December Fishing Report

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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

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

A brookie caught December 27th

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

 

January Fishing Report

Weather Report: It certainly has been a strange winter. Between fairly regular snowstorms has been mild temperatures with highs above freezing and well into the 40’s and even 50’s in southern and central Maine. Add in a few rainstorms and the snowpack is non-existent even in the mountains. In southern Maine, we have green grass with patches of ice and snow.

Lakes and ponds have frozen, melted, and refrozen several times and shorelines often are unfrozen because of heavy run-off, making it tricky for ice anglers, ice skaters, and snowmobilers.

Upcoming Presentations: This is the height of the fly-fishing event season and I am giving presentations a dozen times over the next few months. For a complete listing of where I will be appearing, click on the Speaking and Presentation tab at the top of this website. All events welcome visitors, so stop by and say hi and be entertained by my video and photography.

Florida Trip: I did escape to Florida to visit my daughter, Erika, and new grandson, Noah. They just bought a new house on a small lake and have a small kayak, so I had to explore with my fly rod to see what might be swimming around.also bowfin

Does anyone recognize the species of fish I caught? It is a Bowfin what took a white (with blue highlights) CoSoHammer (conehead marabou soft-hackle) streamer. These fish have huge mouths, you can hardly see the white CoSoHammer streamer he took.

bowfin

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I also caught some big crappie up to 14 inches long on small black leech patterns and even panfish poppers.

florida bassOf course, a Florida lake fishing excursion wouldn’t be complete with landing a few big largemouth bass on surface flies.

A few days later, my son-in-law, Brian, landed a Bowfin of his own.

Visit me on other media – Instagram @mainelyflyfishing, YouTube at my channel Lou Mainelyflyfilshing or click on the videos tab at the top of this website..

October Fishing Review

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

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.

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.

Higher levels of testosterone are also required to pass a driver skills examination, a final evaluation to test the cheapest viagra tabs things you’ve learned during classes. Not only that the reliable service provider for the best solution. buy levitra devensec.com You need to take cialis store basically on empty stomach and if it is not possible make sure you finish your meal at least 2 hours before getting indulged into sexual activities to ensure its proper absorption. Now I’m actually talking in particular about WordPress best price for viagra blogs here. Between the moderate weather and rain, fishing was very good in October where there was adequate water flow. Kennebago Lake fished well all month with several calm days leading to heavy midge hatches and rising trout. Anglers had a choice – fish small dries for 6 to 12 inch brookies, or stay deep with streamers for the occasional trout in larger sizes. I opted for casting dry flies with my little six foot bamboo rod and had a blast. Trout sipping midges are not pushovers and require delicate casts delivered accurately and quickly to specific rising fish. Video below shows fall midge fishing weather – after the sun is off the water.)

 

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.

Lake Erie Tribs Steelhead Fishing

My family and I couldn’t wait for the snow to melt and ice to thaw in Maine so we took a quick trip to upstate New York to go Steelhead fishing over the first weekend in April. I drove in the car with the gear and my wife (Lindsey), daughter (Mary) and her boyfriend (Will Folsum) took cheap flights from Portland to Buffalo ($ 150 round trip!)

The weather was cold and miserable on Friday, the first day (35 degrees, windy, with rain showers) warming to the 60’s by Sunday. The key to fishing these small tribs is that they don’t get rain or melting snow, since they rise and discolor rapidly, making the fishing extremely difficult. The Friday rain discolored the streams slightly but they remained fishable. Most of the fishing is a nymphing proposition with small egg patterns although my wife caught a beautiful steelie on, what else, a Cosohammer streamer that yours truly tied.

The fishing was done on small Lake Erie tributaries between Buffalo and the New York/Pennsylvania border. I won’t give the names except to say that the names begin with C or a number, which won’t help you much since the names of almost every river in western New York fits that description.

Anyway, since a photo is worth a thousand words (and a video even better), enjoy the following visuals. Remember to follow me on Instagram @mainelyflyfishing.

My daughter, Mary, with the best steelhead of the trip

My daughter, Mary, with the best steelhead of the trip

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My wife, Lindsey, with a beautiful steelie caught on a Cosohammer Streamer tied by yours truly.

My wife, Lindsey, with a beautiful steelie caught on a Cosohammer Streamer tied by yours truly.

Classic small Lake Erie trib filled with large steelhead in the early spring

Classic small Lake Erie trib filled with large steelhead in the early spring

Releasing a recently spawned female steelhead.

Releasing a recently spawned female steelhead.

The end of a beautiful weekend on the river.

The end of a beautiful weekend on the river.

If you are interested in this kind of fishing, go to Reelactionfly.com and hire them to guide you either in fall and spring.

If you want to know what locations are now selling my new book….

In Massachusetts, Evening Sun Fly Shop. In New Hampshire, North Country Angler. In Maine, Royal River Book Store in Yarmouth, Rangeley Sport Shop, Trident Fly Fishing in Windham, Mattagamon Camp Ground on the East Branch of the Penobscot. More to Come…

 

Brown Trout Look Very Different Depending on Where They Live

Brown Trout around the world can have very different appearances depending upon where you catch them. Part of the reason for this is that they are not native to the America’s and were stocked at some point in the distant past. They were stocked from different strains of brown trout from different parts of Europe including Germany and the UK. The other factor is that over time wild brown trout colors change to better match the river or lake environment in which they live. Each generation of brown trout becomes better camouflaged because the baby trout that can hide better survive to pass on their genes to future generations.

Here are photos of brown trout we caught in different locations in Chile. Notice the range of colors and the difference in spots. The brown trout from one river had bellies and bottom fins that were orange. Other fish in rivers with a light-colored muddy bottom were a washed out gray as well.

Lake fish has a bluish-silvery sheen

Lake fish has a bluish-silvery sheen

This brown is orange, particularly on his underside

This brown is orange, particularly on his underside


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A dense pattern of spots.

A dense pattern of spots.

A brown with very few spots

A brown with very few spots

This river fish is almost completely a washed out gray

This river fish is almost completely a washed out gray

Late Winter means Sportsmen’s (and Women’s) Shows

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.

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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.

October continues summer weather

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…IMG_1285Later 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. IMG_4688
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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.

 

Last ice goes out on kennebago on May 6

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