November...Changeble Weather and Fishing Patterns

[Jim C.]

November is one of my favorite months, and the one that just ended began just the way I like it.

Splake were active and in their full fall colors.  I bounced around between several spots, looking for the combination of onshore winds and a light chop....made even better if there was an overcast.  The fish were often up shallow enough that sight casting with a flyrod worked well.









Many splake were landed, and this one hit the net hot



The splake often shadowed stocked brookies that were at least trying to do the spawning thing.  The splake were likely picking up deposited brookie eggs and flyrod egg patterns were the way to go. 



Several of the splake caught this way were in the 20"-21" range, and I sighted some cruising that were even bigger!







After mid-month, the splake seemed to vanish.  These fish cruise drop-offs and can pull a disappearing act for shore fishermen by just dropping into slightly deeper water.  The good news was that there were several days when decent brookies (mostly males) stayed up shallow.  The bite was particularly good toward sunset.













But in a year when nothing seemed to hang around long except the virus, the brookies also slowed  way down before long.  There was enough rain by that point to make tail water fisheries a viable option. The fishing was slower than usual, with a mix of browns, brookies, and rainbows at a rate only 1-5 fish per trip and rarely exceeding 14".  Certainly, not the trophies I've come to expect (particularly for browns) in November.













I am concerned about what I see as a decline in browns in Maine.  Interestingly, New York is apparently going through the same thing and they are evaluating a new strain that will involve broodies from one of my old home waters.

As a heavy rain and wind storm approached to end the month, I opted to switch things up with a trip to the salt.  I had the place to myself and ended up stepping into an outright pollock blitz, I'm guessing triggered by the approaching blow.  They were feeding tight to the wall and spitting up bait (maybe small sculpin?) when caught.  I ended up getting close to the century mark in numbers before the sideways rain sent me packing.  As I was catching all these fish, I thought of Wayne (Wayniac) and how he loves these for bait....maybe these were too big or maybe just perfect for the cow stripers he seeks in season In any case, they were fun on light gear and it was nice to end the month with a trip that featured hundreds of hits rather than just a handful

[taxid]

Thanks for sharing Jim. My quest for a splake in Maine didn't pan out a couple of summers ago. But then I think I short changed myself by using a kayak vs. my regular boat. Still had a great time in your state! 

[NBourque]

Good report Jim. The fishing was def hot at the beginning of the month but tailed off at the end. I figured I’d run into u at some point which we did. That spot was sure a let down for splake comparatively to years past.

We have talked about the brown fishing in the past. It sure has gone down hill in the last few years. The state needs to reevaluate its management and stocking programs for browns.

[Jim C.]

It was nice to run into you, Nick, even if by that point the action had fallen on its face (about a month before it should have).

Maine may have a new angle on the browns in the works, but I'm not sure.

Good report Jim. The fishing was def hot at the beginning of the month but tailed off at the end. I figured I’d run into u at some point which we did. That spot was sure a let down for splake comparatively to years past.

We have talked about the brown fishing in the past. It sure has gone down hill in the last few years. The state needs to reevaluate its management and stocking programs for browns.

[NBourque]

It was nice to run into you, Nick, even if by that point the action had fallen on its face (about a month before it should have).

Maine may have a new angle on the browns in the works, but I'm not sure.

It’s really too bad about the browns. I can remember on a certain river just 5 years ago I was catching anywhere between 10-20 browns well into December in 2-3 hours.

[fish wayniac]

Jim , You caught the trout trifecta and some solid Splake . Those pollock are scrappy on light tackle. It looks like you had on a Al’s goldfish?

[Smallmouth Squarepants]

Great fish Jim!
I too have been having trouble connecting with browns, places that I know usually hold fish are pulling nothing. Streamers, inlines, cranks, spoons, jigs - all blanking. I am terrible at nymphing so I haven't tried yet, but that's on the horizon. Did manage to pull some pike, bass, and yellow perch last weekend in 37 degree water, but so far the browns have eluded me (haven't tried for brookies or splake yet this year)

Didn't the state just finish a study on the strains of Browns? I seem to recall seeing they were going to switch all stocking over to Seeforellen.

[lowaccord66]

Awesome Jim!

[Jim C.]

Thanks, Wayne.  Yes, Al's Goldfish worked and also the Phoebe spoon, plus various jigs.  I wish I had my flyrod along.  The wind was OK for that for the first hour and it would have been fun with streamers or even poppers on top.

Jim , You caught the trout trifecta and some solid Splake . Those pollock are scrappy on light tackle. It looks like you had on a Al’s goldfish?

[Jim C.]

That seems to ring a bell.  I have to go back over IF&W's report/study archives.

Didn't the state just finish a study on the strains of Browns? I seem to recall seeing they were going to switch all stocking over to Seeforellen.

[TightLinesMaine]

Great month for you Jim, maybe I'll catch a splake some day  I'd love to see those monster splake you mentioned you saw

[zwiggles]

Mirroring the comments above, I have to agree that was a great month!

I’d also be curious for any of the links or info you may have about the brown stockings? Do you have any insight in the rationale?

[Jim C.]

As SM Squarepants said, Maine has decided to switch over to using the Seeforellen strain of browns.  I received some background from IF&W today.  The Seeforellens out performed the New Gloucester and Sandwich Strain of browns in both hatchery and field settings.  The field settings were pretty much limited to lakes and ponds.  It's unclear where this leaves the stocking of browns in rivers and streams.  We'll have to stay tuned on that.

Mirroring the comments above, I have to agree that was a great month!

I’d also be curious for any of the links or info you may have about the brown stockings? Do you have any insight in the rationale?

[taxid]

I hope Maine has better luck with Seeforellens than New York and Michigan did. New York that first brought them from Bavaria Germany had serious furunculous issues and last I knew no longer uses them. Michigan stopped rearing them too but not sure why. I think they got better returns with other strains. I believe Wisconsin still rears and plants them into Lake Michigan.

My last strain of brown trout were partly Seeforellens. They were fast growing and seemed to mature later. Also unlike my other brown trout strains they have a body conformation more like a steelhead. I thought the females looked a lot like landlocked salmon. The females stayed silver through spawning season.

[Jim C.]

Thanks for the nice photo of the Seeforellen!   Yes, they certainly do look much less colorful than the brown strains that have been stocked here.  The IF&W study said that the Seeforellens may be slower growing initially (Year 1).  They might only be around 8" as fall yearlings, so we could lose those 12-14" stockings in the fall that we're used to.

I hope Maine has better luck with Seeforellens than New York and Michigan did. New York that first brought them from Bavaria Germany had serious furunculous issues and last I knew no longer uses them. Michigan stopped rearing them too but not sure why. I think they got better returns with other strains. I believe Wisconsin still rears and plants them into Lake Michigan.

My last strain of brown trout were partly Seeforellens. They were fast growing and seemed to mature later. Also unlike my other brown trout strains they have a body conformation more like a steelhead. I thought the females looked a lot like landlocked salmon. The females stayed silver through spawning season.