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The 2005 Season is Officially CLOSED!
See You Next Year!
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Late Season Action!
Cape Cod and Long Island Sound
Month of October
Don Chase off Cape Cod
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Jeff's 30"
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Close-Up 30"
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Major Egan's 40"
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Another View
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The open water and saltwater seasons are pretty much over here in Maine, but South of here
they are still going strong. Here's a couple of pictures that were sent in by folks who are
still out there in the Pelagic Zone. Congrats to Don Chase for that beauty he hauled in
off of Cape Cod. The best part is that he figured out a way to combine fishing with working. That's
something I wish he had taught me a few months ago.
Major Egan, fresh back from Iraq, managed to get his priorities back in order quickly and was out
on the water on Long Island Sound where he and his buddy Jeff managed a few respectable Stripers
heading on their way back to the Winter spawning grounds of the Hudson River and Chesapeake Bay!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Is Striper on the menu?
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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Now That's a Bass!!!
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Mr. Pike is Now Mr. Striper!
Saco Bay, Old Orchard Beach
September 04
Mr. Striper
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Nice Schoolie
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Excuse me while I get all blubbery, but Man, there is nothing better than the look on
Marcus' face when he caught the biggest fish of his life! Marcus comes from Tupper Lake, NY
in the Adirondack Mountains. He lives on the shore of Racquette Pond and was previously known in
those parts as Mr. Pike for his ability to catch Northern Pike using hamburger meat. He passed
on going to Aquaboggan with the other kids so that he could come out fishing with us on the Labor
Day weekend. Literally on his first cast, using surf clams as bait, he hooked into this very nice
28" Striper! He played it like a champ and when it came time to hold up the fish for the picture, he
jammed his thumb right into the Striper's mouth like he was an old pro! He wouldn't to that with
a Northern though. Smart kid. Just take another look at that face. We didn't have to tell him to
smile for the picture. He couldn't stop smilin' all day.
Tony Litka, from Hanover, MA landed the second Striper of the day in about 3 feet of water right off the
Ferry Beach sandbar. It was a nice schoolie and provide for some action. The crabs were fierce that
day and were loving our stinky surf clams a little too much.
Thanks to Tony, Jeff Coon, Mike Richer, and especially Marcus Richer for a great day out on the
water. Hopefully Mr. Striper will come back soon and head out on another Striper trip.
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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My Arms Hurt!!!
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Guest Submission!!!
Maine River between Pocomoonshine & Crawford Lakes
September 04
Moose Charge!
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Dick Miles - PZ Pro Staff!
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One of the greatest compliments to the website is when we get the rare guest submission. We love
to get them to extend the experiences of fellow fishermen and then they will send out the link to
others. This giant largemouth is one example of the great fishing there is in Maine which a lot
of people don't know about. The photographic evidence is always the best way to demonstrate the
quality fishing and when you can catch the picture with the scale, then there is no argument.
This picture and story comes in from our Washington County bureau of the PelagicZone from our
field reporter, Dick Miles.
The 5.3 pound bucket-mouth was taken by Dale Lewis on the Maine River between Pocomoonshine
and Crawford Lakes; the moose in the background probably weighted about 700 pounds, not
very big anyway, but it was just one of some dozen meese they saw that day on that watershed.
Do you use braided line for a moose?
Dick's tip of the week:
I kill the bass (big & small mouthed ones) with Berkley Power Slugs (the 6" in black,
but with the tail dipped in yellow "Spike-it" juice); IT CATCHES HAWGS!!! Actually, I'm a Berkley
freak, all of my confidence baits are made by them. I had a fantastic day last Saturday
with 7" Berkley Jerk Shad(s), great big, fat soft plastic baits; my God the largemouth
love those critters in brackish water.
That's a great tip. On a side-note, for that Hula-Popper guy we both know, have him remove the
rear treble hook and tie on a wacky worm with about a 10" leader. He can then suspend the wacky
worm over the cover and the popping noise on the surface will attract the hawgs, while the wacky
worm dangling below will get the job done. It is the best of all worlds.
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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IT CATCHES HAWGS!!!
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Major Egan Fish Op One!
Sunbeam Charter, Waterford, CT
July 31
There Be Cannibals!
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Matt on the Rail
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First Striper!
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Biggest Striper - Pool Winner!
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Brothers Egan
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Fightin' Chair
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"Coach" Chris
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Just Happy to Be There
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"Dudes"
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The Trophy
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Mess O' Blues
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The Contenders
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"Biscuit" - Good Guy!
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Bluefish Anyone?
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The Crew!
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We left out of Waterford, CT with Captain Matt and First Mate "Buiscuit"
to go for stripers and blues in "The Race." Major Egan was
back from Baghdad for his two week leave and we put together this
"surprise" fishing trip with 13 good guys who wanted to come out
and celebrate his brief return and service to our country. We
caught a huge number of blues and probably about nine stripers. Three
of them were keepers and one of them was a nice 22#'r. We had
a great boat with an expert Captain who put us on fish immediately
and kept us on fish all day. By the end of the trip, some of the
guy's arms were hurtin'. We had a lot of laughs and there was
mention of heading out again next year. Stay tuned to this page.
I hope to update it with some other submissions that will be coming in
from some of the guys who said they would e-mail me some more
pictures.
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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Not Suitable for Reprint!!!
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First Fish!!!
Little Ossippee Flowage, Waterboro, ME
July 4
First Fish on the NEW BOAT!!!
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The Captain at the Helm
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Just look at that smile! Elizabeth claims that she never catches
fish from the boat. That's ridiculous because we have pictures showing
otherwise. If you look closely at the engine cover behind her
you'll notice it is not the same old same old. EC and I ventured
out on a spectacular Independence Day to try out the "new" boat for
the first time. We tried to get into our traditional Skelton Dam location
which was the site of our first boating adventure five years ago when she was
only eight!!! Now that she is a teenager, she doesn't come fishging
with me as often, but it is always special when she does. Skelton's
water level was too low to get the boat safely back on the trailer, so we
headed up the road a few miles to Lake Arrowhead (L.O.F.). Lizzie
got the first fish, a pretty nice pickerel, on the wacky worm. I managed
a few bass, but nothing worth taking a picture of. I hope that EC's
luck stays with me and the boat as we embark on new adventures.
Atta girl, Elizabeth!!!
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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Daddy! I caught the first fish!!!
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Guest Shots
Photos from Some Guy in Florida
May 29
Some Guy from FLA
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Striper Bait
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Nice Smallie
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I don't know what the exact date was that we caught these fish,
a lot has happened between now and then. Maybe that guy in the
picture with the decent striper can send back some details about
what we were up to that day.
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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You're not really moving to FLA?!?!?
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Tube Talk
Little Ossipee River, East Limington, ME
May 7
Yum Vibra King 3.5"
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FISHING TEST! Pencils Ready?
Q: What's worse than going fishing and not catching anything?
A: Catching a fish on your VERY FIRST CAST on a NEW LURE!!!
The weather around here has been absolutely miserable lately. It's cold, rainy, and basically
"uncomfortable" for fishing. Friday night I decided to try out a favorite riverside location for
some smallies but when I got to the Limington Rip on the Saco River, the water was literally SCREAMING under the bridge
and then running ACROSS the ground where I usually stand to cast. It was a NO GO. There were all these guys in kayaks fighting
the current upstream just trying to maintain position in the water. They were working pretty hard. I went down to the
next road about 100 yards down Rte 25 and turned onto Hardscrabble Road. There is a bridge with a
great place to park. When I went over the bridge I could see the white bottom of a formerly blue 14' aluminum boat
smashed on the rocks below. I had to check it out. I am trying to force myself to learn and become
comfortable with tube baits this year. On this night, I only brought some tubes with me to require me to
practice with them and not fall back on the old faithfuls. After all, this is work, not fishing.
Under the bridge is a section of the Little Ossipee River where it actually meets the Saco. These are two
major and excellent smallmouth rivers in Western Maine. The water and air were pretty cold and considering I was
working a new bait, unknown terrain, and rapidly rushing water, I didn't expect much.
I rigged up one of my new Yum Vibra King tubes. It looks like Italian Ice! It is literally green on the back
yellow through the middle and red on the belly. Kind of like an upside down traffic light. I cast the tube
out into an eddy behind some rocks (as all the books say you should) and let the current take it downstream. Nothing.
I started to reel in working the bait upstream along the bank. The rushing current had pushed the bait against the
rocky shoreline. Keeping my rod tip in the water, I worked the tube along the rocks as if it was some Superman crawfish
swimming upstream! To my delight and surprise a nice 1.5 lb largemouth came scrambling after it. He was literally
running just under the surface, chasing the tube up and over rocks! He really wanted this tube! I slowed my
retrieve just to make it fair and he snatched it! I waited, set the hook and whammo, first river largemouth of 2005 was hanging
from my thumb. I am always surprised to see largemouth in rapidly rushing rivers, but they're there. I thanked the little man
and let him go and he swam off for a deep pool in the middle of the river. What a rush. Could this be the magic bait for 2005?
Had I found it already? I continued to cast the tube until it snagged on some bottom and broke off. Fishing rivers is
a bonus for lure makers. You can fish all day in a pond and not lose a single lure. Rivers, its a snag a minute. I continued to
work the shoreline and after about an hour got a really nice smallmouth. He was also about 1.5 lbs but that is a much more fun
battle than the largemouth. Anyway... I am starting to get "hooked" on these tubes. I only have one bag, but I think it is time
to place an order. I can tell that these will be with me all year.
So why is catching a fish on the first cast an absolutely horrible experience? It makes you think that the rest of the night is going
to be the "Dream Night" and every cast will produce a fish. AND.... AND.... When you do catch a fish on a new lure right out of the package
you think, "Yes! I've found it!" THE lure. Well, luckily the combination of luck, conditions, technique, and the wee beasties themselves all
conspire to bring us back to ground.
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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No Quote - I'd be talking to myself!
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Third Time's a Charm!
Province Lake, Newfield, ME
Apri 17
Purple Tube
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Mepps
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Rapala
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Jack and John came out on the shakedown cruise for 2005. We started heading toward
a famous early-ice-out location, Little Ossipee Flowage, but when we got there, the
the water level was down about 5 feet and there wasn't much "runway" on the ramp.
Being the responsible Captain, I opted for another location. Balch Pond was nearby
and we'd had luck there in the past. When we got there, same thing, the ramp was just
too exposed to expect a smooth recovery. Province Lake is also a border lake with New
Hampshire, and pretty close-by, so I opted to head on over there. We had a relatively
uneventful launch and managed to drag three fish aboard in about 3 hours of hard casting.
I told Jack earlier that we could expect to be shutout with the conditions as they were.
The water was about 55F and we only saw the three fish all day. I was pretty happy
even with my perch because I caught it on a tube jig. I am naming this year, "The Year of the Tube
Jig" and it is my mission to figure out how to make these things work. I feel I've been missing
something by not giving them more of a fair shake. The two bass were taken on a red/white mepps bucktail
and a rapala suspending in about 3' of water. Both bass were about 1LB, which wasn't great, but
as I said, conditions were tough this time of year.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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Jack, Don't be disappointed if we are shutout!
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Uday's Pond
Uday Hussein's Private Pond, Baghdad, Iraq
Apri 16
Uday Chub?
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Unholy Mackerel
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Fish-proof Vest
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Sidearm or Grenade?
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Got Pliers?
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It's never been a, "rule" that all of our stories here had to actually take place in
my presence here in Maine. We love to hear about other fishing adventures from friends and family.
Here's one adventure, I don't think I am missing.
It made me very happy to receive these pictures from Major Egan who is over in Baghdad as part
of the Connecticut National Guard deployment. The thing that has stumped me is that I can't
identify what kind of fish he is catching. Event the Know Your Catch page here was no help.
I did a relatively thorough Google on the fishing in
Uday's private lake and came up blank. There was one picture I found of a guy going around in
an aluminum boat feeding these fish. I guess there isn't anything natural for them to eat
since this is a private lake that Uday had built onto his palace. I even hear it has filtered water
from the Tigris River.
Editor's Note: In all the years we have been doing fishing stories, surprisingly, this is the first time we have
mentioned the Tigris River. If anyone knows what kind of fish they have over there, send back a note about
what they are.
It's interesting to see that Major Egan is battle ready to fight these little
monsters. I especially like the fact that he wears his chin strap on his helmet. In any event
I'm proud to call Major Egan a friend and hope that he will continue to pursue the wee beasties out
there and show them Iraqis what good clean American fun is all about. Tight lines my friend and
hurry home for some good old US Striped Bass fishing back home in Clinton, CT.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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OOH Rah!!!
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Opening Day is Here!!!
Willowdale Golf Course, Scarborough, ME
Apri 1
Here We Go!!!
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I literally have nothing to report except that I actually did
continue the tradition of getting out on Opening Day at Willowdale
to drag some icebergs around with my chartruese leadhead. It was
pretty cold out there. I didn't have a thermometer so I couldn't guage
the air and water temps. I got to use my new Abu Garcia reel and that baby is
smooth. I didn't even take some pictures because I only spent about a half-hour
casting into the slush. After a very short while, I got bored and my hands
got cold. Oh well, the long winter spell is broken and it is all going to be
great from here on out. Stay tuned for more!
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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Nah, I didn't catch anything, but I got out there!
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Ice Fishing at 50 Degrees?
Thomas Pond, Casco, ME
January 1
Happy New Year!
A Limit!
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4 Lbs 15 oz
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Indian Name:
Walks On Water
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Good Start to 2005!
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6" of Ice, 2" of Water
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Looking
back at the first story of 2004,
we were out on the ice at 50 degrees at the end of February and
it was about 2 feet thick. On the first official day of 2005,
it was 50 again, but the ice was only about 6 inches thick and
there was some ponding. There wasn't anything to be afraid of
except for falling down in the water and getting wet. There were
plenty of noisy snowmobiles, ATVs, and a few ice shacks out on
the ice, so we knew it was safe to walk on. (We drove out when
the ice was 2 feet!) The important thing is that the fishing was
pretty good. Jack and John invited me out for the first day of
the season to meet up with one of John's fishing buddies from
Scarborough on Thomas Pond in Casco. His name is Larry and when
we got there, he was leaking blood from the end of a couple of
fingers after doing battle with a pickerel a few minutes before.
I never thought to pack band-aids in my basket, but after seeing
that, I think it's a good idea. Being a rookie to ice fishing,
I didn't have the right foot gear on (Bean Boots) and had a tough
time "skating" across the water covered ice. I have to get some
"creepers" to give me traction. Once we got to the shack, John
started to drill some holes and set out the traps. The temps were
too high to really get a good mound of slush to set the custom
Rousselle tip-ups. We still need to come up with a name for these.
We were calling them, "Under 50 traps" because you needed air
temps cold enough to freeze the slush into a proper base to hold
the tip-ups. In this case, the slush was just melting on top of
the ice. John put out three "U50's" and about 7 low-profile standard
traps. I helped as much as I could but was pretty useless with
my traction problems. After awhile, I just sat at a hole and jigged
while John and Jack ran around to tend the traps. Jack tended
to about 11 or 12 flags over the course of a couple of hours and
landed some pretty good fish. The biggest one Jack got was about
4lbs while the biggest for the day was a whopper at 4lbs 15oz
that was already on the ice when we got there. We weighed them
on my digital scale. They were mostly bass, but a few small pickerel
were landed. No trout. Later in the day, we decided to pack up
when the fishing slowed and the temperatures started to drop.
Larry treated us to some moose meet they cooked up in the ice
shack. It was really very good. Not a bad start for the New Year.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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Flag!
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