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Officially Closed! |
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| Thanks for Giving | Too Cold? | Lightning Stikes Twice | Shoot and Release |
| MonsterDale | Clammin' the River | Long Pond 2004 | Bald Eagle | Tricky Trickey | Fourth at Annie's | Curse is Broken |
| Saco River Tubes | Girl's Night Out | Cobbosee Tourney | TCP 2 | Higgy Baby | Zen of Fishing | M13B2 |
| Why We Fish | Skelton Dam | Mother's Day | Tiny Acorns | Got Fish? | Fishing Expo | Leap of Faith |
| GOTO Lure | Boat News | Products | 2003 Stories | 2005 Stories | 2006 Stories |
Stripped |
Dropped Off |
Waiting for Shrink Wrap |
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Well, it's only a few days until Thanksgiving and the season is officially over for me today, Saturday, November 20. I stripped the boat of all of her
equipment and got her ready to store at Richardson's on Sebago Lake. It's ironic that the boat has
waterfront property on Sebago Lake! I just want to say thanks to everyone who came out in the boat this year
with me. I had a great year, full of great times. It is always at least twice as fun when there are
people along to share in the experience and even though I could fish every day of my life, I tend to want
to stay out longer when there are others aboard. I just wanted to thank everyone who took the time to go out
on the boat and share the experience of what a big part of living in Maine is all about. So much of what this
website is about is due to the fact that there was someone there to take some pictures, supply the quote of the day,
or just basically have a shared common experience. It was a strange year. We fished a lot of new places and generally had a great time. We caught some of the biggest fish we ever have and at the same time had a terrible year for striped bass. We really enjoyed fishing at Ann's new camp on Three Cornered Pond in Augusta. What a great bass fishery. We had some really memorable times at Willowdale. I caught my first fish on a fly rod this year at the Skelton dam and continued to enjoy fly fishing for bass at Willowdale and over at the Limington Rip. I went striper fishing a few times with John when he wasn't on a cruise, but they remain elusive for me. That day will come, I'm sure. We had a slower than usual year at Long Pond, but the potential there is amazing. You never know when you're going to get into a Northern Pike. We fished our first "tournament" organized by Matt. Maybe we'll do more of this. I got stopped by wardens this year more than any other season. Three times I had to show them my safety equipment and they even looked in my cooler to see if I had any illeagal fish in there. I'm always licensed. I even bought a seven day license when we went to the Adirondacks to Upper Saranac Lake. I think if we go back there, I will bring the boat. It was a long three days without access to a good fishing boat on waters that look like they could be fantastic. Speaking of the boat, it gave me very little problems this year. I started the season with some new wheel bearings which held up fine all season. I think we put more miles getting places this year for fishing than we have in the past. We made some regular trips up to Ann's which is an hour or so away and also saw most of Cumberland and York Counties. Little Sebago Lake was very good to us this year when in years past, it was kind of slow. The boat launch there is pretty crowded and there were a few times I had to wait to launch and then park out on the access road. That lake really needs more parking and even better, more launches. Can you get tired of using the same lure? I mean, if it is catching a lot of fish, and you have confidence in it, shouldn't you force yourself to use something different. It was really hard to put down the Wacky Worm with a 5" or 6" Yum Dinger in Bumblebee Swirl pattern. I am going to force myself to try different things next year, but it is very, very hard to put down something that is so successful. It is almost automatic. I still have about 5 bags of worms left over. I hope you enjoyed reading our adventures and looking at some of the pictures. Unless I happen to catch some sea run brown trout this winter, The next time we crack open the Fish Stories 2005 website, we'll be punching through the ice somewhere. Stay tuned to the PelagicZone.com for the 2005 adventures. BC-out. |
| Thanks for the memories. |
Pickerelicle |
Perchicle |
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| Can it be too cold to fish? We don't think so. We took a little trip out to Little Ossippee Flowage, better known around these parts as Lake Arrowhead. The boat was a little hard to start being so cold and all. The water was only 48 degrees. The fishing was slow, but Moe managed to save the shutout with a pickerel(icle) and Matt, who was a first-timer out on the old USS Cook, got a perch(icle). Both of them should be ashamed!!! As Matt would say, "we didn't catch any real fish." BC got no fish, just guide points. Air temp must have been around 50 when we weren't moving. It was about 30 when we were running across the water. |
| Nothing memorable, just cold. |
Nice, enough |
Second Look |
The Monster |
One More Time |
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| Sometimes you wish there was a guy with a video camera just following you around. Today would have been one of those days. Moe and I decided to head over to Willowdale after work to get some fishin in before din-din. I had been telling and retelling my story about catching MonsterDale at the beginning of the month. We even went back there in the middle of September to hunt for him under the oak tree with no luck. On that trip a few weeks ago, Moe broke the spell and caught his first fish at Willowdale. I was still pretty upset that I didn't have a picture of the Monster from the beginning of the month. I had even been to cards with Kevin Huber who used to be my regular fishing partner at Willowdale and told him about the fish. Tonight, Moe was fishing.... you guessed it.... say after me (in a loud voice), "The Wacky Worm, Yum Dinger, Bumblebee Swirl, 5 Inch" and he caught nice 2lb'r. He was pretty happy with it. It was the biggest fish he had ever caught at Willowdale. I was pretty spoiled from catching the Monster before, but still felt happy for him. A few casts later, he pitched his Wacky Worm over to the right of the culverts and let his worm sink to the bottom. Something picked it up and ran straight for the deep water. Moe applied pressure, but the fish started taking drag. It was a steady pull. Moe adjusted his drag and I ran to the truck for the camera. You could see the huge swirl under the water, but the fish never came up. I could tell from the bend in his rod, that this was no 2 lb'r. I was screaming at him to not lose the fish. Just like a few weeks ago, when I had the Monster on the line, his rod was bent over and he couldn't just horse him out of the water by the fishing line. I yelled at him to just pull it up on the bank. By the time I could get the words out, he had already had the fish on shore. Then the fish separated from the fishing line. I was freaking out!!! I yelled at Moe to dive on the fish and throw it up farther on the bank. IT WAS HUGE!!! Moe got down on all fours and just threw it up the bank like a piece of cord wood. It was so big, it hardly flopped. Immediately I recognized this as The Monster!!! He was back. The same fish I had caught on September 2 was right in front of me and this time, I had the camera. I had Moe take a few poses with the fish and then we held it up against the spare tire for perspective. I included the picture against the tire in a story below because this was definitely the same fish I caught. There is NO WAY that there are two fish in Willowdale of that same size. Moe put the fish back in the water and returned to his pole. I knew exactly how he felt. He said his knees were shaking and that is what happens to you when you get a really big fish. When he looked at his line, the top part of the shaft of the hook was still tied to the line. THE HOOK BROKE OFF in the fish's mouth and that is why he separated on the bank!!!! You can't make this stuff up! We were laughing and screamin' and generally making a spectacle of ourselves to make the golfers feel uncomfortable. Nobody is supposed to have that much fun at a golf course. I was so fired up that I finally had a picture of that fish, and that someone else was there to see it too. We used Moe's digital scale to weigh it and it was 5.0lbs even! Whew, just writing about this is making me smile. I hope that whoever catches that big guy the next time will put him back in the water. He is such a magnificent fish for that little pond. On the ride back home, we were wondering if that fish would ever trust eating anything again, especially a Bumblebee Swirl Wacky Worm!!!! Atta boy MOE!!! |
| I can't lift it out of the water!!! |
Kangamagus Highway |
Drivin' |
Future Fishermen |
Go Fish! |
Rock N Roll |
The Mutha's |
Mr. Pike |
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| Upper Saranac Lake is the kind of place where the other-half lives and plays. At almost any moment you expect a butler named Jeeves to step from behind a rock and offer you a cold one. Ah, fishin' with the landed gentry. We drove out to the Adirondacks for Labor Day weekend. It was my first extra-Maine fishing adventure of the year. We went via the Kangamagus Highway (that is how it's spelled by the way), and everyone (even Bonnie) liked the mountains. While we were there, we did the usual mass consumption of stuff you mass consume and generally had a great time. The kiddos had a mini fishing derby where the caught fish were kept in a small inflatable boat so they could be pricked and prodded. I managed to catch another one of those strange "Fall Fish" or chubs as they are called. It was a big minnow. The kids thought it was pretty cool too. Marcus Richer, "Mr. Pike" as he was known about those parts, had just caught a pike the day before we arrived. He was pretty proud of that fish, as he should be. We took the group photos on one of the many HUGE bolders that are just laying around out there. The kids took turns shootin' arrows and BB guns. At night, we had a fireworks display that would have rivaled "Apocalypse Now." The fishing wasn't spectacular, but the shootin' was good. Shoot and Release! |
| I got a PIKE!!! |
BucketMouth |
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It was the most amazing thing. I went over to Willowdale at about 1830. I had just come back
from dinner with Elizabeth and had a few 20oz Mich Ultras. After about 15 minutes (and about 5 small bass),
I needed to take a leak. I went over by those oak trees to the left of the culverts and did my thing.
I was fishing Wacky Worms, Bumblebee of course. I decided to try to flip one under the low hanging branches.
On my first cast, I had a bass. Decent size, probably a lb. Then, I found that if I whipped the wacky worm
at the surface of the water very hard it would skip out under the branches. I skipped the worm out about 25'
and let it sink. I had a few twitches and then a steady pull back on the line. Rather than "set the hook"
I just kept a steady pressure on the line and soon I was into a battle. It was a really nice fish, about 2.5lbs.
It took a lot of drag and when I got it close to shore, I was able to lift it on shore by the fishing line.
I did this technique for about 20 more minutes and caught some more nice fish. They definitely hang out under
those oak trees. On one of my bounce casts, under the tree and near the shore, I got a nibble. I did the
same thing as last time and just applied pressure to the line. The line started going from left to right
under the water. All of a sudden, a HUGE splash on the surface. I knew this was way bigger than the 2.5lb'r.
I kept a steady pressure on the line while he took drag and played him for a good five minutes or so. I got him
to shore but the rod was bent over. I couldn't lift him out of the water by the rod. I thought the rod would
break. I reeled in as much line as I could and dragged him on shore. Not the most graceful exit, but the bank
is steep there and I thought I would fall into the water. When I got him on shore, I could not believe the
size of him. He looked like he had just swallowed a whole bullfrog or something. His belly was huge. I
could put my whole fist into his mouth with room to spare. I held him up and he stretched from my knee to
the ground. I could not believe it! I was holding it up to some guys on the 18th green, but they didn't
seem to care. Golfers. I went over to the truck with the fish, hoping I had a disposable camera or something.
Nothing. I held him up against the wheel of my truck and he stretched from the top of the rim on my wheel
to the ground. I was trying to get as many measurements of him as I could to remember him and explain his
size with some perspective. I took him back and tossed him back into the water. He disappeared under the tree.
I caught a few other small fish after that and then the mosquitos came out in force and the fishing seemed to
shut down at that point.I have to say, without a doubt, this was my biggest bass of the year and probably the
biggest bass I've caught in three years. I was blown away!!! From now on, I will definitely check out the
area under those oak trees with the skip cast. I was so pissed that there was no one there to see it and
I didn't bring my digital camera. I only went over there thinking I'd get a few casts in. Willowdale is back!!!
I've got the scratches on my thumb to prove it! UPDATE: The picture above is from the 9/30/2004 adventure, make sure you read "Lightning Strikes Twice" above!!! |
| Hubes is not going to believe this one!!! |
Keeper Clam! |
Where's the shell? |
They have bass in here too?  |
Got another one! |
| Can you name this fish Click Here!  |
Nice One! |
Nicer One! |
Nicest One! |
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We hadn't been back to the Androscoggin River all year, so Moe and I decided to head out on a warm Friday night
for some river smallies. The Big A is famous for them and we've scouted out a few spots over the past few
years that are pretty productive. There is still a lot of water to explore, so we'll keep going back again and again.
This night, we had one of the strangest adventures we have ever had. Moe was trolling a Mepps Comet off the
back of the boat, when he noticed he had something on. He reeled it in to discover that he had caught a
fresh water clam!!! Can you believe it. We laughed ourselves silly. BC had been catching some nice smallies
on his "secret weapon", a 10' diving crankbait in a red crawfish pattern. It landed a beauty on the first cast
of the night. Now we thought it was strange that Moe could catch a clam on a hook, until he caught another one!!!
Two clams on a Mepps Comet! I've caught crabs on plugs before, but they can move around. Clams from my
experience don't swim after bait and then attack it. Both clams were on there so tightly, Moe had to remove them
with pliers. To continue the weirdness, I then caught two fish I had never seen before. They were huge minnnows,
about 14" long. Press the picture to see what it actually is and then press the back button to get right back
here to the action!!! Anyway, if you did check out that picture, you might be interested to know that the
world record for that species was caught right here in good old Maine and it was over 3lbs!!! That's one big
minnow! After these two strange experiencs, we drifted down the river to where there were some exposed rocks and caught some really nice smallies. They were in the 2lb range. You'd swear a 2lb smallie was bigger because they are so long and strong. Largemouths of the same length are much more lethargic I find. Anyway, we had to toss back the clams because Moe didn't have his clammin' license and you don't want to take stuff home from the Androscoggin River. Especially creatures that live in the mud. |
| What are those clams thinking??? |
| Fly Fishin' Smallies  |
Matt D's 1st Bass |
Zak - The Casting Machine!  |
Trey - Reelin' |
The Lads |
Matt L. - Got 'em! |
Katie L. - Oh Yeah! |
EC - Me Too!!! |
| Mount this on the wall!  |
Impress me! |
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What a year this has been. We went to London, England in June, had the best fishing of our lives in July,
and spent one great week on one of Maine's most beautiful lakes, Long Pond. All of our vacations are made
more enjoyable by the folks that come up to visit us. We love company, and I love to give kids a chance
to go fishin' as much as possible. This year was no different. Actually, it was the best year ever since
the kids are starting to come into an age where they can all fish for themselves, bait their own hooks, and
cast their own lines! Untangling the lines is still the job of the grown-ups! Here's some shots of just some of the fish we caught. Long Pond never disappoints and there were adventures for everyone to remember. We caught everything there was to catch in the lake for warm water species. We even got some of the infamous Northern Pike that patrol these waters. I got a new Rapala lip grabber right before vacation and boy did it come in handy on those toothesome critters. Even Bonnie the dog, who hates to have her picture taken, "posed" for one in the boat. Thanks to everyone who stopped by. We hope that you will come back again next year and we can add to the memories. |
| Got another one!!! That's 15! |
Majestic
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| There is more to see than just fishing when you head out on a quiet evening. Here is a picture of a Bald Eagle I took while out casting on Little Sebago Lake. I was fishing along a bank, when I heard a party barge pull up. Somebody on board yelled, "There he is!!!" I thought they were talking about me. When I turned my head, the huge eagle flew over me and landed in the tree. I couldn't get too close to take the picture, but here he is in all his patriotic glory. It's great to be an American and enjoying our bountiful natural resources. |
| You talkin' to me? Not you, the bird!!! |
Hula, Hula
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| Trickey Pond has been getting a lot of attention in the paper. It seems like this is one of the IFW's favorite spots to report on. We had been up there on the ice this winter and did pretty good (some are better than nothing). If you look at the first fish story for 2004 (scroll down) you will see what I mean. Anyway, John and Jack Rouselle came along for a cold and foggy night of endless casting only to produce a few small smallies and one decent bass that John took on the legendary Arbogast Hula Popper. I was just about to snicker that the popper was best used on a hot still night in amongst the weeds, when John landed this nice one in open water. Jack learned a valuable lesson about spinning reels when he managed to get an enormous snarl that resulted in a complete reload of line on his reel. He's learning. We tried to impress upon him that he has to at least glance down at his reel between casts in case a loop starts to form that could spell trouble later on. See the quote of the day for our sage advice. We must have said it 100 times between John and I. Eventually he'll get it. In the meantime, keep those clippers handy. For the first time in a long time, the wacky worm let us down. |
| Jack, Watch your reel! |
Mary, Nice One!
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Average
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Ben and Mary
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Bumblebee Swirl
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Above Average
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Worth a Second Look
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| We went up to Annie's for the 4th and everybody came along. It was really a lot of fun. We caught so many fish that we stopped taking pictures. On one of our cocktail cruises, Mary decided to have a go. On her first cast she was into a 3 lb'r and it was a very nice fish. Ben went with us on all of our trips and he figured out that the boat makes a nice diving platform. As soon as we would get close to shore, he'd hop up on the bow and do his best Greg Louganis imitation. Even with a Springer Spaniel splashing around the place, we still caught a boatload of nice fish. Most were over 2 lbs. We were using the YUM Dinger bumblebee swirl senko, wacky style. Unbeatable. Everyone we talk to is using this particular worm and they are getting hard to find in the stores. We think we found it out ahead of everyone. I had been using it at the end of last year and man alive, is it one hell of a bait. On Sunday afternoon, Moe was fishing off the dock while Ida was sunning herself. He laid into a monster that must have been close to 4 lbs. I was in the boat around the corner tying on a new hook when I heard a compliment coming from Ron Henderson who was going by in his boat, Ann's neighbor. I thought it was one of those "golf compliments" where you over compensate for somebody's mediocre performance because it seems like the thing to do when you are golfing. Well, this fish was no mediocre specimen. And we have the picture right here to prove it. Nice fish Moe. TCP continues to hold a huge number of bass and we are just lovin' it. |
| I feel like I should write a letter to YUM about this bait! |
Finally!
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3 Lbs
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3 Lb'r
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Not Complaining
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Played
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Laid
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Weighed
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| Moe has always had a hard time at Little Sebago. We have engine or battery trouble, get shut out, and all kinds of other unproductive stuff seems to happen there. That night the starting battery was low and we weren't sure we would even be able to make it back. We even had a thunder and lightning storm while we were out there. The invisible friends of fishing were not pleased, but we were determined to break the curse. When I go by myself, I seem to do pretty well. We were going to meet up with John Rousselle and do some fishing near his camp up there. John got distracted and couldn't come out until later. In the meantime, Moe and I fished some areas where I had luck before. We had a great night. Moe got numerous 3 lb fish and I did too. The funniest thing happened when I landed a 4.4 lb largemouth. It was really something spectacular. On light tackle, I got her to the boat. We had a fish that didn't recover too well earlier that night. I wanted to measure and weigh this monster to see how it would stack up. Once I saw how big it was, I was so concerned about getting her back in the water and revived that I FORGOT TO HAVE MY PICTURE TAKEN WITH THE FISH!!!! I said something like, "I think she's ready to go back now" and helped her back into the water. This could be my biggest largemouth of the year and I don't have a picture holding it. I guess the shots of the fish up against the ruler will have to do. Oh, by the way, notice the smile on Moe. He never smiles for pictures. I guess he won't be complaining about slow fishing at Little Sebago anymore. |
| I can't believe I released that fish before taking a picture. IDIOT!!! |
Moe Strikes
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And Again...
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Only 18"
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BC's Turn
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Paul Reels
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Karl and Don Watched
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| Last year at this time, we went out with Paul Bois and had a 50 fish day. The conditions were exactly as they were that day so we were expecting big things. Moe and I were trying to recreate it on our own. I invited Karl Suchecki, Don Chamberlain, and Paul Aceto to see if we couldn't reproduce last year's amazing day. Unfortunately, we only got 7 stripers. We went out about 0600 and were back by 1130. Moe's 18" shorty was the biggest one of the bunch. It has been a slow year for stripers as far as we have seen. |
| Well, it wasn't a 50 fish day. |
One for Daddy
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Lizzie Gets One
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A Nice Night
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| Elizabeth invited her friend Jordy out for some fishing on the Saco River. We did pretty well on wacky worms and the White Ninja spinner (again!). The girls went swimming in the water which was about 70 degrees at the surface. We found out the emergency boarding ladder is more difficult to use in practice than what you would think. We'll have to upgrade to a better system. Fishing was good, the company was better. |
| Daddy, can you take us again!?! |
Just One of Moe's
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Loon Mommy
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All Day Like This
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The Competition
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| Moe's buddy Matt asked us up to Cobbosee for a little tourney action. We had never done this before, but it sounded like fun. We ended up having a great day with Moe scoring 13 nice largemouths. BC boated 8 nice ones and lost about 5 to bad hook sets. Wacky worms all the way. The Wild Eye shad in baby bass color was working too. We went into this shallow cove by a campground and saw a loon on her nest. Don't think that loons need peace and quiet to hatch out the little ones. This campground was boostin' the tunes and little Mommy Loon was just sitting there with her back to the action and doing her thing. Totally cool. We only fished about 1/5 of this huge lake. |
| There is still a lot of this lake left to explore! |
LM Heaven
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Moe Hits
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And Again!
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| What will become a rite of spring took place this weekend. Ann asked us up to the camp to help put in the dock and float. We were only too happy to oblige, but of course, the boat had to come too. After setting the dock in the water, it was time to get a little line time in. This place is ONE AMAZING fishery. There isn't any public access so the pressure is low. We scored about 15 fish in a couple of hours and then we had to head back home. We'll definitely be back. |
| These mosquitos are thicker than I have ever seen. |
Nice 23"
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| It was a beautiful Friday night for striper fishing. While the volume of stripers wasn't what we expected, John saved us from a shut out. He caught a very nice 23" slot fish on an olive and white fly in about three feet of water. Others fishing with spinning gear were catching shorts with white plastic paddle tail baits. Surface stuff wasn't working. BC enjoyed being out in the water again, but didn't score any hits. Jack was trying out some hip waders for the first time. We ate the evidence. |
| Olive and white. |
Larry
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Sallie
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| I'm no Buddhist, but there is a zen thing about the sound of "one hand clapping." Well, when it is a beautiful day out and there's nobody around to go fishing with, you need to perform all the tricks in the book to catch and photograph the fish! Today was a great day. I fished off the inside of Grape Island in Little Sebago Lake and the fish were TURNED ON!!! Later in the day, the wind came up and I ducked in behind a point of land and fished the shore with wacky worms (Bumblebee Swirl). Most of the fish I caught were hiding in shadows by the banks but there were some that were using large bolders for cover. I really could have used a second hand to take pictures. It was a full day. The smallie might not look it, but that girl was about 3+ lbs. I have to hold it down on the float to take the picture. It was about 18" long when held up against my minimum striper marks which are 20". I caught another Larry that was about 4# but I couldn't get a picture. He was hooked in the throat and I needed to do everything I could to extricate the hook. I ended up cutting the line and letting him swim away with the hook in to rust out. I think it was a "She" Larry since she was all loose skinned and I think she had recently laid her eggs. |
| I hope this thing focuses at arm's length! |
"M13 B2"
Three Cornered Pond, Auguster
May 30
Water Stained, Air Temp 50, Water Temp. 60?
Visiting Fish
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| Ann had a sleep-over at her new camp. It was very windy, but the fish were bitin'. BC had pretty good luck with the fishing using Bumblebee swirl Yum senkos and chartreuse Ninja spinnerbaits. We found the boat launch and there is a lot of great potential on this pond for big bass. This little guy was one that I had to bring inside to get a picture because nobody could hear me calling for the camera from outside. It was so windy that a branch came down and poked a hole in the garage roof. I was fishin around in the garage for shingles and nails. |
| Was that hole always there? |
Nice Back Cast
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Roll Cast
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Fal Da Ree!!!
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Nice Shot!
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Ten Hut!
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Whatta Crew
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| People ask why we fish. It's easier to answer when put in context. Our lovely ladies begged us kicking and screaming to come out golfing with them. Since we had already had a wonderful time on the Saco catching smallies, it was time to show that we had other natural talents. Unfortunately, today wouldn't be that day. We needed a Cray Supercomputer to add up the scores (except for Ida and Mary of course). As an added bonus, we took home door prizes which we found later. They weren't explosive, but they did tick. |
| I had SIX of em on me! |
Decent Pickerel
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First Fish on Quantum Reel 
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Smallie. Get it?
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Meet Mr.Pickerel
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Nice Little Sallie
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Big Hands, Smallmouth 
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| What we lacked in size, we made up in numbers. We caught about 20 total fish this day. BC had about 12, mostly smallmouths. He also caught a pretty good sized pickerel and a black crappie on a red rattle trap jigged vertically. There was a lot of blood in the boat. BC managed to jam a thick jig hook into the fleshy part of the thumb. Luckily the barb didn't sink in. A few fish were hooked deep and contributed some more blood to the deck. Thank your Invisible Friend for vinyl decking. |
| That's a good one, but Mary's crappie on Long Pond was at least twice that size. |
Moe First Blood
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Another View
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BC Brings One In
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| Just like last year, we gave our wives a break and got out of the house. It was all for them, we didn't really WANT to go (Hee Hee). Well, the weather finally warmed up and we got out on some big water. Thompson Lake is my FAVORITE spot in Maine for just plain beautiful surroundings and crystal clear water. The fishing was slow, only two fish, but we felt it was time well spent. The water is so clear, BC saw a crayfish walking around out in the open in water about 5' deep. A WWII trainer flew over us that day. While the fishing was slow, everything else was great. |
| "I bought this spinner thing out of the back of Bassmaster magazine" - Moe |
Little Larry Largemouth
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Ripples in Still Water
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| First fish of 2004. From tiny acorns mighty oaks grow. BC scores this nice little Larry. As you can see, it is a little under 1 Lb. All I can say is, "Wacky Worm." According to triptracks.com, the ponds at Willowdale are actually part of Mill Brook. The other day when I was there, the water was coming over the road between the ponds. You'd never know it to look at the tranquil spot today. Moe was upset that he hasn't been mentioned at all this year yet. Moe, get a line in the water first!!! |
| "How come I'm not mentioned at all this year?" - Moe Hesseltine |
Snow Kidding
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Royal (Pain!) River
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Uh.... No. This is a combined report for the first week of open-water fishing season. We got hammered with a deluge of rain which made the rivers run wild and then it snowed! Welcome to Maine in the Spring. Ice-out hasn't officially happened yet, but we're getting there quickly. It could be very soon that we have something more substantial to report. |
| "You gotta be kiddin' me." |
BC at Beans
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Fly Casting School
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Snowman Fly Fisherman
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| Last year we started a tradition of going to some Spring fishing expos. We went to hear Bobby Murray at the Kittery Trading Post and it was a pretty good lecture. This year, we went up to Bean's for their annual Spring fishing expo and we learned something about catching trophy stripers, fishing for stripers with fly rods, and we listened to Jim Teeny speak. He is one of the gods of salt water fly fishing. Unfortunately for us, he was more interested in pushing his bonefish resort in the Bahamas than teaching us anything practical about saltwater fly fishing. I nearly fell out of my chair asleep. He then made the confession that he had never even fished for stripers in the surf!!! I guess you have to cater to all kinds of saltwater fly fishing, but I would contend that most of the guys in that tent were looking for striped bass stories, not Bahamian cocktail lounge slides. |
| "Someday I'm going to have to come East and catch one of those stripers in the ocean." - Jim Teeny |
Splake, Brookie, 3lb Smallie
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Lucky Jack
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Hell's Anglers
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Rousselle's Custom Trap
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Say AHHHH
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Mr. Splake!
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Happy Leap Year Everybody!!! The 2004 Season is off to a Great Start! John Rousselle and his son Jack took BC out for a day of ice fishing on Trickey Pond in Naples.
The day was absolutely gorgeous. The temps got up to around 50 degrees which is HOT for a Maine February day. We had 5 hits
on the John Rousselle custom tip-ups resulting in 2 really nice Smallies and one decent 13" Splake. The smallies were 3lbs and 2lbs, respectively and were
taken in shallow water near shore on smelts. The ice was about 3' thick so we drove out. We were mentioned in the next Maine Sunday Telegram in the outdoor
section after being interviewed by the IF&W biologist. Let's bring on the open water! |
| "Ann Marie would kill me if she knew we were driving on the ice." |
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On The Water |
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The GOTO lure for 2004 was officially... The YUM Dinger Bumblebee Swirl. This lure never failed us during the entire year. Whenever we couldn't get anything else to bite, this lure produced for us. We became totally dependent on it at the sake of all other lures. I even bought 10 bags of these things during the season as they started to become scarce in the stores. We can't recommend them highly enough. If you can only fish one lure, make it a Bumblebee Swirl, Wacky Style of course! |
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Trailer Damage
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Deck Refastening
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| We stated the season with pictures of the boat in snow, and we're finishing with thoughts to next year. We had some slight damage to the hull caused but the bow jumping out of the front roller. I solved this by buying and installing a wider roller. I'm going to have to file down some of the rough spots and repaint next year. That's not too bad since I have my Desert Storm surplus camo paint. I'm also going to have to figure out how to refasten a small (8" x 8") section of decking that has pulled up in the back near the big gas tank. It's not important structurally, but it looks silly. There is a load of leaves and pine needles under the panel that I will have to scoop out. Oh well, that's something to contemplate for the next four months until it is time to get her back from Richardson's. |
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