Hooked on Fishin
Willowdale Golf Course, Scarborough, ME November 1
We started the season at Willowdale, and we're ending it here. The boat is all put away for the winter and the water is getting crusty on the top. John's son, Jack, is a total fishing fanatic. I like that in a kid. When the weather turned warm, I knew I would be out there one more time. Jack is the kind of kid who is pretty self-contained for fishing. He catches, releases, and even kisses all of his catch for luck. This day, we went to Willowdale and threw some wacky worms, white Ninja spinnerbaits, and rapalas. The worms and spinnerbait were working, the rapalas weren't.
Thanks Jack for coming out one more time. See you next year.
"Oh, you White Devil!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Fishing Scout Vehicle
What Moe Does in His Spare Time
I was starting to worry about him. There have been times this season (very few), when Moe wasn't "available" to go fishing.
It is good to see that even when he has "time off" from fishing, he is THINKING fishing by taking the "Scout Vehicle" out to
the wilds of New Hampshire to see whasssss happenin. Nice picture.
"How do you fit a fishing rod in that trunk?"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Fish Scales
Photography Hint
A buddy of mine in Connecticut sent me this picture originally titled, "Redneck Measuring Tape." It is a great way
to solve the problem of adding "scale" to the fishes! One more reason to have plenty of empty beer cans onboard.
We can all help to empty the cans, but you have to catch the fish to hold up against them.
"How long did you say that fish was? At least 5 cans!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Wacky Style
Union Falls, Skelton Dam, Dayton, ME September 28
The Wacky Worm broke out of the pack this afternoon at the Union Falls impoundment locally called, The Skelton Dam.
It has taken us a long time to come up with a definitive GOTO Lure for 2003, but it is now finally and definitely,
the Gary Yamamoto Senko in all of its forms. I rig this worm by putting a split ring around the belly of the worm and then
slide the hook through the ring just under the skin of the worm. This makes the worm last longer because the hook isn't
ripping through the plastic on each cast and retrieve. I then twitch it so the ends kind of wobble.
This retrieve has proven itself to be almost idiot proof. Speaking as one of those idiots, you literally rig it up,
cast it out, and whammo! Fish ON!!! I caught 5 nice fish that day. One decent pickerel on a chartreuse crankbait,
two smallies and one largemouth on the wacky, one really nice smallie (sorry no picture) on a Mizuno crankbait in
crayfish markings with a red belly. The other amazing thing was that the water was very clear and we saw
grassbeds near the shoreline that previously were obscured by the cloudy conditions caused by boat traffic on the lake.
The Skelton Dam is back on the roster of great places to fish. Now that we can see what we are doing and can understand
the bottom better, we're going to head back there more often. It is one of the closest places, driving time,
from home, and now we have renewed confidence in just what is in there. One surprise of the day was that I caught
a largemouth in the river. I didn't think there were largemouths in the Saco, but research has shown that they are
in there. I was afraid they were illeagally stocked, but they're "native."
"Let's get wacky Baby!!!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Milfoil Misadventure
Little Ossipee Flowage Lake Arrowhead, ME, September 14
What a sight. We saw the direct effects of milfoil invasion at Ossipee Flowage. The fishing was okay, 5 bass and some pickerel. We
wandered down some side channels that were completely choked off by milfoil. Moe got a nice bass (2 cans) trolling a black plastic worm
with a chartreuse tail. This has always been one of my favorite color combos also. The wacky worm was again the GOTO bait
of the day and Moe caught his first bass using this techinque. When we first pulled up to some grass outcropping, I tossed
a chartreuse with black flake senko wacky style and hooked a baby bass (only 1 can) immediatly on the first cast. Again,
we thought this was going to the "The Day." Unfortunately, all we had was a good time but that is all we were looking for.
"We have got to make sure we clean the boat after this slop."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Holy Mackeral
Pine Point / Old Orchard Beach, ME August 14
Moe's son was visiting from Seattle and we took him out striper fishing. We didn't manage any stripers that day, but got
into a pretty good school of mackeral. Jason (about 14 cans tall) caught some pretty good sized horses on the diamond jigs and was our
biggest producer that day. He managed to smuggle the mackeral back to Seattle so he could throw them at the Pike Place Market.
"Nice fish Jason! By the way, turn the rod over, the reel goes on the bottom."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Northern Exposure
Long Pond, Belgrade Lakes, ME, August 19
We had always heard about the Northern Pike that were illegally introduced into Long Pond, but we didn't think they'd be as
prolific as we found. While on vacation on Long Pond, we managed several good sized pike as well as smallmouth bass in abundance. Unfortunately,
my film of most of these adventures was "cooked" by Community Pharmacy when they ineptly tried to develop and print it for me. From now on, I'm sticking
with Wal-Mart for photo developing!
There were many "firsts" while at Long Pond. Will Cook, future Bassmaster from the Connecticut Chapter
started off his career with a really nice 1.5lb smallmouth bass caught on a Rapala. His Dad told me recently that he was planning
on outfitting Will with a complete set of professional angling equipment. If you have any suggestions for equipment, lures, suppliers, etc. send them off to
the "outfitter."
Moe got this really nice pike near some rocks in the lower part of Long Pond, and I got the smallie nearby. The week
was full of adventures. Mary got a HUGE crappie which we weighed on the electric scale. It was 1lb 14oz and bigger than a dinner plate. This was a huge fish.
She got it on her signature broken-back Rapala. Don Chamberlain was out with us for this trip and Don and I caught the same Northern at the same time. When we
got it back to the boat it had my rattle trap sticking out of one side of his mouth and Don's plastic worm on the other side. This fish took a second lure while being
reeled in with another lure in its mouth! Is that an aggressive fish or what! We had a picture of it, but it was one of the lost ones. Damn! Moe got the huge pike on the famous Ninja spinnerbait in white (as usual). I got my smallie on
a rattle trap. It was a battle. The exciting catch (almost) for me was when I hooked into an enormous bass (don't know if it was a smallmouth or largemouth) with a
white Ninja. The battle royale was very exciting but the fish stayed deep. I managed to hoist it to the surface only to see its mouth and right eye
roll to the top before it got off the hook. Moe could tell that this was a substantial fish and readied the net. Before we could land it, it was off. From the size of the
eye we saw looking back at us, this was an enormous fish. It looked like the eye of a horse! It took quite a while to get over the disappointment of losing that fish.
Just about as much time as it took to catch the next one.
"What do you mean, my film was lost in the developer? Get it back you idiots!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
It Starts with a "P"
Androscoggin River, Turner, ME, August 3
The Androscoggin River was once declared one of the top ten most polluted rivers in the nation.
One of the most common chemicals found in the river were "P"CB's (Polychlorinated Biphenyls). Some years ago, the river
was "reformed" and it began to clean itself up. There are still fish consumption advisories for this watershed but something
very strange happened on our Sunday afternoon trip. It started to "P".
The first fish of the day was a nice sized yellow perch
BC caught on a Blue Fox inline spinner with a black hair skirt. It was a decent size and in any other body of water, you would have
kept it for dinner. Moe then proceeded to go down the list of fishes that start with the letter "P." He caught a really nice white perch which
went close to 1lb we estimated. This is a really big white perch, but we didn't get a picture and I regretted that all day. He then caught a pickerel
to keep up with his new fishing strategy, "alliteration." After that he caught a yellow perch. BC was catching all the smallmouths that day (hee hee).
He also got onto Moe's bandwagon when he caught a pumpkinseed and a first for BC, a double yellow perch on a double treble hooked gold/black broken back Rapala. BC
didn't want to get too far away from Moe's alliterative sytle so as you can see from the belly on that smallie, we'll just call him, "Porky."
"Our Pelagic Pescadores Proceeded to Produce Prolific Populations of Perch, Pickerel, and Pumpkinseeds Precisely Pitching Plastics
Perchance to Procure Predatory Prospects Peering Pensively from Previously Polluted Positions."
Senko Boomerang
Hancock Pond, Denmark, ME, July 23
I had been out fishing earlier in the day and having a wonderful time. People were expected up to the camp that
afternoon, so I thought I would get some "wormtime." The pumpkin colored 5" Senkos were working wonders on the largemouth
and I had a great time catching bass in the 1.5lb range. As with most "wacky" worms, you lose a lot as the hook rips through
the belly of the worm. I had a nice largemouth on and then lost the fish and the worm. The radio beeped and I had to go
back to camp to meet up with our many and welcomed guests. I took Don Chamberlain and Moe out for an early evening fishing
trip and related to them the wonderful time I just had. They wanted to return to the same place and try to recreate the
experience. By then, I was out of pumpkin colored worms but had some chartreuse ones left. I rigged up Don with a bright
green chartreuse wacky senko and pointed to where I has having luck earlier. He cast out and almost immediately had a fish on!
A pretty good battle ensued and Don managed to do what I couldn't before and landed the largemouth in the boat. We had a little
trouble extracting the hook from the fish because it was caught in his throat and gill plates. During the hook extraction, I accidentally
dropped the fish into the boat and he threw up my pumpkin colored Senko from a couple of hours earlier! It was the same fish!
Unfortunately, the amount of time to extract the hook, the damage to his gills and throat, and the fall to the deck did not
bode well for our mighty largemouth predator. Repeated attempts to revive him in the water were unsuccessful and he succumbed to his wounds.
We also weren't able to get any pictures since we were battling the clock and it was an all-hands operation.
Water Temp 79.5 Degrees, Air Temp 80 Degrees. Depth 12'
"The operation was successful, but the patient died. We got the worm back."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Fishing ON the Sun
"Middle" Saco River, Biddeford, ME, July 5
Maybe those Southern boys can enjoy fishing when it's in the nineties, but us Nawthn'rs find it very uncomfortable.
For a change of pace and to get back to our fresh water roots, Moe and I decided to try out the "Middle Saco River."
This is a stretch above Biddeford, but below Union Falls. We motored up the river over many hidden rocks which we
noticed when we drifted back down. How we missed some of them, I don't know! After about three hours of less
than satisfying productivity, we decided to call it quits. I wanted to check out a canal that we saw on the way
upriver and we decided to make this our last pass of the day. About 200 yards into the canal Moe hooked into what
would be the largest catch of the day! It fought hard right up to the boat. I even think I saw it do a tail dance
on the surface! Moe expertly landed it without the use of the net. We weren't able to weigh or measure it, but
from the picture you can see that it was at least 20" and weighed almost 3lbs. It was without a doubt, the
largest piece of bark we had ever caught! Way to go Maurice. He used the same pumpkin creature bug that worked
well for him on the Androscoggin. BC managed a very small smallmouth (is that redundant?). The heat was just
crushing and we have to blame the conditions for our poor results as technique and perserverance could not
be at fault here!
Water Temp 86.5 Degrees, Air Temp 91 Degrees. Depth 5' - 30'
"Oh MAN, this is a good one. Get the camera!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Queens Elizabeth!
Lower Saco River, Saco, ME, July 3
Elizabeth Cook (EC) and Elizabeth Hesseltine (EH) took a trip on the Saco with Captain Bill as part of the
Independence Day Holiday. EH was down from New Hampshire to visit her favorite relatives and decided to come on
a trip with EC to catch the tuxedo'd ones. The trip was pretty successful with 10 fish landed. None were
keepers, but there was plenty of action to keep them interested and everyone had a great time. EH had
recently completed a course in digital photography at school and was the expedition photographer. EC manned
the controls while Captain Bill kept everyone in sandworms. We had a few navigational adventures when we
drifted into shallow water but no mishaps. EH hauled in a nice fish but unfortunately we didn't get a
picture since all of our hands were full including the photographer. It was a real pleasure having the girls
aboard and they are welcome to come anytime! It's always fun to share the thrill of catching a fish and the
fast swimming, hard charging striper makes that even more ejoyable.
Water Temp 83.5 Degrees, Air Temp 80 Degrees. Depth 6'
"Elizabeth steer to the right, MORE to the right, MORE TO THE RIGHT! Alright, that's it! Gimme the wheel!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Moe "Results Oriented" Hessletine
Lower Saco River, Saco, ME, July 1
Now that we've been shown the error of our ways, we are starting to get some results. Moe scored a nice 25"
striper on the orange tube rig on an evening of dragging the "elbows" of the Saco. It didn't look too good for
Captain Bill until Moe let one get off his hook right before we were to turn in for the evening. As a
punishment, we added 20 minutes to our trip and BC managed to land a 21" keeper also.
Moe then landed a real fat 25" on a spoon with a plastic worm trailer! We already had our two keepers in
the cooler for that day so we had to let him go. Time of day seems to matter and we didn't really get any action
until the sun started to go down. We retired to Moe's house with our catch for a fine dinner of striper and
macaroni salad. The gray image on the pictures was from a splash of salt water on the lens. All this adds to
the realism of our adventures. You can practically feel the salt spray as if you are there!
Water Temp 80.5 Degrees, Air Temp 75 Degrees. Depth 6'
"As a punishment for letting that one go, we're staying out here until we get another!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
OOH-RAH!!!
Province Lake, Wakefield, NH, June 21
This little 3lb masher must have been a Marine in a former life. I took him (it had to be a him!) on the famous
Gambler Ninja Spin white spinnerbait that worked well for us last year. The really
interesting thing about him was that his jaw was broken. He had a split in his lower jaw that was partially healed
but it was separated right down the middle. In the roof of his mouth was a recent puncture wound from a hook that was still
bleeding. This was next to, but away from the hookset I made so it must have been earlier that day from another fisherman!
What a predator! Not much more to report about the outing except it was very windy and weedy so spinnerbaits were
the only game in town. The water by the launch had a thick film of pine pollen and I had to wade through it to put
the boat back on the trailer. Everything that touched the water that day turned yellow. I'll be hosing off that
pollen for weeks. Moe scored first blood (white Mepps) with a rascally pickerel that got off just at the boat. It was a pretty good sized one.
Water Temp 75.5 Degrees, Air Temp 68 Degrees. Depth 3'
"Moe, if you don't give me a good toss of that bowline, you're swimmin' through this muck to get the boat back!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
50 Fish Day!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, June 16
Okay. If anyone ever questions whether it is worth it to hire a professional fishing guide, tell them this story.
Moe and I went out on the exact same river where we only caught ONE fish the previous week
(see below) using a very similar technique and equipment and today we caught somewhere in the neighborhood of
50 fish! We went out with Captain Paul Bois of
White Birch Guide Service and he provided us with the fishing experience of our lives (to date). I first met Paul a couple of
years ago after I bought his old guide boat. He promised I would have good luck with it and so far I'm very
happy. We got to the Saco boat launch at 0530 and met up with Paul and his 20' Lund Alaskan.
He had everything rigged and ready and we were on the water in no time. We beat it down the river to the
mouth and started to troll orange tube rigs with a sandworm trailer mated to a Berkley Power Sandworm as
a keeper/teaser. Paul makes his own tubes and they are not weighted. We used leadcore line to get the tubes
down. We put out three colors (90 feet) and trolled along the jetties. I took first blood almost right away.
It was undersized, but a good battler. My rod then scored again and because of our dismal performance
last week, I handed the rod over to Moe thinking this may be it for the day and I didn't want him to be shut out.
Happily, I was completely wrong and we scored more fish as the day went by. Moe was smart and nabbed a
keeper for the cooler. I had a few that might have been keepers but decided to return them. As the day
went by, we caught more fish but none in the slot. I went home empty handed but happy. I was happy
because at least I caught the biggest fish of the day which was a really nice 28 incher which fought
and danced on the surface. What a day. We won't forget it. Thanks to Captain Bois for showing us what we were
doing wrong and providing us with a great time, on a great day, landing some great fish. Even though I did luck into
the big one for the day, Moe "I'm Results Oriented" Hesseltine went home with dinner of fresh caught striped bass!
Water Temp 55 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 3' -10'
"I'm very happy. But I could be happier!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
We Are Humbled
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, June 8
Why is this man NOT smiling while holding this fish? Because it was the ONLY fish we caught all day!!!
While literally EVERYONE around us was catching dozens of beautiful stripers, we only managed one fish!
We have never been so humbled. We thought we would go out and get a preview of the experience we were going to have with
a professional fishing guide the next week and all we did was embarass ourselves. In any case, Moe saved the shutout that day
for which we are grateful.
Water Temp 55 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"I can't believe we can't catch a fish!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Stripers Are Here!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, May 31
What a gorgeous day. We're about 2 weeks away from heading out with professional striper guide,
Paul Bois of White Birch Guide Service and we wanted to get some time on the same waters to get to know
it better. We started the day at the Saco Bay Tackle company stocking up on sandworms.
The tote board on the front of the store said that stripers were in the Lower Saco. We put in about 0930 and fished until about 1400.
BC drew first blood with a nice 22" striper on a chartreuse Fin-S with a white leadhead. We noticed bait fish jumping out of the water and
figured there was action about. We released it thinking that the day would bring us more keepers. Bad idea.
Moe scored two more decent stripers later in the day, both 17"'ers. He got them bouncing worms off the bottom on a
with a bank sinker and circle hook. Other guys in the area were catching a lot of small schoolies
on tube and worm rigs. Most of the action was in the shallow elbows of the river.
Water Temp 62 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"Eh, throw him back, we're bound to get more keepers today!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Creature
Balch Pond, Newfield, Maine / Wakefield, NH, Maine, May 26
With a 30% chance of rain, we headed out to a site we found watching, "The Mad Fisherman" Charlie Moore. The odds for rain turned out to be 100% (Is it possible to have 110% rain???)
Again, Moe drew first blood with a pickerel and for a while, we wondered if that was going to be it for the day.
Luckily, we were soon into some nice bass. We started out with a double header and we were both too busy releasing the fish to take any pictures.
With those fish back in the water, we knew there would be more opportunities. BC had a nice day with three nice bass on the white Ninja spinnerbait.
Moe had a couple of nice bass and won the day for total fish caught with numbers in the double digits.
Moe was working the #3 copper Mepps. The big fish for the day was 3lb 7oz.
Oh, and yes, that is BC with a pint of, "The Creature." You can always have time for a Guinness!
Water Temp 59 Degrees, Air Temp 59 Degrees. Depth 4' - 8'
"You can only get so wet."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Up a Frigid River
Androscoggin River, Turner, Maine, May 15
Moe and I took a "Floating Holiday" from work. It was a pretty raw day, gray skies, rainy.
Moe drew first blood with a nice 2lb smallie at the mouth of a stream using a pumpkin "creature" bait. Nice softbait technique Moe!
BC grabbed this 1lb 8oz smallie down by the bridge near the launch on the return trip.
Moe had the big day with 1 smallie (and one that got away), 4 perch, and a pesky pickerel.
BC took up the rear guard with the smallie and 2 yellow perch.
Water Temp 52 Degrees, Air Temp 55 Degrees. Depth 8' - 12'
"Is there a Professional Perch Tour?"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Guide's Day Out
Little Sebago Lake, May 11 "Mother's Day"
The 1% Fish (Weighed 1% of what I do!)
Got this 3lb 5oz one off a rocky hump in the lower bay on a crawfish rattle trap.
He chased it first and then I recast past him and got him on the second go 'round!
Water Temp 58 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 7'
"It's more fun to catch fish than to be the guide!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Down and Dirty
Saco River, Just below the Rte 202 Bridge at Salmon Falls, May 3
Water Temp 53 Degrees, Depth 30' in Fast Moving Current!
Moe got this 1lb'er on a red and white 3/4 oz Deerhair Striped Bass Jig with a white worm trailer!
We saw the fish behind the rocks on the fish finder and he brought it up from the depths
while I worked the boat in the current.
Nice start to the season.
Let the record keeping begin!!!
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Fuhgedaboutit
Willowdale Golf Course, Scarborough, Maine
First Fishing Outing for 2003, April 12, 40 Degrees Air Temp,
?? Degrees Water Temp, Snow Temp??
Jigs, Worms, Lizards, Spinnerbaits
We were shut out!
Gear
Fish Scales
Photography Hint
A buddy of mine in Connecticut sent me this picture originally titled, "Redneck Measuring Tape." It is a great way to solve the problem of adding "scale" to the fishes! One more reason to have plenty of empty beer cans onboard. We can all help to empty the cans, but you have to catch the fish to hold up against them.
"How long did you say that fish was? At least 5 cans!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Wacky Style
Union Falls, Skelton Dam, Dayton, ME September 28
The Wacky Worm broke out of the pack this afternoon at the Union Falls impoundment locally called, The Skelton Dam.
It has taken us a long time to come up with a definitive GOTO Lure for 2003, but it is now finally and definitely,
the Gary Yamamoto Senko in all of its forms. I rig this worm by putting a split ring around the belly of the worm and then
slide the hook through the ring just under the skin of the worm. This makes the worm last longer because the hook isn't
ripping through the plastic on each cast and retrieve. I then twitch it so the ends kind of wobble.
This retrieve has proven itself to be almost idiot proof. Speaking as one of those idiots, you literally rig it up,
cast it out, and whammo! Fish ON!!! I caught 5 nice fish that day. One decent pickerel on a chartreuse crankbait,
two smallies and one largemouth on the wacky, one really nice smallie (sorry no picture) on a Mizuno crankbait in
crayfish markings with a red belly. The other amazing thing was that the water was very clear and we saw
grassbeds near the shoreline that previously were obscured by the cloudy conditions caused by boat traffic on the lake.
The Skelton Dam is back on the roster of great places to fish. Now that we can see what we are doing and can understand
the bottom better, we're going to head back there more often. It is one of the closest places, driving time,
from home, and now we have renewed confidence in just what is in there. One surprise of the day was that I caught
a largemouth in the river. I didn't think there were largemouths in the Saco, but research has shown that they are
in there. I was afraid they were illeagally stocked, but they're "native."
"Let's get wacky Baby!!!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Milfoil Misadventure
Little Ossipee Flowage Lake Arrowhead, ME, September 14
What a sight. We saw the direct effects of milfoil invasion at Ossipee Flowage. The fishing was okay, 5 bass and some pickerel. We
wandered down some side channels that were completely choked off by milfoil. Moe got a nice bass (2 cans) trolling a black plastic worm
with a chartreuse tail. This has always been one of my favorite color combos also. The wacky worm was again the GOTO bait
of the day and Moe caught his first bass using this techinque. When we first pulled up to some grass outcropping, I tossed
a chartreuse with black flake senko wacky style and hooked a baby bass (only 1 can) immediatly on the first cast. Again,
we thought this was going to the "The Day." Unfortunately, all we had was a good time but that is all we were looking for.
"We have got to make sure we clean the boat after this slop."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Holy Mackeral
Pine Point / Old Orchard Beach, ME August 14
Moe's son was visiting from Seattle and we took him out striper fishing. We didn't manage any stripers that day, but got
into a pretty good school of mackeral. Jason (about 14 cans tall) caught some pretty good sized horses on the diamond jigs and was our
biggest producer that day. He managed to smuggle the mackeral back to Seattle so he could throw them at the Pike Place Market.
"Nice fish Jason! By the way, turn the rod over, the reel goes on the bottom."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Northern Exposure
Long Pond, Belgrade Lakes, ME, August 19
We had always heard about the Northern Pike that were illegally introduced into Long Pond, but we didn't think they'd be as
prolific as we found. While on vacation on Long Pond, we managed several good sized pike as well as smallmouth bass in abundance. Unfortunately,
my film of most of these adventures was "cooked" by Community Pharmacy when they ineptly tried to develop and print it for me. From now on, I'm sticking
with Wal-Mart for photo developing!
There were many "firsts" while at Long Pond. Will Cook, future Bassmaster from the Connecticut Chapter
started off his career with a really nice 1.5lb smallmouth bass caught on a Rapala. His Dad told me recently that he was planning
on outfitting Will with a complete set of professional angling equipment. If you have any suggestions for equipment, lures, suppliers, etc. send them off to
the "outfitter."
Moe got this really nice pike near some rocks in the lower part of Long Pond, and I got the smallie nearby. The week
was full of adventures. Mary got a HUGE crappie which we weighed on the electric scale. It was 1lb 14oz and bigger than a dinner plate. This was a huge fish.
She got it on her signature broken-back Rapala. Don Chamberlain was out with us for this trip and Don and I caught the same Northern at the same time. When we
got it back to the boat it had my rattle trap sticking out of one side of his mouth and Don's plastic worm on the other side. This fish took a second lure while being
reeled in with another lure in its mouth! Is that an aggressive fish or what! We had a picture of it, but it was one of the lost ones. Damn! Moe got the huge pike on the famous Ninja spinnerbait in white (as usual). I got my smallie on
a rattle trap. It was a battle. The exciting catch (almost) for me was when I hooked into an enormous bass (don't know if it was a smallmouth or largemouth) with a
white Ninja. The battle royale was very exciting but the fish stayed deep. I managed to hoist it to the surface only to see its mouth and right eye
roll to the top before it got off the hook. Moe could tell that this was a substantial fish and readied the net. Before we could land it, it was off. From the size of the
eye we saw looking back at us, this was an enormous fish. It looked like the eye of a horse! It took quite a while to get over the disappointment of losing that fish.
Just about as much time as it took to catch the next one.
"What do you mean, my film was lost in the developer? Get it back you idiots!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
It Starts with a "P"
Androscoggin River, Turner, ME, August 3
The Androscoggin River was once declared one of the top ten most polluted rivers in the nation.
One of the most common chemicals found in the river were "P"CB's (Polychlorinated Biphenyls). Some years ago, the river
was "reformed" and it began to clean itself up. There are still fish consumption advisories for this watershed but something
very strange happened on our Sunday afternoon trip. It started to "P".
The first fish of the day was a nice sized yellow perch
BC caught on a Blue Fox inline spinner with a black hair skirt. It was a decent size and in any other body of water, you would have
kept it for dinner. Moe then proceeded to go down the list of fishes that start with the letter "P." He caught a really nice white perch which
went close to 1lb we estimated. This is a really big white perch, but we didn't get a picture and I regretted that all day. He then caught a pickerel
to keep up with his new fishing strategy, "alliteration." After that he caught a yellow perch. BC was catching all the smallmouths that day (hee hee).
He also got onto Moe's bandwagon when he caught a pumpkinseed and a first for BC, a double yellow perch on a double treble hooked gold/black broken back Rapala. BC
didn't want to get too far away from Moe's alliterative sytle so as you can see from the belly on that smallie, we'll just call him, "Porky."
"Our Pelagic Pescadores Proceeded to Produce Prolific Populations of Perch, Pickerel, and Pumpkinseeds Precisely Pitching Plastics
Perchance to Procure Predatory Prospects Peering Pensively from Previously Polluted Positions."
Senko Boomerang
Hancock Pond, Denmark, ME, July 23
I had been out fishing earlier in the day and having a wonderful time. People were expected up to the camp that
afternoon, so I thought I would get some "wormtime." The pumpkin colored 5" Senkos were working wonders on the largemouth
and I had a great time catching bass in the 1.5lb range. As with most "wacky" worms, you lose a lot as the hook rips through
the belly of the worm. I had a nice largemouth on and then lost the fish and the worm. The radio beeped and I had to go
back to camp to meet up with our many and welcomed guests. I took Don Chamberlain and Moe out for an early evening fishing
trip and related to them the wonderful time I just had. They wanted to return to the same place and try to recreate the
experience. By then, I was out of pumpkin colored worms but had some chartreuse ones left. I rigged up Don with a bright
green chartreuse wacky senko and pointed to where I has having luck earlier. He cast out and almost immediately had a fish on!
A pretty good battle ensued and Don managed to do what I couldn't before and landed the largemouth in the boat. We had a little
trouble extracting the hook from the fish because it was caught in his throat and gill plates. During the hook extraction, I accidentally
dropped the fish into the boat and he threw up my pumpkin colored Senko from a couple of hours earlier! It was the same fish!
Unfortunately, the amount of time to extract the hook, the damage to his gills and throat, and the fall to the deck did not
bode well for our mighty largemouth predator. Repeated attempts to revive him in the water were unsuccessful and he succumbed to his wounds.
We also weren't able to get any pictures since we were battling the clock and it was an all-hands operation.
Water Temp 79.5 Degrees, Air Temp 80 Degrees. Depth 12'
"The operation was successful, but the patient died. We got the worm back."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Fishing ON the Sun
"Middle" Saco River, Biddeford, ME, July 5
Maybe those Southern boys can enjoy fishing when it's in the nineties, but us Nawthn'rs find it very uncomfortable.
For a change of pace and to get back to our fresh water roots, Moe and I decided to try out the "Middle Saco River."
This is a stretch above Biddeford, but below Union Falls. We motored up the river over many hidden rocks which we
noticed when we drifted back down. How we missed some of them, I don't know! After about three hours of less
than satisfying productivity, we decided to call it quits. I wanted to check out a canal that we saw on the way
upriver and we decided to make this our last pass of the day. About 200 yards into the canal Moe hooked into what
would be the largest catch of the day! It fought hard right up to the boat. I even think I saw it do a tail dance
on the surface! Moe expertly landed it without the use of the net. We weren't able to weigh or measure it, but
from the picture you can see that it was at least 20" and weighed almost 3lbs. It was without a doubt, the
largest piece of bark we had ever caught! Way to go Maurice. He used the same pumpkin creature bug that worked
well for him on the Androscoggin. BC managed a very small smallmouth (is that redundant?). The heat was just
crushing and we have to blame the conditions for our poor results as technique and perserverance could not
be at fault here!
Water Temp 86.5 Degrees, Air Temp 91 Degrees. Depth 5' - 30'
"Oh MAN, this is a good one. Get the camera!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Queens Elizabeth!
Lower Saco River, Saco, ME, July 3
Elizabeth Cook (EC) and Elizabeth Hesseltine (EH) took a trip on the Saco with Captain Bill as part of the
Independence Day Holiday. EH was down from New Hampshire to visit her favorite relatives and decided to come on
a trip with EC to catch the tuxedo'd ones. The trip was pretty successful with 10 fish landed. None were
keepers, but there was plenty of action to keep them interested and everyone had a great time. EH had
recently completed a course in digital photography at school and was the expedition photographer. EC manned
the controls while Captain Bill kept everyone in sandworms. We had a few navigational adventures when we
drifted into shallow water but no mishaps. EH hauled in a nice fish but unfortunately we didn't get a
picture since all of our hands were full including the photographer. It was a real pleasure having the girls
aboard and they are welcome to come anytime! It's always fun to share the thrill of catching a fish and the
fast swimming, hard charging striper makes that even more ejoyable.
Water Temp 83.5 Degrees, Air Temp 80 Degrees. Depth 6'
"Elizabeth steer to the right, MORE to the right, MORE TO THE RIGHT! Alright, that's it! Gimme the wheel!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Moe "Results Oriented" Hessletine
Lower Saco River, Saco, ME, July 1
Now that we've been shown the error of our ways, we are starting to get some results. Moe scored a nice 25"
striper on the orange tube rig on an evening of dragging the "elbows" of the Saco. It didn't look too good for
Captain Bill until Moe let one get off his hook right before we were to turn in for the evening. As a
punishment, we added 20 minutes to our trip and BC managed to land a 21" keeper also.
Moe then landed a real fat 25" on a spoon with a plastic worm trailer! We already had our two keepers in
the cooler for that day so we had to let him go. Time of day seems to matter and we didn't really get any action
until the sun started to go down. We retired to Moe's house with our catch for a fine dinner of striper and
macaroni salad. The gray image on the pictures was from a splash of salt water on the lens. All this adds to
the realism of our adventures. You can practically feel the salt spray as if you are there!
Water Temp 80.5 Degrees, Air Temp 75 Degrees. Depth 6'
"As a punishment for letting that one go, we're staying out here until we get another!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
OOH-RAH!!!
Province Lake, Wakefield, NH, June 21
This little 3lb masher must have been a Marine in a former life. I took him (it had to be a him!) on the famous
Gambler Ninja Spin white spinnerbait that worked well for us last year. The really
interesting thing about him was that his jaw was broken. He had a split in his lower jaw that was partially healed
but it was separated right down the middle. In the roof of his mouth was a recent puncture wound from a hook that was still
bleeding. This was next to, but away from the hookset I made so it must have been earlier that day from another fisherman!
What a predator! Not much more to report about the outing except it was very windy and weedy so spinnerbaits were
the only game in town. The water by the launch had a thick film of pine pollen and I had to wade through it to put
the boat back on the trailer. Everything that touched the water that day turned yellow. I'll be hosing off that
pollen for weeks. Moe scored first blood (white Mepps) with a rascally pickerel that got off just at the boat. It was a pretty good sized one.
Water Temp 75.5 Degrees, Air Temp 68 Degrees. Depth 3'
"Moe, if you don't give me a good toss of that bowline, you're swimmin' through this muck to get the boat back!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
50 Fish Day!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, June 16
Okay. If anyone ever questions whether it is worth it to hire a professional fishing guide, tell them this story.
Moe and I went out on the exact same river where we only caught ONE fish the previous week
(see below) using a very similar technique and equipment and today we caught somewhere in the neighborhood of
50 fish! We went out with Captain Paul Bois of
White Birch Guide Service and he provided us with the fishing experience of our lives (to date). I first met Paul a couple of
years ago after I bought his old guide boat. He promised I would have good luck with it and so far I'm very
happy. We got to the Saco boat launch at 0530 and met up with Paul and his 20' Lund Alaskan.
He had everything rigged and ready and we were on the water in no time. We beat it down the river to the
mouth and started to troll orange tube rigs with a sandworm trailer mated to a Berkley Power Sandworm as
a keeper/teaser. Paul makes his own tubes and they are not weighted. We used leadcore line to get the tubes
down. We put out three colors (90 feet) and trolled along the jetties. I took first blood almost right away.
It was undersized, but a good battler. My rod then scored again and because of our dismal performance
last week, I handed the rod over to Moe thinking this may be it for the day and I didn't want him to be shut out.
Happily, I was completely wrong and we scored more fish as the day went by. Moe was smart and nabbed a
keeper for the cooler. I had a few that might have been keepers but decided to return them. As the day
went by, we caught more fish but none in the slot. I went home empty handed but happy. I was happy
because at least I caught the biggest fish of the day which was a really nice 28 incher which fought
and danced on the surface. What a day. We won't forget it. Thanks to Captain Bois for showing us what we were
doing wrong and providing us with a great time, on a great day, landing some great fish. Even though I did luck into
the big one for the day, Moe "I'm Results Oriented" Hesseltine went home with dinner of fresh caught striped bass!
Water Temp 55 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 3' -10'
"I'm very happy. But I could be happier!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
We Are Humbled
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, June 8
Why is this man NOT smiling while holding this fish? Because it was the ONLY fish we caught all day!!!
While literally EVERYONE around us was catching dozens of beautiful stripers, we only managed one fish!
We have never been so humbled. We thought we would go out and get a preview of the experience we were going to have with
a professional fishing guide the next week and all we did was embarass ourselves. In any case, Moe saved the shutout that day
for which we are grateful.
Water Temp 55 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"I can't believe we can't catch a fish!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Stripers Are Here!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, May 31
What a gorgeous day. We're about 2 weeks away from heading out with professional striper guide,
Paul Bois of White Birch Guide Service and we wanted to get some time on the same waters to get to know
it better. We started the day at the Saco Bay Tackle company stocking up on sandworms.
The tote board on the front of the store said that stripers were in the Lower Saco. We put in about 0930 and fished until about 1400.
BC drew first blood with a nice 22" striper on a chartreuse Fin-S with a white leadhead. We noticed bait fish jumping out of the water and
figured there was action about. We released it thinking that the day would bring us more keepers. Bad idea.
Moe scored two more decent stripers later in the day, both 17"'ers. He got them bouncing worms off the bottom on a
with a bank sinker and circle hook. Other guys in the area were catching a lot of small schoolies
on tube and worm rigs. Most of the action was in the shallow elbows of the river.
Water Temp 62 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"Eh, throw him back, we're bound to get more keepers today!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Creature
Balch Pond, Newfield, Maine / Wakefield, NH, Maine, May 26
With a 30% chance of rain, we headed out to a site we found watching, "The Mad Fisherman" Charlie Moore. The odds for rain turned out to be 100% (Is it possible to have 110% rain???)
Again, Moe drew first blood with a pickerel and for a while, we wondered if that was going to be it for the day.
Luckily, we were soon into some nice bass. We started out with a double header and we were both too busy releasing the fish to take any pictures.
With those fish back in the water, we knew there would be more opportunities. BC had a nice day with three nice bass on the white Ninja spinnerbait.
Moe had a couple of nice bass and won the day for total fish caught with numbers in the double digits.
Moe was working the #3 copper Mepps. The big fish for the day was 3lb 7oz.
Oh, and yes, that is BC with a pint of, "The Creature." You can always have time for a Guinness!
Water Temp 59 Degrees, Air Temp 59 Degrees. Depth 4' - 8'
"You can only get so wet."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Up a Frigid River
Androscoggin River, Turner, Maine, May 15
Moe and I took a "Floating Holiday" from work. It was a pretty raw day, gray skies, rainy.
Moe drew first blood with a nice 2lb smallie at the mouth of a stream using a pumpkin "creature" bait. Nice softbait technique Moe!
BC grabbed this 1lb 8oz smallie down by the bridge near the launch on the return trip.
Moe had the big day with 1 smallie (and one that got away), 4 perch, and a pesky pickerel.
BC took up the rear guard with the smallie and 2 yellow perch.
Water Temp 52 Degrees, Air Temp 55 Degrees. Depth 8' - 12'
"Is there a Professional Perch Tour?"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Guide's Day Out
Little Sebago Lake, May 11 "Mother's Day"
The 1% Fish (Weighed 1% of what I do!)
Got this 3lb 5oz one off a rocky hump in the lower bay on a crawfish rattle trap.
He chased it first and then I recast past him and got him on the second go 'round!
Water Temp 58 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 7'
"It's more fun to catch fish than to be the guide!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Down and Dirty
Saco River, Just below the Rte 202 Bridge at Salmon Falls, May 3
Water Temp 53 Degrees, Depth 30' in Fast Moving Current!
Moe got this 1lb'er on a red and white 3/4 oz Deerhair Striped Bass Jig with a white worm trailer!
We saw the fish behind the rocks on the fish finder and he brought it up from the depths
while I worked the boat in the current.
Nice start to the season.
Let the record keeping begin!!!
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Fuhgedaboutit
Willowdale Golf Course, Scarborough, Maine
First Fishing Outing for 2003, April 12, 40 Degrees Air Temp,
?? Degrees Water Temp, Snow Temp??
Jigs, Worms, Lizards, Spinnerbaits
We were shut out!
Gear
Milfoil Misadventure
Little Ossipee Flowage Lake Arrowhead, ME, September 14
What a sight. We saw the direct effects of milfoil invasion at Ossipee Flowage. The fishing was okay, 5 bass and some pickerel. We wandered down some side channels that were completely choked off by milfoil. Moe got a nice bass (2 cans) trolling a black plastic worm with a chartreuse tail. This has always been one of my favorite color combos also. The wacky worm was again the GOTO bait of the day and Moe caught his first bass using this techinque. When we first pulled up to some grass outcropping, I tossed a chartreuse with black flake senko wacky style and hooked a baby bass (only 1 can) immediatly on the first cast. Again, we thought this was going to the "The Day." Unfortunately, all we had was a good time but that is all we were looking for.
"We have got to make sure we clean the boat after this slop."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Holy Mackeral
Pine Point / Old Orchard Beach, ME August 14
Moe's son was visiting from Seattle and we took him out striper fishing. We didn't manage any stripers that day, but got
into a pretty good school of mackeral. Jason (about 14 cans tall) caught some pretty good sized horses on the diamond jigs and was our
biggest producer that day. He managed to smuggle the mackeral back to Seattle so he could throw them at the Pike Place Market.
"Nice fish Jason! By the way, turn the rod over, the reel goes on the bottom."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Northern Exposure
Long Pond, Belgrade Lakes, ME, August 19
We had always heard about the Northern Pike that were illegally introduced into Long Pond, but we didn't think they'd be as
prolific as we found. While on vacation on Long Pond, we managed several good sized pike as well as smallmouth bass in abundance. Unfortunately,
my film of most of these adventures was "cooked" by Community Pharmacy when they ineptly tried to develop and print it for me. From now on, I'm sticking
with Wal-Mart for photo developing!
There were many "firsts" while at Long Pond. Will Cook, future Bassmaster from the Connecticut Chapter
started off his career with a really nice 1.5lb smallmouth bass caught on a Rapala. His Dad told me recently that he was planning
on outfitting Will with a complete set of professional angling equipment. If you have any suggestions for equipment, lures, suppliers, etc. send them off to
the "outfitter."
Moe got this really nice pike near some rocks in the lower part of Long Pond, and I got the smallie nearby. The week
was full of adventures. Mary got a HUGE crappie which we weighed on the electric scale. It was 1lb 14oz and bigger than a dinner plate. This was a huge fish.
She got it on her signature broken-back Rapala. Don Chamberlain was out with us for this trip and Don and I caught the same Northern at the same time. When we
got it back to the boat it had my rattle trap sticking out of one side of his mouth and Don's plastic worm on the other side. This fish took a second lure while being
reeled in with another lure in its mouth! Is that an aggressive fish or what! We had a picture of it, but it was one of the lost ones. Damn! Moe got the huge pike on the famous Ninja spinnerbait in white (as usual). I got my smallie on
a rattle trap. It was a battle. The exciting catch (almost) for me was when I hooked into an enormous bass (don't know if it was a smallmouth or largemouth) with a
white Ninja. The battle royale was very exciting but the fish stayed deep. I managed to hoist it to the surface only to see its mouth and right eye
roll to the top before it got off the hook. Moe could tell that this was a substantial fish and readied the net. Before we could land it, it was off. From the size of the
eye we saw looking back at us, this was an enormous fish. It looked like the eye of a horse! It took quite a while to get over the disappointment of losing that fish.
Just about as much time as it took to catch the next one.
"What do you mean, my film was lost in the developer? Get it back you idiots!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
It Starts with a "P"
Androscoggin River, Turner, ME, August 3
The Androscoggin River was once declared one of the top ten most polluted rivers in the nation.
One of the most common chemicals found in the river were "P"CB's (Polychlorinated Biphenyls). Some years ago, the river
was "reformed" and it began to clean itself up. There are still fish consumption advisories for this watershed but something
very strange happened on our Sunday afternoon trip. It started to "P".
The first fish of the day was a nice sized yellow perch
BC caught on a Blue Fox inline spinner with a black hair skirt. It was a decent size and in any other body of water, you would have
kept it for dinner. Moe then proceeded to go down the list of fishes that start with the letter "P." He caught a really nice white perch which
went close to 1lb we estimated. This is a really big white perch, but we didn't get a picture and I regretted that all day. He then caught a pickerel
to keep up with his new fishing strategy, "alliteration." After that he caught a yellow perch. BC was catching all the smallmouths that day (hee hee).
He also got onto Moe's bandwagon when he caught a pumpkinseed and a first for BC, a double yellow perch on a double treble hooked gold/black broken back Rapala. BC
didn't want to get too far away from Moe's alliterative sytle so as you can see from the belly on that smallie, we'll just call him, "Porky."
"Our Pelagic Pescadores Proceeded to Produce Prolific Populations of Perch, Pickerel, and Pumpkinseeds Precisely Pitching Plastics
Perchance to Procure Predatory Prospects Peering Pensively from Previously Polluted Positions."
Senko Boomerang
Hancock Pond, Denmark, ME, July 23
I had been out fishing earlier in the day and having a wonderful time. People were expected up to the camp that
afternoon, so I thought I would get some "wormtime." The pumpkin colored 5" Senkos were working wonders on the largemouth
and I had a great time catching bass in the 1.5lb range. As with most "wacky" worms, you lose a lot as the hook rips through
the belly of the worm. I had a nice largemouth on and then lost the fish and the worm. The radio beeped and I had to go
back to camp to meet up with our many and welcomed guests. I took Don Chamberlain and Moe out for an early evening fishing
trip and related to them the wonderful time I just had. They wanted to return to the same place and try to recreate the
experience. By then, I was out of pumpkin colored worms but had some chartreuse ones left. I rigged up Don with a bright
green chartreuse wacky senko and pointed to where I has having luck earlier. He cast out and almost immediately had a fish on!
A pretty good battle ensued and Don managed to do what I couldn't before and landed the largemouth in the boat. We had a little
trouble extracting the hook from the fish because it was caught in his throat and gill plates. During the hook extraction, I accidentally
dropped the fish into the boat and he threw up my pumpkin colored Senko from a couple of hours earlier! It was the same fish!
Unfortunately, the amount of time to extract the hook, the damage to his gills and throat, and the fall to the deck did not
bode well for our mighty largemouth predator. Repeated attempts to revive him in the water were unsuccessful and he succumbed to his wounds.
We also weren't able to get any pictures since we were battling the clock and it was an all-hands operation.
Water Temp 79.5 Degrees, Air Temp 80 Degrees. Depth 12'
"The operation was successful, but the patient died. We got the worm back."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Fishing ON the Sun
"Middle" Saco River, Biddeford, ME, July 5
Maybe those Southern boys can enjoy fishing when it's in the nineties, but us Nawthn'rs find it very uncomfortable.
For a change of pace and to get back to our fresh water roots, Moe and I decided to try out the "Middle Saco River."
This is a stretch above Biddeford, but below Union Falls. We motored up the river over many hidden rocks which we
noticed when we drifted back down. How we missed some of them, I don't know! After about three hours of less
than satisfying productivity, we decided to call it quits. I wanted to check out a canal that we saw on the way
upriver and we decided to make this our last pass of the day. About 200 yards into the canal Moe hooked into what
would be the largest catch of the day! It fought hard right up to the boat. I even think I saw it do a tail dance
on the surface! Moe expertly landed it without the use of the net. We weren't able to weigh or measure it, but
from the picture you can see that it was at least 20" and weighed almost 3lbs. It was without a doubt, the
largest piece of bark we had ever caught! Way to go Maurice. He used the same pumpkin creature bug that worked
well for him on the Androscoggin. BC managed a very small smallmouth (is that redundant?). The heat was just
crushing and we have to blame the conditions for our poor results as technique and perserverance could not
be at fault here!
Water Temp 86.5 Degrees, Air Temp 91 Degrees. Depth 5' - 30'
"Oh MAN, this is a good one. Get the camera!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Queens Elizabeth!
Lower Saco River, Saco, ME, July 3
Elizabeth Cook (EC) and Elizabeth Hesseltine (EH) took a trip on the Saco with Captain Bill as part of the
Independence Day Holiday. EH was down from New Hampshire to visit her favorite relatives and decided to come on
a trip with EC to catch the tuxedo'd ones. The trip was pretty successful with 10 fish landed. None were
keepers, but there was plenty of action to keep them interested and everyone had a great time. EH had
recently completed a course in digital photography at school and was the expedition photographer. EC manned
the controls while Captain Bill kept everyone in sandworms. We had a few navigational adventures when we
drifted into shallow water but no mishaps. EH hauled in a nice fish but unfortunately we didn't get a
picture since all of our hands were full including the photographer. It was a real pleasure having the girls
aboard and they are welcome to come anytime! It's always fun to share the thrill of catching a fish and the
fast swimming, hard charging striper makes that even more ejoyable.
Water Temp 83.5 Degrees, Air Temp 80 Degrees. Depth 6'
"Elizabeth steer to the right, MORE to the right, MORE TO THE RIGHT! Alright, that's it! Gimme the wheel!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Moe "Results Oriented" Hessletine
Lower Saco River, Saco, ME, July 1
Now that we've been shown the error of our ways, we are starting to get some results. Moe scored a nice 25"
striper on the orange tube rig on an evening of dragging the "elbows" of the Saco. It didn't look too good for
Captain Bill until Moe let one get off his hook right before we were to turn in for the evening. As a
punishment, we added 20 minutes to our trip and BC managed to land a 21" keeper also.
Moe then landed a real fat 25" on a spoon with a plastic worm trailer! We already had our two keepers in
the cooler for that day so we had to let him go. Time of day seems to matter and we didn't really get any action
until the sun started to go down. We retired to Moe's house with our catch for a fine dinner of striper and
macaroni salad. The gray image on the pictures was from a splash of salt water on the lens. All this adds to
the realism of our adventures. You can practically feel the salt spray as if you are there!
Water Temp 80.5 Degrees, Air Temp 75 Degrees. Depth 6'
"As a punishment for letting that one go, we're staying out here until we get another!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
OOH-RAH!!!
Province Lake, Wakefield, NH, June 21
This little 3lb masher must have been a Marine in a former life. I took him (it had to be a him!) on the famous
Gambler Ninja Spin white spinnerbait that worked well for us last year. The really
interesting thing about him was that his jaw was broken. He had a split in his lower jaw that was partially healed
but it was separated right down the middle. In the roof of his mouth was a recent puncture wound from a hook that was still
bleeding. This was next to, but away from the hookset I made so it must have been earlier that day from another fisherman!
What a predator! Not much more to report about the outing except it was very windy and weedy so spinnerbaits were
the only game in town. The water by the launch had a thick film of pine pollen and I had to wade through it to put
the boat back on the trailer. Everything that touched the water that day turned yellow. I'll be hosing off that
pollen for weeks. Moe scored first blood (white Mepps) with a rascally pickerel that got off just at the boat. It was a pretty good sized one.
Water Temp 75.5 Degrees, Air Temp 68 Degrees. Depth 3'
"Moe, if you don't give me a good toss of that bowline, you're swimmin' through this muck to get the boat back!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
50 Fish Day!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, June 16
Okay. If anyone ever questions whether it is worth it to hire a professional fishing guide, tell them this story.
Moe and I went out on the exact same river where we only caught ONE fish the previous week
(see below) using a very similar technique and equipment and today we caught somewhere in the neighborhood of
50 fish! We went out with Captain Paul Bois of
White Birch Guide Service and he provided us with the fishing experience of our lives (to date). I first met Paul a couple of
years ago after I bought his old guide boat. He promised I would have good luck with it and so far I'm very
happy. We got to the Saco boat launch at 0530 and met up with Paul and his 20' Lund Alaskan.
He had everything rigged and ready and we were on the water in no time. We beat it down the river to the
mouth and started to troll orange tube rigs with a sandworm trailer mated to a Berkley Power Sandworm as
a keeper/teaser. Paul makes his own tubes and they are not weighted. We used leadcore line to get the tubes
down. We put out three colors (90 feet) and trolled along the jetties. I took first blood almost right away.
It was undersized, but a good battler. My rod then scored again and because of our dismal performance
last week, I handed the rod over to Moe thinking this may be it for the day and I didn't want him to be shut out.
Happily, I was completely wrong and we scored more fish as the day went by. Moe was smart and nabbed a
keeper for the cooler. I had a few that might have been keepers but decided to return them. As the day
went by, we caught more fish but none in the slot. I went home empty handed but happy. I was happy
because at least I caught the biggest fish of the day which was a really nice 28 incher which fought
and danced on the surface. What a day. We won't forget it. Thanks to Captain Bois for showing us what we were
doing wrong and providing us with a great time, on a great day, landing some great fish. Even though I did luck into
the big one for the day, Moe "I'm Results Oriented" Hesseltine went home with dinner of fresh caught striped bass!
Water Temp 55 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 3' -10'
"I'm very happy. But I could be happier!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
We Are Humbled
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, June 8
Why is this man NOT smiling while holding this fish? Because it was the ONLY fish we caught all day!!!
While literally EVERYONE around us was catching dozens of beautiful stripers, we only managed one fish!
We have never been so humbled. We thought we would go out and get a preview of the experience we were going to have with
a professional fishing guide the next week and all we did was embarass ourselves. In any case, Moe saved the shutout that day
for which we are grateful.
Water Temp 55 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"I can't believe we can't catch a fish!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Stripers Are Here!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, May 31
What a gorgeous day. We're about 2 weeks away from heading out with professional striper guide,
Paul Bois of White Birch Guide Service and we wanted to get some time on the same waters to get to know
it better. We started the day at the Saco Bay Tackle company stocking up on sandworms.
The tote board on the front of the store said that stripers were in the Lower Saco. We put in about 0930 and fished until about 1400.
BC drew first blood with a nice 22" striper on a chartreuse Fin-S with a white leadhead. We noticed bait fish jumping out of the water and
figured there was action about. We released it thinking that the day would bring us more keepers. Bad idea.
Moe scored two more decent stripers later in the day, both 17"'ers. He got them bouncing worms off the bottom on a
with a bank sinker and circle hook. Other guys in the area were catching a lot of small schoolies
on tube and worm rigs. Most of the action was in the shallow elbows of the river.
Water Temp 62 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"Eh, throw him back, we're bound to get more keepers today!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Creature
Balch Pond, Newfield, Maine / Wakefield, NH, Maine, May 26
With a 30% chance of rain, we headed out to a site we found watching, "The Mad Fisherman" Charlie Moore. The odds for rain turned out to be 100% (Is it possible to have 110% rain???)
Again, Moe drew first blood with a pickerel and for a while, we wondered if that was going to be it for the day.
Luckily, we were soon into some nice bass. We started out with a double header and we were both too busy releasing the fish to take any pictures.
With those fish back in the water, we knew there would be more opportunities. BC had a nice day with three nice bass on the white Ninja spinnerbait.
Moe had a couple of nice bass and won the day for total fish caught with numbers in the double digits.
Moe was working the #3 copper Mepps. The big fish for the day was 3lb 7oz.
Oh, and yes, that is BC with a pint of, "The Creature." You can always have time for a Guinness!
Water Temp 59 Degrees, Air Temp 59 Degrees. Depth 4' - 8'
"You can only get so wet."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Up a Frigid River
Androscoggin River, Turner, Maine, May 15
Moe and I took a "Floating Holiday" from work. It was a pretty raw day, gray skies, rainy.
Moe drew first blood with a nice 2lb smallie at the mouth of a stream using a pumpkin "creature" bait. Nice softbait technique Moe!
BC grabbed this 1lb 8oz smallie down by the bridge near the launch on the return trip.
Moe had the big day with 1 smallie (and one that got away), 4 perch, and a pesky pickerel.
BC took up the rear guard with the smallie and 2 yellow perch.
Water Temp 52 Degrees, Air Temp 55 Degrees. Depth 8' - 12'
"Is there a Professional Perch Tour?"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Guide's Day Out
Little Sebago Lake, May 11 "Mother's Day"
The 1% Fish (Weighed 1% of what I do!)
Got this 3lb 5oz one off a rocky hump in the lower bay on a crawfish rattle trap.
He chased it first and then I recast past him and got him on the second go 'round!
Water Temp 58 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 7'
"It's more fun to catch fish than to be the guide!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Down and Dirty
Saco River, Just below the Rte 202 Bridge at Salmon Falls, May 3
Water Temp 53 Degrees, Depth 30' in Fast Moving Current!
Moe got this 1lb'er on a red and white 3/4 oz Deerhair Striped Bass Jig with a white worm trailer!
We saw the fish behind the rocks on the fish finder and he brought it up from the depths
while I worked the boat in the current.
Nice start to the season.
Let the record keeping begin!!!
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Fuhgedaboutit
Willowdale Golf Course, Scarborough, Maine
First Fishing Outing for 2003, April 12, 40 Degrees Air Temp,
?? Degrees Water Temp, Snow Temp??
Jigs, Worms, Lizards, Spinnerbaits
We were shut out!
Gear
Northern Exposure
Long Pond, Belgrade Lakes, ME, August 19
We had always heard about the Northern Pike that were illegally introduced into Long Pond, but we didn't think they'd be as prolific as we found. While on vacation on Long Pond, we managed several good sized pike as well as smallmouth bass in abundance. Unfortunately, my film of most of these adventures was "cooked" by Community Pharmacy when they ineptly tried to develop and print it for me. From now on, I'm sticking with Wal-Mart for photo developing!
There were many "firsts" while at Long Pond. Will Cook, future Bassmaster from the Connecticut Chapter started off his career with a really nice 1.5lb smallmouth bass caught on a Rapala. His Dad told me recently that he was planning on outfitting Will with a complete set of professional angling equipment. If you have any suggestions for equipment, lures, suppliers, etc. send them off to the "outfitter."
Moe got this really nice pike near some rocks in the lower part of Long Pond, and I got the smallie nearby. The week was full of adventures. Mary got a HUGE crappie which we weighed on the electric scale. It was 1lb 14oz and bigger than a dinner plate. This was a huge fish. She got it on her signature broken-back Rapala. Don Chamberlain was out with us for this trip and Don and I caught the same Northern at the same time. When we got it back to the boat it had my rattle trap sticking out of one side of his mouth and Don's plastic worm on the other side. This fish took a second lure while being reeled in with another lure in its mouth! Is that an aggressive fish or what! We had a picture of it, but it was one of the lost ones. Damn! Moe got the huge pike on the famous Ninja spinnerbait in white (as usual). I got my smallie on a rattle trap. It was a battle. The exciting catch (almost) for me was when I hooked into an enormous bass (don't know if it was a smallmouth or largemouth) with a white Ninja. The battle royale was very exciting but the fish stayed deep. I managed to hoist it to the surface only to see its mouth and right eye roll to the top before it got off the hook. Moe could tell that this was a substantial fish and readied the net. Before we could land it, it was off. From the size of the eye we saw looking back at us, this was an enormous fish. It looked like the eye of a horse! It took quite a while to get over the disappointment of losing that fish. Just about as much time as it took to catch the next one.
"What do you mean, my film was lost in the developer? Get it back you idiots!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
It Starts with a "P"
Androscoggin River, Turner, ME, August 3
The Androscoggin River was once declared one of the top ten most polluted rivers in the nation.
One of the most common chemicals found in the river were "P"CB's (Polychlorinated Biphenyls). Some years ago, the river
was "reformed" and it began to clean itself up. There are still fish consumption advisories for this watershed but something
very strange happened on our Sunday afternoon trip. It started to "P".
The first fish of the day was a nice sized yellow perch
BC caught on a Blue Fox inline spinner with a black hair skirt. It was a decent size and in any other body of water, you would have
kept it for dinner. Moe then proceeded to go down the list of fishes that start with the letter "P." He caught a really nice white perch which
went close to 1lb we estimated. This is a really big white perch, but we didn't get a picture and I regretted that all day. He then caught a pickerel
to keep up with his new fishing strategy, "alliteration." After that he caught a yellow perch. BC was catching all the smallmouths that day (hee hee).
He also got onto Moe's bandwagon when he caught a pumpkinseed and a first for BC, a double yellow perch on a double treble hooked gold/black broken back Rapala. BC
didn't want to get too far away from Moe's alliterative sytle so as you can see from the belly on that smallie, we'll just call him, "Porky."
"Our Pelagic Pescadores Proceeded to Produce Prolific Populations of Perch, Pickerel, and Pumpkinseeds Precisely Pitching Plastics
Perchance to Procure Predatory Prospects Peering Pensively from Previously Polluted Positions."
Senko Boomerang
Hancock Pond, Denmark, ME, July 23
I had been out fishing earlier in the day and having a wonderful time. People were expected up to the camp that
afternoon, so I thought I would get some "wormtime." The pumpkin colored 5" Senkos were working wonders on the largemouth
and I had a great time catching bass in the 1.5lb range. As with most "wacky" worms, you lose a lot as the hook rips through
the belly of the worm. I had a nice largemouth on and then lost the fish and the worm. The radio beeped and I had to go
back to camp to meet up with our many and welcomed guests. I took Don Chamberlain and Moe out for an early evening fishing
trip and related to them the wonderful time I just had. They wanted to return to the same place and try to recreate the
experience. By then, I was out of pumpkin colored worms but had some chartreuse ones left. I rigged up Don with a bright
green chartreuse wacky senko and pointed to where I has having luck earlier. He cast out and almost immediately had a fish on!
A pretty good battle ensued and Don managed to do what I couldn't before and landed the largemouth in the boat. We had a little
trouble extracting the hook from the fish because it was caught in his throat and gill plates. During the hook extraction, I accidentally
dropped the fish into the boat and he threw up my pumpkin colored Senko from a couple of hours earlier! It was the same fish!
Unfortunately, the amount of time to extract the hook, the damage to his gills and throat, and the fall to the deck did not
bode well for our mighty largemouth predator. Repeated attempts to revive him in the water were unsuccessful and he succumbed to his wounds.
We also weren't able to get any pictures since we were battling the clock and it was an all-hands operation.
Water Temp 79.5 Degrees, Air Temp 80 Degrees. Depth 12'
"The operation was successful, but the patient died. We got the worm back."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Fishing ON the Sun
"Middle" Saco River, Biddeford, ME, July 5
Maybe those Southern boys can enjoy fishing when it's in the nineties, but us Nawthn'rs find it very uncomfortable.
For a change of pace and to get back to our fresh water roots, Moe and I decided to try out the "Middle Saco River."
This is a stretch above Biddeford, but below Union Falls. We motored up the river over many hidden rocks which we
noticed when we drifted back down. How we missed some of them, I don't know! After about three hours of less
than satisfying productivity, we decided to call it quits. I wanted to check out a canal that we saw on the way
upriver and we decided to make this our last pass of the day. About 200 yards into the canal Moe hooked into what
would be the largest catch of the day! It fought hard right up to the boat. I even think I saw it do a tail dance
on the surface! Moe expertly landed it without the use of the net. We weren't able to weigh or measure it, but
from the picture you can see that it was at least 20" and weighed almost 3lbs. It was without a doubt, the
largest piece of bark we had ever caught! Way to go Maurice. He used the same pumpkin creature bug that worked
well for him on the Androscoggin. BC managed a very small smallmouth (is that redundant?). The heat was just
crushing and we have to blame the conditions for our poor results as technique and perserverance could not
be at fault here!
Water Temp 86.5 Degrees, Air Temp 91 Degrees. Depth 5' - 30'
"Oh MAN, this is a good one. Get the camera!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Queens Elizabeth!
Lower Saco River, Saco, ME, July 3
Elizabeth Cook (EC) and Elizabeth Hesseltine (EH) took a trip on the Saco with Captain Bill as part of the
Independence Day Holiday. EH was down from New Hampshire to visit her favorite relatives and decided to come on
a trip with EC to catch the tuxedo'd ones. The trip was pretty successful with 10 fish landed. None were
keepers, but there was plenty of action to keep them interested and everyone had a great time. EH had
recently completed a course in digital photography at school and was the expedition photographer. EC manned
the controls while Captain Bill kept everyone in sandworms. We had a few navigational adventures when we
drifted into shallow water but no mishaps. EH hauled in a nice fish but unfortunately we didn't get a
picture since all of our hands were full including the photographer. It was a real pleasure having the girls
aboard and they are welcome to come anytime! It's always fun to share the thrill of catching a fish and the
fast swimming, hard charging striper makes that even more ejoyable.
Water Temp 83.5 Degrees, Air Temp 80 Degrees. Depth 6'
"Elizabeth steer to the right, MORE to the right, MORE TO THE RIGHT! Alright, that's it! Gimme the wheel!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Moe "Results Oriented" Hessletine
Lower Saco River, Saco, ME, July 1
Now that we've been shown the error of our ways, we are starting to get some results. Moe scored a nice 25"
striper on the orange tube rig on an evening of dragging the "elbows" of the Saco. It didn't look too good for
Captain Bill until Moe let one get off his hook right before we were to turn in for the evening. As a
punishment, we added 20 minutes to our trip and BC managed to land a 21" keeper also.
Moe then landed a real fat 25" on a spoon with a plastic worm trailer! We already had our two keepers in
the cooler for that day so we had to let him go. Time of day seems to matter and we didn't really get any action
until the sun started to go down. We retired to Moe's house with our catch for a fine dinner of striper and
macaroni salad. The gray image on the pictures was from a splash of salt water on the lens. All this adds to
the realism of our adventures. You can practically feel the salt spray as if you are there!
Water Temp 80.5 Degrees, Air Temp 75 Degrees. Depth 6'
"As a punishment for letting that one go, we're staying out here until we get another!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
OOH-RAH!!!
Province Lake, Wakefield, NH, June 21
This little 3lb masher must have been a Marine in a former life. I took him (it had to be a him!) on the famous
Gambler Ninja Spin white spinnerbait that worked well for us last year. The really
interesting thing about him was that his jaw was broken. He had a split in his lower jaw that was partially healed
but it was separated right down the middle. In the roof of his mouth was a recent puncture wound from a hook that was still
bleeding. This was next to, but away from the hookset I made so it must have been earlier that day from another fisherman!
What a predator! Not much more to report about the outing except it was very windy and weedy so spinnerbaits were
the only game in town. The water by the launch had a thick film of pine pollen and I had to wade through it to put
the boat back on the trailer. Everything that touched the water that day turned yellow. I'll be hosing off that
pollen for weeks. Moe scored first blood (white Mepps) with a rascally pickerel that got off just at the boat. It was a pretty good sized one.
Water Temp 75.5 Degrees, Air Temp 68 Degrees. Depth 3'
"Moe, if you don't give me a good toss of that bowline, you're swimmin' through this muck to get the boat back!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
50 Fish Day!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, June 16
Okay. If anyone ever questions whether it is worth it to hire a professional fishing guide, tell them this story.
Moe and I went out on the exact same river where we only caught ONE fish the previous week
(see below) using a very similar technique and equipment and today we caught somewhere in the neighborhood of
50 fish! We went out with Captain Paul Bois of
White Birch Guide Service and he provided us with the fishing experience of our lives (to date). I first met Paul a couple of
years ago after I bought his old guide boat. He promised I would have good luck with it and so far I'm very
happy. We got to the Saco boat launch at 0530 and met up with Paul and his 20' Lund Alaskan.
He had everything rigged and ready and we were on the water in no time. We beat it down the river to the
mouth and started to troll orange tube rigs with a sandworm trailer mated to a Berkley Power Sandworm as
a keeper/teaser. Paul makes his own tubes and they are not weighted. We used leadcore line to get the tubes
down. We put out three colors (90 feet) and trolled along the jetties. I took first blood almost right away.
It was undersized, but a good battler. My rod then scored again and because of our dismal performance
last week, I handed the rod over to Moe thinking this may be it for the day and I didn't want him to be shut out.
Happily, I was completely wrong and we scored more fish as the day went by. Moe was smart and nabbed a
keeper for the cooler. I had a few that might have been keepers but decided to return them. As the day
went by, we caught more fish but none in the slot. I went home empty handed but happy. I was happy
because at least I caught the biggest fish of the day which was a really nice 28 incher which fought
and danced on the surface. What a day. We won't forget it. Thanks to Captain Bois for showing us what we were
doing wrong and providing us with a great time, on a great day, landing some great fish. Even though I did luck into
the big one for the day, Moe "I'm Results Oriented" Hesseltine went home with dinner of fresh caught striped bass!
Water Temp 55 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 3' -10'
"I'm very happy. But I could be happier!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
We Are Humbled
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, June 8
Why is this man NOT smiling while holding this fish? Because it was the ONLY fish we caught all day!!!
While literally EVERYONE around us was catching dozens of beautiful stripers, we only managed one fish!
We have never been so humbled. We thought we would go out and get a preview of the experience we were going to have with
a professional fishing guide the next week and all we did was embarass ourselves. In any case, Moe saved the shutout that day
for which we are grateful.
Water Temp 55 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"I can't believe we can't catch a fish!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Stripers Are Here!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, May 31
What a gorgeous day. We're about 2 weeks away from heading out with professional striper guide,
Paul Bois of White Birch Guide Service and we wanted to get some time on the same waters to get to know
it better. We started the day at the Saco Bay Tackle company stocking up on sandworms.
The tote board on the front of the store said that stripers were in the Lower Saco. We put in about 0930 and fished until about 1400.
BC drew first blood with a nice 22" striper on a chartreuse Fin-S with a white leadhead. We noticed bait fish jumping out of the water and
figured there was action about. We released it thinking that the day would bring us more keepers. Bad idea.
Moe scored two more decent stripers later in the day, both 17"'ers. He got them bouncing worms off the bottom on a
with a bank sinker and circle hook. Other guys in the area were catching a lot of small schoolies
on tube and worm rigs. Most of the action was in the shallow elbows of the river.
Water Temp 62 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"Eh, throw him back, we're bound to get more keepers today!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Creature
Balch Pond, Newfield, Maine / Wakefield, NH, Maine, May 26
With a 30% chance of rain, we headed out to a site we found watching, "The Mad Fisherman" Charlie Moore. The odds for rain turned out to be 100% (Is it possible to have 110% rain???)
Again, Moe drew first blood with a pickerel and for a while, we wondered if that was going to be it for the day.
Luckily, we were soon into some nice bass. We started out with a double header and we were both too busy releasing the fish to take any pictures.
With those fish back in the water, we knew there would be more opportunities. BC had a nice day with three nice bass on the white Ninja spinnerbait.
Moe had a couple of nice bass and won the day for total fish caught with numbers in the double digits.
Moe was working the #3 copper Mepps. The big fish for the day was 3lb 7oz.
Oh, and yes, that is BC with a pint of, "The Creature." You can always have time for a Guinness!
Water Temp 59 Degrees, Air Temp 59 Degrees. Depth 4' - 8'
"You can only get so wet."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Up a Frigid River
Androscoggin River, Turner, Maine, May 15
Moe and I took a "Floating Holiday" from work. It was a pretty raw day, gray skies, rainy.
Moe drew first blood with a nice 2lb smallie at the mouth of a stream using a pumpkin "creature" bait. Nice softbait technique Moe!
BC grabbed this 1lb 8oz smallie down by the bridge near the launch on the return trip.
Moe had the big day with 1 smallie (and one that got away), 4 perch, and a pesky pickerel.
BC took up the rear guard with the smallie and 2 yellow perch.
Water Temp 52 Degrees, Air Temp 55 Degrees. Depth 8' - 12'
"Is there a Professional Perch Tour?"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Guide's Day Out
Little Sebago Lake, May 11 "Mother's Day"
The 1% Fish (Weighed 1% of what I do!)
Got this 3lb 5oz one off a rocky hump in the lower bay on a crawfish rattle trap.
He chased it first and then I recast past him and got him on the second go 'round!
Water Temp 58 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 7'
"It's more fun to catch fish than to be the guide!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Down and Dirty
Saco River, Just below the Rte 202 Bridge at Salmon Falls, May 3
Water Temp 53 Degrees, Depth 30' in Fast Moving Current!
Moe got this 1lb'er on a red and white 3/4 oz Deerhair Striped Bass Jig with a white worm trailer!
We saw the fish behind the rocks on the fish finder and he brought it up from the depths
while I worked the boat in the current.
Nice start to the season.
Let the record keeping begin!!!
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Fuhgedaboutit
Willowdale Golf Course, Scarborough, Maine
First Fishing Outing for 2003, April 12, 40 Degrees Air Temp,
?? Degrees Water Temp, Snow Temp??
Jigs, Worms, Lizards, Spinnerbaits
We were shut out!
Gear
Fishing ON the Sun
"Middle" Saco River, Biddeford, ME, July 5
Maybe those Southern boys can enjoy fishing when it's in the nineties, but us Nawthn'rs find it very uncomfortable. For a change of pace and to get back to our fresh water roots, Moe and I decided to try out the "Middle Saco River." This is a stretch above Biddeford, but below Union Falls. We motored up the river over many hidden rocks which we noticed when we drifted back down. How we missed some of them, I don't know! After about three hours of less than satisfying productivity, we decided to call it quits. I wanted to check out a canal that we saw on the way upriver and we decided to make this our last pass of the day. About 200 yards into the canal Moe hooked into what would be the largest catch of the day! It fought hard right up to the boat. I even think I saw it do a tail dance on the surface! Moe expertly landed it without the use of the net. We weren't able to weigh or measure it, but from the picture you can see that it was at least 20" and weighed almost 3lbs. It was without a doubt, the largest piece of bark we had ever caught! Way to go Maurice. He used the same pumpkin creature bug that worked well for him on the Androscoggin. BC managed a very small smallmouth (is that redundant?). The heat was just crushing and we have to blame the conditions for our poor results as technique and perserverance could not be at fault here!
Water Temp 86.5 Degrees, Air Temp 91 Degrees. Depth 5' - 30'
"Oh MAN, this is a good one. Get the camera!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Queens Elizabeth!
Lower Saco River, Saco, ME, July 3
Elizabeth Cook (EC) and Elizabeth Hesseltine (EH) took a trip on the Saco with Captain Bill as part of the
Independence Day Holiday. EH was down from New Hampshire to visit her favorite relatives and decided to come on
a trip with EC to catch the tuxedo'd ones. The trip was pretty successful with 10 fish landed. None were
keepers, but there was plenty of action to keep them interested and everyone had a great time. EH had
recently completed a course in digital photography at school and was the expedition photographer. EC manned
the controls while Captain Bill kept everyone in sandworms. We had a few navigational adventures when we
drifted into shallow water but no mishaps. EH hauled in a nice fish but unfortunately we didn't get a
picture since all of our hands were full including the photographer. It was a real pleasure having the girls
aboard and they are welcome to come anytime! It's always fun to share the thrill of catching a fish and the
fast swimming, hard charging striper makes that even more ejoyable.
Water Temp 83.5 Degrees, Air Temp 80 Degrees. Depth 6'
"Elizabeth steer to the right, MORE to the right, MORE TO THE RIGHT! Alright, that's it! Gimme the wheel!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Moe "Results Oriented" Hessletine
Lower Saco River, Saco, ME, July 1
Now that we've been shown the error of our ways, we are starting to get some results. Moe scored a nice 25"
striper on the orange tube rig on an evening of dragging the "elbows" of the Saco. It didn't look too good for
Captain Bill until Moe let one get off his hook right before we were to turn in for the evening. As a
punishment, we added 20 minutes to our trip and BC managed to land a 21" keeper also.
Moe then landed a real fat 25" on a spoon with a plastic worm trailer! We already had our two keepers in
the cooler for that day so we had to let him go. Time of day seems to matter and we didn't really get any action
until the sun started to go down. We retired to Moe's house with our catch for a fine dinner of striper and
macaroni salad. The gray image on the pictures was from a splash of salt water on the lens. All this adds to
the realism of our adventures. You can practically feel the salt spray as if you are there!
Water Temp 80.5 Degrees, Air Temp 75 Degrees. Depth 6'
"As a punishment for letting that one go, we're staying out here until we get another!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
OOH-RAH!!!
Province Lake, Wakefield, NH, June 21
This little 3lb masher must have been a Marine in a former life. I took him (it had to be a him!) on the famous
Gambler Ninja Spin white spinnerbait that worked well for us last year. The really
interesting thing about him was that his jaw was broken. He had a split in his lower jaw that was partially healed
but it was separated right down the middle. In the roof of his mouth was a recent puncture wound from a hook that was still
bleeding. This was next to, but away from the hookset I made so it must have been earlier that day from another fisherman!
What a predator! Not much more to report about the outing except it was very windy and weedy so spinnerbaits were
the only game in town. The water by the launch had a thick film of pine pollen and I had to wade through it to put
the boat back on the trailer. Everything that touched the water that day turned yellow. I'll be hosing off that
pollen for weeks. Moe scored first blood (white Mepps) with a rascally pickerel that got off just at the boat. It was a pretty good sized one.
Water Temp 75.5 Degrees, Air Temp 68 Degrees. Depth 3'
"Moe, if you don't give me a good toss of that bowline, you're swimmin' through this muck to get the boat back!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
50 Fish Day!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, June 16
Okay. If anyone ever questions whether it is worth it to hire a professional fishing guide, tell them this story.
Moe and I went out on the exact same river where we only caught ONE fish the previous week
(see below) using a very similar technique and equipment and today we caught somewhere in the neighborhood of
50 fish! We went out with Captain Paul Bois of
White Birch Guide Service and he provided us with the fishing experience of our lives (to date). I first met Paul a couple of
years ago after I bought his old guide boat. He promised I would have good luck with it and so far I'm very
happy. We got to the Saco boat launch at 0530 and met up with Paul and his 20' Lund Alaskan.
He had everything rigged and ready and we were on the water in no time. We beat it down the river to the
mouth and started to troll orange tube rigs with a sandworm trailer mated to a Berkley Power Sandworm as
a keeper/teaser. Paul makes his own tubes and they are not weighted. We used leadcore line to get the tubes
down. We put out three colors (90 feet) and trolled along the jetties. I took first blood almost right away.
It was undersized, but a good battler. My rod then scored again and because of our dismal performance
last week, I handed the rod over to Moe thinking this may be it for the day and I didn't want him to be shut out.
Happily, I was completely wrong and we scored more fish as the day went by. Moe was smart and nabbed a
keeper for the cooler. I had a few that might have been keepers but decided to return them. As the day
went by, we caught more fish but none in the slot. I went home empty handed but happy. I was happy
because at least I caught the biggest fish of the day which was a really nice 28 incher which fought
and danced on the surface. What a day. We won't forget it. Thanks to Captain Bois for showing us what we were
doing wrong and providing us with a great time, on a great day, landing some great fish. Even though I did luck into
the big one for the day, Moe "I'm Results Oriented" Hesseltine went home with dinner of fresh caught striped bass!
Water Temp 55 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 3' -10'
"I'm very happy. But I could be happier!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
We Are Humbled
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, June 8
Why is this man NOT smiling while holding this fish? Because it was the ONLY fish we caught all day!!!
While literally EVERYONE around us was catching dozens of beautiful stripers, we only managed one fish!
We have never been so humbled. We thought we would go out and get a preview of the experience we were going to have with
a professional fishing guide the next week and all we did was embarass ourselves. In any case, Moe saved the shutout that day
for which we are grateful.
Water Temp 55 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"I can't believe we can't catch a fish!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Stripers Are Here!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, May 31
What a gorgeous day. We're about 2 weeks away from heading out with professional striper guide,
Paul Bois of White Birch Guide Service and we wanted to get some time on the same waters to get to know
it better. We started the day at the Saco Bay Tackle company stocking up on sandworms.
The tote board on the front of the store said that stripers were in the Lower Saco. We put in about 0930 and fished until about 1400.
BC drew first blood with a nice 22" striper on a chartreuse Fin-S with a white leadhead. We noticed bait fish jumping out of the water and
figured there was action about. We released it thinking that the day would bring us more keepers. Bad idea.
Moe scored two more decent stripers later in the day, both 17"'ers. He got them bouncing worms off the bottom on a
with a bank sinker and circle hook. Other guys in the area were catching a lot of small schoolies
on tube and worm rigs. Most of the action was in the shallow elbows of the river.
Water Temp 62 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"Eh, throw him back, we're bound to get more keepers today!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Creature
Balch Pond, Newfield, Maine / Wakefield, NH, Maine, May 26
With a 30% chance of rain, we headed out to a site we found watching, "The Mad Fisherman" Charlie Moore. The odds for rain turned out to be 100% (Is it possible to have 110% rain???)
Again, Moe drew first blood with a pickerel and for a while, we wondered if that was going to be it for the day.
Luckily, we were soon into some nice bass. We started out with a double header and we were both too busy releasing the fish to take any pictures.
With those fish back in the water, we knew there would be more opportunities. BC had a nice day with three nice bass on the white Ninja spinnerbait.
Moe had a couple of nice bass and won the day for total fish caught with numbers in the double digits.
Moe was working the #3 copper Mepps. The big fish for the day was 3lb 7oz.
Oh, and yes, that is BC with a pint of, "The Creature." You can always have time for a Guinness!
Water Temp 59 Degrees, Air Temp 59 Degrees. Depth 4' - 8'
"You can only get so wet."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Up a Frigid River
Androscoggin River, Turner, Maine, May 15
Moe and I took a "Floating Holiday" from work. It was a pretty raw day, gray skies, rainy.
Moe drew first blood with a nice 2lb smallie at the mouth of a stream using a pumpkin "creature" bait. Nice softbait technique Moe!
BC grabbed this 1lb 8oz smallie down by the bridge near the launch on the return trip.
Moe had the big day with 1 smallie (and one that got away), 4 perch, and a pesky pickerel.
BC took up the rear guard with the smallie and 2 yellow perch.
Water Temp 52 Degrees, Air Temp 55 Degrees. Depth 8' - 12'
"Is there a Professional Perch Tour?"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Guide's Day Out
Little Sebago Lake, May 11 "Mother's Day"
The 1% Fish (Weighed 1% of what I do!)
Got this 3lb 5oz one off a rocky hump in the lower bay on a crawfish rattle trap.
He chased it first and then I recast past him and got him on the second go 'round!
Water Temp 58 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 7'
"It's more fun to catch fish than to be the guide!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Down and Dirty
Saco River, Just below the Rte 202 Bridge at Salmon Falls, May 3
Water Temp 53 Degrees, Depth 30' in Fast Moving Current!
Moe got this 1lb'er on a red and white 3/4 oz Deerhair Striped Bass Jig with a white worm trailer!
We saw the fish behind the rocks on the fish finder and he brought it up from the depths
while I worked the boat in the current.
Nice start to the season.
Let the record keeping begin!!!
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Fuhgedaboutit
Willowdale Golf Course, Scarborough, Maine
First Fishing Outing for 2003, April 12, 40 Degrees Air Temp,
?? Degrees Water Temp, Snow Temp??
Jigs, Worms, Lizards, Spinnerbaits
We were shut out!
Gear
Moe "Results Oriented" Hessletine
Lower Saco River, Saco, ME, July 1
Now that we've been shown the error of our ways, we are starting to get some results. Moe scored a nice 25" striper on the orange tube rig on an evening of dragging the "elbows" of the Saco. It didn't look too good for Captain Bill until Moe let one get off his hook right before we were to turn in for the evening. As a punishment, we added 20 minutes to our trip and BC managed to land a 21" keeper also. Moe then landed a real fat 25" on a spoon with a plastic worm trailer! We already had our two keepers in the cooler for that day so we had to let him go. Time of day seems to matter and we didn't really get any action until the sun started to go down. We retired to Moe's house with our catch for a fine dinner of striper and macaroni salad. The gray image on the pictures was from a splash of salt water on the lens. All this adds to the realism of our adventures. You can practically feel the salt spray as if you are there!
Water Temp 80.5 Degrees, Air Temp 75 Degrees. Depth 6'
"As a punishment for letting that one go, we're staying out here until we get another!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
OOH-RAH!!!
Province Lake, Wakefield, NH, June 21
This little 3lb masher must have been a Marine in a former life. I took him (it had to be a him!) on the famous
Gambler Ninja Spin white spinnerbait that worked well for us last year. The really
interesting thing about him was that his jaw was broken. He had a split in his lower jaw that was partially healed
but it was separated right down the middle. In the roof of his mouth was a recent puncture wound from a hook that was still
bleeding. This was next to, but away from the hookset I made so it must have been earlier that day from another fisherman!
What a predator! Not much more to report about the outing except it was very windy and weedy so spinnerbaits were
the only game in town. The water by the launch had a thick film of pine pollen and I had to wade through it to put
the boat back on the trailer. Everything that touched the water that day turned yellow. I'll be hosing off that
pollen for weeks. Moe scored first blood (white Mepps) with a rascally pickerel that got off just at the boat. It was a pretty good sized one.
Water Temp 75.5 Degrees, Air Temp 68 Degrees. Depth 3'
"Moe, if you don't give me a good toss of that bowline, you're swimmin' through this muck to get the boat back!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
50 Fish Day!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, June 16
Okay. If anyone ever questions whether it is worth it to hire a professional fishing guide, tell them this story.
Moe and I went out on the exact same river where we only caught ONE fish the previous week
(see below) using a very similar technique and equipment and today we caught somewhere in the neighborhood of
50 fish! We went out with Captain Paul Bois of
White Birch Guide Service and he provided us with the fishing experience of our lives (to date). I first met Paul a couple of
years ago after I bought his old guide boat. He promised I would have good luck with it and so far I'm very
happy. We got to the Saco boat launch at 0530 and met up with Paul and his 20' Lund Alaskan.
He had everything rigged and ready and we were on the water in no time. We beat it down the river to the
mouth and started to troll orange tube rigs with a sandworm trailer mated to a Berkley Power Sandworm as
a keeper/teaser. Paul makes his own tubes and they are not weighted. We used leadcore line to get the tubes
down. We put out three colors (90 feet) and trolled along the jetties. I took first blood almost right away.
It was undersized, but a good battler. My rod then scored again and because of our dismal performance
last week, I handed the rod over to Moe thinking this may be it for the day and I didn't want him to be shut out.
Happily, I was completely wrong and we scored more fish as the day went by. Moe was smart and nabbed a
keeper for the cooler. I had a few that might have been keepers but decided to return them. As the day
went by, we caught more fish but none in the slot. I went home empty handed but happy. I was happy
because at least I caught the biggest fish of the day which was a really nice 28 incher which fought
and danced on the surface. What a day. We won't forget it. Thanks to Captain Bois for showing us what we were
doing wrong and providing us with a great time, on a great day, landing some great fish. Even though I did luck into
the big one for the day, Moe "I'm Results Oriented" Hesseltine went home with dinner of fresh caught striped bass!
Water Temp 55 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 3' -10'
"I'm very happy. But I could be happier!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
We Are Humbled
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, June 8
Why is this man NOT smiling while holding this fish? Because it was the ONLY fish we caught all day!!!
While literally EVERYONE around us was catching dozens of beautiful stripers, we only managed one fish!
We have never been so humbled. We thought we would go out and get a preview of the experience we were going to have with
a professional fishing guide the next week and all we did was embarass ourselves. In any case, Moe saved the shutout that day
for which we are grateful.
Water Temp 55 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"I can't believe we can't catch a fish!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Stripers Are Here!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, May 31
What a gorgeous day. We're about 2 weeks away from heading out with professional striper guide,
Paul Bois of White Birch Guide Service and we wanted to get some time on the same waters to get to know
it better. We started the day at the Saco Bay Tackle company stocking up on sandworms.
The tote board on the front of the store said that stripers were in the Lower Saco. We put in about 0930 and fished until about 1400.
BC drew first blood with a nice 22" striper on a chartreuse Fin-S with a white leadhead. We noticed bait fish jumping out of the water and
figured there was action about. We released it thinking that the day would bring us more keepers. Bad idea.
Moe scored two more decent stripers later in the day, both 17"'ers. He got them bouncing worms off the bottom on a
with a bank sinker and circle hook. Other guys in the area were catching a lot of small schoolies
on tube and worm rigs. Most of the action was in the shallow elbows of the river.
Water Temp 62 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"Eh, throw him back, we're bound to get more keepers today!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Creature
Balch Pond, Newfield, Maine / Wakefield, NH, Maine, May 26
With a 30% chance of rain, we headed out to a site we found watching, "The Mad Fisherman" Charlie Moore. The odds for rain turned out to be 100% (Is it possible to have 110% rain???)
Again, Moe drew first blood with a pickerel and for a while, we wondered if that was going to be it for the day.
Luckily, we were soon into some nice bass. We started out with a double header and we were both too busy releasing the fish to take any pictures.
With those fish back in the water, we knew there would be more opportunities. BC had a nice day with three nice bass on the white Ninja spinnerbait.
Moe had a couple of nice bass and won the day for total fish caught with numbers in the double digits.
Moe was working the #3 copper Mepps. The big fish for the day was 3lb 7oz.
Oh, and yes, that is BC with a pint of, "The Creature." You can always have time for a Guinness!
Water Temp 59 Degrees, Air Temp 59 Degrees. Depth 4' - 8'
"You can only get so wet."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Up a Frigid River
Androscoggin River, Turner, Maine, May 15
Moe and I took a "Floating Holiday" from work. It was a pretty raw day, gray skies, rainy.
Moe drew first blood with a nice 2lb smallie at the mouth of a stream using a pumpkin "creature" bait. Nice softbait technique Moe!
BC grabbed this 1lb 8oz smallie down by the bridge near the launch on the return trip.
Moe had the big day with 1 smallie (and one that got away), 4 perch, and a pesky pickerel.
BC took up the rear guard with the smallie and 2 yellow perch.
Water Temp 52 Degrees, Air Temp 55 Degrees. Depth 8' - 12'
"Is there a Professional Perch Tour?"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Guide's Day Out
Little Sebago Lake, May 11 "Mother's Day"
The 1% Fish (Weighed 1% of what I do!)
Got this 3lb 5oz one off a rocky hump in the lower bay on a crawfish rattle trap.
He chased it first and then I recast past him and got him on the second go 'round!
Water Temp 58 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 7'
"It's more fun to catch fish than to be the guide!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Down and Dirty
Saco River, Just below the Rte 202 Bridge at Salmon Falls, May 3
Water Temp 53 Degrees, Depth 30' in Fast Moving Current!
Moe got this 1lb'er on a red and white 3/4 oz Deerhair Striped Bass Jig with a white worm trailer!
We saw the fish behind the rocks on the fish finder and he brought it up from the depths
while I worked the boat in the current.
Nice start to the season.
Let the record keeping begin!!!
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Fuhgedaboutit
Willowdale Golf Course, Scarborough, Maine
First Fishing Outing for 2003, April 12, 40 Degrees Air Temp,
?? Degrees Water Temp, Snow Temp??
Jigs, Worms, Lizards, Spinnerbaits
We were shut out!
Gear
50 Fish Day!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, June 16
Okay. If anyone ever questions whether it is worth it to hire a professional fishing guide, tell them this story. Moe and I went out on the exact same river where we only caught ONE fish the previous week (see below) using a very similar technique and equipment and today we caught somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 fish! We went out with Captain Paul Bois of White Birch Guide Service and he provided us with the fishing experience of our lives (to date). I first met Paul a couple of years ago after I bought his old guide boat. He promised I would have good luck with it and so far I'm very happy. We got to the Saco boat launch at 0530 and met up with Paul and his 20' Lund Alaskan. He had everything rigged and ready and we were on the water in no time. We beat it down the river to the mouth and started to troll orange tube rigs with a sandworm trailer mated to a Berkley Power Sandworm as a keeper/teaser. Paul makes his own tubes and they are not weighted. We used leadcore line to get the tubes down. We put out three colors (90 feet) and trolled along the jetties. I took first blood almost right away. It was undersized, but a good battler. My rod then scored again and because of our dismal performance last week, I handed the rod over to Moe thinking this may be it for the day and I didn't want him to be shut out. Happily, I was completely wrong and we scored more fish as the day went by. Moe was smart and nabbed a keeper for the cooler. I had a few that might have been keepers but decided to return them. As the day went by, we caught more fish but none in the slot. I went home empty handed but happy. I was happy because at least I caught the biggest fish of the day which was a really nice 28 incher which fought and danced on the surface. What a day. We won't forget it. Thanks to Captain Bois for showing us what we were doing wrong and providing us with a great time, on a great day, landing some great fish. Even though I did luck into the big one for the day, Moe "I'm Results Oriented" Hesseltine went home with dinner of fresh caught striped bass!
Water Temp 55 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 3' -10'
"I'm very happy. But I could be happier!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
We Are Humbled
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, June 8
Why is this man NOT smiling while holding this fish? Because it was the ONLY fish we caught all day!!!
While literally EVERYONE around us was catching dozens of beautiful stripers, we only managed one fish!
We have never been so humbled. We thought we would go out and get a preview of the experience we were going to have with
a professional fishing guide the next week and all we did was embarass ourselves. In any case, Moe saved the shutout that day
for which we are grateful.
Water Temp 55 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"I can't believe we can't catch a fish!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Stripers Are Here!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, May 31
What a gorgeous day. We're about 2 weeks away from heading out with professional striper guide,
Paul Bois of White Birch Guide Service and we wanted to get some time on the same waters to get to know
it better. We started the day at the Saco Bay Tackle company stocking up on sandworms.
The tote board on the front of the store said that stripers were in the Lower Saco. We put in about 0930 and fished until about 1400.
BC drew first blood with a nice 22" striper on a chartreuse Fin-S with a white leadhead. We noticed bait fish jumping out of the water and
figured there was action about. We released it thinking that the day would bring us more keepers. Bad idea.
Moe scored two more decent stripers later in the day, both 17"'ers. He got them bouncing worms off the bottom on a
with a bank sinker and circle hook. Other guys in the area were catching a lot of small schoolies
on tube and worm rigs. Most of the action was in the shallow elbows of the river.
Water Temp 62 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"Eh, throw him back, we're bound to get more keepers today!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Creature
Balch Pond, Newfield, Maine / Wakefield, NH, Maine, May 26
With a 30% chance of rain, we headed out to a site we found watching, "The Mad Fisherman" Charlie Moore. The odds for rain turned out to be 100% (Is it possible to have 110% rain???)
Again, Moe drew first blood with a pickerel and for a while, we wondered if that was going to be it for the day.
Luckily, we were soon into some nice bass. We started out with a double header and we were both too busy releasing the fish to take any pictures.
With those fish back in the water, we knew there would be more opportunities. BC had a nice day with three nice bass on the white Ninja spinnerbait.
Moe had a couple of nice bass and won the day for total fish caught with numbers in the double digits.
Moe was working the #3 copper Mepps. The big fish for the day was 3lb 7oz.
Oh, and yes, that is BC with a pint of, "The Creature." You can always have time for a Guinness!
Water Temp 59 Degrees, Air Temp 59 Degrees. Depth 4' - 8'
"You can only get so wet."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Up a Frigid River
Androscoggin River, Turner, Maine, May 15
Moe and I took a "Floating Holiday" from work. It was a pretty raw day, gray skies, rainy.
Moe drew first blood with a nice 2lb smallie at the mouth of a stream using a pumpkin "creature" bait. Nice softbait technique Moe!
BC grabbed this 1lb 8oz smallie down by the bridge near the launch on the return trip.
Moe had the big day with 1 smallie (and one that got away), 4 perch, and a pesky pickerel.
BC took up the rear guard with the smallie and 2 yellow perch.
Water Temp 52 Degrees, Air Temp 55 Degrees. Depth 8' - 12'
"Is there a Professional Perch Tour?"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Guide's Day Out
Little Sebago Lake, May 11 "Mother's Day"
The 1% Fish (Weighed 1% of what I do!)
Got this 3lb 5oz one off a rocky hump in the lower bay on a crawfish rattle trap.
He chased it first and then I recast past him and got him on the second go 'round!
Water Temp 58 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 7'
"It's more fun to catch fish than to be the guide!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Down and Dirty
Saco River, Just below the Rte 202 Bridge at Salmon Falls, May 3
Water Temp 53 Degrees, Depth 30' in Fast Moving Current!
Moe got this 1lb'er on a red and white 3/4 oz Deerhair Striped Bass Jig with a white worm trailer!
We saw the fish behind the rocks on the fish finder and he brought it up from the depths
while I worked the boat in the current.
Nice start to the season.
Let the record keeping begin!!!
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Fuhgedaboutit
Willowdale Golf Course, Scarborough, Maine
First Fishing Outing for 2003, April 12, 40 Degrees Air Temp,
?? Degrees Water Temp, Snow Temp??
Jigs, Worms, Lizards, Spinnerbaits
We were shut out!
Gear
Stripers Are Here!
Lower Saco River, Saco, Maine, May 31
What a gorgeous day. We're about 2 weeks away from heading out with professional striper guide, Paul Bois of White Birch Guide Service and we wanted to get some time on the same waters to get to know it better. We started the day at the Saco Bay Tackle company stocking up on sandworms. The tote board on the front of the store said that stripers were in the Lower Saco. We put in about 0930 and fished until about 1400. BC drew first blood with a nice 22" striper on a chartreuse Fin-S with a white leadhead. We noticed bait fish jumping out of the water and figured there was action about. We released it thinking that the day would bring us more keepers. Bad idea. Moe scored two more decent stripers later in the day, both 17"'ers. He got them bouncing worms off the bottom on a with a bank sinker and circle hook. Other guys in the area were catching a lot of small schoolies on tube and worm rigs. Most of the action was in the shallow elbows of the river.
Water Temp 62 Degrees, Air Temp 65 Degrees. Depth 6'
"Eh, throw him back, we're bound to get more keepers today!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Creature
Balch Pond, Newfield, Maine / Wakefield, NH, Maine, May 26
With a 30% chance of rain, we headed out to a site we found watching, "The Mad Fisherman" Charlie Moore. The odds for rain turned out to be 100% (Is it possible to have 110% rain???)
Again, Moe drew first blood with a pickerel and for a while, we wondered if that was going to be it for the day.
Luckily, we were soon into some nice bass. We started out with a double header and we were both too busy releasing the fish to take any pictures.
With those fish back in the water, we knew there would be more opportunities. BC had a nice day with three nice bass on the white Ninja spinnerbait.
Moe had a couple of nice bass and won the day for total fish caught with numbers in the double digits.
Moe was working the #3 copper Mepps. The big fish for the day was 3lb 7oz.
Oh, and yes, that is BC with a pint of, "The Creature." You can always have time for a Guinness!
Water Temp 59 Degrees, Air Temp 59 Degrees. Depth 4' - 8'
"You can only get so wet."
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Up a Frigid River
Androscoggin River, Turner, Maine, May 15
Moe and I took a "Floating Holiday" from work. It was a pretty raw day, gray skies, rainy.
Moe drew first blood with a nice 2lb smallie at the mouth of a stream using a pumpkin "creature" bait. Nice softbait technique Moe!
BC grabbed this 1lb 8oz smallie down by the bridge near the launch on the return trip.
Moe had the big day with 1 smallie (and one that got away), 4 perch, and a pesky pickerel.
BC took up the rear guard with the smallie and 2 yellow perch.
Water Temp 52 Degrees, Air Temp 55 Degrees. Depth 8' - 12'
"Is there a Professional Perch Tour?"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
The Guide's Day Out
Little Sebago Lake, May 11 "Mother's Day"
The 1% Fish (Weighed 1% of what I do!)
Got this 3lb 5oz one off a rocky hump in the lower bay on a crawfish rattle trap.
He chased it first and then I recast past him and got him on the second go 'round!
Water Temp 58 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 7'
"It's more fun to catch fish than to be the guide!"
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Down and Dirty
Saco River, Just below the Rte 202 Bridge at Salmon Falls, May 3
Water Temp 53 Degrees, Depth 30' in Fast Moving Current!
Moe got this 1lb'er on a red and white 3/4 oz Deerhair Striped Bass Jig with a white worm trailer!
We saw the fish behind the rocks on the fish finder and he brought it up from the depths
while I worked the boat in the current.
Nice start to the season.
Let the record keeping begin!!!
Click the Pictures to Enlarge
Fuhgedaboutit
Willowdale Golf Course, Scarborough, Maine
First Fishing Outing for 2003, April 12, 40 Degrees Air Temp,
?? Degrees Water Temp, Snow Temp??
Jigs, Worms, Lizards, Spinnerbaits
We were shut out!
Gear
Up a Frigid River
Androscoggin River, Turner, Maine, May 15
Moe and I took a "Floating Holiday" from work. It was a pretty raw day, gray skies, rainy.
Moe drew first blood with a nice 2lb smallie at the mouth of a stream using a pumpkin "creature" bait. Nice softbait technique Moe! BC grabbed this 1lb 8oz smallie down by the bridge near the launch on the return trip.
Moe had the big day with 1 smallie (and one that got away), 4 perch, and a pesky pickerel.
BC took up the rear guard with the smallie and 2 yellow perch.
Water Temp 52 Degrees, Air Temp 55 Degrees. Depth 8' - 12'
"Is there a Professional Perch Tour?"
The Guide's Day Out
Little Sebago Lake, May 11 "Mother's Day"
The 1% Fish (Weighed 1% of what I do!)
Got this 3lb 5oz one off a rocky hump in the lower bay on a crawfish rattle trap.
He chased it first and then I recast past him and got him on the second go 'round!
Water Temp 58 Degrees, Air Temp 60 Degrees. Depth 7'
"It's more fun to catch fish than to be the guide!"
Down and Dirty
Saco River, Just below the Rte 202 Bridge at Salmon Falls, May 3
Water Temp 53 Degrees, Depth 30' in Fast Moving Current!
Moe got this 1lb'er on a red and white 3/4 oz Deerhair Striped Bass Jig with a white worm trailer! We saw the fish behind the rocks on the fish finder and he brought it up from the depths while I worked the boat in the current.
Nice start to the season.
Let the record keeping begin!!!
