For the most part, August was a slow go. There was more rain, but areas north of Rt. 2 and even just north of Rt. 26 didn't get anywhere near the amounts that fell over southern ME and NH. Rivers and brooks remained low for much of the month, even near or below record low flows for the dates.
Staining on rocks on medium sized rivers showed that levels were a foot or more below normal, and smaller waters left much of their stream beds dry.
I spent a good part of the month leaving cold water species alone. Not a bad move, as the warm water fish treated me very well. White perch dominated, but a fair number of crappie joined in. The action was pretty much non-stop on wooly buggers or Crazy Charlies, including one 60 fish evening.
That trip nearly didn't end well. The water was quite high from an unexpected dam release above.
I snapped this pic as I started to wade to the opposite bank.
I used a wading staff, but before long I went down even with that assist. My wading belt had been tight, but when I lost control of the staff, it twisted the belt. It puckered just enough to allow many pounds of water to flood my chest waders. I went totally under in the current, but managed to get into a sort of crab walk to make it into the shallows. Just below where I recovered, the water drops off to 8 feet or more...... enough said. I did go ashore, emptied my boots enough to make them serviceable, realized that somehow I hadn't lost anything, and stayed on the water until moonrise to catch more fish.
It wasn't until later that I found out that my dunking had been bad enough to plug my ears with water. I had to use Debrox to clear them the next day
In the absence of limited cold water options, I visited a breakwater and jigged a few mackerel (the numbers are way down from years past) and some small cunner. Regardless of the slow action, it was nice to be on the salt.
August did have its cold water fish moments. I took advantage of an isolated flow bump on the Mid-Coast to get into some very solid native brookies. Even with decent flow, these waters are small, not much wider than a small rod length.
But the bigger pools, undercut banks, and debris piles will give up some beauties. The last one here topped 12".
I also fished a high ground spot or 2 near the Maine/NH border. Definitely more water here!
But all day, I felt that the bite fell well short of how good the water looked. After a few small brookies, the day ended on a high note with some mountain 'bows.
Unfortunately, browns for the most part, remained MIA.....a troubling trend.
I did get into a few fish that had been stocked in the Spring, managed to hold over, and grew an inch or 2. It's own sort of fun....low water, spooky fish, and sharpshooter EHC or Para Adams delivery.
And a little optical illusion. I was super leery of what at a distance looked like a giant snake in the stream bed.
What an active imagination can do with an old tire wrapped around a rock
September....a big chunk will be on the salt. We'll see how that goes and what Ma Nature (Ida, etc.) throws at us for more water on the fresh water side.
