MyFishFinder Forum
MFF US Northeast => Maine => Topic started by: Jim C. on Aug 29, 2022, 04:21 PM
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There was a little more rain in August overall, but it really depended where you were. Some spots got 6 inch soakings, while others had mostly passing showers that did little to end the rainfall deficit. However, after the first week, the 90* plus stuff left us alone and the nights were a bit cooler. Good enough to provide a decent number of waters with temps in the mid-60's or lower.
I sampled flowing water in a 5-county area in Maine, plus 1 trip where I strayed over the border into NH. I got a few small wild 'bows in NH, a single juvenile atlantic salmon in a coastal brook, and not a single brown throughout the entire month. Other that that it was straight native brookies. Big fish will have to wait for Fall, but these guys are a ton of fun on the 3-weight.
I started out with a foothill brook in Kennebec County. To say the water was low early in month was an understatement, but the brook had stayed cool enough. The fish I was able to catch came from under undercut banks or wood. As is often the case, many of these fish were almost black.
(https://i.imgur.com/mxMn6jo.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/wOP210I.jpg)
My trips to the coastal brooks in Lincoln County were a learning experience, definitely not a bad thing. The first trip out, I started out on a normally reliable brook, but was confronted with nearly bone dry conditions.
(https://i.imgur.com/tCPqVDe.jpg)
The learning part came when I moved to brook just a couple ridges over and not far as the crow flies. Flows here were quite decent and the action turned the day around. What a contrast from the first spot :w00t:
(https://i.imgur.com/u1XeJI8.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/qx42fEm.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/zTOSC83.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/uRvLsEb.jpg)
The best trip of the month was to the Knox County coastal area. I ran into a nice bunch of brookies in a few holes not too far above tide water. These fish had a strong liking for egg patterns, which added to their colors in the pics 8)
(https://i.imgur.com/f0ZJJeg.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ia8FxnH.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ww6AJTt.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/BOHAxiX.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/8wvqf0k.jpg)
My venture to the NH border area was "slow and low", but not without its moments. The best access to the pool below was walking through this 100 foot culvert. The footing was fine, but the spider webs were a horror show. I must has looked like a mummy by the time I made my first cast :laugh:
(https://i.imgur.com/WFccQtM.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/6ZuB0Nb.jpg)
Franklin and Oxford Counties were a bit short of their usual standards, but I got into just short of 20 natives one time out. The trips included spots I either had never tried or had done so quite some time ago. That's always pleasing. There was a great pool at this confluence with a trib that yielded numerous rises.
(https://i.imgur.com/DVPdnYf.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ood6JtK.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/tpTMffM.jpg)
The downside came when I got into a confrontation with a property owner on the way out. The road I'd parked on is off a state road. The road is not marked as "private drive" or anything similar and a state numbered bridge crosses the brook. There wasn't POSTED sign to be seen. I said little, and didn't mention the bag of trash I'd picked up. So be it.......it's not the only spot to fish and I can get at it a different way if needed. I ended the day on a good note at 2 additional waters. Most intriguing was a lake trib that starts as a trickle and morphs into a series of deeper pools heading downhill. It was big time fun having brookies wake to dries on virtually every cast 8)
(https://i.imgur.com/wmLTdIM.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/RCEUlWD.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/TCs9at1.jpg)
My final trip of the month was a fight for double digits to the very end. This brook in Oxford county is normally lights out. It was low. Who knows....maybe a succession of drought years and poor spawns have taken their toll.
(https://i.imgur.com/Zo3iyMg.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/FF5IXBI.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/yGa09U5.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/bmqFbIu.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/RO26Vca.jpg)
As much as I got around, I wasn't covering ground as well as I used to since I fell into a hole when I was digging out a mailbox in March that the plow knocked down this Winter. I got in to see the orthopedic doc this week. It turns out that I'd been nursing a broken left leg. It's pretty well healed up after 5 months. The doc said he would have had me on 4-6 weeks of no weight bearing if I'd come in earlier. I had the question of the day...."Do you know how many fish I'd miss out on in that amount of time"?? ;)
The month ended with me becoming Grandpa Jim. I can hardly weight to tell this little guy bedtime stories. I'll start out slowly with just pics before progressing to water temps, flows, moon phases, etc. 8)
(https://i.imgur.com/A7CI9Jg.jpg)
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Nice natives Jim! Congrats on the grandkid! Plenty of stories to tell him ;D
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Gret photos Jim thanks i really enjoy your presentations . I'm very sure you will will getting another great fisherman in the great State of Maine, an everywhere else. Thanks.
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Gret photos Jim thanks i really enjoy your presentations . I'm very sure you will will getting another great fisherman in the great State of Maine, an everywhere else. Thanks.
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Congratulations on becoming a grandfather. Grandkids are a lot of fun
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Nice! my month was Brown trout heavy surprisingly. Got out 3 times in August believe I caught close to 15 brown trout (at least 12).
And you're not a real brook fisherman if you haven't crawled under/through a culvert! i've been through many. Some scarier than others!
Too bad about the confrontation... I haven't had any negative ones in a long time...
& congrats again on the Grandkid
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Jim, 20 Brook trout in a outing was a solid day. Those natives are gems.
Sorry to hear about the broken leg. You are a tough or stubborn not to see a doctor sooner.
Congrats on becoming a Grandfather. Your next future fishing buddy.
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Awesome report, and congrats on the new/future partner in crime 8)
The last line also got a good laugh out of me :)
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Congrats Jim!
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Thanks for the report I always look forward to reading them and congrats on the beautiful healthy grandson!! Here in Massachusetts we're a little more tightly packed and I get the angry property owners all too often. 99% of the time they call the cops and the cops have to explain to them that I'm doing nothing wrong by wading a river. I wish the rules on wading were a little more clear, I can't get straight answers from anyone I ask including police and EP's. For a long time I was under the impression that as long as I accessed the river legally and stayed in the water I could wade anywhere but apparently that's not the case since I was thrown off a river 2 years ago and told "if the property owner owns land on both sides of the river it becomes their property". But I've also heard conflicting things like moving water cannot be privately owned and that the town or state typically owns all rivers plus a floodplain surrounding them. And then I've also heard that the size of the river plays a roll which makes sense, I wouldn't expect to be welcomed on a 1 foot wide stream in some bodies back yard. I've basically given up on ever figuring it all out. The sad thing is that a lot of the property owners calling the cops on me are dumping trash around the river or damming it up for their kids to swim in and I'm there cleaning up trash and trying to keep the rivers intact for the next generation.
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Thanks for the nice comments. I appreciate it.
My daughter says the little guy is "nocturnal". That is the beauty of being the grandparents and not the parents. 8)
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Real nice catch rate on the browns, Randall!! I plan to start looking around for them, but flows are still low up here.
Nice! my month was Brown trout heavy surprisingly. Got out 3 times in August believe I caught close to 15 brown trout (at least 12).
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Thanks for your thoughts. The laws on this stuff vary from state-to-state. There have been court cases in some places that attempt to trace ownership back to Crown Grants from the King of England! In most cases, it seems that the stream bottom is fair game if you gain access from a non-private bridge and stay off the banks. Regardless of the law, some property owners aggressively assert what they "own" (whether it's legal or not). The bottom line on "confrontations" is that property owners don't have the right to initiate a physical assault. At that point, wading staffs, the mark of Zorro with a rod tip, etc. become fair game. I am real concerned that Maine has not set up a system of public access points like other states have.
Thanks for the report I always look forward to reading them and congrats on the beautiful healthy grandson!! Here in Massachusetts we're a little more tightly packed and I get the angry property owners all too often. 99% of the time they call the cops and the cops have to explain to them that I'm doing nothing wrong by wading a river. I wish the rules on wading were a little more clear, I can't get straight answers from anyone I ask including police and EP's. For a long time I was under the impression that as long as I accessed the river legally and stayed in the water I could wade anywhere but apparently that's not the case since I was thrown off a river 2 years ago and told "if the property owner owns land on both sides of the river it becomes their property". But I've also heard conflicting things like moving water cannot be privately owned and that the town or state typically owns all rivers plus a floodplain surrounding them. And then I've also heard that the size of the river plays a roll which makes sense, I wouldn't expect to be welcomed on a 1 foot wide stream in some bodies back yard. I've basically given up on ever figuring it all out. The sad thing is that a lot of the property owners calling the cops on me are dumping trash around the river or damming it up for their kids to swim in and I'm there cleaning up trash and trying to keep the rivers intact for the next generation.
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Thanks for your thoughts. The laws on this stuff vary from state-to-state. There have been court cases in some places that attempt to trace ownership back to Crown Grants from the King of England! In most cases, it seems that the stream bottom is fair game if you gain access from a non-private bridge and stay off the banks. Regardless of the law, some property owners aggressively assert what they "own" (whether it's legal or not). The bottom line on "confrontations" is that property owners don't have the right to initiate a physical assault. At that point, wading staffs, the mark of Zorro with a rod tip, etc. become fair game. I am real concerned that Maine has not set up a system of public access points like other states have.
Never a dull moment fishing with you Jim ;D
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Life's too short for dull moments. Too many dull moments = a boring trip to the boneyard.
Never a dull moment fishing with you Jim ;D
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Thanks for the report I always look forward to reading them and congrats on the beautiful healthy grandson!! Here in Massachusetts we're a little more tightly packed and I get the angry property owners all too often. 99% of the time they call the cops and the cops have to explain to them that I'm doing nothing wrong by wading a river. I wish the rules on wading were a little more clear, I can't get straight answers from anyone I ask including police and EP's. For a long time I was under the impression that as long as I accessed the river legally and stayed in the water I could wade anywhere but apparently that's not the case since I was thrown off a river 2 years ago and told "if the property owner owns land on both sides of the river it becomes their property". But I've also heard conflicting things like moving water cannot be privately owned and that the town or state typically owns all rivers plus a floodplain surrounding them. And then I've also heard that the size of the river plays a roll which makes sense, I wouldn't expect to be welcomed on a 1 foot wide stream in some bodies back yard. I've basically given up on ever figuring it all out. The sad thing is that a lot of the property owners calling the cops on me are dumping trash around the river or damming it up for their kids to swim in and I'm there cleaning up trash and trying to keep the rivers intact for the next generation.
I have battled the great atate of mass on that very topic and it was a huge pia but worth it. My issue was always the coast. Cops called too many times when I was using easements then hiking the shore.....had to call coastal zoning management office and have them call the local cops to tell them to leave me alone. Then the next time the property owner called I got the delight of listening to the cop tell him if he calls again I can press charges for harassment. Never had to do that on a river. Also tried to battle Monterey Mass for access to Lake Garfield in the winter. State didnt want to touch it and the town manager was unrelenting so without legal representation I gave up.
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It always good to hear a story of a big win! ;D Thanks, Jon.
Then the next time the property owner called I got the delight of listening to the cop tell him if he calls again I can press charges for harassment.
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Are the dark brookies always dark like that out of that stream or is it a phenomenon associated with the low warmer water levels? I ask because in aquaculture a dark fish is usually either a stressed fish or a fish that is blind in at least one eye due to parasites.
As always thanks for sharing and congrats to the new grandchild!
And I won't even get started on property owners. I have a neighbor that is paranoid about property lines and has put up a piece of vertical PVC and orange spray paint to mark a property line that is clearly marked with survey stakes. And this when I was taking down a fence NOT putting one up!
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Thanks.
I get quite a few Brookies at a couple spots that are very dark whenever you catch them in undercuts or other hiding places.
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Thanks.
I get quite a few Brookies at a couple spots that are very dark whenever you catch them in undercuts or other hiding places.
So they are mimicking their background.
Thanks for responding.