February and March are almost always the toughest months for open water fishing in Maine. There have been a few years when this was not the case, and the open water trout and salmon bite was off the charts all winter long. Unfortunately, the winter action for 2024 was about as far opposite from a hot bite as you can get
February started out on a good note. I had a follow on my first cast on 2/1, followed by a solid hook-up on my second. Sometimes, this will happen if I can get a follower to commit on a follow-up cast. In this case, I think the first customer was a brookie that didn't return and I got on the board with a brown. No monster, but not too shabby either and almost certainly a holdover from the Fall 2022.
I thought I was off the races, but unfortunately the rest of the day stalled. I put the effort in, using deer tracks to show me the way around shore ice and also managed to get some decent drifts around the pancakes, but there was no sign of life whatsoever.
The non-action continued for several trips, so I took a break to hit the hard water. What a contrast! It was interesting (maybe shocking is the better word) to see how crappie have gone from "occasional" to "dominant" on waters where I
used to jig togue and get into some pretty good browns. Is there a cause and effect going on
Regardless, it was a nice break from the open water grind.
When the clock struck March, it was time to get back in the open water salmonid hunt. To say the fishing was TOUGH would be a severe understatement. It was further compounded by 4 interactions with property owners and law enforcement in 3 weeks, including a police officer and a warden in a 0:30 time span. A PB!
The property owner "meet and greets" came first. I was near here when a property owner brandished a barking shepherd on me.
I believe I was in the right, but in the interest of saving my waders, I moved on.
On later trip, I was approached by a caretaker on a property I've transited for years to access water. I have known the property owner for years. Turns out, the property has changed hands recently and the new owner might end access. The caretaker and I had a good talk, with the final outcome on access "TBD".
Then came the "2 for 1" day at a different spot. A police officer pulled up to talk with me about complaints from property owners on the local lake. Legally (it's a "Great Pond"), I wasn't sure where I stood, so I played super nice, while at the same time realizing I was probably done with this spot
I moved to a different shoreline spot. Fishless, but enjoyable for a bit. Then the warden showed up. It was just a license check, but when he asked me how I was doing, I told him
A few folks on here have seen what happens when I get asked that question at the wrong time or in the wrong place. Let's just say that a long day and long month came to a head.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=crazy+eddie+commercial#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:8cf008d4,vid:Ml6S2yiuSWE,st:0I took a break for a few days, with only tiny gaps between the morning coffee and the evening beverages. I'll be damned if I didn't see a fish, even if was floating by in the sky rather hooked on one of my lures.
Back from the long tangent to the fishing...a total GRIND. I was fully figuring that my open trout and salmon streak was in the "crash and burn" mode. Wildly fluctuating water levels were not helpful. Stable shore ice with nice eddies and slack water pockets never really set up.
You know you're in a bad way when recovering a float rig you lost months earlier is the outing highlight.
Or maybe finding some pack ratted "blasts from the past" during a home reno project makes your day.
It could always get tougher....must be a story here
I saved my sorry arse with a single brown on a local pond on the day it iced out. My only hit of the month for March.
Just enough to keep the streak alive at 13 full years and counting
