MFF US Northeast > Maine
October.....Not Quite "Rocktober", But I'll Take It
Jim C.:
Falls seem to be taking longer and longer to really kick in.
I started with an outing on a large local lake that is normally good for a few solid holdovers for the wading crew by early in the month. I checked the water temp on a Sunday and found a favorable 58* in the shallows, deciding to make my first fall venture that Monday. As luck would have it (or not), a wind shift had pushed some 62* water into the shore. My efforts yielded sunfish only. To make matters worse, the spinning outfit that I use for spoons was stolen from its resting place as I worked down the shore with my jig rod. Not my best day, but it didn't cost me a king's ransom either. I just hope that whoever thought it was a good idea to lift the outfit gets good use out of it and doesn't just deep six it. God knows I would have used it until it was an antique ;)
Karma is a funny thing. I often find that when I get nicked up in some way, the fishing roars back to turn things around. This time was no exception. 2 days later, I sought cooler pond water at elevation and found it. Not a fast start until I noticed a decent burst of surface activity down the shoreline. I made my way down and found dimpling smelt and boiling predators. Splake it was, and some very solid ones at that. There was a non-stop hour before it slowed slowed down, with nearly 2 dozen fish giving my rod arm a decent workout :laugh:
My good fortune that day continued with a stop on some flowing water on the way home. I was able to throw in a few decent browns to cap off the day.
Overall, splake dominated the action until very late in the month. On one of those outings, I enjoyed using one of my grandfather's fiberglass spinning rods. Stormin' Norman often enters my thoughts. He passed in 1980, so using his rod to catch fish last month was a mystical, "River Runs Through It" experience. I remember him using that rod when it was new and I was a young teenager. It was featured in the 1967 True Temper catalog ;D
The month closed out with fast action on pond brookies. Chucking spoons was all that was needed until the last week or so. After that, the fish seemed to yawn at bright hardware dragged through water. In addition, even these stocked fish go through the motions of the fall spawn. Prime time for the egg pattern bite. I can't recommend this enough. Sometimes it's sight fishing, but that often waits until later. In October, slowly working an egg pattern with a split shot across the bottom is pure dynamite. Get into a drag, pause, lift, repeat cadence and expect to stay busy ;D
By the end of the month, brookies had a slight edge over splake on the species tally card. But on Halloween, this splake grabbed a mini orange egg off the bottom in 5-10 feet of water, strained my 5-weight, and stole the show.
Onto November. October was light on browns and absent of salmon. Hopefully, that improves, plus more sight fishing and a trip to NY in the works. Tight lines to all 8)
NBourque:
Not bad Jim! The weather was definitely warmer in October than I’d like but you got after it pretty good. How big was that splake?
Raquettedacker:
Love the fall colors.👍👍👍👍
Jim C.:
Thanks, Nick. 21". I'm pretty sure it was stocked several truck years ago.
--- Quote from: NBourque on Nov 03, 2022, 06:25 AM ---Not bad Jim! The weather was definitely warmer in October than I’d like but you got after it pretty good. How big was that splake?
--- End quote ---
TightLinesMaine:
that big Splake looks like a good 3+ lbs! crazy! way to wrap up October Jim. Fly rod bonus too! must've been a blast.
I've been fishing the local lakes/ponds, haven't landed anything yet but have hooked one (you know the species) and stung another (I've seen some BIG ones!)
I'm wondering how this mini heat wave comin' up is going to affect the fishing... I can remember 70* degree days in October in recent years but certainly not November...
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