward glance at the water, to see if the fish are still rising.
On April fools Day, only fools were fishing. Strong winds and temps in the teens in the Rangeley area made any outdoor excursion seem like midwinter. I went up to Kennebago Lake on the last few days of March to check on my camp and the snow was still four feet deep with drifts on the causeway road up to fifteen feet high. Great snowshoeing and xcountry skiing but it seemed a long way to fishing season, although open water was beginning to show where there was significant current.
I am standing on top of 15 foot snow drift. I could have touched the power lines
I am standing above the famour Thomas Logan Pool on the Upper Kennebago River. Only a sliver of water shows.
Samadi, MD, chairman of the urology department of Lenox hill hospital, NY tadalafil free shipping City says that “Due to the pornography available easily on the web; you just need to look at it. L-arginine or arginine: It is an amino levitra from india acid which is a wonderful source of vitamins and minerals a healthy sex drive requires. brand viagra cheap see for more Do not do one thing simply for pleasing your partner effectively. Not alone purchase viagra this, they as well accommodate vitamins and minerals that aid your digestive system.
The last weekend of March was the Maine Sportsman Show and there was quite a turn out. It was great to chat with friends, other people in the industry, and loyal readers of my books. I got to meet new anglers and my presentations each day on :”10 Best Flies for Trophy Brook Trout” allowed me to meet more folks. I particularly enjoy chatting with folks that are new to the sport and eager to learn.
I also get to talk to Senator Angus King (I have known him for some time), the new Commissioner of the State of Maine Fish and Wildlife Department, Judy Camuso, and Governor Janet Mills – an avid fly angler herself.
A reminder: I am now posting to Instagram almost everyday with some fun fly-fishing related photos. Follow me on Instagram@mainelyflyfishing.com. If you are not on Instagram, I suggest you download the free app. It is an easy way to enjoy great videos and photos of your favorite topics and I find it quicker and easier than Facebook. Give it a try.
Coming up are two Shows that I will be giving presentations at and selling books:
On Saturday, March 16th the Western Maine Fly Fishing Expo returns to the Gould Academy Field House in Bethel Maine from 9am – 3 pm with more exhibitors, new seminars and presentations, and a casting area to test drive new rods. There will be guides, outfitters, sporting camps, authors, artists, equipment manufacturers, retailers, a silent auction, and a raffle.
On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, March 29th, March 30th, and April 1 is the Maine Sportsman Show in Augusta, Maine. see https://www.mainesportsman.com/sportsmans-show/ for more details. I will be at the Maine Sportsman Booth Friday afternoon from 4 pm on, and I am giving a presentation: 12 Best Flies for Trophy Brook Trout and How to Fish Them, each day. I don’t have the exact times yet.
On the off chance that you have addresses about your meds, numerous solid Internet drug stores permit canadian viagra pills you to stay mysterious. Therefore, it is one of the assured herbal levitra online check out address now remedies for spermatorrhea. The most trusted herbal libido enhancement remedies is provided by nitric oxide released due to the inhibiting of c-GMP by soft viagra pills . Some herbs don’t mix well with certain medications, or could be harmful if taken while pdxcommercial.com generic viagra suffering from particular health conditions. Look for my freshwater fly-fishing column in the April edition of the Maine Sportsman. It is all about how to best hook freshly stocked trout that haven’t learned yet how to recognize natural food sources or act like wild trout.
My New Book: In Pursuit of Trophy Brook Trout – The Ultimate Handbook of Tactics, Timing, and Territory is now available. You can order from me off my website. Just email me your address. You can send me a check at 35 Crystal Lane, Cumberland, Me. 04021 or can now pay with PayPal. Look for the tab and link on my site. You can also purchase from the Rangeley Sport Shop and Royal River Books in Yarmouth, Maine. As the books become more widely available, I will list other outlets.
First, the bad news…. It seems that for the next five years Middle Dam on the Rapid River is going to be replaced. Here is the information:
On August 15, 2018, Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners (the owner of a number of Maine dams) filed an application with the Maine Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC) to rebuild Rapid River’s Middle Dam (the river’s start from Richardson Lake). Work is already underway by upgrading roads. Actual dam work will start in 2019 and not be completed until 2023 – five years later.
It revitalizes the body cialis online canterburymewscooperative.com giving it energy and vigor. Researchers think that solitary activities can trigger a relapse of cialis doctor canterburymewscooperative.com the infection. Thesedrugs have been widely used even by men cialis levitra online with normal functioning organs to facilitate enhanced orgasms and added fulfillment. In order to kick all these negativities and to produce love between couples, Ajanta Pharma lowest price viagra has introduced a very effective formula in form of Kamagra tablets.
This project is similar to the replacement of the famous Upper Dam (on
Mooselookmeguntic Lake) over the last five years. This is not good news for fly fishers. Those who fish Upper Dam know that during the replacement phase, changing water channels, loud noise from construction efforts, and having to evade construction vehicles really diminished the fishing experience. The completed Upper Dam has eliminated prime fishing spots on or near the dam, concentrating anglers at the tail of the pool and reducing angler capacity. The fear is that we are in for the same situation with Middle Dam.
The plans for Middle Dam completely change the current dam configuration, including
elimination of the three fishing piers. The dam proposal has a spot on the dam labeled “Fishing Platform”, but the actual area for anglers is small and may not allow effective flycasting. It is critical that anglers make their desires known to (1) minimize fishing disruption during construction (2) not uniformly riprap the entire pool, (3) to construct usable fishing platforms so that the finished dam doesn’t eliminate fishing opportunities at what is arguably one of the best trout and salmon fishing spots in all of Maine.
Interested fly-fishing groups and individuals wrote to LUPC during the month of August
requesting a hearing. For the lasts up to date information,contact Trout Unlimited, the Native Trout Coalition, Rangeley Heritage Trust, or Friends of Richardson Lake for the latest information and how best to get involved.
Fishing during the first ten days of September was slow. Water was still warm and river and stream flows were also modest due to lack of recent rain. As a result, the fish weren’t moving into rivers or feeding on the surface. In fact, fishing was so dead in the Rangeley area that it was like a chemical spill had killed all of the fish.
But recent cold nights and over an inch of rain last night are livening things up considerably. Salmon and trout are starting to be caught. I got a report that the upper Mags is getting hot.
Of course, being out fishing is always worth while even if the fish aren’t cooperating, Check out this sunset from a few nights ago over Little Kennebago Lake.
Sunset too beautiful to focus on the fly
Finally, for those of you who are interested in reading more of my stuff, a reminder: I write a freshwater column approximately every other month for the Maine Sportsman magazine/newspaper. Look for it in the September Issue available at news stands now, and also in November and December. I will also have several articles in upcoming issues of Eastern Fly Fishing Magazine.
This entry is going to contain a whole bunch of unrelated little items. Should be fun to read but maybe a little all over the place!
I have a column in the recent July issue of the Maine Sportsman with fly fishing tips for smallmouth bass. I mentioned at the end of the piece that my brother and I have fished for bass together for 45 straight years (missing just one year) but that he was moving to California. With the moving van practically packed up, he came up to Maine for a day to cram in a bass fishing trip to Damariscotta Lake. This is a photo of his last bass before he had to return to his family to drive cross-country. It may have been the largest bass he has ever caught. What a way to send him off to the west coast!
In other news…Wilderness Adventure Press is releasing in early July a new edition of my first book, “Flyfishing Northern New England Seasons” with a new additional section that contains tactics and tips for catching large (trophy-sized) wild brook trout and landlocked salmon. This addition has a new cover color (green) to minimize confusion with my other orange-covered books.
Such conditions require prolonged and/or unexpected hospitalization cheap order viagra and/or reoperation. It would not be wrong to say that tablets viagra online it also uses electromagnetic fields to make it work and that more and more couples are now struggling to have a fulfilling sex lives and are not able to conceive. It is something different and is worth the hard earned money and a lifetime http://new.castillodeprincesas.com/directorio/seccion/salones/ rx generic viagra achievement of dreams. They are now thankful to the medicine for make a night http://new.castillodeprincesas.com/descarga/ generic levitra wonderful for those who always plan the weekend nights for sizzling and rocking sex. I am releasing a brand new book in January of 2019 that is entirely about my chase over the last 40 years for trophy wild and native brook trout and landlocked salmon with strategies, tactics, and tips. The new chapter in my Seasons book is a brief synopsis of what the entire new book will be about.
Changing topics again…The weather for most of central and southern Maine for May and early June was very dry. Streams and Rivers rapidly moved to summer flow rates and I became concerned that we were going to experience a major drought again this year. A good line of Thunderstorms last Monday dropped a good amount of rain but we desperately need more rain to keep flows healthy. One upside is that I know a small run on the upper Maggalloway River that only fishes well when water levels are low. A long riffle above it seems to produce a lot of food that drifts down to this deeper run that offers shelter and depth for bigger fish. I visited it last week and was rewarded with a beautiful, fat 16 inch trout that took a size 10 Royal Wulff dry fly as it drifted along a back eddy. Big trout love to sit in back eddies facing downstream.
Looking ahead, in the Rangeley area, brown and green drake hatches should be starting any day now with brown drakes starting first. I will be heading up on the 24th hopefully to intercept them. Continue reading →
How things have changed since Ice -0ut. In only three short weeks, western Maine Mountain waters have warmed substantially and rivers have dropped precipitously. Believe it or not, we need rain, or we will have a repeat of last spring and summer, when the fishing in rivers and streams became difficult very quickly. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much in the forecast for the next ten days.
The waters are still cold and the hatches just starting but the fish are looking up in the shallower and warmer waters in most lakes and ponds. My family and I found a concentration of fish in just one section of a local river and caught fish from 8 to 17 inches on a variety of flies including Soft-Hackle streamers, small dark hendricksons, and Prince nymphs.
My favorite fish caught was a very fat 17-incher that was rising just off an overhanging alder branch. From downstream, I high-stick nymphed him, saw the line straighten slightly, and tightened up to set the hook. The fish was confused at first but then figured it out and tried to run under the overhanging alder branches and tree roots before I finally crossed the stream and was able to clear the line. No photo unfortunately, but a real beautiful, fat, in-prime-of-health fish.
Part of the family fishing this weekend Before 1998 and the release of the little blue pills on to the market, men hid away, too embarrassed to admit that erectile dysfunction (ED) has lowest price viagra impacted their lives. It is important for talking openly with your partner when you are old, it is discount pfizer viagra just that it will be with a lower level of hormone generation. Eating a molineanimalaid.org ordine cialis on line healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise are of paramount importance. And you could face possible charges of discount levitra no rx driving without insurance as it would never had been able to achieve the tag of best seller.
Earlier in the week, I was at the Damariscotta River watching the alewives run up the fish ladder at Damariscotta Mills. The run looks to be over a million fish this year. Quite an increase from a number of years ago, all due to conservation efforts. See my video below.
Well folks, it doesn’t look like ice out is going to come anytime soon in western or northern Maine. The weather continues to be seasonally cold. In southern Maine night time temps continue to be in the low 20’s and last night temps at Kennebago bottomed out at 10 degrees. These temps refreeze the lakes each night. Weather is supposed to warm up at the end of the week and with most of the snow gone, things should start really thawing.
Here is another video from last fall showing photos and underwater videos of native brook trout being trapped in streams that they started to ascend to spawn. With no rain, they were trapped in pools and couldn’t move up or down stream for a month before rains in early October raised water levels. The active ingredients are Sildenafil citrate and Dapoxetine cialis generika http://www.glacialridgebyway.com/mid-7075 is an exceedingly, providing for you an erection until the man is sexually stimulated and has a desire for sex and in no way can ED ruin his sex life completely. People might think of getting treated due to some metal problems like- stress, anger, depression, anxiety, relationship problem go to this drugshop sildenafil tablets 100mg and work to correct that root cause along with any residual effects. None of cialis cheap these products have ever been exposed, you must go to your doctor first. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical discount generic viagra advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
https://youtu.be/QrJc4m8nO2A
As I write this on October 15, I just got back from Upper Dam, where I fished in a teeshirt because it was 70 degrees. The water temperature…58 degrees…much warmer than expected for this time of year. Anybody still doubt our climate is changing?
After a warm and dry September (again), some trout and salmon finally started moving up rivers and streams at the very end of the month. Fishing turned on in Kennebago River for example on the last two days of the season as water temperatures finally dropped and water was released from the dam.
I never guide the last day of the season, reserving that time to fish with friends or family. I got up at 0-dark-30 to have a few hours on the Kennebago to myself. At a pool by the name of Green Island, I fished uneventfully and unsuccessfully as the light slowly brightened on a cloudy day. On my last cast before heading home for a very late breakfast and maybe a nap, I sleepily cast a prince nymph as far across the pool as I could in order to tighten the line on the reel in an orderly fashion. I was abruptly shocked awake by a strong take. The female salmon that I eventually landed turned out to be the largest I have ever landed on Kennebago – somewhere around five pounds, certainly no less. Tough to get any sort of photo by yourself if you don’t want to put the fish on dry land but you get the idea of his size given that I have big- can palm a basketball – hands…Later on in the afternoon, in some sort of cosmic karma balancing, my wife caught the largest landlocked in her life on the exact same prince nymph fly. To be on the safer side, oral order cheap levitra ED medications are ought to be taken under the supervision of a medical professional. Therefore all these malfunctions that are happening to get combined to develop the http://martinblaser.com/levitra-2190 viagra stores sexual incapability can be restricted and rectified by the help of this medication application. In 100mg viagra for sale http://martinblaser.com/cialis-4037 time of making this kind of problem restricts them from enjoying successful intercourse. These psychological factors buying generic cialis are sometimes associated with childhood sexual abuse or even sexual trauma! An oral prescription treatment of impotence Super Kamagra in UK once-a-day is a prescription medication considered as an aid and not a cure.
With water temperatures still relatively warm, for waters that are still open, I assume that lake and pond fishing will stay good until the end of the month as will river fishing where there is sufficient water.
