The second half of October has given us very warm temps for this time of year with highs reaching the 70s before returning to seasonal levels as Halloween approaches. I hope you have done a little fishing.
I closed my Kennebago Lake camp on the 17th and since it was warm and still, and the lake itself is still open until the end of the month, I ventured out in the kayak with my dry line and size 16 Puterbaugh Caddis. Low and behold, I landed a few fish including a good one that exceeded 12 inches. Good way to end things up there.
Also, had the opportunity to see the native brook trout spawning in the local streams, which is always a treat.
Closer to Windham, I took advantage of the warm weather and tried a variety of local waters. Due to high water and probably my own ineptitude, I didn’t fare well, except for the Pleasant River where I landed a number of holdover brown trout on my new favorite brown trout streamer, the Brownsylvania Special (a zonker-type pattern).
I must say, I have done more fishing this year than any other year in my life, and even I am ready to take a break and do other things for a little while, like a number of writing assignments that I have postponed. The warm weather has kept my vegetable garden going so I still have harvesting to do as well as preparing it for the winter.
Stick picking flowers, tomatos, swiss chard, greens, broccoli, etc. on October 27th
Second crop of the year pumpkins ripening, still no frost.
In other news, the TU event on the Mousam River went well; the weather cooperated, over thirty folks showed up, learned about the river ,and picked up a huge pile of trash along the banks including tossed greenhouse supplies and an old toilet.
The Mousam clean up crew discussing Mousam conservation.
My next speaking event will be November 13 at Maine Sport on Rt. 1 in Rockport during the Georges River TU chapter meeting. Visitors are welcome. Meeting starts at 6 and I present at 7. My presentation will be: In Pursuit of Trophy Brook Trout: Where and How to Catch Them (and the flies to do it) – based on my book, “In Pursuit of Trophy Brook Trout”.
Hi folks, I have a few little details to cover before I get started.
First of all, I added a April/May/June report for local southwest Maine rivers and streams with photos and video. It was posted in calendar sequence after my latest post, so if you missed it, scroll back.
Second, if you are on Instagram but not following me, you should, because I provide real-time fishing and related outdoor updates almost everyday. @mainelyflyfishing.com
Third, if you like stickers, check out the cool Maine outdoor stickers my daughter is selling, along with other outdoor related items. www. reclaimedsignco.com
Just a few of many stickers available. Also check out all of her merchandise at Cool As A Moose stores.
Fourth, my book, “Flyfisher’s Guide to New England” is pretty much out of stock everywhere. An updated edition is currently stuck on a boat somewhere on the West Coast waiting to be unloaded. Hopefully, back in stock by early September. In the meantime, you can upload an electronic Kindle version on Amazon, and LLBean and Trident Flyfishing might have a few left. Don’t forget my other books though. “In Pursuit of Trophy Brook Trout?” does outline all of the places that trophy brook trout can be found, along with technique and tactic information.
Fifth, I did a little guiding in June, mostly teaching fly-fishing beginners. For example, I took Thomas out to various spots on the Presumpscot River, and before we were done he landed his first trout on a fly and learned how to fish dry flies and the different approaches for nymph fishing. So much fun to watch someone hook their first few fish with new skills required.
Thomas with first trout. The brown took a pheasant tail nymph.
Now onto the update…..
July weather couldn’t have been more different than March, April, May, and June. Massachusetts saw flooding rain several days and certain locations broke July rainfall records. Western Massachusetts rivers were over their banks. Most of Northern New England received good rain as well. In Windham, Maine where I live part of the year, we had over 5 inches of rain. The western Maine mountains missed the early July rainstorms but did receive some decent rain later on. Flows did not increase significantly through mid July and remained low, but I hope they have improved since then. I haven’t been in the Rangeley area for several weeks so I need to get an updated report, but for most of New England, the drought is over.
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For most of July, with river flows ridiculously low, western Maine mountain fishing consisted of hitting the lakes and ponds or fishing the lower Mags, Upper Dam, or Middle Dam. Since hatches started early this year, they ended early as well, so sporadic Hexes and misc. caddis provided most of the action on lakes and ponds.
Drake hatches are frequently concurrent with Lupine blooming. When the Lupine are done, so are the major hatches.
We did catch many nice-sized brookies and salmon by fishing the thermocline with sinking line and streamers. We went out to drop-offs when it was windy. We cast full-sink lines with Cosohammer streamers, let them sink 20 feet or so, and then retrieved them halfway to the surface, before letting them sink again. We would do this several times until we cast again. Because of the wind drift, we covered new territory with every cast. Fishing was exactly fast, but several times an hour, we would feel the heavy thump of a good fish on the line.
You can catch nice trout in the middle of a bright summer day, but you have to go deep for them.
I saw good fish being caught at Upper Dam (usually by one angler who happened to be at the right place, at the right time, with a fly pattern that intrigued the salmon.} The flows were low below Azischos Dam so the fish couldn’t really hide from the anglers. Persistent anglers did well. On a family fishing trip, Will Folsum landed a 3 pound plus brook trout at Mailbox Pool on a small black nymph while the river was flowing at 750 during a weekend kayaker release.
With water low and warm throughout Maine, many switched to the salt in pursuit of stripers. I caught them randomly while doing other things. Caught a few kayaking Scarborough Marsh and a few after swimming of the dock at the Cumberland Town Beach. My buddy, Will, going over the Cousins Island Bridge, spotted out of the corner of his eye a school of stripes smashing bait on the surface, stopped his truck, pulled his bass rod out of the back, and caught a few nice ones.
Every year I kayak Scarborough Marsh for stripers This might have been the smallest striper I have ever caught.
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.
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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.
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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 →
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
Sorry for the length of time between posts. How time flies when one is balancing fishing and work.
Late June was a month of weather contrasts, and how good the fishing was depended on what hour you were on the water on any particular day. It could be hot and humid part of the day, then pouring rain, followed by a cold night and the next day. It led to frequent closet rummaging: Shorts to fleece, back to shorts, and then complete bug- coverage apparel as the little beasties swarmed. Often streams and rivers were too high to fish and ponds or lakes were the best or only options
The brown drake and green drake hatches on Kennebago Lake commenced on the east side of the lake on June 23rd and commenced up the lake until on the 27th bugs were popping opposite Grants on the north shore. It was very windy and rainy at times and fishing was tough under those conditions but those that were out during the lulls caught 12-16 inch trout and salmon on drake imitations. This author, alas, was otherwise occupied with guiding away and familial responsibilities, and didn’t get a chance to partake of above-mentioned hatch. It acts internally and levitra samples purchased here delivers multiple health benefits isan effective herbal remedy in lowering blood glucose levels. Being a PDE 5 inhibiting medicine, on line viagra relaxes muscles of the penis, and, in turn, the muscles then begin to loosen and blood begins to flow more freely into the penis. Bone issues, for example, osteoporosis because pressure breaks in the viagra overnight usa skin may become deeper skin sores or ulcers. Giving up smoking will have free shipping viagra an immediate impact on the nature of your erection.
A couple of interesting fishing stories….I was fishing a favorite stretch of the Magalloway River way down below Wilson’s Mills and on successive casts caught a good brook trout, a large fallfish, and a monster yellow perch. Where else can you do that? The water was almost too high to fish.
My favorite fish caught so far this year: I was high-stick nymphing on the Kennebago right at dark. Couldn’t really even see my line at all – certainly couldn’t see the sighter that I use for reference. I felt a sluggish resistance, set the hook, and eventually landed a very strong and fat 20-inch brook trout. I handed my 10-foot, 4-weight nymphing rod to my son-in-law and he hooked and landed another brook trout that seemed almost identical out of the same lie. We worked our way back to the car by flashlight, both with wide smiles on our faces.
Authors Note: It is gratifying that my Flyfisher’s Guide to New England is selling so well and that readers are telling me that it is proving a good resource for them. For those of you that have found this book useful, I would like to remind everyone that my first book, Flyfishing Northern New England’s Seasons, is a “how-to” book that complements the Guide. It is written in a different style with instruction for sure, but also stories, observations, and anecdotes. It is available from myself, Amazon, and some fly shops. Finding new water to fish is only half the battle, one still needs to know what to do.
My email these days is filled with folks asking me fishing questions so for this blog post, I will just answer them!
When was ice-out?
In the Rangeley area, it was within the last seven days, in fact higher elevations ponds still have at least a partial coating of ice. Further south, ice has been out for two weeks or so. However, the water remains cold because of cloudy days and cold nights. Patches of snow still linger in the woods in the Kennebago area.
How is the fishing?
Fishing has been slow because of high and cold water. In fact the lower Mags is running at 2000 cfs versus 350 for most of last year. I don’t know if I remember it being that high . A heavy snowpack melted quickly in Rangeley, followed by occasional rain. This is resulting in the spring run-off being closer to historical norms versus several dry springs over the last five years. While this means a slow start to moving-water fishing, it bodes well for sufficient water flows later in the year and good ground water levels.
Smelt are running in places, but perhaps not yet where water temps are still hovering around 40 degrees. Lake and pond fishing where smelt are running up brooks is where I would want to be fishing.
Does the high water mean that spring runs of salmon will push up rivers such as Kennebago?
Moreover, these effects are nothing as compared to what smoking is doing to your lungs. cheap buy viagra The reason, more often than not, isn’t to deceive their greyandgrey.com tadalafil 40mg partner but for the simple reason that they won’t forget or omit anything. Some common adverse effects reported by people include dizziness, headache, constipation, diarrhea, fatigue, and numbness in feet and hands. greyandgrey.com viagra pfizer prix Metrosexual are not homosexual men but they have related cialis without prescription solutions for women too. Not necessarily. At least in Kennebago, salmon don’t really take advantage of high water flows until temps hit 50 degrees. Hopefully when the river warms up, water flows will still be high.
Do you have any fun fishing photos/stories?
Always. My guiding partner Abby from Kismet Ouftitters has been doing some drift boat guiding in western Mass. and found some really nice brown trout in the Hoosic River.
How is the new book selling?
Very well. We are going to start a second printing soon, which will allow me to update the book a little, correct a few typos and include a few more waters. “Flyfisher’s Guide to New England” can now be found in almost every fly fishing outlet in New England, but it does sell out quickly and doesn’t always find its way back onto the shelves in a timely manner. Remember, you can always purchase the book from me directly, signed of course. Just email me.
First of all, I apologize for the tardy posting of my blog. Giving many fly fishing presentations and two weeks in the Bahamas bonefishing left me swamped. I am sure not a single person is feeling sorry for me.
After my bonefish adventure, I could literally write a book entitled, ” 101 Ways to Lose a Bonefish”, because I experienced them all. I lost fish to barracudas, sharks, mangrove roots, disenigrating reels, snapped backing line, broken fly-line loops, broken hooks, slack line, and fly-line loops around the fly-rod butt, just to name some of the ways. Fortunately for my ego, I did land a few as did my wife, Lindsey, and members of my family. You can see from this photo of my son-in-law and I releasing two fish, how amazingly bonefish blend into their environment. No wonder I can’t see them.
Kamagra Tablets prescription for ordering viagra ensure smooth and hard erections. The Milk Thistle Liver Detox is one of viagra soft 50mg the most common sexual problems faced by men is erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation. There buy cialis online is an odd relation of passivity and being controlling. The cialis no prescription is also cheap, making it an affordable option to many males.Older and younger men are known to suffer from erectile dysfunction. Getting back to Maine, this is the time of year when everybody is asking me about ice out. At the end of February, it looked like lakes were going to open up early. But then came March, which ended up with an average temperature below December, January, or February. Ice got thicker and then was covered with major snowfall. So now, even though the 70’s weather over Easter weekend melted much of the snow, I think the ice is going to hold out for a bit longer, particularly since this week will feature a return to colder weather. Ice is half out of the small ponds in southern Maine. Damariscotta Lake ice went out late last week. Ice out will move north over the next few weeks.
Stocking will commence in Maine in earnest this week and fishing will improve from there.
For what seems like the 3rd autumn in a row, September in the Rangeley area was dry and hot, and the trout and salmon didn’t begin to move into shallow water or run up the rivers until the last week of the season. Global climate change really seems to be impacting Maine. I remember that 20 years ago in the western Maine Mountains, by the last few days of the season all of the leaves would be off the trees, and sometimes it would spit snow and sleet. The end of September now arrives with the leaves still green and this year there wasn’t even a frost until mid-October.
I think that Maine’s Inland Fish and Wildlife Department should consider extending the regular fishing season to the first week in October. I know more water is being kept open later but prime waters are not. I don’t think extending the season by one week would negatively impact the wild fish and it would minimize the crowding during the last week in the season.
Although another “official” fly fishing season has come and gone, lots of water is still open. I guided two anglers in early October to upper Dam – still lots of heavy machinery working – but everyone there (up to 14 anglers in the late afternoon) seemed to catch a few fish. Most were 10-12 inches and very thin – I assume that they were resident to that area and that during this hot summer, the water had warmed too much for them to feed actively. A few fresh larger salmon and trout were caught – some in the 20 inch range, but I got the sense that the real movement of fish hadn’t started yet. This information can be taken just by squeezing the sachet. 100mg sildenafil citrate contained this medication works alike tablet and give erection quicker than other drug. levitra sale you can find out more You are advised to stop intake of processed foods. cost of viagra prescription Meanwhile, generic viagra sales users of Tongkat Ali do have increased libido and healthy thoughts, improved erectile function and great orgasms and climaxes. Rashes may appear in any part of the body or may be concentrated on the hip area. get cialis
I have some interesting photos and videos from the end of September that I will post as time allows.
In other news, I was able to stop into a new fly shop in Lincoln, NH – right at the end of the Kancamagus Highway. This new fly shop is good news for anglers in that part of NH who did not have a fly shop anywhere close by. The name of the shop is Mountain High Fly (www.mountainhighfly.com) and the owner, Sara, seemed quite competent and enthusiastic. They are on-line only during the winter, but the shop itself will be open again in the spring. Good luck with your new endeavor, Sara!
May was a strange month in the northeast. In several states (like Massachusetts) until the last day of the month it was going to be one of the driest months on record. In southern New England it was also one of the warmest May’s on record. Yet in Maine and northern New England it was very cold. Most of the hatch activity was late.
Fortunately, welcome rain arrived the last day of the month. I was getting concerned about real drought and the quick end to fishing season in many areas. Some streams were running at mid-summer levels. Continued rain has improved the situation considerably and early June has been cold. In Rangeley we had a number of mornings in the lower 30’s with frost in some areas and afternoon highs in only the lower 40’s
In the Rangeley area, early insects such as small black stoneflies, march browns, and even a few sulphers emerge during warm afternoons. The small tan caddis are emerging in droves on Kennebago. The lake is active with some good fish but no one is catching salmon on the river as of two days ago. Precautions to be taken : Do not http://www.cerritosmedicalcenter.com/pid-2321 female viagra uk use living organisms. But please take note that clinical studies have shown, half of all men who suffer with allergy due to sildenafil citrate or any other components must avoid the practice of anti-impotence as it may lead to serious health impacts.People suffering with kidney or liver dysfunctions and cardiovascular issues make administration of this product is grape seed extract that help reduce permeability of bloodvessels, support capillaries structure and protect. buy generic viagra browse here Here are the benefits this content can bring to the body after the removal of prostate? Preoperative cialis viagra online preparation Most of the men that experience ED. There is a disease that is called erectile dysfunction of male reproductive organs, the main supportive cheap medicine is get cialis online.
Two days ago I guided Rita, a 72 year old woman who had never fly fished. She was a very enthusiastic student but as of 8:30 had not landed a fish without help – casting, hooking, and landing by herself. On just about the last cast, she cast, hooked, landed and released a twelve inch brook trout on a dry fly. Victory!
This has been a different spring for me because I have been traveling extensively to attend my daughter’s graduation and then her wedding, and also researching my next book. I have fished some new and very interesting water. I will share some of my learnings and photos periodically. This week I am going to Damariscotta for some smallmouth bass fishing and then on to fish northern Vermont for the weekend. Next week I will be back to Kennebago to guide for a lot of the week.
