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The 2007 Season is Officially CLOSED!
See You Next Year!
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Slow Boat to China
Saco River, Biddeford, ME July 14
James and the
Technicolor Bluefish
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Watch Those
Teeth!
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MenShaden
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"I'd like to get you on a slow boat to China" was a well-known phrase among
poker players, referring to a person who lost steadily and handsomely. Well this day
started out to be a winner, but ended up being a chilly uneventful tour of the lower Saco
River. Our new friend James came all the way from Singapore (which is just west of New Hampshire) to
see what all the fuss was about at the Pelagic Zone. I guess there are whole cable networks over there
devoted to keeping track of our adventures while fishing. But I digress.
About ten minutes into our trip, James hooked into a really nice Bluefish. We didn't get a chance to actually
measure it, but from the size of it hanging over the net, I'd estimate it went close to 30" which is a
respectable Bluefish in anyone's book. I always captitalize the "B" in Bluefish because they are one fish to respect.
While not a particularly good eating fish, they will eat YOU if you aren't careful. They have jaws and teeth that are
like vise grips on steroids. Virtual piranhas [Portuguese, from Tupi : pirá, fish + ánha, to cut.] of the ocean.
I do NOT mess with these babies. You can tell by James' expression that he didn't want it getting too close to his nose!
We spent some considerable time casting to what the locals call, "pogies." Pogies are menhaden and have a bunch of different
names. I remember catching one once by the Skelton dam and looking it up later as a shad. We spoke to a passing fisherman
in another boat and he thought I was crazy for calling it a shad. I wonder how he knew I was crazy? Trey landed a nice (what we termed later to be)
"MenShaden" and it actually gave him a pretty good battle for awhile.
Unfortunately, that finished the day's success and we trolled up and down the river once in each direction before
heading back to the ramp. The parking lot was surprisingly empty when we left and that should have been a tip-off to us
that the fisherati knew that our friend, Mr. Striped Bass was out having his tux pressed.
I think it is safe to say that it will be a LONG time before we have someone come out on the boat who came as far as James. I was glad that we could
provide him with one of Maine's great pleasures which is being out in a small boat, with good friends, hoping for the chance
to catch a nice fish.
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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"Watch his teeth and don't get your fingers near his mouth!"
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Three C's at TCP
Three Cornered Pond, Augusta, ME, July 4
The Winner
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Respectable
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Dig those
crazy shades!
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Independence Day. If there is one thing in Maine that symbolized our great freedoms, it is the freedom to go fishing!
Once you are out on a small pond, and the largemouths are practically jumping into the boat, you start to realize just what
the Founding Fathers meant when they said, "Give me a plastic worm, or give me death!"
The three C's on board this day were the Trinity of Chamberlain! Don the Father, Don the Son (Trey), and Zach the Holy Ghost behind those Foster Grants!
I wanted to take them someplace where we were guaranteed to catch fish. Now anyone who knows that you can't guarantee a fish
would know what a HUGE risk I was taking in setting the bar of expectation that high! Fortunately, I had a place on hand
that has never failed to produce fish and in pretty good quantities too!
TCP as we call it, has a lot of bass and some of them are pretty good sized too. As a matter of fact, Don the Father, hooked into a
monster bass by a massive hole in the lake bottom and it gave him quite a battle before getting off. We all saw it as its huge shoulders broke the
surface. It was all covered in broken harpoons, lances, and ropes from previous battles with mankind.
Trey actually won the boat pool for biggest fish, but Zach did his part to catch the most (if I remember correctly). We're
headed back up to TCP for the first week of August, so if you're in the area, give us a call and stop on by.
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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"I think there is a big one by this sea mount over here! Thar she blows!!!"
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Jack and Tim
Little Sebago Lake, Gray, ME, June 24
Tim's 2#'r
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Jack's Smallie
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John Rousselle is still out on his sea cruise and he asked me if I could go up and run his boat around the lake
to charge his batteries. Of course I will! At the price of gas these days, I'm happy to have a day out on the water
on somebody else's nickel. John's son Jack is a regular fishing buddy of mine now and when the Rousselle craft is on the water,
it's Jack's boat. I'm just the hired help. Well, this day, Jack wanted to bring his friend Tim along for the trip and
I was more than happy to have another kid who was interested in fishing along. I wish more kids would come out on the water and
see what a lifetime of pleasure it can be. Anyway, I digress.
The weather was fantastic for everything but fishing. The sun was high in the sky and bright, bright, bright. I told the guys that
we should concentrate on finding water that was in the shadows and fish in there. We did that for awhile and caught some pretty small smallmouth
bass (see Jack's above). I caught three or so of these and they were so small, they skipped off the hook before I could land them. No big loss there, but it was
good to have anything tugging at the end of the line. Poor Tim didn't have a bite all day. when it got to be time to head back
I took the guys over to a spot where I have had some pretty good luck in the past. I had another small one so we knew the conditions were
right for some fish. I gave Tim a wacky worm to try and he chucked it out to the end of the point. He had a pretty challenging
ultralight rig he was using and I told him if he caught a fish of size he was in for a battle. Whammo! Fish on for Tim! He played it like a pro, keeping his rod down, and
maneuvered the fish into the net so I could land it for him. Man, that was a nice fish, especially on that rod of his! Well, needless to say, Tim won the boat pool for
that day and I think he was happy with his one fish that weighed more than the total of all the other fish we caught that day. Atta boy Tim. Tim was also extremely polite and patient.
Tim didn't like the ritual of kissing the fish goodbye, but eventually Jack talked him into it and Tim sent the fish off with a Jimmy Houston style salute. I would fish with Tim
again anytime. Jack is lucky to have a good friend like Tim and maybe he can show us all his technique for getting the big ones!
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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"Tim is THE MAN!"
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Big K Shutout
Kennebec River, Phippsburg, ME, Jun 16
Home
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Visitor
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Imagine an episode of, "Beat Charlie Moore" where they're out there on the boat, fish are
literally jumping within arms reach, and no one catches anything. That's basically what
happened when Mike Bunting and I went out on my first trip to the Big K, a legendary striper fishery.
From the time we launched the boat, to the time we put it back on the trailer about 5 hours later, we were
surrounded by stripers, some easily 30"+. We started out with chartreuse clousers ("If it's chartreuse, you can't lose"). After
a bit, I switched to an olive and white while Mike tried a black. Still no luck. I then went to baitcast a 9" Slug-go with no luck. Then I
chugged a popper on the surface, nothing. We pulled along a few boats and learned that they weren't having any luck either.
We chalked up our bad luck to the fact that it was an absolutely bluebird day.
The highlight of the day was when an osprey dove on an alewive (or something similar) and came out of the water about 4 feet
from the boat. He did his signature hover and shake move to shed water weight and then flew off. All of this happened too fast
to get a picture, but it is burned in my memory forever.
It is the policy of this website to tell our fishing stories, good and bad. So, when we get shut out, we admit it an move on.
Unfortunately, we did suffer one loss during the trip. Mike got up to stand by the side of the boat to see how deep and cold the water was
and stepped on my fly rod tip! My 9' 9# fly rod is now an 8.5' 9# fly rod. I was able to glue the tip back onto the remaining portion of rod blank. It is a solid fit,
but I think it is a much "faster" rod now. I haven't cast it since the fix, but given my less than subtle technique, it should still work for me.
We did everything we could think of considering that this watershed is no live bait and all catch and release until July 1. We always play by the rules and
that makes a perfect condition for a shut out.
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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"That's okay Mike, you can always buy me a new rod from Beans!"
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Jack's Four Pounder!
Little Sebago Lake, Gray, ME, May 27
Nice One!
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Jack gave me a call and asked me to meet him up at his family's camp at 1100. There was a storm predicted for later that
day, but I was all for getting a little fishing time in, especially since we were going to use his boat (and his gas!). Gas
is hovering around $3.25 right now in case you are keeping track on the home version of the Pelagic Zone. Anyway, I
got there just before 1100 and Jack, his mom Ann Marie and his sister Christine were already there waiting. Getting the boat
underway was a whole family affair! We stowed all our gear and set the boat up the way I remember seeing Jack's dad John
do it a couple of weeks ago and we made our way out of the Pergutory cove that is right in front of their camp. We negotiated
the rocks with no disasters and then made our way over to an area where there are some points sticking out into the water. I'm
pretty much a structure fisherman (underwater points, drop-offs, etc.). Jack's dad (and by inheritence) Jack himself are cover
fisherman with an interest in grass beds, etc. Well today, I was "the guide" and since I am not as familiar with the underwater
flora, I stuck to what I knew best. Well, we got shut out fishing those points, so I suggested to Jack that we head on over
to another area where I had seen clouds and clouds of white perch last year and figured it would be a good fish holding area.
The place I am referring to is just East of the really long tongue of sand that separates the middle bay of Little Sebago. It was getting
pretty windy in anticipation of the incoming front. We made one pass and talked to an older gentleman on shore who related that
a recent bass tournament had taken some pretty good fish off the shore there. Great, I thought. They probably screwed it up for us.
On our second pass drifting with the wind, Jack was into a really nice fish. I thought it was a snag on the bottom, but he assured me
it was a really nice fish. It stayed down pretending to be the bottom. When finally he horsed it to the surface we saw that the net was going
to come into play on this monster. Now, of course, fish always look bigger in the water than when you get them aboard, but this one was definitely
a sizable fish. I worked the net and we got her in with little drama. When we pulled it out of the net, the fish was pretty sizable, but it had a head
that was out of proportion to the rest of the body. It had the head of a much larger fish than it's body represented. I don't know if it was a spawned out
female or what, but even with its smaller body, we both estimated it to be over 4 pounds. We couldn't find the scale and the fish was acting
distressed, so I made the command decision to release her unweighed. Sorry Jack, we have to do the right thing here.
Anyway, now that you know where it is, you can go back and get her again. I'll take a guide point for finding and putting you on the fish.
Click on the picture to blow it up more and see what we mean about her head. Oh, BTW, I managed to land a pretty large pickerel that mangled
my white Ninja (a PelagicZone favorite) spinner bait. The net was used on that one too. Now that I think of it, I should be checking those large
pickerel closer to see that they are not Northern Pike which have been making their way into the Sebago watershed in the
past few years. It would be a shame to find one in there.
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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"Nice Fish Jacko! You're keeping the boat streak going."
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Hancock Smallie
Hancock Pond, Denmark, ME, May 22
Typical Hancock Smallie
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We used to rent a camp on Hancock Pond and it will always remain one of my favorite spots. The only real
problem that I find with the place is that the launch area has fallen into such disrepair that launching and
recovery is a BIG problem. Jokers who power-load their boats back onto the trailer have created a hazardous mound of
stones and mud that you have to be careful not to hit when launching. The state should really get in there with a
large backhoe and knock that down. While they're at it, they can also fix the concrete slabs that make up the ramp and
right now look like a heap of dominoes. If you have any boat of any size and you want to risk a launch there, BE CAREFUL!!!
But we're here to talk about the fishing now aren't we. The blackflies were out in force this night. It made for an impatient
tempo for fishing. As soon as you arrived at a location to try out, you really had to want to stay in that spot for the
blackflies were doing their time honored signature trick of flying in your mouth and behind your sunglasses. Needless to say
I didn't hang aroung there too long. The water was still pretty cold (58) and the bite was slow. I managed this one
pretty nice smallie from the rocks in the center of the lake (not to be confused with the rocks that are everywhere else in the lake!!!).
I got it on a "regular" Rapala floating minnow. I'll tell you, I've been fishing that lure for over 30 years and it
is still one of the most productive. It is also a great starter lure for kids because when you stop reeling it in, it just pops back
up to the surface. Well, Hancock is still a great body of water. There were a lot of trout hitting the surface that evening
which kind of tells you that the water was still pretty cold if the trout were on the surface. Not the first fish for 2007, but it
was the first of my favorites....the regal smallmouth bass!
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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"PPff PPff Damn bugs, get out of my mouth!"
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First Fish on John's New Boat
Little Sebago Lake, Windham, ME, May 11
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John Rousselle bought a boat from his brother-in-law and man is it nice. Perfect for his camp. It didn't take him
long to break the seal on the first fish in the boat. John's son Jack (quite a competent fisherman in his own right)
hauled in this 3+#'r on a split tail soft plastic shad. Nice going Jack! John sent me these pictures to capture
the moment for posterity. Hopefully John and Jack will continue to have great luck in the new boat and will also
continue to send pictures to the Pelagic Zone! We love to get pictures from anyone who would like to post them here.
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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"First fish in the new boat!"
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Happy Bassday to Me!
Little Sebago Lake, Windham, ME, April 28
New Fishing Buddy!
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First Keeper
of 2007
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Supsending
Rapala
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The big news of 2007 is that we got a new puppy. Ruby is her name and we got her in late March.
Unfortunately for fishing, it has been snowing from the time we got her until about a week ago.
Ruby was starting to expect that every Thursday we would get 6 to 8 inches of snow and she LOVED IT!!!
I couldn't bring the boat home until the driveway snow mountains melted enough. Finally
that day arrived and I got her home and rigged to go. Believe it or not, open water fishing has been available
since April 1, but with snow, ice-out delays, and just plain crummy weather, it wasn't until almost month-end that I was able
to get out there and cast a lure.
April 29th is officially my birthday, but the weather was forecast to be crummy (and it was). Saturday the 28th was also
supposed to be stinko too, but around noontime the skies cleared and the temperature rose to about 60. HOT! I hooked up the
boat and headed to the boat ramp with the shortest driving time, Little Sebago. No one was there in the parking lot, so I loaded up the gear
and backed her in. The engine started on the first crank and out blew the blue smoke of old fogging oil while I kept her at
a high rev until I was sure she would stay lit. I had Richardson's put in a new tachometer over the winter and I was eager to
see how it worked. All systems nominal.
I warmed her up and then headed to a spot on Lil' Sebago that had been productive for me in the fall. It is in the North
side of the middle section right across from Grape Island. There are a few man-made points there. The water temp was 53
and I had a new reel to try out. I had been watching (and wanting) the Prodigy Reel from Cabelas for some time and when
it went on sale the week before my birthday, I knew that it was a sign that I had to have it. It performed flawlessly even with
new line spooled on just hours before heading out. Usually I have massive bird's nests when I spool on new line, but this reel has some
anti-twist technology that seems to work pretty well. It also cast like a dream. I had a bunch of lures in my binoculars box on the center console
that were still there from last season, so rather than dig through my tackle box (which is organized, but kinda of large and inconvenient when you're in a hurry), I
decided to put on a suspending Rapala that I knew I could fish slow. I had the trolling motor set on autopilot while I
worked my way around the points and hooked a really big bass. I got it to the side of the boat but the hook pulled out his mouth and he was gone.
I think he was about 4 lbs, but can't be sure. I forgot to turn off the trolling motor and the combination of the added
speed and drag that caused on the fish plus the excitement of such a large fish for my first one of 2007 kind of made me too rough on the old guy.
Oh well, at least I had a pattern that would work. The water was only 53 degrees so I spun the boat around and tried the
same approach again but was shut out. I drifted over to the next point with the trolling motor off and didn't catch anything but I did have a nice one follow
the lure up to the boat and then he proceded to jump OUT OF THE WATER to follow the lure as I picked it up to cast again! This surprised me so much that I
literally fell over backward onto the deck of the boat. Here's a hint for you.... when the seat manufacturer says don't grease the
pedestal floor mounts, BELIEVE THEM! I thought I would do myself a favor and make it easier to unplug the leaning post when I wanted to remove it and ended up
creating a death trap for myself. I am now going to get some grease cleaner and UNDO what I thought was a brilliant idea.
Dummy.
Finally, I managed to land my third and final fish of the day. It was a 3# 3oz Larry which measured about 17 inches or so (see pix). It was a meaty thing and I
was happy to have him onboard. It took awhile to get the camera out of the bag and the battery into the fish scale, but he swam away seeming no worse for wear for the
inconvenience I caused him. Well, that wasn't too bad for a couple of hours of fishing where I didn't expect much anyway.
So it was a day early, but the new reel and the nice fish made my birthday weekend. I hope that I can just continue this
luck into the rest of the season and come away with a shut-out free record for 2007. For outting number one in Maine, so far, so good.
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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"What the...? BANG! (Sound of me falling on my butt when the seat pedestal let go)."
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Florida Bass Tourney
Lake Toho, Orlando, FL, February 10
Sunrise over Toho
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Hawk (Can you
name it?)
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Bald Eagle at Lunch
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BC-First Blood 2#2
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2#6 Larry
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4#4 Nice One!
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Tourney Weigh-in
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Moe had second biggest
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Way to go!
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Video 1.7MB
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After fishing for about 40 years, I finally fished in my first tournament on one of the most famous
bass lakes in the nation. The conditions were "perfect" compared to the single-digit temperatures back
home in Maine, but the fishing was tough. The water temps varied from 61 degrees to 68 degrees which is cold by
Florida standards. The lake is only about seven feet deep and is full of vegetation. Most of the time we were in
about 5 feet of water but the depth to the top of the vegetation was only about 1 foot. So, for all practical
purposes, we were fishing in about 1 foot of water all day.
Bass fishing in Florida is 180 degrees different from the relatively weed-free lakes in the North. There isn't much
structure fishing since the lakes are relatively shallow. The secret to fishing there is being able to read the cover that the fish are relating to and that is a weak skill in my playbook.
The only thing that we could use with any confidence and lack of frustration was weedless worms and wacky worms.
Anything with a treble hook on it was a recipe for frustration.
We started before dawn, literally leaving in the dark. The tournament lasted until 1500 and
it was tough to find the fish. I managed to get the first one near the mouth of Shingle Creek. Moe scored the
second fish by carefully and diligently concentrating on a bedding bass. We didn't see too many beds that
day. Finally, with about a half-hour left in the day, Moe landed a really nice 4# 4oz largemouth in the
north part of the lake near a stream inlet. It was the blackest black bass I have ever seen. All of the
fish caught today were on wacky worms. I used the Yum Dinger bumblebee swirl and Moe used a pumpkin worm
a chartruese tail.
One part of the adventure was all of the wildlife we saw. Much of it appeared tame by comparison to Maine.
We were able to get within picture taking distance of hawks and bald eagles and were literally in swarms of
ducks and other waterfowl. Check out the Pelagic Zone's first video by clicking on the title above.
It was quite a change from the wintery conditions back home.
It was great to be a guest of the
Florida Trails
Bassmasters Club. Everyone I met was very friendly and I'm glad my old fishing buddy Moe has settled in
with a great bunch of guys.
BC-out.
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Memorable Quote of the Day
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"Throw away your tackle box and just buy a bag of wacky worms."
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