MFF US Northeast > Maine
September - Back to the Browns and Some Salt Water Fun
Jim C.:
No more summer heat, but not really far down the road into fall yet.
There was enough rainfall and cool evenings right out of the gate for me to seriously check out some foothill brown trout waters for holdovers. The browns had held over just fine. Getting into 30 fish and then 15 in back-to-back trips is my kind holy grail 8) Not hook-jawed monsters by any means, but they had grown to be quite selective with their time in the streams. Flows were ample for a change in many (but not all) spots. Even got to fish in the pouring rain as this water started to rise.
Browns were pretty much in all favored holding water.
The stream was ripping pretty hard when I hooked Old Yeller in the eddy visible in the middle of the pic below. He used the current to his advantage and I was surprised when he was only about 14" when landed.
Here's a sampling of a few other browns of more typical coloration.
I got what will probably be my last dry fly brown of the season when I fished into the dark on one outing. There were definitely some bigger fish slurping, but this smaller fish is the one that took, splashed around, and put down the pool for longer than I could wait for it to settle down.
A salt water vacation to L.I. Sound highlighted the 3rd week of the month. It was a memory lane trip for me, having grown up and worked in this area until I went in the service in the late 70's. No huge fish, but good numbers and a tussle on light fly or spinning gear. The weather presented some challenges, but also some great photo taking opportunities.
The windward shorelines were pounded pretty hard early on.
AT the same time, sheltered bays and tidal creeks were placid, with snapper blues seemingly willing to jump on anything that moved ;D
Access to the tidal creeks was limited to roadside culverts and concrete aprons. When guard rails merge with white lines, then the double yellow veers hard to the right a few yards away, bad things tend to happen. The fishing has been good over the years, even if not all of my childhood of such spots are pleasant.
Once the open waters calmed down, I switched to them for a steady diet of scup (porgies) and small sea bass. Dinner plate size scup give a great little scrap on light gear.
As mentioned, no big fish on the salt water trip. I did hustle down to this patch of disturbed water one evening, but no love.
My niece's son, however, did score on a very nice weakfish about an hour away. This kid has potential ;)
The trip was not all about fishing. One night away from the water proved to be a nice diversion. I was the DD for this adventure. I may not have been "fully qualified', but I was "best qualified" for the designation given how far down the tracks my Dad and others were on the Bourbon Express :o
The last night of the trip featured a strong frontal passage and quite the views as the sun set.
The month wasn't wall-to-wall great. Finishing up back in Maine, I thought I'd stumbled onto Nirvana when I came upon this beaver pool that was peppered with risers. The first take resulted in a solid hook up and a pink flash in the stained water that had me thinking big brookie. Well, I was sort of right about the color anyway ::) These guys are fun and I didn't mind playing with them for a bit.
My last venture on the brooks and streams during the Maine regular season (which ends on 9/30) was something of a bust in spite of emerging fall scenery. As I said earlier, ample rainfall didn't bless the entire state. I thought that the USGS gauge stations I picked would correlate closely with the area I would be fishing and that flows would be good. Wrong. Low to no water in 4 lake tribs in the area made it a challenge to just get a few small natives.
I don't make it a habit to chase the stocking trucks, but a few reinforcements wouldn't hurt, especially south of Route 2. Unfortunately, I see no indication that the first fish of the fall stocking has even hit the water yet. I'm confused. Back in May 2021, it was announced that the hatcheries would get $20 million in the American Rescue Plan funding. It was stated that "anglers would see benefits for years the come." Not sure what the hold up is. I also heard that the 2 leading candidates for Governor are at odds over fisheries-related funding. Not sure where that leaves us :-\
Enough politics. Onto October and doing my level best ;D
NBourque:
Good read/report Jim. September has got to be a tough month in general. The best fishing of the year is right around the corner.
lowaccord66:
Great stuff Jim. Amazing weakfish. If they are anything lime my state that money may have been sucked into the General Fund already!
Jim C.:
Thanks, Jon. I bet you are spot on about where the funding now resides.
--- Quote from: lowaccord66 on Sep 30, 2022, 12:20 PM ---Great stuff Jim. Amazing weakfish. If they are anything lime my state that money may have been sucked into the General Fund already!
--- End quote ---
Steve H.:
Great stuff, as always. Nice brown and amazing squeteague.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version