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MFF US Northeast => Maine => Topic started by: Jim C. on Aug 01, 2020, 01:41 PM

Title: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: Jim C. on Aug 01, 2020, 01:41 PM
Central Maine only recorded one day in July with a high temp of 90*, but there were 10 other days with highs of 85* or above.  Other areas of the state (and country) fared worse (or better if you like the hot stuff)!  That definitely put a bit of the skids on the local fishing, but there were some highlights.

The high ground provided some relief, but flows were mostly either low or erratic (if hit by local storms). 

(https://i.imgur.com/TIAGJnB.jpg)

If you were able to find halfway decent flows, the water temps were mostly in the 55-65* range.   Shaded waters tended to run a bit cooler.

(https://i.imgur.com/vVVoggj.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/EdhGLPL.jpg)

Even in favorable mountain spots, the catching was on the slow side.  Nonetheless, little bursts of action resulted in a variety of trout species, mainly wild rainbows and native brookies.  Most hit topside, but I found that a trailing emerger like a Partridge and Green helped.

(https://i.imgur.com/vKsEumY.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/srkFIya.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/Du9HI99.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/uaiQxqm.jpg)

"Hat Tricks", the brookie, 'bow, and brown combo, only come in one trip out of every 4 or 5 trips to the mountains.  Browns are nearly always the sticking point.  It came as quite a shock when I stumbled upon wild browns to start one trip on this run at well over 1,200' in elevation. 

(https://i.imgur.com/V3FbWmF.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/cAzCRwx.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/9MVhueT.jpg)

To follow-up on the browns, 'the bows came fairly easily, but the brookies proved to be elusive until a few nice ones hit the net in the late afternoon sun.

(https://i.imgur.com/NwtOYEj.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/IB5cxND.jpg)

The foothill waters were often too warm for trout fishing, but there was a couple day cool down with a flow bump just after mid-month that had water temps in the 65-69 range for a mix of wild and stocked browns.  Again, my "go to" was an EHC or Parachute Adams with a trailing emerger.

(https://i.imgur.com/ypGOdqR.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/asETXQA.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/kXI3I2q.jpg?1)

(https://i.imgur.com/YTsxs5N.jpg?1)

A rather substantial brookie joined the browns.  This was quite a tank, and a wish I had time for a better picture. With the marginal water temps, a quick release was in order.... a trend throughout much of the month.  This explains some of my sub-par pics ;)

(https://i.imgur.com/ugGUSe2.jpg?1)

Other than the mountains, the only consistent cold water action was in the small, tight, coastal "jungles".  Springs running at around 50* nourish these and keep the main flows at 60* or lower.  Even here, rain was needed.  This is small water, made smaller by dry conditions.  I will flyfish these waters at times but day in, day out, I go with small jigs tipped with maggots.  This is the the answer for extracting natives from small gaps in the quagmire.

(https://i.imgur.com/7BI8TsU.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/Q9gSlVC.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/LlVssah.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/aDcO8uR.jpg?1)

(https://i.imgur.com/XzEq7wM.jpg?1)

(https://i.imgur.com/Jtec2SF.jpg?1)

My daughter got married mid-month on a beach in NY.  I'm real pleased with my son-in-law and his family  8), but nobody's perfect....they don't fish. That doesn't mean I didn't sneak in a few casts before I walked my daughter down the aisle. A pic of me behind the wedding arch surfaced.  ;D  I came up with a few sea robins on tube jigs.  Some rendered a single wing salute, while one monster went with a full-blown flyover   :laugh:

(https://i.imgur.com/zUABj3r.jpg?1)

(https://i.imgur.com/DcxenJe.jpg?1)

(https://i.imgur.com/ldFHI3v.jpg)

My brother found a dead mantis shrimp on the beach.  These guys can thump aquarium glass and break it.  Gotta love your little scrappers :)

(https://i.imgur.com/fbXFktn.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/I2w52Nn.jpg)

I closed out the month with some mixed bag warm water fishing.....and I mean WARM.  84* water temp at 7:30 PM!  My primary target was crappie, but they didn't join the 6-species smorgasbord until the light faded away.  Subsurface flies as the sun dropped, and poppers when I should have gone with a camera flash.

(https://i.imgur.com/wWKbwxE.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/So4lawM.jpg)

The cardinal flowers were out and dusk came early.  Bait fishing ends on the brooks on August 15.  Early Fall fishing is nearly here!

(https://i.imgur.com/zZhCPAf.jpg)












Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: joefishmore on Aug 01, 2020, 04:56 PM
Great pictures, Thanks.
Tried several brookie spots in the last couple of days but struck out.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: NBourque on Aug 01, 2020, 07:05 PM
Great report Jim. No stripers in NY?
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: woodchip1 on Aug 01, 2020, 08:33 PM
Very nice report ,We need more fishermen like you!!!!
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: taxid on Aug 01, 2020, 10:29 PM
Thanks for sharing Jim.

This will be my last year raising trout out here in Indiana. Well pump just can't keep up with warmer and warmer summer temps.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: deerhunter on Aug 02, 2020, 06:43 AM
great report and pics
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: Jim C. on Aug 02, 2020, 08:23 AM
No sign of bass, blues, or fluke there, Nick.  I only had an hour to fish though. I may get back down that way in Sept. with more time to fish.

Great report Jim. No stripers in NY?
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: Smallmouth Squarepants on Aug 03, 2020, 09:12 AM
Great report!

I feel you on the warm waters being exceedingly warm. I basically switched to not going out before 7PM any time I've targeted largemouth (less traffic, and I don't end up completely drenched in sweat) over the past 3 weeks, and I'm still seeing 80+ surface temps at 12AM on lakes that have a sub 50 degree thermocline. Even worse on shallower/smaller ponds.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: Steve H. on Aug 03, 2020, 09:41 AM
Great report and pics, as usual.  :D  That mantis shrimp is crazy.  I've seems some YouTube videos on them.  Very unique and interesting creatures.  I guess there's two varieties; one hammers it's prey faster than a rifle shot and the other spears it equally as fast.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: TightLinesMaine on Aug 03, 2020, 01:50 PM
Great report Jim, nice color on that first brown trout, love the rainbows too.

"but nobody's perfect....they don't fish."  :laugh:

Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: Jim C. on Aug 03, 2020, 06:19 PM
Sorry to hear.  That's says something......and it's not good. 



This will be my last year raising trout out here in Indiana. Well pump just can't keep up with warmer and warmer summer temps.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: Jim C. on Aug 03, 2020, 06:33 PM
This spot seems ripe for a tiger trout....but no sign yet.

nice color on that first brown trout
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: TightLinesMaine on Aug 03, 2020, 07:33 PM
This spot seems ripe for a tiger trout....but no sign yet.

Nice, sounds encouraging.  I got out for an hour and a half earlier this evening (just got back actually) to the spot I fished with you last i believe, coincidentally.  I landed 5 trout, 2 of which were brown trout (a 9" and a 11"), one had a wild-ish look but not sure if it was or not.  I can't reliably catch wild brown trout anymore.  My go to river for them is pretty dismal nowadays; still trout there but it's like fishing a series of barely moving puddles, and the trout that are there are super concentrated/not very spread out.  It's only worth a few trips a year now, if that.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: fish wayniac on Aug 04, 2020, 05:21 AM
Jim, You had a great July. You always adapt to current conditions and get on fish. Great variety!
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: joefishmore on Aug 05, 2020, 04:03 PM
Tried a couple more brooks yesterday an found hardly any water flowing.        Bad summer for trout  Yarmouth area.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: Jim C. on Aug 05, 2020, 06:13 PM
I was out today on a local brook and also found VERY low water....and that was after our recent rain.  That water temp was 65*, which is OK.  I got into a few, but better flow is needed!

Tried a couple more brooks yesterday an found hardly any water flowing.        Bad summer for trout  Yarmouth area.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: taxid on Aug 05, 2020, 09:19 PM
Sorry to hear.  That's says something......and it's not good.

The interesting thing is it's not primarily the high temps for the day but also the lack of cool down at night.

I guess conversely what initiated the ice age was not that it snowed so much, but the fact that at some point the snow cover lingered until the following winter, and the new snow piled on the old snow. Then of course lingering year round snow cover caused the albedo effect decreasing temps even more.

The warm temps stressed the trout and cause a proliferation of gill and skin parasites. I was able to get things back to normal with three consecutive treatments of formalin at 15 mg/l and air temps have gone below normal, but will be above normal by the weekend. Did some things to keep the water cooler this time. I want to at least be able to get a return on my investment. Fingers crossed. 
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: Jim C. on Aug 06, 2020, 07:59 AM
Good luck!  Hope things work out.

It sure is the high night time temps that have been the biggest issue.......as the weather folks call them "maxi-min's". 


The interesting thing is it's not primarily the high temps for the day but also the lack of cool down at night.

I guess conversely what initiated the ice age was not that it snowed so much, but the fact that at some point he snow cover lingered until the following winter, and the new snow piled on the old snow. Then of course lingering year round snow cover caused the albedo effect decreasing temps even more.

The warm temps stressed the trout and cause a proliferation of gill and skin parasites. I was able to get things back to normal with three consecutive treatments of formalin at 15 mg/l and air temps have gone below normal but will be above normal by the weekend. Did some things to keep the water cooler this time. I want to at least be able to get return on my investment. Fingers crossed.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: taxid on Aug 06, 2020, 09:55 AM
Good luck!  Hope things work out.

It sure is the high night time temps that have been the biggest issue.......as the weather folks call them "maxi-min's".

Thank you for your thoughtful reply even though I went off subject of your thread a little.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: lowaccord66 on Aug 06, 2020, 11:03 AM
Great stuff Jim.  Keep fighting the good fight, look forward to the next post.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: lowaccord66 on Aug 06, 2020, 11:04 AM
The interesting thing is it's not primarily the high temps for the day but also the lack of cool down at night.

I guess conversely what initiated the ice age was not that it snowed so much, but the fact that at some point he snow cover lingered until the following winter, and the new snow piled on the old snow. Then of course lingering year round snow cover caused the albedo effect decreasing temps even more.

The warm temps stressed the trout and cause a proliferation of gill and skin parasites. I was able to get things back to normal with three consecutive treatments of formalin at 15 mg/l and air temps have gone below normal but will be above normal by the weekend. Did some things to keep the water cooler this time. I want to at least be able to get a return on my investment. Fingers crossed.

The warmer winter last year caused our hatchery fish to be big fat and happy. 
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: taxid on Aug 06, 2020, 06:40 PM
The warmer winter last year caused our hatchery fish to be big fat and happy.

Mine were big fat and happy and then boom they stopped feeding. Then they crowded the inflow from the well. Soon I was finding stressed fish in shallow water and then floaters. Water temp wasn't out of their range but warmer than it should have been. Oxygen levels were fine but the parasites were interfering with their gill respiration. I scooped up some dead hook jawed browns up to 7 or 8 pounds. Made me sick. And steelhead in the 5 to 6 pound range. One Tiger trout that was about 4 pounds.
 
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: oatkasut on Aug 06, 2020, 06:52 PM
Taxid, sorry to hear of  your water  problem. It's happening in Western New York and I hate it since trout on the fly is my favorite type of fishing  especially on inland streams.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: taxid on Aug 06, 2020, 10:12 PM
Taxid, sorry to hear of  your water  problem. It's happening in Western New York and I hate it since trout on the fly is my favorite type of fishing  especially on inland streams.

Thank you. Sorry to hear about Western New York too. Every time I head to Massachusetts in June it's hotter than blazes. Lived there as a kid in the late 1960's and early 70's and we didn't have or need AC. Just a ceiling fan.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: lowaccord66 on Aug 07, 2020, 02:10 PM
Taxid, sorry to hear of  your water  problem. It's happening in Western New York and I hate it since trout on the fly is my favorite type of fishing  especially on inland streams.

Ironically the iconic trout fishery I fly fish is unaffected yet controlled by a deep water drawing dam.  Ironic how man can allegedly ruin the environment and yet create a stable one via a tailwater fishery. 
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: taxid on Aug 08, 2020, 07:24 AM
Ironically the iconic trout fishery I fly fish is unaffected yet controlled by a deep water drawing dam.  Ironic how man can allegedly ruin the environment and yet create a stable one via a tailwater fishery.

Yep that's how they keep a world class trout fishery going in Arkansas although they have issues during drought years. Had a taxidermist call me up once looking for a brown trout specimen. The guy lived right on the White River! I said, "What in the heck are you calling me in Indiana for a brown trout when you have a world class fishery in the White River?" He said due to a drought they cut the flow down and the brown trout fishing sucked for the time being.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: Stickbait on Aug 08, 2020, 10:46 AM
 Great post, beautiful fish! Reading your posts reminds of being a kid, waiting for the latest edition of Fur ,Fish & Game to hit the shelfs.
Title: Re: July.....The Heat was On, but the Fishing was Luke Warm
Post by: Jim C. on Aug 08, 2020, 04:40 PM
Thanks for your kind words. I enjoy putting the posts together.

Great post, beautiful fish! Reading your posts reminds of being a kid, waiting for the latest edition of Fur ,Fish & Game to hit the shelfs.