There has been a marked change in the weather over the last week. Fall is here for sure. A jacket is a must on every morning fishing trip, we have had the first fires in woodstove, but we still the days are warm and sunny with crystal clear blue skies. The maple leaves are turning red in the wet places near ponds and along the river. My schedule slows as fewer folks are traveling in September than there were last summer and this week I am spending more time in the woods working with the dogs in preparation for the upland bird season.
Fishing has been excellent on fresh and saltwater this month. The juvenile alewives are pouring out of the river this week and the stripers are having a field day. Because of the change in baitfish the stripers are behaving very differently than they did even two weeks ago. They are further up in the river and frequenting the shallow places that they avoid in mid summer. Last week I fished on the Medomak River out of Round Pond, it was a real treat to visit places I had not seen in awhile. Yes there were fish in almost all of the old familiar places. We caught a good number of fish and enjoyed one of the prettiest days of the late summer.
As many of you know I am on the Board of Directors of the Conservation Education Foundation of Maine the parent organization of the Maine Conservation School . This October the school will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a dinner and auction on October 21st at the Bethel Inn in Bethel. I would be delighted to have all of you attend or if you are unable to attend perhaps send along a donation.
Last week I was striper fishing and happened by an osprey sitting on a low branch with a striper he had caught. I know that they catch a few stripers but I had never been so close to one with such a large fish, usually they catch herring or mackerel. I took a couple of pictures but of course they did not turn out well enough to use. One problem was that just as I was getting my camera out to record the osprey my client hooked this fish right at the side of the boat. So I was not paying real close attention to taking the osprey picture.
This is the best season of the year to get outside please make sure that you spend a few days enjoying the Maine Outdoors.
Best regards,
Don Kleiner
Master Maine Guide
